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“Doesn’t it?” She raised an eyebrow. “I want you to come into the office tomorrow. You can update me on the case, and we can decide where to go with it next.”

“Fine. I’ll see you then.” Josiah flicked his hand curtly over the holopad, ending the call.

“What’s she like?” Alexander enquired as he picked up his fork to start eating again.

“Esther? She’s my boss.”

“And your friend? She likes you. She’s protecting you. Do you trust her?”

“Completely. I’d trust Esther with my life.”

“How did you become an investigator?” Alexander pressed. “You were in the army before, weren’t you? How did you go from that to a job at Inquisitus?”

“Under false pretences, as it turns out,” he replied. “Although I didn’t know that until a few days ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’d like to hear it.”

Josiah gazed at him thoughtfully. Alexander had been challenging him since he’d arrived, constantly pushing boundaries, testing him, trying to work out what kind of man he was for some reason of his own.

The sooner he could win Alexander’s trust, the sooner he’d get the answers he needed to solve this case.

He had nothing to lose by sharing some of his life story with the IS – or a highly edited version of it, at least.

“After Peter and I married, I joined the Military Police…”

Alexander sat back in his chair, listening intently.

It was the best time of his life – they’d finally been able to live together as a married couple, sharing a tiny square box of a house on camp.

Josiah had never known this kind of stability and happiness – early-morning sex, long walks in the countryside with Peter and Hattie at weekends, and having someone to come home to every evening.

He loved his job with the Military Police and thought he might have finally found his niche.

He aced all his training courses and was rapidly promoted as a result.

He arrived home one evening to find a small woman in her late sixties sitting in their kitchen.

Her grey curls were cut close to her head, and there was a pair of outsize spectacles perched owlishly on her nose.

She was a neat, tidy kind of person, from her starched navy-blue suit down to the bright white trainers on her feet.

Her cream-coloured blouse was open at the neck to reveal a plain gold cross shining on her dark brown skin.

“Hey.” Peter jumped up and kissed him on the cheek, while Hattie barked and squeaked her way through her usual excited greeting, tail wagging frantically.

“Is this the Elsie I’ve heard so much about?” Josiah asked when Hattie finally calmed down.

“You can’t possibly have heard as much about me as I have about you.

” Elsie ignored Josiah’s outstretched hand and pulled him into a big bear hug.

“As if a handshake would do!” she snorted, and he laughed and wrapped his arms around her slight body.

She was a little bird of a woman, but he could sense the steel in her.

“That’s better,” she said. “This makes up for you two not inviting me to your wedding.”

“To be fair, we didn’t invite anyone.” Josiah released her, and she took a step back and looked him up and down.

“So, this is the only man in the world who could make Peter Hunt settle down. You never told me he was such a big, strapping lad, Peter.”

Josiah rolled his eyes, grinning at her all the same. She had such a warm, motherly air that it was impossible not to instantly like her.

“It’s good to meet you at last, Elsie,” Josiah said, sitting down at the kitchen table .

“I’d have come before, but I’ve been recovering from a bunion operation,” she said, gesturing to her comfortable footwear.

“Elsie and I have been using her downtime to restructure the Kathleen Line,” Peter said, handing Josiah a freshly brewed cup of tea.

“The situation in Europe shows no sign of settling down, so there’s no chance of me returning there anytime soon to run the convoys.

I have plenty of contacts out there, though, so we’ve been coordinating with them, and I’m confident we’ll have the Line up and running again soon. ”

“When were you doing all this?” Josiah demanded, stirring his tea noisily.

“While you were at work. You were busy with your new job – I didn’t want to distract you,” Peter said with a disarming smile.

“There’s no stopping Peter Hunt when he’s on a mission,” Elsie laughed. “You must know that, Joe. Although…” She gave him a thoughtful look. “I reckon if anyone can ‘rein’ this man in, it’s you, Josiah Raine.”

“It’s spelled differently. Like the weather with an ‘e’ on the end,” he told her grumpily.

She gazed at him quizzically. “Is he on our side?” she asked Peter. “’Cause I’d hate someone this grouchy to be against us.”

“He’s definitely on our side,” Peter told her firmly. “Aren’t you, Joe?”

“Of course I bloody well am. But I’d appreciate you keeping me in the loop.”

Peter made his “I’m in the doghouse” face for Elsie, which just annoyed Josiah even more.

Peter winced at his expression and reached out to squeeze his arm gently.

