The Secret of Excalibur

‘I mean,’ said Chase, sitting up sharply, ‘all this running around the world, treasure-hunting, looking for bits of worthless old crap! Let this fucking Russian have his sword, who gives a shit?’

‘You know we can’t do that,’ said Nina, trying to keep down her own anger. ‘It’s a national security issue.’

‘I don’t know that! You said yourself, you thought this business about earth energy and ley lines and all the rest of it was bullshit!’

‘I’m not sure any more. Whether it is or not, Vaskovich obviously believes it - which is why we’ve got to find Excalibur before he does!’

He pulled his hand away and got off the bed. ‘Even if it means dying for it?’ he said, voice bitter.

‘Eddie, what happened to Mitzi wasn’t your fault,’ Nina protested.

‘Then whose fault was it? I promised Brigitte I’d look after her, that I’d take care of her, and now she’s dead! If I hadn’t got her into all of this, she’d still be alive! For fuck’s sake!’ His voice cracked. ‘She was just a kid! She wasn’t a professional, it wasn’t like when Hugo got killed - he was doing a job, he knew the risks. But it wasn’t her job to take risks, she didn’t even know there were going to be any risks! She just wanted to help me out - and it got her killed! I got her killed!’

‘You didn’t!’ cried Nina. ‘It was that bleach-haired bitch who shot Bernd who killed her! You - you are not to blame here, Eddie! You are not responsible for this!’

‘Yes I am. I was responsible for Mitzi, and I’m responsible for you. The whole thing’s got too dangerous. So you’re not going. And that’s that.’

Nina stood and faced him, almost toe to toe. ‘You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Eddie,’ she said, the coldness in her voice barely masking a trembling rage. ‘If that’s the way you think, then maybe it’s a good thing we hadn’t set a date yet.’

Chase regarded her silently, then his stone face returned. He snatched up his leather jacket and went to the door.

‘Where are you going?’ Nina demanded.

‘Out.’

‘Eddie, wait—’ But the door had swung shut behind him with a decisive clack.

Nina stared at the blank wood for a long moment, unsure what to do. Then, reluctantly, she backed away and returned to the bed. She perched on its edge, struggling to untangle her conflicted emotions.

‘Fancy meeting you here,’ said a warm Scottish voice over the lunchtime bustle of the pub.

Chase looked up to see Mac standing by his table, a glass of Scotch in his hand and a faint smile on his face. Chase didn’t return it. ‘If Nina sent you, she’s wasted your time.’

‘I spoke to Nina a couple of hours ago, yes,’ said Mac, taking a seat opposite him and putting down his glass, ‘but she didn’t ask me to do anything. She just wanted to know if I’d seen you. I told her I hadn’t - but I had a feeling you might have come here.’ He surveyed the surroundings. The Jug of Ale was a fairly generic central London pub, lined with fake olde-worlde wooden beams and shelves of faux-antique bric-a-brac bought by the yard, but it held meaning for Chase. ‘This always used to be your bolt-hole when Sophia was being difficult at home. I see old habits die hard. It’s been a while since we had a drink together here, though. Five years?’

‘Something like that.’

‘It looks quite different since the smoking ban. I can actually see the back wall.’ He raised an eyebrow and turned back to Chase. ‘Good God, was the wallpaper always that hideous?’ Chase’s expression didn’t alter. ‘Hrmm. Not even a hint of a smile - things must be worse than I thought.’

‘Any particular reason you’re here, Mac?’ Chase asked impatiently.

‘Actually, yes. The first one is that I wanted to offer my condolences about Mitzi. I’m sorry. I only met her the once, but she seemed a very nice girl.’

Chase looked down at his drink. ‘She was,’ he said leadenly, taking another mouthful.

Mac regarded the half-empty glass. ‘Not like you to drink during the day. How many have you had?’

Another swig. ‘This is the fourth.’

‘So you’re drunk?’

‘What, on only four pints?’ Mac stared at him unblinkingly. ‘Yeah, a bit,’ Chase finally admitted.

‘Now I know something’s wrong,’ said Mac, his tone somewhere between amusement and mild concern. ‘You would never have owned up to feeling drunk so soon when you were in the Regiment.’

‘Things change,’ Chase told him dismissively, shaking his head. ‘I’m getting old.’

Mac picked up his drink and downed it in a single gulp. ‘I’ll join you in the ongoing march of the ageing process, then.’

‘Not really sure I want any company right now, Mac.’

‘Well, you’re going to have some anyway. You see, the second reason I wanted to talk to you is that Nina sounded rather upset when she called me.’

Chase’s jaw muscles tightened. ‘Not so upset that it’s stopped her from wanting to carry on fucking tomb- raiding.’

‘You don’t think she’ll be safe?’ Mac asked. Chase shook his head again. ‘She knows the risks.’

‘I don’t think they’re worth it.’

‘She does.’

‘Doesn’t mean she’s right.’

‘If you’re so worried, why don’t you go with her?’

Chase took another mouthful, then put the glass down with a bang. ‘Because I don’t want her to go at all. But she still wants to anyway.’ He scowled. ‘With Jack Mitchell. We had a big fight about it.’

‘The man I met at your sister’s?’

‘Yeah, that’s him. The tall, dark and handsome one.’ Chase slumped back in his chair, letting out a long and unhappy breath of frustration.

Mac leaned forward, his voice taking on a forceful edge as he addressed the younger man. ‘Jack Mitchell’s not the problem, though, is he? He’s not why you’re sitting in a crappy pub getting pissed at one in the afternoon.’

Chase was silent for a moment. ‘No, not really,’ he said finally.

Mac’s expression suggested that he already knew the answer, but he asked the obvious question anyway. ‘Then what?’

Another pause. ‘It’s Mitzi. I never . . . I never lost someone I was looking after before. It’s not just that she died, I’ve seen friends die before, but . . . not like that. It shouldn’t have happened. It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t got her involved.’

‘So you blame yourself ?’

‘Who else is there?’

‘The person who pulled the trigger,’ said Mac. ‘The person who sent out that person in the first place. They’re the ones you should be looking to hurt. Not yourself.’

Chase raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re saying I should go for some revenge? Not very professional.’

‘If you still think Nina’s in danger, then your mission isn’t over yet. These people are hostiles, Eddie. They’ve proved that. Eliminating a known threat to a mission is entirely justified, in my opinion.’

Chase let out a bitter laugh. ‘My mission? It’s Nina’s mission, not mine. I was just along for the ride - and she doesn’t even want me there any more.’

‘You don’t believe that,’ Mac said sternly. ‘She loves you. And I know you love her.’

‘And that’s the problem! Losing Mitzi was fucking horrible enough, but what if I lose Nina?’ His voice caught. ‘I do love her. I love her so much I’m scared of losing her. I’m actually scared of it. I don’t know what I’d do.’

He lowered his head. Mac watched in silence, then reached across and put his hand on Chase’s arm. ‘I’m not the person you should be saying this to.’