A New Style of Education - Year Five

by Karen Page

Part 7

picture created using DALL-E

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Part 7
Wednesday 13th January 2010

"Happy Eighteenth," Helen murmured to Jayne after she'd switched off the alarm.

"Yay," said Jayne. "I'm back the same age as you. Though I wish it wasn't on a travel day."

"I know. But just think, since we're getting up so early, you get to spend longer enjoying it."

"Humph."

Cold breakfast items were laid out. Mr Hobson had decided it was not fair for the kitchen staff to be available for an early breakfast, when nobody would be there for the next few days. It wasn't that many, apart from Lewis, that had appetites. It was far too early.

A chorus of Happy Birthday greeted Jayne. Such a momentous birthday, and she was up early, travelling, probably missing out on birthday cake. And for the second time, her birthday was going to be dressed en-femme. It had happened on her sixteenth birthday too.

"Get your coats," called Mr Hobson, as the pupils continued to dawdle in the dining room. "We don't want to be late for our slot for LeShuttle."

The pupils grabbed their coats from The Lounge and made their way into the dark early morning. The light dusting of snow they'd had a few days ago had disappeared but the air was still bitterly cold. The two coaches were waiting and had been warmed up. This knowledge made them stream out of the school and onto the coaches very quickly. One coach had the two youngest years, and the top year. The other had years two, three and four.

Jayne looked back as she was one of the last onto the coach. It would be a few days before she knew she would see her home again.

"We need to do a concert in a hot country," moaned Abigail from year one.

"We did one in Bangkok three years ago," called out Lewis. "That was too humid. Every time we went out, I think I lost a few kilos in sweat."

As the coaches pulled away, Jayne tapped at the small tv on the rear of the seat in front of her. The new coaches they'd received the previous year had been a big improvement. They were larger vehicles, but instead of adding more seats, they were more spaced out. Each seat had phone charging ports, and entertainment screens. It made any coach journey more like a plane journey. Today's trip was about as far as they went by coach. They would have gone by plane, but it would have taken them just as long with the stopover at an airport.

School children on a coach is never a quiet affair. This journey was worse because the coach was populated with musically minded children. The first singing started even before the coach passed through the school gates and it caught like a flame in a dry forest, rapidly spreading through the vehicle. It was soon rocking to the sound of Bad Romance which had recently got back to the top of the charts.

The coach became quieter when they reach France. The scenery changed, and for some it was the first time they'd been on French soil. For two in year zero, it was their first time abroad. Fields were fields, but the style of buildings were different. Someone in year-one pointed out that the electricity pylons were different, and more faces stared out trying to spot more variations. As they went further south the scenery turned white. Snow blanketed the ground, and the coach went through pockets of mist.

It was mid-afternoon when the coach eventually pulled up outside the hotel. Mr Yates took the microphone handed to him by the driver. "It's about freezing point outside, so make sure you put your coats on before getting out. Graham will pull out the suitcases and call your name. Grab your case and move out of the way for the next person. Once that is done, Mr Hobson should have finished with reception. You will make your way inside and give your names to the person at reception, and a room key will be given to you. Please don't lose it. For those in year zero, since this is your first trip abroad with the school, a couple from year five will assist you. When you get your keys, you will be given a pack containing a map and our itinerary. Any questions? No. Then let's go and get our cases."

There was already a stack of cases that Graham had extracted from underneath the coach. He was busy fishing more out. Jayne went to the current stack and called out "Emma". She was the first. Helen went to take the suitcases from Graham and added them to the pile for Jayne to call.

The hotel wasn't used to accommodating schools, which often stayed at the youth hostel. However, since they had been paid well for a time when they were often quite empty, they had gone to the effort for changing some of the rooms. Some double beds had gone into storage and had been converted to twin rooms. They only had three rooms with bunk beds that were normally family rooms. Two were used for year zero, and one for year one. There were some in both those years that weren't going as the same gender as their partners, so they'd gone in those rooms.

After making sure that the year zero pupils were fine, Jayne and Helen went to their room. Their room, like all for year five were two double beds.

"What's the schedule say?" asked Helen as she put some items into the wardrobe. Jayne had been wandering around the room, making sure the bug detector didn't go off.

