Present day
‘Someone is watching us,’ Mia says as Ben arrives home.
‘What’s happened?’ Ben says.
‘I went to the park, and I’m sure someone followed me home.’
Ben takes her into his arms and holds her.
‘You’re safe, darling. No one knows we are here,’ he says.
Mia pushes away from him. ‘I’m telling you… I felt…’
‘Okay,’ says Ben. ‘Let’s start at the beginning. What happened?’
‘In the park. They were all looking at me. I felt uncomfortable and then I saw a glint of light in a window.’
‘A glint of light? Mia… I don’t want to sound patronizing but let’s just take a breath. Think about this rationally. What did you absolutely see that makes you think there’s danger?’ Ben says.
He pulls her into the living room and encourages her to sit down on the sofa by the window.
‘I didn’t see anything… it was a feeling. Like a prickle. In the back of my head. Like when you know someone is watching you. I’m not crazy,’ Mia says.
Ben sighs. ‘You’re not going insane. MI6 do have someone looking out for you. So, it’s probably just them you’re sensing. You’re very astute, Mia.’
‘There is someone watching?’ she says.
‘It’s for your own protection. Just try to ignore it,’ Ben says.
‘Oh thank god! I really thought I was losing it!’ Mia says.
‘No one is going to get near you while they are there. Okay?’
Mia trembles and the tears she’s been holding back all day pour down her cheeks. Ben sits down beside her and wraps his arms around her.
‘I’m… s… sorry,’ she says. ‘I’m just so tense. I keep feeling like any moment something is going to happen.’
‘MI6 are keeping an eye on you, that’s all it is. You just have to find some normality in this situation.’
‘But the park was so weird… the women kept looking at me…’
‘Why shouldn’t they? You’re gorgeous. And you’re new to the area!’ Ben says. ‘Why not try saying hello next time? Make some new friends.’
Ben laughs.
‘It’s not funny,’ Mia says pulling herself free.
‘Sorry,’ Ben says. ‘I know this is difficult. I’m just trying to lighten the mood.’
‘I might better understand why this has happened if you’d tell me what’s going on.’
Ben sighs and shakes his head. ‘It’s best you don’t know everything. I don’t really think it would help you.’
‘Try me,’ Mia says.
‘Where’s Freya?’ he asks.
‘Kitchen,’ says Mia. ‘I just didn’t want to put her in her cot until we were upstairs as well today.’
Ben gets up. He walks away into the kitchen where he finds Freya in her bouncy chair.
‘Is Freya okay?’ Mia asks.
‘I’ll bring her in,’ he says.
He picks up Freya and the chair and carries her into the living room and places her down beside the sofa. Then he goes back into the kitchen.
‘I need a drink,’ he says.
He goes to the fridge and removes a bottle of Chardonnay. Then he takes two wine glasses from the cupboard. He pours the wine and brings it back into the living room.
He places one glass in Mia’s hand and the other down on the coffee table.
Freya gurgles at him and then crams her fist into her mouth and begins to chew on it.
‘She’s teething, isn’t she?’ Ben says.
Mia nods.
‘Drink your wine. You’re going to need it.’
Mia takes a huge slug of the wine. ‘I’m listening.’
‘Do you remember the day Michael came to take you and Freya away?’
‘Of course, I do. That’s when I learned you worked for MI6…’ Mia says.
‘What else do you remember? About Michael? About you?’
Mia frowns. She thinks back to that day, just over a month ago, but it now feels like a lifetime. It’s hazy in her memory. She recalls being scared.
‘Michael’s friend Neva told you some things. About a conglomerate called the Network,’ Ben prompts.
Mia’s frown deepens. ‘Network?’
‘Yes, and stuff about your parents…’
Mia shakes her head. ‘My parents have vanished. Michael was there, and you… had a gun.’
Mia looks scared and confused. She glances at Freya.
‘Mia, you remembered it all for twenty-four hours after the incident and then it just… disappeared. Since then I’ve only reminded you of some of it. When I’ve had to.’
‘How can my memory disappear?’ she says. ‘You mean… I’m forgetting things?’
Ben sighs again. ‘Yes. But it’s not dementia. Mia, you and Michael aren’t twins. You are brother and sister, born on the same day, but to different mothers. Your biological father was the man you thought was your uncle.’
Mia’s expression changes as the memory of the revelations comes back. ‘Oh my god, earlier today, I remembered it all. Then I forgot again.’
‘Yes. The memory comes and goes. And I don’t keep reminding you because it scares you,’ Ben says. ‘It’s best you forget again and just accept my explanation that you’re safe. But when you get like this, I’m forced to… prompt you. Freya is at the heart of this.’
Mia looks at Freya again.
‘They’d take Freya. They’d turn her into… an assassin?’
Ben nods. ‘It’s why we are in hiding.’
Mia looks scared. ‘But why do I forget? Why?’
‘They… brainwashed you from childhood. It’s not your fault.’
Mia starts to cry again as the memory of what she was told pours back into her conscious mind. ‘I’m not safe! I could be turned against you… or Freya.’
‘One thing I know about you, you’d never let anything happen to Freya,’ he says. ‘But what you need to remember is that you are being protected. By me or when I’m not here, by a highly trained operative. You’re safe and so is our baby.’
Mia shakes her head in denial as the enormity of their situation hits her. Ben feels helpless as he watches the comprehension sinking in again.
‘Drink the wine,’ he says again.
Mia sips the wine automatically.
‘And again,’ Ben says. ‘Have another sip.’
Mia does as he tells her, and then she blinks and smiles.
‘Ben! You’re home. And look at me… caught with a cheeky glass of wine!’
‘Even better you poured one for me!’ he says.
Ben picks up the wine and sips it. He looks calm, but he is shaky inside. These moments disturb him as much as Mia. But at least she has the luxury of forgetting them soon after. Ben doesn’t know why a few sips of wine make her forget the horrors she’s learned. He suspects it is her mind’s defence mechanism as well as the conditioning. Every time she’s faced with the truth, she has to blot it out and bury it back inside her subconscious. Now Mia will be calm and feel safe again. At least until the next little crack appears. And those cracks are becoming more frequent.
Ben’s mind flies back to his conversation with Steward that day.
‘Is she breaking down?’ Steward had asked.
Ben looks at his wife and sighs again. ‘No,’ he says out loud. ‘You’re just trying to make sense of it all. One day maybe you will come to terms with what’s happened.’
‘Did you say something?’ Mia says sipping the wine again. ‘Oh look! My glass is empty.’
‘I’ll refill it. What about take-away tonight?’ Ben says. ‘We can have it delivered and just enjoy this wine.’
Mia smiles at him, ‘That would be a nice change!’