Page 75 of The Quarterlands (Dark Water #4)

“I don’t know. I’ll ask Byrne to set up a meeting with an IS judge to discuss it.”

Ted and Mick came over, their faces jubilant.

“I really thought the bastard was gonna get away with it,” Mick said. “Like he’s always done. Maybe there’s some justice in this country after all. ”

“Alex, thank you.” Ted wrapped him in a bear hug. “Thank you so much, from her as well as me.” There were tears in his eyes as he said that. Alex welled up, too.

“Another win, Joe. You’ll be getting big-headed,” Esther told him, motoring her way over to him.

“No. I rather think this one humbled me, if anything,” Josiah replied with a strained smile. He knew he should be happy, but he felt empty and lost. A hand slipped into his, and he looked down to see Elsie smiling up at him.

“You did us all proud, Joe,” she told him. “When the dust settles, why don’t you take a long-overdue holiday? Liz would love you to visit, you know.”

“That’s a good idea,” he said numbly.

He watched as Alex left the courtroom with his family, feeling all too keenly his status as an outsider.

Then he realised that Sofie was standing on his left, Elsie on his right, and Cam, Mel, and Esther were all clustered around him.

He had his family right here. He’d always had them.

He just needed to remember to let them in occasionally.

Alex was pale and shaky as they stepped outside into the sunshine a few minutes later to the waiting media.

He read a statement he’d prepared and, as always, Charles and Noah were on either side of him, supporting him.

Josiah stood over to one side. This wasn’t his moment.

It belonged entirely to Alex. He’d gone through hell to get here, and he deserved to be the one giving this speech.

Afterwards, Alex returned to The Orchard with his family, and Josiah returned home – alone.

Cam and Sofie had invited him for a drink but he wasn’t in the mood.

Still, it felt strange to be in this house by himself again, although that had been his reality for some time before Alex.

It was hard to be here without the case against Tyler consuming his every waking moment.

He felt bereft, at a loss, and he missed Peter more than ever.

He missed his teasing voice and the sense that Peter was still here.

It hurt. Maybe it always would, but at least now he was letting himself feel it, instead of freezing those feelings out .

Tyler was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for Solange’s manslaughter, with further trials pending on his various other crimes.

He didn’t say a word as the sentence was handed down, but as he was taken away, he did turn to look at Josiah, briefly, and raised one hand to his forehead in a little salute.

An acknowledgement of a worthy opponent and a game well played, perhaps? Who knew with Tyler?

He didn’t once glance at Alex, so Josiah had no idea what his feelings were towards him now.

Did he accept that Charles had been driving the duck that day, or was he too invested in his vendetta against Alex to ever truly relinquish it?

They might never know, for Tyler turned down every request for an interview and refused to cooperate with the courts or Inquisitus.

He didn’t, though, lodge an appeal. Maybe even he knew he’d lost this fight.

As for the matter of Alex’s servitude, the courts took the view that he could not be returned to Tyler Tech. Much to Josiah’s surprise, Tyler made no attempt to fight that. An IS judge ruled that Alex’s contract should be sold for the exact same price Tyler had paid for it in the first place.

The manifest unfairness of this was expressed at some length in the media, but the truth was, as Byrne explained, nobody wanted to rock this particular boat.

“If Alex, the most expensive IS in the land, is freed without full recompense to Tyler Tech, then what’s to stop this being a precedent?

The government won’t let it happen because it’ll undermine the entire system,” she explained.

“I know, I know. You’d think that everything that happened to him at Tyler’s hands would be deemed extenuating circumstances, and it should be, but this system is built on a house of cards.

Trust me, nobody at the top will risk that it might come tumbling down.

It’s not just Alex. If people know the government can just step in and release people from their contracts without recompense because they feel sorry for them, everyone will become very nervous. ”

“But based on Tyler’s abusive behaviour…” Josiah protested.

She held up her hand. “I know, and I agree, but it won’t fecking happen. You aren’t talking about one person here, you’re talking about an entire system, and people are afraid that if the IS system fails, war won’t be far behind.”

She was right. Questions were asked in parliament, but they seemed to be the wrong kind.