"The meal is at six. Then we can relax after. Tomorrow we will go in groups sightseeing before a light meal and across to where we're doing the concert. We should be back by ten tomorrow night. We leave at nine am on Friday.

"That was a long coach ride. Who would have thought that sitting in a coach for nine hours would be so exhausting."

"What do you want to do?"

"In previous years, I might have suggested we went exploring," responded Helen, zipping her now empty suitcase. "However, I don't feel it is the right thing to do."

"Because we're head students?"

"Sort of. It is like we have extra responsibilities.

"Why don't we see if year zero want to go out. We can go with them."

"It feels like child minding."

"No," said Jayne. "Remember when we started at Hayfield and our first trip – which was to Disney. We did that competition, and all the lower years were accompanied. It's no different."

Helen agreed, and after changing into something suitable for the wintery weather, they scooted off to see if any of the younger years wanted to come out. Each taking different rooms.

When Jayne got close, she saw that they were leaving with some of year four. "Hey Marvin," stated Jayne. "What's happening?"

"As a year, we decided it would be good to show the youngest around. Like we were shown the ropes when we joined. We'll be back well before evening meal."

"Okay. Have fun."

This left Jayne and Helen to meet up with some others in their year and go exploring as a group. It was good to get a good idea of the area, just in case. It was one thing studying maps, but another being outside seeing the shops, and how busy areas were.

* * *

That evening, Jayne stood at the hotel bar, waiting to get drinks for her friends. As she waited, she sensed someone come next to her. Since it was a bar, this wasn't unusual so didn't follow her natural inclination to look.

"Bonjour," came a gravelly male voice. It sounded familiar, and Jayne looked across. When she saw him, she went to move away, but he quickly continued. "Don't panic," he said, in French accented English. "I wish you no harm."

Jayne snorted. They were in a hotel bar. It wasn't like he was going to try kidnapping her here.

"I thought you were in prison," was Jayne's opening line, switching the conversation back to French.

"I was, but no more. I was deported last year back to France and a friend helped me get released early."

"I thought you liked to stay in the background. Why let me know you are here?"

"I saw you and wanted to say hi. We didn't get to finish our conversation in Iran. I'm not the person you think I am."

"But why me? There were four of us, plus you tried to grab two others as well."

He shrugged. "You were the first I came across. I was meeting a friend later and came in here for a drink. I was surprised to see you."

Jayne didn't think that any of the story she was being told made sense, but she continued and would discuss it later with Helen.

"I'm getting a drink for friends. Do you mind if I ring them to let them know?"

He looked a bit dubious, so Jayne added. "I'll put it on speaker, so you know what they say. You'll hear my side anyway."

He quickly looked around before whispering. "I'm told you can be trusted. What makes a gold chain shine on a cloudy day?"

She looked at him blankly, wondering what he meant by that statement and who told him that she could be trusted. She shrugged before continuing to fish her phone from her bag.

"Carry on." He smiled magnanimously. "When you can answer that question, you will know what I mean."

Jayne unlocked her phone and dialled Helen's secondary number. This would be her first clue that something wasn't right.

"Hi," answered Helen, not betraying her concern that Jayne had rang her on the duress number.

"Hi. I've met an acquaintance and am going to be a few minutes with the drinks."

"Okay, do you need me to get them?"

"No need. I shouldn't be long."

As Jayne hung up, she long pressed the end call button. This would make it appear the call ended, but transfer it to the earwig she had in.

The bartender came across. "Orange for me," Jayne said. "What can I get you, Monsieur Jumelet?"

"Oh no," Jayne heard Helen groan via the discreet comms. "Looping in Internal and External."

"Pastis, please. It feels wrong a pretty lady like you getting me a drink."

"This is 2010, not 1910," Jayne retorted.

He laughed. "Touché."

"Why did you come searching for us?" Jayne asked, after paying for the drinks. She wanted to see if he stuck to his story about it being a coincidence.

"My boss got very nervous after our last encounter. Then the orchestra suddenly gets a last-minute invite to play near where he is."

