Emily was in her study listening to a recording of her young husband plotting her death with tears in her eyes. She pulled the black phone from her bag and texted "phase 2" to the only contact on the phone. She noticed that she had another email, so she clicked it and read :-
To: emily.harrison@securemail.uk
From: phase.two@securemail.uk
Subject:Phase Two
Dear Emily,
It has come to our notice that your spouse is planning to have you murdered. We detected him on a TOR hidden website that deals with hit-men. Our plan is to delay his efforts by running various kinds of interference on his electronic devices, this should buy us a few hours to plan something with a longer time-span. Your request to go to Phase Two is acknowledged.
Regards
Phase Two Team
Emily read the message and wondered what 'longer time-span' meant. Her train of thought was interrupted.
"Fuck !!" shouted Harry from his room. They had been in separate bedrooms for a while now.
"What's wrong ?" shouted Emily.
"This bloody laptop !" he shouted back "It just crashed." he shouted back.
"Just re-boot it." shouted Emily smirking.
"I just did but it says it can't find its hard drive ! what's happening ?"
"WOW those phase two people don't piss around." she thought smiling because she knew exactly what was happening. The Remote Access Trojan (RAT) installed on Harry's laptop had been monitoring his activity and sending the contents back to the Phase Two Team. It got an instruction from them to trash Harry's laptop by writing digital crap all over it's hard-drive.
Harry pulled his mobile phone from his jacket. He typed-in the PIN and tried to call someone in his contacts list.
"What The Fuck !!" he screamed again.
"What Now !!" she screamed back.
"No service ! Are you getting a signal ?" he asked.
"Yes, mine's fine." she nearly burst into fits of hysterics. "No laptop, no phone - that should certainly slow him down for a few hours." she thought.
"I need to get this sorted. I'll be back in a while." he shouted running down the stairs and out the front door.
She carried on working on her Mac while wondering if it would raise too much suspicion if she installed another RAT (Remote Access Trojan) on Harry's new laptop and mobile. Even someone as dim as Harry would surely realise it must have been her all along. Harry walked quickly down the road to his friend's house a few blocks away. He often had old laptops and phones for sale and had helped him many times in the past with various IT problems. A car parked down the road started its engine.
Emily had just finished booking a flight when her mobile rang.
"Hello !"
"Hello, is that Emily Harrison ?" asked the voice on the other end.
"Yes."
"This is police constable Derrick Smith. Your spouse was admitted to hospital after a road traffic accident."
"Oh My God, is he OK ?" said Emily
"He's not critical. He has a broken leg, mild concussion, fractured arm, various cuts and bruises so should make a full recovery. We are trying to trace the car involved."
"OK, I'll be there shortly. Thanks and bye." said Emily trying to work out the probability of a laptop crash, no mobile signal and an accident happening to the same person in the space of one hour. The odds were huge so it had to be the Phase Two Team buying her a few more days to get everything wrapped up.
"So, Mr Harrison, can you tell me what happened ?" ask the police officer getting out his notepad.
"I was walking to my friend's house when this dick drove right into me !" said Harry wincing with pain.
"Do you know the driver ? Could you describe the car ?" asked the police officer.
"No, he whacked me from behind and drove away, the git !!" said Harry "I didn't see jack shit !" he added in case the police officer didn't quite get the first bit.
"Oh Harry, what happened, are you OK ?" asked Emily feigning concern.
"Hi honey, some arse-wipe ran over me." said Harry nodding in the direction of the plaster on his leg.
"Doctor, how is he, what's the prognosis ?" ask Emily to the doctor.
"It's not as bad as it looks. He should be walking in a couple of months." explained the doc.
"Oh, thank god for that. We were booked to go on holiday in about ten weeks, so I guess he should be ready by then ?"
"Assuming no complications, I can't see why not." confirmed the doc.
"OK, that's a relief, thanks doc. Harry I have to pop out and check on a few things but will be back later, OK ?" said Emily.
"OK, see you later, honey." said Harry feigning affection.
Emily left and got back in her car. She drove to the special storage facility arranged by the Phase Two team. She unloaded a few priceless artworks and took them into the unit. She picked up the fake artworks supplied by the Phase Two team and put them in her car. She then drove home and placed the fake art where the real art had been. She went upstairs to her study and read the waiting email :-
To: emily.harrison@securemail.uk
From: phase.two@securemail.uk
Subject:Phase Two
Dear Emily,
We have new information on how your spouse intends to kill you. You are both booked to go on holiday in a few weeks to Belize and then to go back-packing. Harry has arranged for you to be kidnapped by a local gang and killed. He hopes he will get all of your estate as arranged in your old will. We assume this will have been secretly re-written to exclude him, and to include a few fake charities (owned by us) who will get what's left of your wealth and surreptitiously pass it on to you.
Be assured that you will be in no danger. Our team here has intercepted the messages to/from the gangs, and it will be our team in Belize who will be kidnapping you and faking your death. They will probably rough-up Harry to make it look good. They are all ex SAS and SBS and are quite able to handle situations like this.
Regards
Phase Two Team
"This shit's getting real !" thought Emily as she re-read the email "... and perhaps a little exciting." She went into the kitchen and looked around to see what she could live without and what she couldn't. On the wall was a wooden frame containing various spices. Her late father made it for her when she bought her first house all those years ago. She removed it from the wall and put it in a box by the door. She removed a few more items and put them in the box too. These would be joining her in her new life. Tomorrow she would replace them with cheap, similar looking crap from one of the pound stores. Harry probably wouldn't notice but if he did ... she might need to think of a reason.
She went downstairs and sat on the sofa, avoiding Harry's beer stains. She wondered if it was possible to see Harry's face when he was told he would be getting absolutely jack-shit from her 'death'. This was going to be fun.
