Chapter 583 - Honestly, tell me the truth

7 June, Matthew's Villa, City K

After seeing both Lexi and Dominic to bed, Matthew returned downstairs and showed Stephen into his secure study, shutting the door behind them, while activating the anti-surveillance measures.  Without thinking he moved over and quickly poured two whiskeys, before handing one to Stephen who was sitting on a chair before sitting down on another nearby chair.

Looking directly at Stephen, Matthew said "Truth time my friend."

"Truth time?  You can speak."

"Stop being cynical.  My role as a member of the military has been known since I enlisted.  You think I keep secrets."

"I know you do … Aramas."

Matthew opened his mouth but could not say anything.

"You think my superiors do not tell me about intelligence officers who are in my area?  They tell me those who they know of.  That means I know about you and your other musketeers.  I know John's true position with the police, and I suspect that the others I know about neither of you two do."

Stephen paused, shook his head, before taking a sip of his whiskey and putting it down on the coffee table.

"Stop being surprised.  You are not the only one with secrets, we all have them, some are just bigged than others secrets."

Matthew tilted his head slightly to the right, before picking up his whiskey, having a sip himself and putting the glass back down.

Looking directly at Stephen he said "True.  My secrets, like John are simply just a part of our job.  You on the other hand …"

"Touché.  All you simple do is hide part of what you do.  Does Lexi know?  What about John's woman?"

"Lexi has known for a while that I am special forces.  Honestly, I would suspect Paul's wife Abigail either knew or drew the connection given her brother-in-law…"

"Is one of your musketeers.  I am not ignorant of the connection.  So, Paul knows?"

"Not sure either way.  But he, along with Phillip, Chester, Andrew, and Sally all know that I am special forces and have some idea about John having a position that has some connections to the military.  They were all there at the ceremony where my promotion was fully acknowledged, and John received police awards that cannot be announced publicly."

"Mmmm.  What about his woman?"

"His fiancé, you mean?"

Shocked Stephen said "Fiancé?  When did that happen?"

"The other day.  But there is no need to be worried about Bronwyn.  I just feel sorry for John."

"What!?!"

"I know something you have not been told.  Bronwyn Li, Lawyer, Lieutenant in the Special Forces, intelligence analyst with a focus on legal issues, daughter of the head of Special Forces General Li and Linda Eng, niece of the current CEO of the Eng Group and the Eng Princess of her generation, just like her mother."

Stephen opened his eyes wide.  Matthew in observing his reaction knew that this information he did not know.  "Your superiors, it seems, did not tell you everything about my staff."  With that Matthew let out a little chuckle.

"Stop trying to be smart.  There was some reason you asked me here, not to raise suspicions."

"You know me too well my friend.  The intelligence, that is an issue for you.  If you want to give it to me, then fine, but if you do not, that does not bother me.  If the civilian authorities think it relevant to anything, they will pass it on."

Looking directly at Matthew Stephen said, "You have questions.  Why did I reveal the intelligence to you?  But more importantly how in the world did I become a spy with a Non-Official Cover?"

Seeing the nod from Matthew, Stephen continued "The former is the easiest.  My superiors are cautious when it comes to matters and sometimes do not think laterally.  Everything I know about you and members of the Special Forces who have intelligence backgrounds tells me that you do think laterally."

Matthew smiled, and said "You wanted us to come up with an option to act, that would not risk anything?  Like the Major Events framework?"

"How did you guess?"

"In fact, it was not me, but Bronwyn Li who came up with the idea.  Logically, the game should have been declared a major event weeks ago, but someone somewhere made the decision not to.  IF what your intelligence says is true, then there will be questions to answer.  The more I have thought about it Bronwyn's solution is right.  Not overwhelming the venue with military, but enough there to deal with an incident."

"It needs to be stopped."

"I agree, but your intelligence does not say what type of attack and we have nothing about it, so how do you propose we stop something that all we know is that there is a reasonable suspicion that there will be an attack?  It could be a bomb in situ, a suicide bomber, a gas attack, gunmen, or it could even be a play to smoke out traitors to the organisation behind it or expose someone like you."

"F*ck, you have given it thought,"

"It is what I am paid for, lowly worker bee.  You gather the intelligence, I analyise it."

"Go jump…"

"Happily.  You just tell me what type, but do not say anything without a parachute if terminal velocity will be reached or it is not safe to open a parachute.  I will not leave my wife a widow."

Stephen laughed, "Lexi would kill me if I did."

Matthew looked at Stephen and firmly stated "You are attempting to distract me.  How in the world…?"

"Did I become an intelligence officer?  You know my degree?"

"Economics with Law?"

"Correct.  But in my first year my elective units were Security and Terrorism based.  It was about a month into university when I was recruited.  They knew where I was headed with my career, and simply other than time during university breaks where I had training let me be.  Once I started travelling with my job with the Gu Group, they activated me.  All I do, when travelling I keep my eyes and ears open for anything, all the time and simply report it back.  No analysis, just a gather which lets me easily do my public and real job with the Gu Group."

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