Alphonse had gone but she was just in time to catch Luke hastily stowing an empty glass under the table. ‘Did I see that?’ she said, sitting down.
‘Not this time. I really needed that. Actually, ten minutes with Alphonse and I usually feel the need to immerse myself in the nearest sheep dip.’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He is a little . . . unwholesome . . . don’t you think?’
‘I’ve known him for years,’ said Luke, ‘and he’s a nasty piece of work. Always on the lookout for someone young and vulnerable to leech off. But he knows everyone and everything. In half an hour, most of London will know I’m back in circulation, that I’ve been in rehab, that I have a minder, and that I’m up for anything going. And we didn’t even have to go out in the rain. I’m really good at this, aren’t I?’
‘Did you get anything useful?’
‘I did. A whole list of new places recently opened up.’
‘Did he mention . . . ? You know . . . ?’
‘He slipped it in but didn’t make a big thing of it and neither did I. Apparently it offers gambling, gaming, dancing, free drink and good food. Just the sort of place I like. We’ll check it out sometime.’
‘Not tomorrow, surely?’
‘No. I thought early next week. We don’t want to seem too eager.’
‘Do you think they’re still operating from there?’
‘We’ll go and look.’
‘It’s a bit public, isn’t it? A fashionable restaurant on the river?’
‘That’s the point, I think. If the Time Police come calling, then it’s just what it appears to be. A nice place on the river. Always heaving until the fashionable crowd discovers the next Big Thing and moves on.’
‘Will we even get in?’
He blinked in genuine astonishment. ‘Why wouldn’t we?’
‘It’s always heaving?’
‘Oh, I’ll get the concierge to make reservations. It won’t be a problem. Drink your water, Jane, and stop fretting.’
They ambled through the next few days. Hundreds of people seemed pleased to see Luke again. He was greeted ecstatically wherever he went. And he appeared equally pleased to see them. There were hugs, kisses and high-fives as Luke enthusiastically skidded from group to group of welcoming friends.
To Jane, however, it was a cacophony of dark places, loud music, shouting men and shrieking women. And a waste of time. No one made any effort to entice them into illegal activities. ‘Well, not that you can see, Jane,’ said Luke, sitting himself opposite her. ‘However, I’ve just had an interesting ten minutes in the Gents.’
He uncurled his hand to show her a couple of small white tablets.
She kept her face very still.
‘Oh, don’t worry.’ He dropped them to the floor and crushed them underfoot. ‘It was only for the look of the thing. Sending out all the right messages, don’t you think? For our purposes, I mean.’ He frowned. ‘Because drugs are bad.’
She looked at him. His face was flushed and his eyes too bright. ‘Luke . . .’
‘Jane, I’m joking.’
She held his eye. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if this wasn’t a big mistake on your part.’
‘In what way?’
‘I’m not sure if you’re pretending to embrace your old ways or pretending you’re not.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Luke, all you had to do was swallow those pills and for you, it would be as if the last six months in . . . rehab . . . had never existed. How easy would it be for you to pick up your old life where you left off?’ She reached across the table and took his hands. ‘I fear for you.’
He stared at her for a long while, making no attempt to take his hands away. Around them, the music thumped and people danced and swung their way past, faces flushed with excitement, screaming at each other to be heard.
She stared back, forcing herself to retain eye contact and all the while thinking, I’ve gone too far. I shouldn’t have said it. I’ve risked the mission. I risked the team. I’ve risked us. Stupid, stupid Jane.
‘Hang on,’ said Bolshy Jane. ‘Don’t panic yet. Give it a moment.’
He pulled his hands free and her world felt suddenly colder. Passing his hand over the paypoint on the table, he said, ‘Come outside, Jane.’
Here we go, she thought miserably. Or here I go, anyway.
They were somewhere in Chelsea, she knew that. The pavements were thronged with people. Bright lights winked and flashed, reflected in the wet pavement. She saw none of it. A dark fear gnawed at her.
They were being jostled by late-night revellers. She pushed him into a doorway. Someone shouted at them to get a room. Jane wondered whether she did actually go to the trouble of blushing in the dark or whether some mechanism inside her brain decided it would be a waste of time and therefore didn’t bother.
Lights flicked across Luke’s face – yellow, red and white. She waited for him to shove past her and disappear into the night. Without her. To fall prey to whatever might be waiting for him out there. She fully expected his next words to be ‘Just bugger off, Jane, will you?’
She gripped his jacket. ‘Luke, will you do something for me?’
She watched his eyes harden as they frequently did when someone tried to tell him what to do.
Deliberately, she stepped back and made her voice calm.
‘Look . . . I’ve had a thought. We’ve been making it abundantly clear you’re back in town and up for a good time but I’m guessing enough people are talking about you by now and you don’t actually need to be here physically. Let’s go away somewhere. Even if only for a day or so. Get you out of this environment for a little while. Is there perhaps somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit? We could go there.’
Luke stared at her for a moment, eyes unfocused, and then said, ‘Actually . . . yes.’
She waited.
‘I want to find Birgitte. Will you help me?’
‘Yes, of course,’ she said unhesitatingly. ‘Um . . . who’s Birgitte? And why?’
He ignored the first question. ‘Because you’re right. I am at risk here. And it’ll probably be because of something trivial and stupid and I won’t be able to help myself and then I’ll be right back where I was before I . . . entered rehab. Only worse, this time. So, you’re right. Let’s get out of here.’
‘Where to?’