Jayne shrugged, but now knew it wasn't chance they were talking. "We are just a school orchestra. Why is he keeping an eye on us?"

It was his turn to snort. "Just a school orchestra! My contact at your school made sure I never knew where you were based. She made me meet her in all sorts of towns across the country. Most inconvenient. My boss thought you might have been based near where I was arrested, but no matter how much he searched there was no sign. Now you suddenly pop up here."

"Our concert is tomorrow evening. Why don't you come and listen to us?"

"What are you doing? Are you mad?" came the gasp through Jayne's earpiece. It was Jill. Jayne wondered how many were listening.

"It's not really my type of music and your last concert in France was a total sellout. I'm sure this one is full."

"Nicely done. Ask him what he wants?" the voice of Mr Taylor whispered in Jayne's ear.

"What do you want from me?"

"I think I've got what I needed."

"Which was?" Jayne enquired curiously.

"That it is just a coincidence you are here."

"Your friend by the door is getting a bit nervous," prompted Jayne.

Puzzled, Louis twisted around to see, turned back with a look of horror on his face. He leaned across and Jayne felt something being pressed into her hand. "Don't share, " he whispered urgently.

Louis straightened up and bolted. The man by the door reacted and gave chase. Jayne watched bemused, wondering if they would return. Seeing that they didn't, Jayne bought five cola's and carried them carefully to Helen, Jill, Anna, Erika and Martha. The note unobtrusively tucked away with the change after paying for the drinks.

"Where's yours?" Helen enquired as Jayne placed the drinks in front of her friends.

"I think I better go discuss what just happened. I hope I won't be long."

"That's room 203," Jayne heard in her ear. She'd forgotten to end the call which she swiftly remedied.

As Jayne made her way to the stairs, she spotted Lisa and Tina. They were chatting away with a few other couples in year two and three.

"Can I borrow these two?" Jayne enquired when she reached them.

Even though they'd known Jayne for a few years, having the head pupil approach them like that seemed to still impact them. If it was fear, awe, or something else, Jayne was unsure.

"Are they in trouble?" Julian enquired, sounding worried.

"No, I just need their help."

When they were out of earshot, Tina asked, "Who was that man?"

"That was Louis Jumelet."

"The person who kidnapped you four years ago?" Lisa asked, aghast. "No wonder Jill sounded a bit pissed."

"Ah, so you heard some of it then."

"Anna patched us in. So, what are we doing?"

"Debrief. You've never had or seen one of these, so I thought now would be an ideal opportunity."

Lisa and Tina looked at each other. Each were wondering the exact same thing. Why would this be important?

When they got there, they knocked. It was almost as if Mr Taylor had been waiting for them, as the door was answered very quickly.

"No Helen?" he asked as he ushered us in.

"She is keeping an eye downstairs."

"That isn't a job for the beta team," he started.

"She is keeping an eye on the younger years, as joint head pupil. Not security. I'm sure there are more teachers and other staff down there. We are pupils, not spies."

They were guided to a seating area. His room was a lot bigger than a pupil room, but there was also a lot of metal boxes and other things stashed in the corner.

"Lisa and Tina are here as they've never been through a debrief. I thought it would be good for them to see."

"Indeed. Let's walk through from the beginning, we will then start homing in on the details."

It took forty minutes until they concluded by Mr Taylor pulling up a photograph. It was obviously grabbed from a CCTV camera in the hotel lounge. "This is the man that gave chase?" he enquired.

Jayne glanced at it. "Yes, that's him. Interesting, as he was one of the people who kidnapped me, along with Louis."

"So, what has happened, and why was Louis not happy to see him?" mused Mr Taylor, not expecting a response and he didn't get one.

"Have you seen him before?" I asked Lisa.

"No, nor Louis. If I do, I'll let you know."

"Okay, one final thing," stated Mr Taylor.

Jayne braced herself for what she knew was coming.

"Why did you stay at the bar? Why didn't you walk away?"

This was the question she'd asked herself several times since the meeting. It was also the question she knew she would be asked. Now it was out there she relaxed, and her thoughts solidified.

