Page 77 of The Quarterlands (Dark Water #4)

Chapter Twenty

Alex

Alex looked around his room at The Orchard. He’d been here all too briefly, and now it was time to say goodbye. He finished packing his clothes into a suitcase and then paused for one final look around.

“I’ll miss you,” he whispered. He picked up his mother’s scarf, which he still kept under his pillow, and held it to his nose.

Would he be allowed to keep it at his new houder’s house?

He hoped so. He couldn’t bear to be parted from it again.

Then, with one last look around his bedroom, it was time to leave.

Charles and Noah were waiting for him downstairs, looking glum.

“Josiah says he won’t let you be swallowed up into the system again,” Noah told him as he escorted Alex to the door. “You’ll be allowed to write to us and have a monthly holocall, and he’ll insist we’re allowed to visit you at least once a year.”

“Yes, I know,” Alex murmured. He’d been there when Joe had gone through all this with them.

“You’re far too famous for anyone to treat you badly this time,” Charles said, his eyes full of tears even though he was attempting a smile.

“That’s my Charles. Always looking for the positives.” He enveloped his brother in a hug. “It’s who you are,” he whispered in his ear. “Remember that when the press are giving you a hard time. Remember you’re a Lytton.”

“I’ll remember I’m Alex Lytton’s brother, and if he could endure all he’s been through these past few years and come out the other side, then there’s nothing I can’t handle, either. I want to do you proud,” Charles said bravely. “I never want to let you down again.”

“You won’t, Charles.” He turned to his father. “You’ll take care of each other, won’t you?”

“We will.” Noah’s hand was shaking as he reached out to touch the side of Alex’s face, stroking gently. “We’ll miss you, son. We love you.”

“I know.” Alex wrapped his arms around his father and held him tight. It had once been so hard to say and show, but now it seemed effortless. “And I love you, too. We’ll be together again, one day.”

He hoped so. He was worried about how they’d cope without him.

Noah wasn’t in good health, and Charles was struggling with his change in status from national treasure to national disgrace.

Neither of them was strong; he saw now that they never had been.

Elliot had been right in that odd, perceptive way he’d sometimes had.

Alex was the one who most took after his mother.

He had her strength and resilience, her independent spirit.

He might have been taken to the limits of his endurance, but he’d survived.

He knew instinctively that his brother and father could never have done the same in his position.

He suspected he’d known it, on some level, on that day in the country lane, sitting next to Charles with his mother’s dead body staring sightlessly at them.

She’d gone, and he’d stepped up to be the family protector without even realising that was what he was doing.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here tonight?” Noah asked. Alex understood – his father was desperate to have him under his roof for one last night.

“No. I’m due at the IS court first thing tomorrow morning. Joe has to take me to hand me over; it’s his job as my current houder. It’s much further to drive there from here than it is from his house, so it’s better that I spend the night there.”

His father nodded over and over again, unable to speak.

Alex gave him one last hug, then climbed into his duck and drove away.

He didn’t trust himself to speak to them again.

He just waved and forced himself to leave.

As he exited the gates, he looked in the mirror to see them still standing there forlornly, waving as he left.

A delicious smell awaited him when he reached Joe’s house.

“Hey! Something smells good,” he exclaimed as he entered the kitchen.

“Not my cooking, obviously.” Joe grinned, opening the oven door.

“What is it?” Alex peered over his shoulder.

“Fish and chips. What else would we have for a final supper?” He took the food from where he’d been keeping it warm in the oven and placed it on trays, then offered Alex an awkward kiss on the cheek.

Things were a little strained between them, a little cooler than they’d once been.

Alex was still angry that Joe had broken his promise, and Joe was still hurt that Alex hadn’t told him the full truth about his relationship with Tyler.

Tonight, however, wasn’t the time to rip the scabs off old wounds.

They sat in the dining room to eat, neither of them speaking. Alex looked around the room, which held almost as many memories for him as The Orchard did. It was in here that he’d revealed he was Ben Smith, that he’d played Joe that song, and also that they’d made love for the first time.

“Are Charles and Noah okay?” Joe asked quietly.

“Yes. No.” Alex shrugged. “It was hard to leave them.”

“You know I’ll look after them. I promise, and that’s one promise I’ll keep.”

Alex sighed. “I know you will.”

“I’ll always protect them to the best of my ability until you’re able to come back and do it yourself.”

