“I promised Alex I’d do this.”
“Are you in love with him?”
Josiah stopped swinging and sat there, frozen. Even his subconscious was annoying these days. “Don’t be an idiot. I’ve only known him a few days.”
“You fell in love with me in about thirty seconds flat when I offered you a puppy. You fall fast, Joe.”
“Shut up.” Josiah grinned. He was arguing with himself; it was ridiculous.
“Just do the right thing.”
How convenient that “Peter” was giving him such an easy absolution. Maybe he was fooling himself. Peter might just as likely have argued that he should find another way, but Josiah couldn’t see what that way would be. He also couldn’t see the point of prolonging a conversation where he was the only participant.
“Sorry, Peter,” he murmured. “It was a lot easier when I could actually hear you.” He took out his holopad and, before he could change his mind, called Elsie. “I’m coming over,” he told her.
“Now?” she asked, looking startled. “Why? Is everything okay, Joe? Are we in trouble?”
“No, I just need to talk to you. It’s important. I’ll be there soon.”
Josiah put his holopad away, then glanced down with a frown. The ground was soft from all the rain they’d had recently, and there, under the tree, was a clear imprint of two large, solid boots, as if somebody had stood there for a long time. They weren’t his prints and were too big to belong to Alex. Had someone stood here last night, watching the house?
He didn’t have time to give it more thought, because at that moment, Alex appeared, looking for him.
“What are you doing out here, sir?” he asked blandly. Although Josiah had told him to wear his mask outside the privacy of the house, it irritated him all the same.
“Just thinking. Let’s go,” he said gruffly, striding back towards the house.
“Where to, sir?” Alex asked, catching up with him as he got to the garage.
“To Elsie’s house, to shut down the Kathleen Line,” Josiah told him tersely.
“What?” Alex asked, aghast.
Josiah opened the duck and climbed in, slamming the door. Alex scrambled to follow him.
“I can either go after Tyler, or I can keep the Kathleen Line open. I can’t do both. It’d put Elsie and the others in too much danger.” Josiah barked out a terse order to his holopad to open the garage door.
Alex put a hand on his arm. “Joe… stop. You’re angry.” The mask was gone and he looked genuinely concerned. “I understand why. I want justice for Solange, and God knows I want to bring Tyler down, but the Kathleen Line was a lifeline to me when I needed it most. I don’t want to take that away from others.”
“You can’t have both,” Josiah snapped. “You have to choose. What’s it to be, Alex? Justice for Solange or the Kathleen Line?”
Alex’s jaw settled into a hard, determined line. “I have to keep fighting for Solange. It’s the only thing that’s kept me going all these years. I’m a selfish bastard at heart, Joe, always have been. You made me a promise, and I intend to make you keep it.”
“And there’s the real Alex.” Josiah grunted. “At least I know where I am with him. I start doubting you when you’re wearing that bloody mask.” He rubbed his forehead wearily. “Sorry, it’s just that last night and this morning I could see you, but when the mask goes on, you disappear. I hate that.”
“I’m sorry too,” Alex said softly. “The mask had to be good to fool Tyler. I practised very hard for a very long time to get it right. But I promise I’ll only use it around you when we’re in public, like you asked.”
“Good. And for the record, I always keep my promises.” Josiah put the duck in reverse and slammed his foot on the accelerator.
Elsie lived in a small flat a short drive away. She took so long answering his curt knock on the door that he knocked again, impatiently.
“Hold on, you stupid Viking, I’m coming,” she yelled from inside. Alex gave an amused snort, and Josiah glared at him.
Elsie finally opened the door, still scolding him. “I have no idea what the hurry is. Always marching around, barking orders…” She swung her arms around him without pausing for breath and enveloped him in one of her usual warm hugs. “Calls me up, snaps at me like I’m one of those reporters he’s always tormenting.” She pulled him down to deliver a smacking kiss to his cheek and then pushed him away. “Well, I’m not, Josiah Raine, and don’t you ever forget it.”
“Sorry, Elsie,” Josiah said with a wince. Even though Alex was behind him, he somehow knew his IS had a broad grin on his face.
Elsie was wearing a neat navy-blue dress, and Josiah suddenly noticed how white her hair had become. She looked smaller too; she’d always been a tiny woman, but she had to be in her late seventies now. No wonder it had taken her so long to open the door. He’d been so obsessed with making the Kathleen Line run efficiently that he hadn’t noticed her advancing years. He realised that she was looking at him just as keenly.
