Part Nine   "Expectations"

 

Tammy's Tales Book 6
 

 
Saturday 19th September 2015
 

Beccy opened a new text message on her phone and stopped, unsure what to write.

She was bored stiff, she'd been forced to ride the train back to Thurso but this time didn't have Kevin there to talk to. Not that he'd been brilliant company on the way South, after all what do a fifty-something man and a nineteen year old girl have in common? Of course they couldn't talk about their professional connections, so apart from having him physically there, that she might as well have been on her own.

Her right shoulder was sore, and her bra strap was rubbing the dressing pad. Beccy had participated in a live fire exercise on the last full day of the course and had nearly taken a shot in the neck. Her shoulder had been grazed but at the time adrenalin had kept her going, this had been the final exercise after all.

It had been dressed on site and thankfully hadn't required a visit to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. She'd worried about failing the course but the soldiers training with her told her that she'd met the 'one' with her name on it. She hadn't known when she'd arrived in Hythe for the course they were soldiers, all had arrived in civvies and there was something weird about their accents.

They'd loved her soft Scottish voice and gradually they told her where they were from, a true smorgasbord of nationalities! Two Kiwis, three Canadians, 2 from Belize, 3 from Trinidad & Tobago, a single Aussie and two Namibians. All were from Commonwealth nations, with a little more digging she discovered that their training was geared towards the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Beccy had been inserted into this group as one of the party had dropped out with an injury.

One of them, Kyle, was with the New Zealand Special Boat Service and knew the injured party.

"Yeah, he thought he could handle the surf at Newquay, but he got into a tussle with this kid who whipped his ass."

"Really, did he get badly injured?"

"They choppered him to Plymouth with a dislocated shoulder, but he went back a few days later to see the kid."

"Did you get the kid's name? I was in Newquay a few weeks ago."

"Daniel, apparently, from Redruth."

"He was my boyfriend!"

"Small world .... wait until I tell Bruce!"

"That's not his real name is it, I mean, he might be Australian but ....."

"Seriously, and he gets ribbed for it!"

That set the tone for the week, good humour and she had established a connection to them. They were staying in barracks on site which were rather basic but really no worse than the school dorms for the eleven year olds.

What was odd was that she was the only female on the course, the instructors were reticent to talk about other courses but did admit that the Commonwealth groups were usually a mix. That meant Beccy received plenty of attention, although they were surprised she was only nineteen.

"So, what's a pretty little thing like you doing on a course like this?"

"I hesitated in a live situation on Saturday night."

"Okay that explains why training is needed but not why you were there in the first place."

"Sorry, that's a need-to-know."

"Sure, we've all got those."

She gave the Kiwi a kiss on the cheek, "thanks for understanding."

"Anytime, Beccy, anytime!"

Much of the week had been in the classroom or on a range, although there was no instruction on the legalities of a loaded weapon on the streets of the UK and she'd had a small problem on arrival. This was exacerbated by Kevin's disappearing act when Beccy had walked the very short distance between Kings Cross and St Pancras stations in London. Kevin had dived down to the Victoria Line and had no intentions of continuing into Kent, his destination was new Scotland Yard.

"Ah, welcome Miss Adams, do you have any valuables you'd like to place in the main safe during your stay?"

"Probably not, but can you direct me to the armoury?"

"You'll get your armoury visit tomorrow."

She removed the make-up bag and withdrew the Glock, releasing the clip before putting it on the table.

"I'd like to put this in the armoury while I'm on site, if you don't mind?"

That caused a flurry of activity which she found amusing, until a female NCO took her off for a strip search.

"My apologies, Miss Adams, your licence is valid."

"That's what I said before my dignity was removed. That weapon was issued to me by the Met Police Firearms Unit."

"We checked."

"You could have checked before the rubber gloves came out?"

"Sorry, Miss, but we don't take chances, this site has been targeted before."

"Then I hope you never have to visit the Highlands as I can ensure you that we don't take chances either. Now, I wish to lodge a formal complaint - get me the commanding officer!"