"My first instinct was to walk away," she responded carefully. "Yet I didn't feel like he was going to kidnap me from the bar. There was something the way he spoke which sounded very different from our last encounter. I decided that I wasn't in danger but fabricated a method of opening communications. I didn't want to chat without others in the know."

"You need to go and explain this to Mr Hobson. He's not happy."

Jayne sighed and nodded. She was slightly surprised there wasn't more interrogation, but Mr Taylor didn't sound too worried. "It felt different to Iran. He approached me, and I made what I felt was the right decision. His attitude was different. May be because he was alone and not surrounded with henchmen. It wasn't like when Helen and I tried to be bait that once. We didn't go looking for him. I was just at the bar, minding my own business."

"That's good feedback. Thank you. There was an initial concern that this might be associated with tomorrow, but it sounds like this is something separate. Well done for finding that out. Now go see Mr Hobson. He is in 301. Take Lisa and Tina with you."

As the three of them made their way to the stairs, Lisa asked, "Do you think you'll get a bollocking?"

"Who taught you that in French?" Jayne laughed.

"Andy. Tina and I have been video conferencing once a week with my sister. Andy often joins in. Since this trip got announced, they have been speaking just in French. So, are you?"

Jayne shrugged. "I don't know. May be a bit."

Tina and Lisa shared a glanced. Jayne recognised it. It was a look that she sometimes had with Helen. They thought Jayne was underestimating things.

Mr Hobson had been waiting for them and his bedroom door swung open as they approached. He stepped to the side, and ushered them in.

"You're having one heck of a birthday. I just have one question," said Mr Hobson when they were sat down. "Are you okay? Any flashbacks from Iran?"

Jayne felt the warmth in her chest. He cared. It wasn't the scolding that Lisa had thought would happen, but Mr Hobson was more concerned for her wellbeing.

"No flashbacks. I think because that wasn't the last time that I saw him. I nearly did walk away when I saw who it was, but he was on his own, and I didn't think he was going to kidnap me from the bar."

"I've had Mr Taylors opinion on the school safety, and I've got to discuss this with security soon. However, what do you think? Is this a danger to the pupils?"

"From what was said, this didn't appear to be connected to why we are here. However, it does show that our concerts are being watched by some. If they will want to stay hidden, or try to ferret us out more, might be a concern for security."

"Indeed," mused Mr Hobson

Jayne continued, "They have stayed hidden for years. I don't think that happens unless they are very cautious."

"Or have police and officials in their pocket," added Tina.

"But if their caution is that engrained, they are more likely to hide for now, and come back later."

"Do you have any thoughts on this?" Mr Hobson asked, looking at Lisa.

Lisa swallowed and looked at her hands. Mr Hobson waited patiently, and when she looked up, she looked straight into his eyes. "I think you also need to take into consideration what happened at the end. Louis being chased by this other guy. If there is some sort of infighting, will that make them more unpredictable? Or will they be more interested in that and ignore the fact we are 'in town'. They might do something as payback for the disruption you caused last time you met."

"Thank you all," said Mr Hobson, rising. The three students rose obediently too. "I'm glad you seem to have no ill effects to this encounter. Dr Ruiz is currently having a chat with Jill and Anna, just to make sure. If you need to, make use of her, or my door is always open."

"I plan to go out," said Jayne to Mr Hobson. "Do you have an issue with that?"

He thought for a moment, and then said, "I think I understand why, but I'd rather you weren't alone. Mr Taylor will have an issue, but I'll discuss with him. Don't rush. Give it an hour."

When the three students had left, and were halfway down the corridor, Lisa broke the silence. "Wow, so different," she uttered.

"Different?" enquired Jayne.

"Yes. He didn't shout or anything like that. He seemed genuinely concerned."

"He is. He doesn't get upset very often. Like that one occasion when you were in year one. He didn't want anybody hurt, and he did something to help ensure that it didn't happen again. Now you can see him in this light. If you see extra people watching, don't be surprised or mention it to the rest of your year."

"What do you mean?"

"Mr Hobson's job is to make sure we get the best education possible in the safest conditions. Someone from a group who kidnapped four students and shot a member of staff approached a pupil. That will have been flagged to the group that runs the school. Last time that happened, extra security from other schools came to help. And it isn't just this school. Has any other school been watched?"