Mostly there was a lot of hand-wringing about how the IS agency had been corrupted and what to do about abusive houders.

Nobody seemed to have the will to tackle the system itself, and while there was some sympathy for Alex, it was tinged with a sense that the privileged Lytton family had behaved very badly and nobody had the time or money to waste on indulging them further.

In desperation, Josiah asked to speak to the IS court judge.

It was, funnily enough, the exact same woman who’d sentenced Alex after his trial for embezzlement.

She had a thin, patrician nose and a steely air, and he sensed a certain incorruptibility to her.

She was clearly upset about the role she’d played in Alex’s downfall, even while she continued to uphold and extol the virtues of the system.

She didn’t – or wouldn’t – see how the abuses were baked into a system she valued so much.

“Can I ask one thing,” he requested. “If I can, somehow, raise the exact price Tyler paid for Alex originally, will you agree to sell his contract to me?”

“That depends,” she said sharply. “What will you do with him?”

“Free him, of course.”

“How will you possibly find this sum of money?”

“I don’t know, but if I do, will you agree to sell his contract to me, and nobody else?”

“There is likely to be some interest in him because of the circumstances and his notoriety.”

“I know, but Tyler Tech isn’t allowed to make a profit from him; the court has already established that.

Given the role the state has played in what happened to him, and the failure of the IS agency to protect him, I hardly think you should sell him to the highest bidder and allow the government to take the extra profit.

That would play very poorly in the media. ”

She looked at him sharply. “Don’t try and manipulate me, Mr Raine. ”

“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to save him. He’s been through enough.”

“I do agree that the system has, in this instance, let him down, although we shouldn’t forget that he was guilty of stealing all that money in the first place – he says so himself. He also lied about the circumstances of his mother’s death. He’s not exactly blameless in his own downfall.”

“I know, and I concur, but surely you can also agree that he’s suffered enough? All I’m asking is that you sell his contract to me, if I can raise sufficient funds.”

She looked down her thin nose at him. “I’m afraid that I cannot agree to this, no.

It’s my job to consider each application on its personal merits.

This is an unusual situation in that we are not asking for anyone to bid over the asking price.

The outcome will, therefore, be decided purely on the application I consider the best fit for Mr Lytton.

You are certainly welcome to put in such an application, if you can raise the appropriate sum. That’s the best I can say.”

It was better than nothing. At least he stood a chance. Josiah had no idea if he could raise the appropriate sum, but he was going to damn well try.

He drove straight to Greenfields after meeting with the judge. He found Gideon more cadaverous than ever, barely more than a skeleton, his skin now a deep yellow and paper thin.

“All hail the conquering hero,” he croaked as Josiah entered. He smelled now, too, a strange, sickly-sweet odour that hinted at his imminent death. “I was wondering when you’d come and visit me. I hoped you wouldn’t wait too long because, well, as you can see, I don’t have much longer.”

“Did you watch it?” Josiah asked.

“I did, and I read all about it, too. What drama. Such a rollercoaster. You must be quite exhausted, my dear fellow. Here, come closer, so I can see you. Oh, yes. Still so very handsome.” He gave a delighted laugh.

Josiah took a seat on the sofa next to his armchair.

“It was glorious,” Gideon said, patting his knee.

“No man could possibly leave this world behind feeling more satisfied than I do. It all came out, didn’t it?

You even uncovered the secret. Not quite what I imagined it to be; I was so sure it was something about sex.

Maybe that’s just me. I was brought up to feel nothing but shame about sex. Perhaps I projected that onto Alex.”

“You weren’t entirely wrong.” Josiah explained about Buzzard.

“I’m sure he’s feeling some heat now, too.” Gideon clapped his hands together delightedly. “After all, that sample tested clean. How, one might ask, is that possible?”

“Questions are being asked. Alex and Charles know, of course, but so far, they’re keeping quiet about it. Right now, they just want to put it all behind them. The last thing either of them wants is to hit the headlines again, especially not with this kind of news.”

“Quite.” Gideon gave a thoughtful nod. “Understandable. So, Josiah, you’ve come seeking your pound of flesh. I rather fear there’s little left on this old carcass, but you’re welcome to whatever you want.”