Temple of the Gods

spotted one of Eddie’s possessions on a shelf, a pottery cigar-box holder in the shape of a smiling Fidel Castro. ‘Well, mostly.’

‘So what can I do for you, Larry?’ Nina asked, moving round the room so that by facing her, Larry would have his back to the bedroom door.

‘I wanted to fix things up between us. When we had dinner, it didn’t end well. Which made it two out of two, and I’d like dinner number three to at least reach the dessert course without any fireworks!’ He laughed a little, but stopped when he saw Nina’s stony expression. ‘That’s assuming that you’re willing for there to be a dinner number three, of course.’

‘It’s not something I’d given a great deal of thought, to be honest. Look, Larry, this really isn’t a good time —’

‘Please, it’ll just take a minute!’ He was silent for a moment, composing himself. ‘I wanted to apologise. For what happened in South America. I’ve been thinking about what you told me, and… you were right. I shouldn’t have talked to Stikes.’

‘No,’ said Nina coldly. ‘You shouldn’t.’

‘But I didn’t know, I didn’t know!’ Larry protested, hands spread wide. ‘Yes, Callas and de Quesada weren’t the kind of clients I’d actively seek out, but I didn’t know what they were planning. When Edward turned up in Bogota afterwards and started threatening to tie me in with their attempted coup, I… well, I admit it, I panicked. I needed reassurances that I wasn’t going to end up embroiled in the whole mess — and Stikes was the only person who could provide them, since de Quesada and Callas were both dead.’

‘And because you called him—’

‘I know,’ he interrupted. ‘And I’m sorry, I really, really am sorry about it, and I know that if I hadn’t spoken to Stikes none of it would have happened. If I’d known, if there had been any possible way I could have known, I wouldn’t have done it.’

‘That doesn’t change what happened, though,’ said Eddie, stepping out of the bedroom behind him.

Larry whirled, face a mixture of shock, relief — and nervousness. ‘Edward? Oh my God! You’re all right!’

‘Yeah, I’m okay,’ Eddie said with a shrug, before fixing his father with a cold gaze. ‘So, did I just hear that right? You actually apologised to someone?’

‘If I make a mistake, I own up to it,’ his father replied stiffly.

‘So I guess that must have been the first mistake you ever made in your life, seeing as I don’t remember you doing that before.’

‘Eddie, for God’s sake,’ said Nina, stepping between the two men to prevent yet another family argument. ‘The point is, he did come here to apologise. Maybe now that you’re here too…’ She gave the elder Chase a pointed look.

‘Well?’ said Eddie, folding his arms and regarding his father expectantly.

It took considerably more effort for the words to emerge this time. ‘Okay. Edward. What I wanted to say was… I made a mistake, and I regret it. I’m sorry.’

A sarcastic smile split his son’s face. ‘Well, fuck me. I can die happy now that I’ve finally heard that.’

‘Jesus Christ, Eddie!’ Nina snapped. ‘Will you just listen to him, please? For me, if nothing else?’

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Larry repeated, with growing emotion. ‘Look, I’m…’ He paced in agitation across the room, then turned back to Eddie. ‘I’m not a soldier like you. I’ve never been in any situation where people’s lives were in the balance. How do you think I feel about learning that something I did ended up getting people killed? It’s — it’s appalling! I don’t know how to deal with something that huge. I really don’t.’ He went to a chair and sat staring miserably down at the floor. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘That doesn’t bring back Mac,’ Eddie rumbled. ‘Or any of the other people who died.’

‘No, it doesn’t. But…’ He looked up, meeting his son’s icy gaze. ‘I did what I did because I was trying to save my own arse. I admit that. And now I completely understand why you took a swing at me in England.’ He shrugged — not disdain, but a kind of acceptance. ‘To be honest, I can’t help thinking now that you showed remarkable restraint.’

‘If Holly hadn’t put herself in front of you,’ Eddie told him, ‘I wouldn’t have stopped.’

‘And I would have deserved it. Well, up to a point.’ A faint attempt at a smile. ‘But when your granddaughter’s braver than you are, it’s probably a sign that you need to reassess some things in your life. Like…’ He sighed. ‘Like your relationship with your son.’

Eddie remained silent, compelling Nina to speak up. ‘In what way?’

Larry was not relishing whatever admission he was about to make. ‘I, er… I think I’ve misjudged you, Edward. I always thought of you as the boy you used to be — not the man you’ve become. But, well… you’ve changed. You grew up, you took on responsibilities for things bigger than just yourself. And… it’s made me realise that maybe I never did.’

He turned his eyes back down to the floor, not awaiting approbation but simply mentally worn from having forced out the confession. Nina looked between the two men, wondering which would speak first.

It was Eddie. ‘That’s something I never thought I’d hear.’ But there was no malice or criticism to it, merely a statement of fact.

‘It’s something I never thought I’d say,’ replied Larry. ‘But I have, so, there you are. I hope you’ll accept it.’

Eddie held him in suspense for several seconds before delivering his reply. ‘I’ll think about it.’

His father had clearly been wanting more, but more or less managed to cover his downhearted look. ‘I suppose that’s the best I could hope for.’

A noncommittal sound, then Eddie tried to change the subject. ‘How is Holly? And Lizzie?’

‘Elizabeth’s fine; you know her, she always pushes on no matter what. Holly was very upset about losing your grandmother, as you can imagine, but she’s a strong kid. She’s handling it. What about you?’

‘Me? Well, obviously I was upset about Nan too. I should have been there with her.’ He considered that, then gave Nina an apologetic look. ‘I mean, I wish I could’ve been there to see her one last time.’

‘She would have liked that,’ said Larry, ‘but I meant what about you, personally? You disappeared for three months, and it looks like you’ve been in the wars. What with the cuts and bruises, and the…’ Larry indicated his chin. ‘The face fungus.’

‘Why does nobody like my beard?’ Eddie said with a sigh. ‘But yeah, I’ve had a few scrapes. Par for the course when you’re on the run because you’ve been accused of murder. Speaking of which, I need to get going.’

Nina hurriedly blocked the entrance to the bedroom once more. ‘Eddie, I’m not going to let you go again.’

‘We’ve been through this — I’ve got to. I can’t clear myself without that code of Kit’s, and I’m not going to bring you down with me as well.’

‘No, Eddie,’ she insisted. ‘Whatever happens, we’re going to deal with it together, okay? If you think I’m going to let you go again now that I’ve got you back, you’re really, really mistaken.’

‘How are you gonna stop me? Tie me to the bed? Not that you haven’t done that before, but—’

‘We have company,’ Nina hurriedly reminded him, blushing.

‘Well, maybe I should get going,’ said Larry uncomfortably. He went to the door, then hesitated, curious. ‘There’s something that can clear you, Edward? Why don’t you tell the police?’

‘Because we don’t know what it means,’ said Nina. ‘It’s a number, a code. We think it’s important, but we don’t know why.’

‘What number?’

‘What, you think you’ll be able to work it out?’ Eddie said in a cutting tone. ‘A mathematical genius —’ he nodded at Nina — ‘and an MI6 agent couldn’t find the answer, but a bloke who works in shipping can?’

‘Maybe it’s a shipping number,’ Larry replied defiantly.

‘Ah… that’s actually not a bad idea,’ Nina had to admit. ‘And really, it’s not like it could hurt.’

‘All right, whatever,’ Eddie muttered. He wrote down the number while Nina gave Larry a potted account of how it had been calculated. ‘We thought it might be a Greek phone number, but it doesn’t work.’ He gave the paper