Index Chapter 5 Chapter 7
To: emily.harrison@securemail.uk
From: phase.two@securemail.uk
Subject:Phase Two
Dear Emily,
It has come to our notice that your spouse is planning to have you murdered. We detected him on a TOR hidden website that deals with hit-men. Our plan is to delay his efforts by running various kinds of interference on his electronic devices, this should buy us a few hours to plan something with a longer time-span. Your request to go to Phase Two is acknowledged.
Regards
Phase Two Team
Emily read the message and wondered what 'longer time-span' meant. Her train of thought was interrupted.
"Fuck !!" shouted Harry from his room. They had been in separate bedrooms for a while now.
"What's wrong ?" shouted Emily.
"This bloody laptop !" he shouted back "It just crashed." he shouted back.
"Just re-boot it." shouted Emily smirking.
"I just did but it says it can't find its hard drive ! what's happening ?"
"WOW those phase two people don't piss around." she thought smiling because she knew exactly what was happening. The Remote Access Trojan (RAT) installed on Harry's laptop had been monitoring his activity and sending the contents back to the Phase Two Team. It got an instruction from them to trash Harry's laptop by writing digital crap all over it's hard-drive.
Harry pulled his mobile phone from his jacket. He typed-in the PIN and tried to call someone in his contacts list.
"What The Fuck !!" he screamed again.
"What Now !!" she screamed back.
"No service ! Are you getting a signal ?" he asked.
"Yes, mine's fine." she nearly burst into fits of hysterics. "No laptop, no phone - that should certainly slow him down for a few hours." she thought.
"I need to get this sorted. I'll be back in a while." he shouted running down the stairs and out the front door.
She carried on working on her Mac while wondering if it would raise too much suspicion if she installed another RAT (Remote Access Trojan) on Harry's new laptop and mobile. Even someone as dim as Harry would surely realise it must have been her all along. Harry walked quickly down the road to his friend's house a few blocks away. He often had old laptops and phones for sale and had helped him many times in the past with various IT problems. A car parked down the road started its engine.
Emily had just finished booking a flight when her mobile rang.
"Hello !"
"Hello, is that Emily Harrison ?" asked the voice on the other end.
"Yes."
"This is police constable Derrick Smith. Your spouse was admitted to hospital after a road traffic accident."
"Oh My God, is he OK ?" said Emily
"He's not critical. He has a broken leg, mild concussion, fractured arm, various cuts and bruises so should make a full recovery. We are trying to trace the car involved."
"OK, I'll be there shortly. Thanks and bye." said Emily trying to work out the probability of a laptop crash, no mobile signal and an accident happening to the same person in the space of one hour. The odds were huge so it had to be the Phase Two Team buying her a few more days to get everything wrapped up.
"So, Mr Harrison, can you tell me what happened ?" ask the police officer getting out his notepad.
"I was walking to my friend's house when this dick drove right into me !" said Harry wincing with pain.
"Do you know the driver ? Could you describe the car ?" asked the police officer.
"No, he whacked me from behind and drove away, the git !!" said Harry "I didn't see jack shit !" he added in case the police officer didn't quite get the first bit.
"Oh Harry, what happened, are you OK ?" asked Emily feigning concern.
"Hi honey, some arse-wipe ran over me." said Harry nodding in the direction of the plaster on his leg.
"Doctor, how is he, what's the prognosis ?" ask Emily to the doctor.
"It's not as bad as it looks. He should be walking in a couple of months." explained the doc.
"Oh, thank god for that. We were booked to go on holiday in about ten weeks, so I guess he should be ready by then ?"
"Assuming no complications, I can't see why not." confirmed the doc.
"OK, that's a relief, thanks doc. Harry I have to pop out and check on a few things but will be back later, OK ?" said Emily.
"OK, see you later, honey." said Harry feigning affection.
Emily left and got back in her car. She drove to the special storage facility arranged by the Phase Two team. She unloaded a few priceless artworks and took them into the unit. She picked up the fake artworks supplied by the Phase Two team and put them in her car. She then drove home and placed the fake art where the real art had been. She went upstairs to her study and read the waiting email :-
To: emily.harrison@securemail.uk
From: phase.two@securemail.uk
Subject:Phase Two
Dear Emily,
We have new information on how your spouse intends to kill you. You are both booked to go on holiday in a few weeks to Belize and then to go back-packing. Harry has arranged for you to be kidnapped by a local gang and killed. He hopes he will get all of your estate as arranged in your old will. We assume this will have been secretly re-written to exclude him, and to include a few fake charities (owned by us) who will get what's left of your wealth and surreptitiously pass it on to you.
Be assured that you will be in no danger. Our team here has intercepted the messages to/from the gangs, and it will be our team in Belize who will be kidnapping you and faking your death. They will probably rough-up Harry to make it look good. They are all ex SAS and SBS and are quite able to handle situations like this.
Regards
Phase Two Team
"This shit's getting real !" thought Emily as she re-read the email "... and perhaps a little exciting." She went into the kitchen and looked around to see what she could live without and what she couldn't. On the wall was a wooden frame containing various spices. Her late father made it for her when she bought her first house all those years ago. She removed it from the wall and put it in a box by the door. She removed a few more items and put them in the box too. These would be joining her in her new life. Tomorrow she would replace them with cheap, similar looking crap from one of the pound stores. Harry probably wouldn't notice but if he did ... she might need to think of a reason.
She went downstairs and sat on the sofa, avoiding Harry's beer stains. She wondered if it was possible to see Harry's face when he was told he would be getting absolutely jack-shit from her 'death'. This was going to be fun.