Page 57 of The Square

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - DANNY

“What bloody happenedout there, bruv?” Theo asks as we all enter Eliza’s.

“Somebody tried to fool the Queen’s Guard with fake Crown Jewels, and it didn’t go well,” I say.

“Bloody hell does that mean, mate?”

“It means these three”—I point at Eliza, Christine, and Alec—“thought they could trick a team of armed mercenaries with the old mistaken identity routine.”

“Oh, right, mate,” Eliza says, wryly, “it’s our fault. Not at all the fault of the two people who showed up here suggesting that we assault a virtual fortress in the hopes of retrieving a man no one would really miss in the first place.” Then she adds, “I’m referring to you, Christine, and Alec, lest there be any doubt.”

“Eliza,” I offer, “I know we haven’t seen each other in a while and that we don’t really know each other that well, but I’d like to invite you to go fuck yourself.”

“All right, all right,” interjects Russell. “Let’s all just take a breath, shall we? We got in, got Alec, and all made it back safe and sound. So, mission accomplished, yeah?”

There’s general mumbling, in which I participate, because if you just look at the Xs and Os of the thing, he’s technically correct. Still, something isn’t sitting right for me…

“Why’d they stop?” I ask.

“Why did who stop?” Eliza responds.

“The mercs.”

“How do you know they’re mercs?”

“What-fucking-ever! The guys with the guns. They stopped shooting. Why? Somebody must’ve ordered it. Who? Did you see?”

“No, luv. I was in the truck wondering why we weren’t moving.”

I look at Brenden, who’s at the fridge, opening a Whitbread Pale Ale. He shrugs. I step over, snatch the beer from him, take a sip, and hand it back. He scowls at me.

I look to Russell, who shrugs also, and Charlie, who doesn’t seem to notice because he’s focused on Christine, who stands in the corner, kind of hugging herself.

“Alec,” I say, regarding him. He looks absurd in pants and a jacket that are three inches too short and no shoes. The beard also looks ridiculous on him. Some people are built for beards, some not so much. Alec is definitely in the latter category. “What the fuck happened? Do you know?”

He lifts his head, looks at each of us in turn, taking me in last, and says, “Lars.”

“Lars?” I repeat. He nods. “What about Lars?”

“It’s him. He’s the one. He’s the one who brought me there. He’s the one who was keeping me there. It’s him.”

“Fuck are you saying?”

He shrugs. “Dunno, man. Dunno how. Dunno why. But we saw him. Christine saw him, then I saw him. Standing there. Watching it all. He’s the one behind it. He’s the one who stopped it.”

“I don’t even understand how—”

“Yeah, I don’t either, man. But I don’t make the fokken news. I just report it.”

There’s a moment of silence before Eliza shakes her head, echoes Alec in an almost inaudible, sarcastic mumble, “You don’t make the news…” and then says brightly, “Well, very good! Good luck to the three of you. Goodbye now. Charlie, Brenden, Russell, Theo… tea?” She goes to the stove and grabs up a kettle.

I rub my hand down my face and say, “Yeah, OK. We’ll go. But you should too.”

“What’s that mean?” Theo asks.

“If Lars is somehow the reason that Alec is still alive then he’s not done.”

“Done with what?” Eliza says.