‘So what the fuck are you doing here? Why haven’t you got yourself yet another false passport and gone somewhere out of their reach? Why have you been following Susie and me?’
‘I’m taking a chance, that’s what I’m doing. . and there is nowhere out of their reach. No, I was ready to split for Portugal, when I picked up a Scottish paper in London and who did I see on an inside page, but you and Susie, and your new baby.
‘You might have been surprised when I turned up. . think how I felt when I saw that. What the hell happened, Oz? What happened to Prim?’
I looked at him, hard; for all his adventures he didn’t scare me, not a bit. It was the other way round and he knew it. By coming back, he’d put his life in my hands. ‘You know what the punch in the mouth was for. Didn’t it even occur to you that Susie might have spilled the beans about you and her?’
He winced. ‘I left a letter behind, didn’t I?’
I nodded. ‘Some secret operative; you couldn’t even cover your tracks with your best pal’s fiancee.’
‘I’m sorry, Oz, it was just. .’
‘. . one of those things? Spare me, please. So was Susie and I at first. The fact is I didn’t know about you and Prim till a couple of days ago. Susie only told me when she showed up at her place.’
‘Her place? I thought. .’
‘She bought it from me. Before we. . Anyway, back to your story; you saw us and you were gob-smacked.’
‘Yes. I bailed out. I told my minder I was going and I split. He took me to the airport, but I lost him, went back into London and caught a train to Glasgow. It took me a while to pin you down, but when I did, I started to follow you.
‘I wanted to see you, man, to see the two of you, to see how you had turned out. That’s all. I’m sorry if I spooked you. .’
‘Lying bastard! You’re not sorry at all.’
‘I am if Susie got worried; honest.’
‘I’ll take your word for it. So, now that you’ve seen us, what do you think?’
He drained his glass and gave me a long look. ‘I think you’re all right. You look like a family, you know. I really hope you stick it.’ He gave a big sigh. ‘You know, I always thought that we had the wrong women, you and I; I always thought that Susie was more your type and Prim was more mine.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I mean that you two are basically straight, while she and I are basically bent.’
I laughed. ‘That has to be a compliment, coming from you.’
He grunted. ‘Here,’ he said, suddenly, ‘what are you doing hanging out with my old boss, Ricky Ross? He was your mortal enemy for a while.’
‘Aye, and you were my best friend.’
‘Touche.’
‘Ricky’s head of security on the movie,’ I told him. ‘That’s all.’
‘Mmm. You going to get more beer in?’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Like hell! You are. You owe me, pal.’
He gave me a grin and disappeared to the bar, returning after a couple of minutes with two more.
‘So what’s next?’ I asked him.
‘I’m going to turn up in Portugal, as planned. I’ve seen what I came to see, and I’m content.’
I leaned across the table. ‘That’s good,’ I murmured, ‘for you have to know one thing. Susie is never to learn about this, or about you. If you ever show up near us again, if you ever try to contact her. .’ I paused. ‘You’ve changed, I’ve changed. If you ever do that then I promise you. . you will be dead again, and it will be for real this time.’
I looked him in the face and gave him time to think about it. ‘Do you believe me?’
‘I reckon I do. There was always a hard bastard under your surface, wasn’t there. But don’t worry; I’m too fond of Susie. . and of you. . ever to threaten either of you. The only thing is. .’ He hesitated, then took off the shades and stared at me.
‘I’ve got no one, Oz. I’m cut off from everyone I’ve ever known in the life I had before all this; they’ve fucking buried me. You’ve no idea how lonely it is, being dead.’
I heard what he was saying, loud and clear. ‘You’ve got my e-mail address,’ I told him. ‘If the need really arises. . and it had better be more than going for a pint, mind. . that’s how you can reach me. Use the same stupid name and I’ll know.’
‘Thanks.’ He drained his lager in a one-er, and stood up. ‘So long.’
The guy who had once been Mike Dylan turned on his heel, and walked out of the Pear Tree, into whatever kind of a future might await him.
Chapter 50
It had been a while since I had drunk Eighty at all, let alone shifting three pints of the stuff in under an hour, so my brain was even fuzzier than it had been after the Oxford when I got back to the apartment and pushed the entry button.
‘Whozzat?’ Liam asked, through the speaker.
‘Santa Fucking Claus.’
‘You can come in down the chimney, then.’ But he pushed the button, anyway; just as well, by that time my bladder was feeling the pressure.
He gave me an appraising look when I re-emerged from the bathroom. ‘Where the hell have you been then?’ he enquired. It’s a funny thing about mates, is it not; when you share a flat with them, they can be worse than wives in some ways.
‘Thinking,’ I told him.
‘Thinking about how fast you can get to the bottom of the glass?’
‘That, among other things. Come on, superstar of wrestling, let’s go get that Chinese.’
We grabbed a cab on the hill outside; by chance, it was the legendary white taxi, the one with the tartan-lined interior, and Jock and Roll music playing from the moment you step in until the moment you close the door behind you. It is to Edinburghers what the great white buffalo is to Native Americans. There is a theory that the driver is long dead, and that it is but his shade that cruises the city streets bringing eternal delight to tourists. Whatever the truth of it, he took us straight to the Kwei Linn.
The crispy duck was as I remembered it from a few years back, and so was the chicken in black bean sauce. We walloped them down, with a beef dish and a mild prawn curry. I stuck to fizzy water. . Okay, I admit it. We shared a bottle of Lambrusco, but it’s much the same. . and by the time we got to the coffee stage, I could see clearly again.
‘You back in the land of the fully conscious, then?’ Liam asked. I nodded.
‘Where did you go tonight?’ He was still doing the ‘pal as old woman’ routine. It’s instinctive with blokes; we can’t help it.
‘I had to meet someone.’
‘Male or female?’
‘Male. Someone I hadn’t seen in a long time.’
‘Let me guess. You found the guy who’s been stalking you.’
‘No. I let him find me.’
‘And?’
‘And nothing. We had a talk and he’s gone.’
He frowned. ‘Oz, you didn’t hurt him, did you?’
I laughed, quietly. ‘Nah. All that communing with my peaceful side’s done me good. I only hit him once, and not very hard at that.’
‘So what did he want?’
‘He only wanted to say hello. He came a long way to do it, and had a funny way of working up to it, but he got to it eventually.’
‘You sure that’s it?’
‘Absolutely. We won’t see him again.’
He looked at me for a while, then grinned. ‘Thanks for helping me out this afternoon. I was having trouble until you came up with that suggestion. You got any more tips for the bedroom scene with the lady detective sergeant?’
‘Yeah. All the time, as she’s getting her togs off, keep a picture of Tony Blair in your mind. No way can you think of him and still get a hard-on.’
Liam laughed out loud. A quartet of women, who’d recognised us when we came in, looked back in our direction. ‘That’s quite an occupational hazard, when you think about it. In my game, you worry about your knees, or your back, or springing a rib cartilage. It’s odd to think of getting a boner as a workplace accident.’