Page 31

There was a noise in the background, and Liz’s daughters appeared in the doorway, shouting something.

“Sorry, there’s some kind of domestic drama – I have to go.

Take care of yourself, Joe, and be careful with this Alexander person.

He sounds very mysterious and sexy, and those people are always the most dangerous.

” She gave a little wave and then disappeared.

Recalling her comment about the dining room, he smiled, remembering when Peter had first brought him here, years ago.

“You have a whole room just to eat in?”

“Yes, Joe.” Peter leaned against the doorframe, watching him with twinkling dark eyes. “It’s not unusual; lots of people do.”

“I wouldn’t know. I mean, I went straight from the Quarterlands to the army.” Even married quarters in the army camps only had kitchens to eat in – no separate dining rooms. “And you own this whole house? All of it?” he asked incredulously.

“Yup. It belonged to my grandmother, and she left it to me when she died. I’ve been renting it out all these years – I never thought I’d want to come back here. It was always her house, you see, and I didn’t think I could live here without her.”

“What changed?”

“I got married, was thrown out of the army, and finally decided I wanted a place to call home – then I remembered I already had one.” Peter grinned at him. “Could you be happy here, Joe? Just say if not, and we’ll sell it and buy a place together.”

“Are you kidding? It’s a bloody palace. I’d love to live here.”

“Just wait until you see the bedrooms.” Peter grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the stairs.

“Bedrooms? Plural? There’s more than one?”

“There are three, although one of them is pretty small.”

“What on earth will we do with three bedrooms?” Josiah asked as Peter dragged him up the stairs.

“Make love in every single one of them,” Peter replied, pulling him into a large room and leading him over to a big double bed.

“Also…” He paused in the act of unbuttoning Josiah’s shirt.

“I thought we might have the occasional guest… sometimes we need a safe house to park an escaped indie in for a night or two, before we can get them to the coast. Would you be okay with that?”

Josiah took hold of Peter’s hands and held them. “Of course I’m okay with that. In fact, I want you to get Elsie down here sometime soon, so we can talk about how I can help out going forward.”

“Really?” Peter exclaimed softly. “Really, Joe? I mean, you’re applying for all these jobs with investigation agencies. Are you sure you want to be involved with something illegal?”

“Yes,” Josiah said firmly. “But we must be equal partners – no hiding, and no more making decisions behind my back.”

Peter’s eyes were shining as he leaned forward and kissed Josiah sweetly on the lips.

Another buzz on his holopad interrupted him, and Big Jen’s face popped up in the room.

“Evening, Sarge.” She shot him a sloppy salute, even though they’d both long since left the army.

She’d stumbled upon the Kathleen Line when bunking down with him and Peter after being made temporarily homeless following her army discharge.

She’d demanded to be allowed to join – Big Jen loved “sticking it to the man”, as she put it.

She was now Josiah’s most capable pair of hands – and his trusty second-in-command, given Elsie’s advancing years.

“I thought it’d be you,” Josiah grunted. “I’ve just had Liz bending my ear.”

“Well, come on! This is the best gossip we’ve had in years.” She grinned at him. “Seriously, though… you’ve taken an indie? You, of all people?”

“He’s temporary,” Josiah growled, in an exasperated tone. “Perhaps you could pass that information on, so I don’t have to go through this again with anyone else.”

“It’s all over the news. Your indie is dead famous. Gary says you’re shagging him.” Gary was her on-off boyfriend of several years. Apparently, he was currently “on”.

“I’m not.”

“I know that,” she said indignantly. “I defended your honour – I punched Gary’s lights out for you.”

“My hero.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Where are you now?”

“Just left LKG. I’m on my way to do the pick-up from Liz – I left a handful of newbies with her who aren’t cut out for LKG, so I’ll be taking them to Jean-Paul.

Should be back with you in a couple of weeks.

Now look, I’ve been reading up about this Lytton bloke, and he’s a nasty piece of work.

Be careful – I don’t want you getting hurt. ”

“How very touching, but I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah.” Big Jen grinned. “I know. Liz always thinks you need scooping up and looking after, but I know you’re as tough as old boots. This could be good for you, though.”

“How, exactly?” Josiah raised an eyebrow .

“Well, it helps your cover. Everyone knows you hate indies, and now they’ll think you’re using and abusing this one. Nobody is likely to suspect that you’re the evil genius behind the biggest IS escape network in the country.” She twirled an imaginary moustache.