She hadn't seen the NCO, or the other officer again during her stay, but hadn't received anything close to an apology either - the military doesn't make mistakes, does it?

Apart from that incident, and the time spent being patched up on Thursday, she'd enjoyed her time there and had a clutch of range certificates that she couldn't show anyone.

The guys on the course had been good fun and had declared her to be an honorary man, so she went along with it. Of course they all had stories to tell but most of her stories had happened to Tammy and not Beccy, it wouldn't take long to link the two identities together.

Beccy's excuse was that she was still in training and wasn't strictly operational, without stating where she would be operational. That generated some intrigue but the guys, all special forces, knew better than to prod.

Talking of prodding, one or two had decided to make advances but that was not going to happen. By the Saturday she'd declared she was on the rag so that kept them at bay for four or five days. She suspected there would be a going away party on the last night, Thursday, and she would be the present. Suffering an injury during that afternoon was a good enough reason for an early night, by herself.

There was a course debrief on the Friday morning then she made for the armoury to retrieve her Glock. The armourer hadn't met her during the week, and queried why a nineteen year old girl was carrying a weapon.

"Because people keep trying to kill me, why do you think I was on a course here?"

After a call to the commander's office she was on her way, then had to go back for the spare clip and barely made the bus to the station.

She now had a better idea what to say in her message.
 

Hi Daniel, I heard you met an Aussie called Bruce?
 
Hi babe, it was fun but he drank me under the table when he came back from hospital. How did you know?
 
Just met his mate, who said they'd been an accident at Newquay. I worked out he was talking about you
 
When are you coming back? We should get together again.
 
Dunno, I want to visit my aunt again but I start Uni next week.
 
I miss you x x x
 
I miss you too <}

Her phone battery died, joining the demise of her Kindle and her MP3 player with still an hour to run, her usual phone was lodged in the office safe.

As the train finally pulled into Thurso it was Saturday lunchtime, she took a cab to the office then realised her pass was in the safe and no-one was in. By then, her cab had also pulled away. Tammy grabbed her bags and walked around to the Castletown Hotel for a coffee whilst she arranged transport.

"Tammy!"

Of course, the gang were in the lounge bar, fresh from rehearsals.

"Hi everyone. I've just done the sleeper from London and I'm knackered."

"Why didn't you fly?" Several asked the same question.

"Someone else arranged it, I need a coffee and a ride home - pleeeaaassseee!"

"Why are you wearing that?"

Tammy hadn't intended to see anyone. She'd put holes in all her leggings during the exercises and hadn't wanted to travel in a skirt so she'd been issued with a set of fatigues, complete with a beret. It had meant she hadn't been bothered on the train journey.

"Oh, outward bound course."

Tammy made a dash for the loo, taking the time to put a little slap on.

"I think you've lost weight. Oh, I need to thank you."

"Why?"

"John's being moved to the new Thurso office and you had something to do with it."

"Not really, but it's okay."

"Julian said you'd been really helpful."

"Apparently, Tanya, you've been calling six times a day."

"It wasn't as bad as that, most days anyway. If only they'd have let John keep his mobile on?"

"Never mind, would someone please take me home?"

"Where's your car?"

"No idea, it was going in for repairs last time I saw it."

"Which was?"

"Nearly two weeks ago."

"Oh, you haven't heard, have you?"

"No, I've been off the grid, what haven't I heard?"

"You need to sit down for this."

"I am sat down, I'm tired and I need a shower."

"No argument there."

"So, what haven't I heard?"

"Nothing happened."

"Eh? Tanya?"

"No-one was killed, kidnapped or attacked while you were out of town."

"So?"

"Tammy, Science will prove that you are the Thurso problem."

"Come on, I really don't have the energy."

"Okay, I'm pregnant."

"Wow! Really?"

"Yeah, it was kind of a surprise."

"But, you were on the pill."

"I missed a week or two just before we moved into the cottage, I didn't think it would matter."

"Obviously it did. So how long? When's it due?"

"Twelve weeks gone, so due date is around the first of April."

"Look Tanya, am I being set up? First of April?"