Jayne pulled out her phone and tapped a few messages. She got responses back within seconds. Lisa and Tina shared a look but didn't say anything.

As they passed Jayne's room, she darted in and grabbed her coat.

"You are going out then?" enquired Tina.

"Yes, and neither of you are coming with me. Helen isn't either."

"Isn't this supposed to be an opportunity to learn? You aren't going to be here next year."

This was true, thought Jayne. It was an opportunity, in more ways than one.

"You're right, but if I am taking someone with me, I'm only taking one. The other will stay with Helen."

"But-" Lisa and Tina said together.

"Choose, now," said Jayne sternly.

Paper beat rock, so Lisa went to get her coat.

The bar was more crowded than earlier. Jayne noticed some people there that she knew were Hayfield security. They never been told who they were, but she'd seen them enough over the years to recognise them.

Lisa and Tina went to join their friends. They would meet up in an hour with Helen and Jayne.

Jayne went and found Helen. She was still sat with Erika and Martha. They'd been joined by Emma and Paula. Jill and Anna weren't there. They sat around for a while and had another drink.

"I hope this doesn't turn out like our trip four years ago," stated Emma.

"Which one?" Helen responded, gliding her hands gently over Jayne's thigh. Jayne had placed her coat on her lap, so Helen's hand was hidden.

"I hope it's like neither," Jayne murmured, putting her left hand under her coat, and stroking Helen's hand.

"No making out under the table," laughed Paula. At Helen's quizzical face, she continued. "Jayne's eyes started glazing over."

"Something for me to improve," laughed Jayne, blushing a bit. She knew that Helen got passionate when there was excitement.

After an hour had passed, Jayne got up and put on her coat. Lisa and Tina had been watching and were soon there.

"Stay safe," Helen said, giving Jayne a hug. "Come on Tina, let's join Jill and Anna."

Emma, Paula, Erika and Martha didn't bat an eyelid at what was going on. Since year five knew about the Beta team, they had long seen and accepted what went on.

The bite of the evening air hit them as they made their way down the street. The light dance of snowflakes was in the air, but nothing that would settle to add to the existing covering. It was what Jayne called unproductive snow.

"Watch the reflection in the window," said Jayne as they went past a restaurant.

"I've seen him around," responded Lisa when they went past the next building, a bookshop. Jayne was glad to see that she didn't look round. "Isn't he security?"

"Yup, well done."

Jayne noticed he moved to the other side of the street. She knew that Overwatch was listening in and suspected that others were too.

"Are we going to lose him?"

"No," responded Jayne, as they made their way to the canal and started walking along the bank. "Security are there for our safety."

"There's an additional tail," informed Anna, having linked into local CCTV. "I can't tell if they're following you or security."

"I think it's time we went for a coffee by ourselves," mused Jayne. They turned off the canal path and made their way towards the Cathedral.

"Left here," said Lisa, and they went down a small pedestrian only alley. At the end, Jeannette et les Cycleux was where the map said it would be. Security continued, not following them in.

"We've got to come during the day tomorrow," Jayne said. "This area looks beautiful."

"That's the issue with these concerts, we only get a taster of an area."

"We did a week in Paris once. We got to explore a bit more that time."

It was more a quirky café than a coffee shop. They sat, glad to be out of the snow, and had some quiche with a hot chocolate. There was no sign of either security or the other followers. After enjoying their snack, they continued out and went towards the square in front of the main cathedral doors. They stood there for a few minutes, admiring the sight.

"I think we have someone new following us," said Lisa. "There is a blond lady who came into the café while we were eating. She is now over by the entrance to the square."

"Let's see if she follows," Jayne said.

They strolled along the outside of the cathedral, and down a single-track road, crossing the river at Pont Sainte Madeleine.

"She is still with you," said Anna, as they came off the bridge. "Come back now. I've just received a notification. She and the previous person following you are European Parliament security. They received a tip off that our school planned a protest at the Commission building. They couldn't find any details about the school, so it flagged an investigation."

Helen came on the comms, "We did a concert to the French President. Can we get that to them?"

