The Cult of Osiris

appeared. And while Grant was a movie star, a man of the moment who had made it with the help of good looks, modest talent and a great agent, Osir looked more like a movie legend, someone who would outshine younger rivals generation after generation. He glanced at his client. Grant’s face was a mix of awe and a hint of jealousy.

‘Hello, my friends!’ the cult leader boomed over the cheering. ‘I’m so happy to see so many of you here today. May the light of the sun-god Ra bless you all!’

‘May the spirit of Osiris protect and strengthen you!’ people chanted in reply. Even Grant joined in, though he accidentally transposed ‘protect’ and ‘strengthen’. Osir beamed and made his way to the building, talking to his followers along the way. Eddie couldn’t help noticing that attractive women got the lion’s share of his attention.

Another man had meanwhile stepped out of the limo, practically unnoticed by the crowd - though his scowl immediately stood out amongst the smiles, and the third man who followed him set off warning bells at the back of Eddie’s mind. It was obvious from his features that the second man was closely related to Osir - a brother? - but it was equally plain that his sibling had been more favourably blessed both by the genetic lottery and by life itself, his own harder, thinner face scarred by a major burn across his right cheek. His wiry, greasy-haired companion in the snakeskin jacket, meanwhile, looked like a redneck, but from his alert stance and attitude Eddie could instantly tell he was ex-military.

Osir reached the door to find Grant waiting for him. ‘Ah, Mr Thorn!’ he said, clasping the actor’s hand and shaking it firmly. Cameras flashed in the crowd; the two men instinctively turned to face them with their widest smiles. ‘It’s so good to finally meet you.’

‘Same here, Mr Osir,’ said Grant.

‘Call me Khalid, please. I feel like I know you already from your movies.’

Grant grinned, pleased. ‘Really? Cool! I’ve tried to watch all of yours, but they’re kind of hard to get on Netflix. I saw Osiris and Set, though. You were awesome in that.’

Osir waved a hand modestly. ‘You must visit the Osirian Temple’s headquarters in Switzerland, and I will show you the others. Come whenever you like; my door is always open. But acting is behind me now - I have a new calling. And I am so very pleased that you,’ he turned to address the crowd, ‘that all of you have chosen to follow me on this incredible journey. There are already tens of thousands of us, all around the world, and our numbers will grow as more discover that only through the teachings of Osiris can true immortality be found. We shall all live for ever!’ He raised his hands, the crowd cheering again.

His brother impatiently gave an order, and the minders pushed the crowd back. One opened the door, and with another wave Osir went inside with his companions, the man in snakeskin giving Eddie a disdainful look.

Grant went to the door, but hesitated when he realised Eddie wasn’t following. ‘What’s up?’

‘It’s not really my kind of thing. You go in; I’ll wait for you.’

‘No, come on, man. You listen to what he’s got to say - it’ll change your life. You’ll be able to reverse your ageing, look like you’re in your thirties again.’

‘I am in my thirties,’ Eddie told him frostily.

‘Really? Whoa. No offence, dude. You just look kinda . . . battered.’ Realising his words weren’t thawing his bodyguard, Grant changed his mind. ‘Okay, you . . . wait for me. Yeah.’

‘Have fun, Mr Thorn,’ Eddie said as Grant went inside. He shook his head, grinning faintly. His employer was living proof that some people would believe anything.

Still, at least the Osirian Temple appeared to be the harmless kind of crank cult.

Several hours later, Eddie returned home. ‘So how did it go at the UN?’ he asked as he entered the apartment - and saw that today’s wine bottle was fully empty. ‘Oh.’

‘It was absolutely goddamn horrible,’ said Nina, scowling. She had only felt up to calling Hogarth a few hours earlier, and the act of relating the argument had made her angry all over again. ‘I didn’t accomplish anything at all, and Maureen was an utter bitch who ended up making me feel this big.’ She waved an unsteady hand at him, holding her thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart. ‘I shouldn’t have gone. I wouldn’t have gone if you hadn’t forced me.’

‘I didn’t force you,’ Eddie objected.

‘Yeah, you did! You might as well have carried me there in a sack!’

He shook his head. ‘Jesus! Rothschild’s the one who pissed you off, so why’re you having a go at me?’

‘Because you’re here!’ she cried. ‘For a change.’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake,’ Eddie sighed. ‘Not this again. I was working! I offered to try to work something out with Charlie yesterday, and you told me not to.’

The mention of Charlie reminded Nina of something. ‘Where were you this morning? I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer your phone.’

‘Probably ’cause I was working. I’m not supposed to take personal calls when I’m on the clock. You know that.’

‘But you weren’t when I called you, though. Charlie phoned me - he couldn’t get hold of you and asked if I knew where you were.’

He hesitated, uneasy. ‘What time was this?’

‘After I left the UN. About half past one.’

‘Oh, right. Yeah, I was with Grant Thorn.’

‘That’s funny,’ said Nina, amusement far from her face. ‘Charlie told me you weren’t working until later.’

The sound of wheels spinning in his head was almost audible. ‘That’s ’cause . . . I was doing Grant a favour. Off the books.’

‘What sort of favour?’

‘He wanted me to pick him up some orange juice.’ Seeing her dubious look, he went on: ‘Seriously! Lazy sod couldn’t be bothered to walk a block to get it himself.’

‘I thought you had a policy about not doing that sort of thing. Y’know, the whole bodyguard not butler principle.’

‘Well, when he offers to pay me an extra five hundred bucks it’s more like a guideline.’

‘He paid you five hundred dollars to get orange juice?’

He retrieved yesterday’s wad of notes from his jacket and tossed it on to the table. ‘See? Bloke really does have more money than sense.’

Nina regarded the money suspiciously. She knew Eddie more than well enough to be aware that maintaining a poker face was not one of his talents, and he seemed to be inwardly congratulating himself on his quick thinking. Maybe Grant Thorn really had been absurdly generous, but there was more to the story. ‘So what were you doing for the rest of the day? It doesn’t take that long to buy orange juice.’

‘You didn’t see the queue,’ he said, with a half-laugh that faded under Nina’s gaze. ‘Yeah, I was doing something else too. I . . . met up with a friend.’

Her gaze intensified. ‘A female friend?’

‘A cop friend.’

To his concealed relief, Nina didn’t point out that it was possible to be both female and a cop. Instead, she said, ‘I didn’t know you had any cop friends.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t know I was supposed to give you a complete list of all my mates everywhere in the world. I’ve got loads of friends.’

She wasn’t sure if he’d meant to put emphasis on the I’ve part of his reply, but in her current mood she wasn’t going to let it pass without comment. ‘Unlike me, you mean?’

‘Where did that bloody come from? I never said you don’t have any friends.’

‘Well, that’s because I do have ’em. I’ve got . . .’ She considered it, face falling over the seconds it took her to finish the sentence. ‘There’s Piper.’

‘Who moved to San Francisco.’

‘Matt! Matt Trulli’s a friend.’

‘Who you haven’t spoken to for months.’

‘He’s still a friend! And there’s Lola!’ Nina added with a triumphant jab of her hand. ‘Lola’s a friend. And I’m having dinner with her tomorrow, actually. So, yeah, I’ve got friends.’