“Sorry, Joe, but there was nothing you could do to help, and now you’re working with the MPs – well, I didn’t want to put you in a difficult position. ”

“What does that mean?” Josiah demanded.

“It means I’m breaking a dozen different laws, and it’s kind of your job to arrest people like me.”

“Is that what you think of me? Christ, Peter – you know I’d never do that.”

Peter exchanged glances with Elsie .

“What?” Josiah asked impatiently. He hated feeling like an outsider in his own home, with his own husband.

“Well, see, thing is, you might have to,” Peter said apologetically.

Josiah went cold. “What do you mean?”

“You know how bad things are out there, son,” Elsie said gently. “You’re an MP – you know the rumours are all true. There’s been a tsunami of escaped indies hiding out in the Quarterlands, and their houders are up in arms about it, demanding something be done.”

Josiah glanced around, but they were completely alone, and Peter trusted Elsie with his life, so he did, too.

He lowered his voice all the same. “We’ve been briefed that investigation agencies are being sent in to track the indies down and haul them back to their houders – which is pissing off the Quarterlanders no end. ”

“Joe grew up in the Quarterlands,” Peter explained to Elsie.

“Ah,” Elsie said. “Then you’ll know how they feel.”

“Yeah – they don’t appreciate the government interference, but they don’t like all those escaped indies moving in with them, either.

Conditions are bad enough in the Quarters as it is, without all those extra people.

They won’t hand them back, though,” Josiah said flatly.

“There is no way any Quarterlander would cooperate with the Thorities on this.”

“No, but they’re angry. You know the Quarterlands better than anyone else in this room,” Peter said. “You know what a powder keg they are.”

“I’m friends with an investigative journalist in my church,” Elsie confided. “He says there have been riots all over the country. Civil unrest everywhere.”

Josiah and Peter exchanged worried glances. “It’s been hushed up, but we’ve been briefed,” Peter said. “The government’s been cracking down hard, but that just makes the Quarterlanders fight back harder.”

“The government!” Josiah snorted. “The government would like to clear out the Quarterlands, rip them down, and force everyone there into indentured servitude.”

“That’s their long-term goal,” Elsie agreed. “It’s why they’re offering all these tax breaks to anyone hiring indies. They want to sweep all the undesirables into the IS programme and demolish the Quarterlands, so there’s nowhere left for escaped indies to hide.”

“Well, fuck that,” Josiah said.

“Elsie and I have been thinking… and we have a plan,” Peter said tentatively.

Josiah fought down his irritation that Peter had been discussing this plan with Elsie rather than him.

It wasn’t Elsie’s fault; she and Peter had been working together on the Kathleen Line for years, so it was natural that he’d confide in her, but it hurt all the same.

“How can I help?” he asked, without hesitating.

“See – that’s why I married him.” Peter grinned at Elsie.

“I’m sure that’s not the only reason.” She gave a little wink that made Josiah blush.

“It won’t be easy,” Peter warned. “I’m going to ask you to do something hard, Joe – maybe the hardest thing you’ve ever done.”

“Okay.” Josiah squared his shoulders. “Tell me.”

Peter went into captain mode, straight-backed and to the point. “I was called in for a briefing this morning. The police can’t cope with the rioting in the Quarterlands, so the government is going to send in the army.”

“Christ,” Josiah said. “I knew it was on the cards, but I didn’t think they’d actually do it. When?”

“Tonight. I’ve been put on standby from midnight to lead an assault against the rioters if the police action fails.”

“Shit.” Josiah hadn’t been back to the Quarterlands in years, but he still thought of those who lived there as his people.

“It gets worse,” Elsie said.

Peter looked Josiah straight in the eye, deadly serious. “We’re not just talking about riot drones and water cannons here, Joe. They told us that if we meet any resistance, I’m to give the order to open fire.”

“What the fuck…?” Josiah got up and paced around the room. “They want you to shoot British citizens? Jesus!”

“It’s an object lesson,” Peter explained. “A warning to the Quarterlanders to stop harbouring escaped indies.”

“Hundreds could die. Thousands.”

“I know,” Peter said quietly.

“There are no hospitals in the Quarterlands, and no doctors apart from a few druggies and ex-cons. If you open fire on them, they’ll suffer horribly.”

“I know, I know. Hey, calm down.” Peter placed a hand on his chest to stop him pacing. “Of course I won’t fire on them, Joe.”