Jayne thought for a moment and then looked at Lisa. "We are going to have an argument in English about directions for tomorrow's concert location. After all, we are just a music school."

"Huh?"

"I think we should be going this way," said Jayne with an exaggerated gesture and reverting to English.

"No," responded Lisa in English quickly cottoning on to Jayne's prompting. She'd come to a halt and pointing back where they'd come from. "It's this way."

Jayne pulled out a paper map from her bag and unfurled it and the two girls looked at it. Out of the corner of their eyes they saw the woman who'd been following them continue as if to go past.

"Excuse me," called Lisa in very accented French. "Are you from around here?"

Muffled laughter came through her earpiece which they both ignored.

The woman came to a sudden halt, nearly slipping on the snow. "Yes. Can I help you?"

"Do you speak English?"

"I do."

"Oh, thank goodness," said Lisa in English. "We're doing a concert here tomorrow at the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès. We were going to have a look, but I think we've gone the wrong way."

"It's a few kilometres," she said. "Probably not good idea to go there in this weather. Are you here for the annual culture event?"

"Yes," Jayne said, sounding excited. "Are you going to it?"

"Abort," came the urgent voice of Anna. "Don't tell them about our old concerts."

"No, but a colleague is. Have you played in France before?"

That was the question that Jayne had been trying to get asked, but now Anna had said not to answer it. She was about to answer but Lisa beat her to it.

"It's my first time in France. It's such a great country. I hope your colleague enjoys it."

"I'm sorry to miss it. Anyway, show me your map."

Jayne did and the woman marked where it was. "It's over by the European Parliament, not near the historic area."

The snow started to come down heavier.

"Wow, that looks so far away," Jayne said. "I wish we got taught more things than music. I think we will go back to the hotel instead. Thank you for your help."

As they made their way back to the hotel, a different person followed them, but there was no intervention, and they were back without issue. When they got into the hotel lounge, Helen was there waiting with Tina standing next to her. A tender smile spread across her face when she saw Jayne.

"Hi," she said in English to Jayne, as they took off their coats. The person who had been following them came in too. "Did you get to see the concert hall?"

"No, but we did see the cathedral."

Tina and Lisa slipped away while Helen and Jayne went to join a group from their year. They sat down and chatted away in English. Jayne heard a lot more English from Hayfield than was usual when abroad and realised that Helen must have spread some information about the ruse for others to get involved too.

"I'm so glad you're back safe," said Helen, quietly to Jayne, running her fingers across her partners thigh.

"So am I," Jayne smiled. "I love you so much. I missed you while exploring."

"You two never change," blurted out Emma.

"What do you mean?"

"A bit of excitement and Helen can't keep her hands off you, and you light up like a Christmas tree."

The man had a drink at the bar, but soon left. As time went on, the lounge started to empty, and just before ten that night, all the students had gone off to their rooms.

As they went up the stairs, Jayne heard her phone ping. It was late, so messages at this time were rare. But on the other hand, it wasn't unexpected that Mr Hobson or Mr Taylor would want to speak after their evening stroll. However, it was from Ruth on the secure channel. They didn't have direct communication, as that might be picked up. Any messages were relayed via the school interlinks, rather than person to person.

Helen did a scan of their bedroom and found it clean. After two different encounters, it was something they wouldn't lapse on. Their own security was important to them and even though they had thoughts of other things, they never skimped on that.

"Ruth reports no interest," Jayne said, when their phones showed all was clean. "Why was there a change of plan?"

"Mr Taylor sent a message. I know no more than that."

"How did Tina do?"

"She did well. She concentrated on the task and did the monitoring she was asked to do. There were times when things were quiet, like when you were in the café. She became more concerned, but never too much. However, when we knew you were on the way back, she chirped up and became a lot more animated. What about Lisa?"

"She is so like her sister. She lapped up the information and her face recognition skills spotted our observers so quickly. There didn't appear to be apprehension, which I think will need to be monitored."

"A bit more exposure will show if that is a concern."

"Indeed. Why don't we call it a night?" Jayne asked, a small smirk on her face.

"That sounds a great idea," Helen responded, before starting her gentle seduction of Jayne to make a perfect end to her birthday.