“Piss off,” he growled.

She laughed. “Understood. Speak to you soon, and don’t, you know, do anything too stupid.” She gave him another half-arsed salute and was gone. Josiah smiled to himself, shaking his head. He was lucky to have such good friends, and he knew it.

Peter soon talked his way into a job as a mechanic in a local garage. Josiah had never seen him so content. He loved working on any kind of engine, old or new, was quite the specialist in Pre-R cars, and soon had the grease engrained in his fingers to prove it.

Josiah came home one day soon after they’d moved in to find Peter in the garage, his legs poking out from beneath the wreck of an unidentifiable hunk of metal.

Hattie, always Peter’s faithful companion, leapt up from her rug by his side and came running over to greet him, yapping excitedly as always.

“Hello, girl. Hello! Yes, I know. Hello.” Josiah rubbed her head and accepted a few wet kisses before she calmed down and returned to chewing up an old tennis ball on her rug. By that time, Peter had emerged from under the car.

“Hey.” Peter came over and kissed him, too. “How did it go?”

“Careful.” Josiah shoved him away, gesturing at his clean suit.

“If you get the job, you’ll be able to afford a nice new one – maybe one of those fancy-arsed things you keep showing me on those stupid men’s fashion sites you like so much.”

“Just because you’re happy hanging out in a pair of greasy old overalls doesn’t mean we all are.” Josiah looked Peter up and down.

“I’m just as happy out of them as in them.” Peter gave him a sly wink. “Come on, Joe, put me out of my misery – how did it go?”

“I think it went well,” he replied slowly. “I’ll know by tomorrow if I’ve got the job. The woman who interviewed me, Esther Lomax, is good – really sharp and efficient. I liked her. She seemed particularly impressed by the fact I arrested you – she asked me lots of questions about that.”

“What did you say?” Peter queried cautiously, wiping his hands on a rag.

“I stuck to the party line. Said I had to do my duty and uphold the rules and regulations despite the fact you were my husband, blah blah blah.”

“Good.”

“She seemed surprised we’re still together, but I said I’d given you another chance as the army hadn’t actually sent you to prison in the end. Told her we’d decided to make a fresh start.”

“Well, that’s the truth. I hope she gives you the job. It’s what you’re good at, Joe – investigating crimes, solving mysteries, bringing the bad guys to justice. Will it be a problem for you?”

“What?” Josiah frowned.

“Working with us on the Kathleen Line whilst also working at such a prestigious investigation agency? Your weird sense of honour and all that.” Peter prodded him gently on the arm.

“Inquisitus doesn’t investigate escaped indies; it’s too classy for that.

” Plenty of investigation agencies made easy money by having a division for catching runaway servants, but Inquisitus wasn’t one of them – Josiah had done his homework on that.

“I’ve asked to work in the Special Investigations Division, which focuses mainly on homicides, so hopefully there won’t be any conflicts of interest.”

“You’ll be brilliant at this job. I know you’ll get it,” Peter pronounced confidently.

“I hope so. Now, I have to ask – what the hell is that?” Josiah pointed at the heap of metal Peter had been working on.

Peter laughed. “It’s a Pre-R car. Quite a classic, too – a Jaguar – not many of them around these days. She was brought into the yard today – they were going to sell her as scrap, but I thought I could make her as good as new again, so I bought her.”

“Why?” Josiah asked blankly. “What possible use is a Pre-R car around here? We’re only a stone’s throw from a massive lost zone – we need ducks to get to most places. ”

“You’re such a philistine, Joe,” Peter chided. “It’s not about usefulness – it’s about the beauty of the thing.”

“If you say so.” Josiah rolled his eyes. “How long will it take for you to make this rust bucket actually look beautiful, though? Because right now it looks like a pile of junk to me.”

“Depends on how much time I find to work on her. A year? Maybe two?” Peter grinned. “I love having a project.”

At that moment, Elsie arrived for their meeting.

Peter washed up, then spread several large maps on the dining room table - he never liked to use electronic devices on Kathleen Line business if he could avoid it.

He and Elsie pored over them, discussing how they could expand and improve on the operation.

Josiah listened to them in silence for a few minutes and then cleared his throat. “I have some thoughts.”

“You do?” Peter glanced at him in surprise.

“Yes – what you’ve done so far has been great, but it lacks a certain organisation and eye for detail.”

“And that’s what you bring?” Peter smiled.