“Thank you.” Alex reached across the table and grasped his hand.

“For all of it. I know you risked everything for me. I still can’t quite believe it’s over, that we did it.

” He ran a trembling hand through his hair.

“After all this time, to know it’s done, and I don’t have to hide or pretend any more. ”

“I hope it’s brought you some peace.” Joe gazed at him searchingly.

“I don’t know. It’s not as if it changes the fact that I’m still an IS, and that tomorrow I’ll be handed over to a new houder.” Alex managed a shaky smile. “But at least Tyler is behind bars.”

“The others will be, too, soon enough,” Joe said. “Bagshaw, Harper – all of them, like I promised.”

“I only ever cared about Tyler, but thank you.” Alex pushed his plate away, his meal only half eaten. “I wonder who my new houder will be, and what they’ll want me to do?”

“Maybe it’ll be a woman this time.”

“That would be a change, at least.” Alex gave a wry smile. “I hope they’ll buy me as a butler, or a valet or something. I’d hate for all those Belvedere lessons to go to waste.”

“Maybe they’ll want a promising designer,” Joe suggested.

“I would love that. See, it’s not all bad. This could be a fantastic new start. The beginning of a new adventure.”

He knew he wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all himself.

“There’s something I must tell you,” Joe blurted out suddenly.

“Uh-oh.” Alex grimaced. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Joe gave a strained smile. “I would have told you before, but I was sworn to secrecy, and besides, there never seemed like a good time.”

“More secrets?” Alex groaned.

“I worked out who killed Elliot.” Joe’s expression was serious.

“What?” Alex stared at him. “I thought… I mean, I assumed it was Neil – wasn’t it?”

“I did, too, for a while. He was the most likely candidate, but you know me. I couldn’t let it rest. So I did some digging.”

“Of course you did,” Alex sighed. “And?”

“Firstly, I want you to know that it wasn’t your fault.”

“Joe, you’re scaring me. Who was it?”

“It was Gideon,” Joe said unexpectedly.

“What?” Alex struggled to take that in. “But he’s dead. He died months before Elliot was killed.”

“No, that’s just what he wanted everyone to believe.”

“But why? He didn’t even know Elliot.”

“He was dying, and he wanted to engineer it so that you and I would cross paths, that Tyler would finally get his comeuppance, and you’d get your happy ending – in his mind anyway.

He met Elliot and tried to persuade him to sell you to him.

He was the mystery bidder. But when Elliot turned him down, he resorted to more desperate measures. ”

“What the hell?” Alex buried his face in his hands for a long moment. Finally, he looked up to see Joe gazing at him sympathetically. “Poor Elliot. So, it wasn’t even about him? He didn’t deserve that. Fuck, I should never have told Gideon about Solange.”

“I knew that’s what you’d think. Like I said, it wasn’t your fault, Alex,” Joe told him firmly.

“You aren’t responsible for the decisions other people make.

Gideon felt that he had nothing to lose, given that he was dying.

For what it’s worth, I’m not entirely sure that he was of sound mind; the cancer had spread to his brain. ”

“Where is he? Can I see him?” Alex asked eagerly.

“He died not long after the trial ended,” Joe said, in a gentle tone. “I asked him repeatedly to see you, because I knew you’d want that, but he refused, point blank. I think he knew that he’d done a very wicked thing, and he didn’t want to face your judgement.”

“ My judgement?” Alex blinked. “How bizarre that anyone should care about my judgement, of all things.”

“No, you’re usually more on the receiving end of everyone else’s judgements.” Joe gave a rueful grin.

“I’m glad you solved it. I’m glad we know what happened and why.”

“Are you okay?” Joe squeezed his hand.

“Yes. Shocked, but… somehow not surprised, if that makes sense?”

“It does.”

“It’s a lot to take in, on top of everything else that’s happened, and yet it’s so very Gideon.

He always did love to pull everyone’s strings behind the scenes to get the outcomes he wanted.

I was devastated when Tyler said he’d died.

I know you’ve never understood why I viewed him as a friend, but he gave me the tools I needed to survive as Tyler’s IS, and also…

I just really liked him.” Alex sighed. “And I know he liked me, too, although I’d never have guessed he’d commit murder for me. ”

“You were his masterpiece. The ultimate IS that he trained to fool the most despicable of houders. He was delighted by you. No wonder he wanted to see your story play out in full before he died. ”