you didn’t bring him back. No disrespect, I’m sure you’re great at what you do, but. Not even Grisamentum or you could do that. Where is he? No offense, but it ain’t you I come to see.”
“It isn’t so much you he wants to see, Dane Parnell. Though it is about that god of yours.” She pointed at Billy.
I knew it, Billy thought, and had no idea where the thought came from or what it meant. He had expected nothing. There was silence. Billy scanned the surrounds, the silhouettes against bleak skies.
“What does your boss want?” Dane said. “Where is he? Where’s he been for the last God knows how many years?”
“We heard that the Tattoo’s sicced every bounty-hunter between here and Glasgow on your tail, for some tidy money,” Byrne said. “Your church wants you dead. And if that weren’t enough, you’ve got Goss and Subby coming after you.”
“We’re popular blokes,” Dane said. “Where did he go?”
“Look,” she said. “After that business with the Tattoo, it wasn’t as simple as we made it. It’s not that there was no comeback. He had … There were problems. And when we realised that Tattoo was still gunning for him—and that was a mess, we should have just killed him, that’s a lesson, don’t get creative with revenge—Grisamentum needed … some time. Some space. To heal. Look at it, Dane. No one knows he’s alive. Think what an advantage that is.
“You’ve felt all this.” She shrugged at the sky. “You can tell things are going wrong. Have been since your god was taken. Mr. Harrow, you were there. You were in the Centre. It was you who found it. And that’s not nothing.”
Was that grinding glass?
“The Tattoo’s after your god, Dane Parnell. He’s closing in. Listen to me.” For the first time there was urgency in her voice. “Why do you think you haven’t heard about Grisamentum for the last few years? You said it yourself. As far as London knows, he’s dead. That puts us in a good position. So don’t mess it up by telling anyone. You know and I know that whatever it is he wants it for, we can’t let the Tattoo get hold of the kraken.”
“Where is it?” Billy said.
“Yeah,” said Dane, without looking round. “Where is it? Billy thought you might have taken it.”
“Why would we want your god?” Byrne said. “What we want is the Tattoo not to get it. We don’t know who’s got it, Dane. And that makes me nervous. No one should have that kind of power. Certainly no one we don’t know about. You know as much about what’s going on as anyone. You two, I mean, with what’s in Mr. Harrow’s head. But we know things too. We all want the same thing. To find the kraken, and to stop the Tattoo getting anywhere near it.
“We want to work together.”
• • •
“OH, MAN,” DANE SAID AT LAST. HE LOOKED AROUND. “SHIT. WE should get out of sight,” he said to Billy. He turned back to her. “Grisamentum asked that once before,” he said. “Right here. I said no.”
“Not so,” Byrne said. “Last time he tried to persuade you to come to work for him. He’s sorry for that. You’re a kraken man—he knows it, I know it, you know it. That’s what this is about. We’re not pretending we don’t need your help. And you need ours. We’re suggesting we become partners.”
Dane stared at her until she spoke again. “Too much is going on, Dane. The angels are walking. We need to know why.”
Dane leaned back, his eyes still on Byrne, to whisper to Billy. “If this isn’t bullshit,” he said, “then it’s something. To work with Grisamentum? We got to think very seriously about this.”
“We don’t even know it is Grisamentum,” Billy said slowly.
Dane nodded. “Look,” he said louder. “This is all very flattering, but I haven’t even seen your boss. We can’t make this sort of decision like that.” We, thought Billy, with satisfaction.
“Are you going to start talking about organ-grinders and monkeys?” Byrne said.
“However you want to put it,” Dane said. “What was it happened? He was really sick.”
“Was he?”
“Where is he then? Why disappear all that time?”
“He’s not going to come here,” she said carefully. “There’s no way he’s going to …”
“Well then we’re done,” said Dane.
“Will you let me finish? That doesn’t mean you can’t talk to him.”
“What, you got some secure line?” Dane said.
“There are ways.” She took out a pen and paper. “Channels.