* * *

The sound of someone knocking on the door filtered into the room. It took a few knocks for the sound to register, and Jayne reluctantly pulled away from Helen.

"Hang on," Jayne called, not happy. She then said quietly to Helen, "The knock sounds like Mr Taylor."

"Fuck," Helen responded, jumping off the bed. She looked in the mirror and ran her hands through her hair, trying to make it look less mussed.

Jayne grabbed the two robes from the hooks outside the bathroom. She threw one to Helen and shrugged on the other.

When Jayne answered the door, she was relieved to find it was just Mr Taylor. "Come on in," Jayne said ushering him in and shutting the door.

"Did I come at a bad time?" he enquired, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"It could have been worse," shrugged Helen. Jayne blushed.

Jayne invited Mr Taylor to have a seat. The two pupils sat on the edge of their bed.

"A lot's happened today," he started. "I think it is worth going over things to make sure we are on the same page. Jayne, why did you go out this evening?"

Jayne wasn't surprised to be asked that question. However, what she was surprised about was his tone. She'd expected him to be angry and demanding, but he wasn't. His voice was calm and measured. It was almost like he was puzzled or confused.

"After the encounter with Louis at the bar, you and I had a chat. I then went with Lisa and Tina to see Mr Hobson. During that discussion Lisa mentioned that The Supplier might want some payback. It got me wondering if he might be staking the place out or have leaked something about us. So, I asked if it was okay if I went out. I planned on going out alone, but Mr Hobson said I should use the opportunity for Lisa or Tina to learn so it went from being a personal thing to a beta thing."

"Going out yourself would have been reckless. Especially when you know there are people in the area who previously kidnapped you. I thought you had more sense than that."

Jayne thought about responding but didn't want to dig herself into a deeper hole. "Yes, sir."

"Mr Hobson told you to wait an hour. Why do you think he did that?"

Jayne paused to think. This was a skill she'd learnt from Stacy. Never be forced into a rushed answer. Mr Taylor wasn't going anywhere. Jayne didn't want this drawn out. She wanted to get back to bed.

"To give you or others chance to veto it. I suppose also to give extra time for whoever they blabbed to get told and to watch us."

"Anything else?"

Helen spoke up. "Wasn't that hour also so security could come up with their own 0plans?"

"Very good, yes."

Helen beamed and continued, "I'd presumed that The Supplier had informed people before Louis came to the bar. In some ways he tipped us off. I don't know if it was deliberate or not. "

"An interesting supposition," Mr Taylor mused. "He certainly seems different from what we knew. Or thought we knew."

"Why did you want us not to mention that we'd played in France before?" Jayne enquired. "They could check, and see we have a history of concerts and stop investigating us."

"Now isn't the time," Mr Taylor responded. "If they are looking at us, there is less chance that they are looking elsewhere. We had a last-minute invitation and then they got a tipoff that we're up to no good. If the attention is on Hayfield, there is less attention elsewhere. When you asked her about looking around near the European Parliament, would have raised a few flags."

"That's a bit of a gamble," Jayne considered aloud. "Just because they are looking at us, doesn't mean that they aren't also looking elsewhere. It might ignite curiosity and open their eyes to what's going on."

"There are pros and cons for most actions. The reason Hayfield got added was due to changing conditions which planners deemed needed a change. The situation is being monitored, and it was them that asked you not to give Hayfields history. They might come across it themselves, but so far, they haven't. I'm glad you followed what Anna said. That impressed some very important people."

"What about tomorrow?" enquired Helen. "Is the sightseeing trip tomorrow morning still on?"

"That is something Mr Hobson will explain in the morning. I'm not here to bypass him, but to make sure you understood enough to not mistakenly jeopardise things."

"But not too much, just in case we're kidnapped and tortured. We can't tell them what we don't know."

"Yes Helen, but I wouldn't really put it like that. I think if you were kidnapped again-"

Mr Taylor stopped and shuddered. "Anyway, I think we are caught up. I'll leave you to get back to getting ready to sleep."

They were alone again. "Now, let me complete your birthday surprise," smiled Helen, gently removing Jayne's robe off her shoulders.