Eddie tried not to laugh. ‘You’re an arse,’ he whispered to Fortune as he collected Nina’s luggage. His friend regarded Fisher and Lydia sternly, then turned away and grinned. ‘Come on then, love,’ the Yorkshireman said to Nina. ‘Let’s check in.’
The hotel’s interior was surprisingly anonymous, a bland refuge for the corporate traveller that could have been anywhere in the world; only its staff’s accents provided any distinctive flavour. Nina led the way to the reception desk, Eddie surveying the lobby. ‘Least we can get a drink,’ he said, spotting the entrance to a bar. ‘After that journey, I could really use a—’
He stopped, startled. Nina looked back at him. ‘What is it?’
‘Just… seen someone I know,’ he said, disbelieving. ‘Can you check us in? I need to…’ In his distraction he didn’t even finish the sentence as he headed for the doorway.
‘If you’re that desperate for a drink, do I need to book you an AA appointment?’ she called after him, but he barely heard the joke.
The bar was as faceless as its parent hotel, a softly lit room of pale wooden furniture assembled to a standardised blueprint. The man by the windows in the far corner was very distinctive, though.
Eddie approached his table. ‘Ay up. Never expected to see you again.’
John Brice, a cigarette in one hand, slowly looked up at him. ‘Well, well. Eddie Chase. I’d certainly hoped never to see you again.’ In the almost three years since their meeting, he had let his standards of appearance slip. He was bestubbled, his hair greasy and untidy and his clothes crumpled enough to suggest he had recently slept in them.
‘That’s nice. What the fuck are you doing here? MI6 trying to start a coup?’
Brice sneered at him. ‘I don’t work for the British government any more, Chase. Your fuck-up in Tenerife destroyed my career.’
‘Wasn’t a fuck-up as far as I was concerned,’ Eddie shot back, turning a seat around and sitting facing the other man over its back. ‘A mass murderer got arrested — turned out okay in my book.’
‘But that wasn’t the mission objective, was it?’ He took a swig from a glass of whisky. ‘You botched it, just like your test at the Funhouse. And because of that, my promotion prospects went out of the window. So I resigned.’
‘And you didn’t end up like Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner? Shame.’
‘I ended up in this shithole country, which is arguably worse. Maybe I got out of Britain at the right time, though. Looks like the Opposition will win the election next month, and they’ve been making a lot of noise about gutting SIS and the other intelligence agencies. All in the name of human rights.’ His disgust at the term was plain.
‘Yeah, those damn humans,’ said Eddie mockingly. ‘But of all the places you could have gone, you came to the bloody Congo?’
‘Hardly by choice, but it’s where the work is.’ Another drink. ‘The kind of work you once did, ironically enough. Security for corporate bigwigs.’
‘Like Sir Robert whatsisface from that mining company? I saw him at the airport.’
‘Yes, he’s one of mine. Which leads to the question: what are you doing here? You and your wife.’
The mention of Nina unsettled Eddie. ‘How’d you know she was here too?’
‘I didn’t pick this spot by accident, Chase.’ He gestured at the windows. ‘I can see the main gate and the lobby entrance from here. I saw you both arriving.’
‘I’d wondered why you didn’t seem that surprised to see me.’
‘The only surprise is that you wanted to talk to me.’
Eddie smiled sardonically. ‘Just wanted to make sure you weren’t up to something dodgy.’
‘The days of state-sanctioned immunity are behind me, unfortunately. But the local authorities have bigger things on their plate than harassing every white man working on their turf.’
‘This LEC lot?’
‘You’re in the loop, then. Yes, the east of the country’s only one step from total chaos. Still, it’s good for my business — and the government is probably itching for the LEC to make a major attack. Declaring a state of emergency is a very good way to suspend democracy and remove any troublesome elements. Cynical, but you do what you must.’ He contemplated the glass for a moment before imbibing again. ‘As for what you’re doing… I can only assume that the celebrated Dr Nina Wilde has made some amazing archaeological discovery in the jungle, and is going to film it for television.’
Eddie’s unease deepened. ‘You know all that just from watching us arrive, do you?’
‘Simple deduction. Your wife is famous, after all. She’s had a documentary series on TV, and some of the people who arrived with you were carrying camera gear. I also know, because I keep my ears open, that Fortune Bemba has been recruiting bearers with jungle experience.’
‘You know Fortune?’
‘By reputation only; never met the man. Not the kind I’d normally hire.’
‘Why? Because he’s black?’
Brice gave him a mocking smirk. ‘You’re not going to give me a tedious lecture on the evils of racism, are you?’
‘No, but I might give you one on the evils of being an arsehole.’
He chuckled. ‘My hiring practices have nothing to do with race. They’re more about culture. Specifically, I limit myself to people who actually have the self-reliance and willpower to make things happen for themselves, rather than wallow in misery and squalor waiting for handouts. I mean, look at this place!’ He waved at the window again, this time to encompass the land beyond the security wall. ‘This country is literally a treasure trove, with mineral resources the civilised world is desperate to secure, and what does it do to exploit them? Nothing. They do nothing without being told. For God’s sake, it’s a major national news story when they manage to lay down a stretch of tarmac road. The whole continent was better off when it was being run by the colonial powers.’
‘Didn’t they go around chopping people’s arms off?’ said Eddie, scathing.
‘Better than heads. And that was mad King Leopold’s method of maintaining order. We were much more civilised about it.’ He straightened, as if filled with nostalgic pride. ‘There’s a reason we ruled half the world. The greatest empire in history. And then,’ — a frown — ‘we threw it all away, let the bloody Yanks and Krauts walk all over us. And now even the Chinks, for God’s sake.’ He sighed, then held up his glass in an imaginary toast before taking another drink. ‘But that’ll all change now we’ve got back our independence. I just hope we don’t vote in the wrong lot next month and balls it up even more by grovelling to whoever’s got the most money.’
‘I know I’ve been out of touch by living in the States, but aren’t the bunch in power right now the same ones who flogged everything off to China in the first place?’
Brice fixed him with a disapproving stare. ‘Frankly, I don’t think you deserve the right to criticise anything that goes on at home, Chase. You abandoned your country.’
Eddie was offended by the accusation. ‘Like fuck I did.’
‘No? You live in New York, you married a Yank — your daughter automatically has dual nationality, but I bet you haven’t even got her a British passport.’ Eddie’s silence was all the confirmation the other man needed. ‘I thought so. You know, I’m… I’m disgusted. Your country educated you, kept you healthy, kept you safe, made you who you are. And how did you repay that? By running off somewhere else the first chance you got.’ He shook his head. ‘Britain’s never needed its people to work to build a new future more than now, but where are you?’
Eddie stood. ‘I’m leaving before some bell-end gets punched in the face.’