heading straight back to court. I mentioned that Clive Wainwright, our solicitor, was taking me and Justine over to see our barrister the next day. Allen suggested distractedly that Frazer could handle that. I stopped dead in my tracks. Allen went on a few steps then he stopped and looked round.
‘Frazer?’ I said.
Glancing left and right, Allen came back and took me by the elbow. He led me down the stairs to the coffee shop under the Lloyd’s Building; the place was closed for renovation. Standing outside the sealed door, we were alone. ‘Ian, your priority is Sebastian bloody Ward. If Ottoman’s going to sidetrack you—’
‘It won’t.’
‘I think it is.’
‘What does Frazer know about Ottoman?’ I said, warning bells ringing in my head. I had to think on my feet. ‘And I’ve got to do the witness bit in court anyway, Frazer can’t do that. Allen, it’d be crazy to let Frazer take over now.’
He gave me a look. He knew damn well about Frazer and me.
I opened my hands. ‘Look, you’ve already pulled me off the box. Tyler doesn’t want me hanging around him twenty four hours a day. So I’ll chase up this Name, the pig-sticker, then what? Allen, I’ve got the time. I can do it.’ I heard a faint note of desperation creeping into my voice. This idea of taking the Ottoman case away from me, I knew it must have been Frazer who put it into Allen’s head. Office politics, the new Cold War. Frazer sensed that he was back in the running again for Angela’s job, and he was turning the screws on me. ‘And the LCO,’ I said, ‘they already said they want me there tomorrow. Drop Frazer on them, they won’t be pleased.’
Allen shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away a few paces. He wasn’t a fool, he knew Frazer and I were both trying to stamp on each other’s fingers; but he also knew that what I said made sense. The Room was busy, he couldn’t afford two senior under- writers off the job. At last he decided. ‘Okay. You stay with Ottoman, but Sebastian’s still the priority.’ His pager bleeped, he took it out, glanced down and pulled a face.
‘Thanks,’ I said.
‘For what?’
‘Trusting me.’
He took a moment with that. Then he said, ‘I haven’t forgotten who wanted us involved in the K and R market.’ He gave me a look that sent my heart into my boots, before turning and starting up the stairs. 'So don't thank me yet, Ian,' he said.
Chapter 12
----
T here was a halo of light over the track, and lots of people walking that way. The car was warm and dry, I wasn’t looking forward to getting out.
‘Down here,’ Katy said. ‘At the end.’
I slowed, edging the car down into the lane. The Stow carpark was full, and when we’d tried to park in the old place, the spot where the old man and me always used, they’d built a supermarket on it. Now Katy was giving me directions to some other spot she knew.
‘Are you sure?’ I asked her, peering into the dark beyond the headlights.
She said she was pretty sure, at least it was still a good spot a year ago.
‘A year ago you were down at college.’
‘Yeah.’ She pointed up ahead. There was a badly battered sheet of corrugated iron that said ‘Keep Out’, and just to one side of it enough space for a car. There was a great lump of wood like a railway sleeper right across that space. I stopped the car and we got out to move the sleeper.
I said, ‘What was on six months ago, some big race?’
She grunted, heaving her end of the sleeper, it hit the ground with a thud. She swiped her hands together then rubbed them over her jeans. ‘No. I used to come back up here all the time.’
‘What, to the Stow?’
‘Everywhere. Wherever Dad went.’
‘The tracks?’
She nodded and gave me a sideways look. I guess she must have thought I knew that, but now she saw that I didn’t. ‘You know,’ she said. ‘Like you used to.'
Like I used to. Doing the rounds of the tracks with my old man, and after figuring out
‘Frazer?’ I said.
Glancing left and right, Allen came back and took me by the elbow. He led me down the stairs to the coffee shop under the Lloyd’s Building; the place was closed for renovation. Standing outside the sealed door, we were alone. ‘Ian, your priority is Sebastian bloody Ward. If Ottoman’s going to sidetrack you—’
‘It won’t.’
‘I think it is.’
‘What does Frazer know about Ottoman?’ I said, warning bells ringing in my head. I had to think on my feet. ‘And I’ve got to do the witness bit in court anyway, Frazer can’t do that. Allen, it’d be crazy to let Frazer take over now.’
He gave me a look. He knew damn well about Frazer and me.
I opened my hands. ‘Look, you’ve already pulled me off the box. Tyler doesn’t want me hanging around him twenty four hours a day. So I’ll chase up this Name, the pig-sticker, then what? Allen, I’ve got the time. I can do it.’ I heard a faint note of desperation creeping into my voice. This idea of taking the Ottoman case away from me, I knew it must have been Frazer who put it into Allen’s head. Office politics, the new Cold War. Frazer sensed that he was back in the running again for Angela’s job, and he was turning the screws on me. ‘And the LCO,’ I said, ‘they already said they want me there tomorrow. Drop Frazer on them, they won’t be pleased.’
Allen shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away a few paces. He wasn’t a fool, he knew Frazer and I were both trying to stamp on each other’s fingers; but he also knew that what I said made sense. The Room was busy, he couldn’t afford two senior under- writers off the job. At last he decided. ‘Okay. You stay with Ottoman, but Sebastian’s still the priority.’ His pager bleeped, he took it out, glanced down and pulled a face.
‘Thanks,’ I said.
‘For what?’
‘Trusting me.’
He took a moment with that. Then he said, ‘I haven’t forgotten who wanted us involved in the K and R market.’ He gave me a look that sent my heart into my boots, before turning and starting up the stairs. 'So don't thank me yet, Ian,' he said.
Chapter 12
----
T here was a halo of light over the track, and lots of people walking that way. The car was warm and dry, I wasn’t looking forward to getting out.
‘Down here,’ Katy said. ‘At the end.’
I slowed, edging the car down into the lane. The Stow carpark was full, and when we’d tried to park in the old place, the spot where the old man and me always used, they’d built a supermarket on it. Now Katy was giving me directions to some other spot she knew.
‘Are you sure?’ I asked her, peering into the dark beyond the headlights.
She said she was pretty sure, at least it was still a good spot a year ago.
‘A year ago you were down at college.’
‘Yeah.’ She pointed up ahead. There was a badly battered sheet of corrugated iron that said ‘Keep Out’, and just to one side of it enough space for a car. There was a great lump of wood like a railway sleeper right across that space. I stopped the car and we got out to move the sleeper.
I said, ‘What was on six months ago, some big race?’
She grunted, heaving her end of the sleeper, it hit the ground with a thud. She swiped her hands together then rubbed them over her jeans. ‘No. I used to come back up here all the time.’
‘What, to the Stow?’
‘Everywhere. Wherever Dad went.’
‘The tracks?’
She nodded and gave me a sideways look. I guess she must have thought I knew that, but now she saw that I didn’t. ‘You know,’ she said. ‘Like you used to.'
Like I used to. Doing the rounds of the tracks with my old man, and after figuring out
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