"No, honest and I want you to be the Godmother, ask your mum as I had to notify her."

"Oh, she's your line manager. What did your mum say?"

"That she's still too young to have grandchildren! Come on, I'll run you home."

***

Tammy wasn't recognised at the door, after she had to ring the bell.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"I'm Tamara Smart and who are you?"

"Sorry Miss, I'm Lily."

"Hello Lily, unfortunately my keys are somewhere else. Are my parents here?"

"No, Miss, they went shopping. Can I help?"

"My bag needs to go up to my room but I need to use the office first, please don't unpack anything."

"I understand."

Tammy's first port of call was actually the kitchen so she could grab a banana and a glass of water.

She locked herself into the office and removed the make-up bag containing the Glock from her shoulder bag, then placed it in the safe. This was not an ideal solution but the best she could manage under the circumstances. Beccy's firearms certificate and her range certificates also went in there. She took the encryption key from the safe and plugged it into the phone.

"Hilary, where were you?"

"You're home, good. I was at lunch when you came by."

"I wanted to ditch the weapon and collect my real life from the safe."

"Is it locked away?"

"Yes, and I'm knackered."

"Okay, I'll see you at midday tomorrow."

"Sure."

Tammy made her way to her room and went straight for the shower, taking as long as she needed.

There was a knock on her door as Tammy was drying her hair, dressed in a onesie.

"Hi Dad."

"Hi honey, how did it go?"

"Fun, mostly, but I got an injury." She slid the onesie off her right shoulder.

"That looks sore."

"Try wearing a bra strap over it. I need a fresh dressing."

"The first aid kit's in the kitchen, how did you do it?"

"A bullet grazed me."

"A bullet?"

"It was an exercise and I was sloppy."

"What kind of exercise uses real ammunition?"

"The sort done on an army range. Oh, please don't go into the safe."

"Why?"

"I've put something in there that shouldn't be there."

"Such as?"

"A gun."

"Did you borrow, steal it?"

"No, Dad, it was issued to me when Kevin was here two weeks ago. I've had it that long, but tomorrow I'll take it down to Caithness Marine and lose it in their safe."

"I can't say I'm happy."

"Look, it's only overnight and Pru's not here before Monday?"

"Okay but not a word to your mum?"

"Of course not, I'm not stupid. If you don't mind, I need a few hours kip."

***

She woke at five, her electronic devices were all on charge and her case had been emptied. Tammy brushed her hair into submission then padded out of the door in fluffy slippers, before changing her mind and going back.

She'd left her dilators in her case, so where were they now? She'd missed the last two appointments with them and really needed to do something. She also decided she needed a wee so walked into the bathroom.

A large vase-like glass container was on the vanity and a bottle of Milton was next to it. Her dilators were in a semi cloudy solution in the vase, a note next to it said they'd been put in to sterilise at two and not to use before six. The handwriting was Joan's.

Tammy finally made it downstairs a few minutes later, by now she was really hungry. She put her head in the kitchen.

"Hi Zara."

"Hi Miss Smart."

"It's Tammy, right?"

"Okay, Tammy, have you lost weight?"

"How can you see?"

"Your face."

"Oh, hang on."

Tammy dived back to her bathroom and weighed herself, she was down by four kilos, nine pounds, from a few weeks earlier.

"Yeah, I've lost four kilos."

"Good job I was asked to come today, got to make sure you eat properly. What have you been eating?"

"Army food."

"You're not in the army?"

"Long story. Anyway, how are you finding it here?"

"Good fun, solid work. It's a lovely apartment."

"What happened with your Dad?"

"He went under, the bank pulled the loans, shame really but he couldn't manage it."

"What about the customers?"

"It's in the hands of the receivers, they're running it now. I'm just glad you gave me this opportunity."

"You were in the right place at the right time, Zara. Now, where's the first aid kit?"

Zara was a qualified first aider but Tammy couldn't say how she'd obtained the injury, she taped a double thick pad over the injury site.

"That will be okay until tomorrow morning."

"Thanks Zara."

"TAMMY!" Joan's voice reverberated.