The Social Magus by James Ward

Author:James Ward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political thrillers set in England, espionage novels set in London, spy thrillers set in Britain, undercover agent thriller, Secret Service thrillers from the UK, Action and adventure, Action hero
Publisher: Cool Millennium
Published: 2016-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18: Outside the House of Commons

THEY LEFT TIM AND ALEC watching Better Call Saul on Netflix and headed into the city on a double-decker bus. Soraya insisted on taking the brandy with them and Hannah and Shula seconded and thirded. They didn’t care that Mordred didn’t want any. They weren’t looking for drunken camaraderie from him, they had enough of that from each other. The city was full of weirdos and losers and he was a bodyguard. Not an insignificant role given that they were used to being pestered by men who, despite never having met them before, thought that they, and they alone, understood them – sometimes, even better than they understood themselves.

They went to the top deck of the bus. Empty. All the commuters had left the city now, and in any case, they’d been travelling in the opposite direction. They sang hits from the Fully Magic Coal Tar Lounge songbook and danced in synchrony. They looked like they were genuinely having a great time, so much so that Mordred relaxed and had a little brandy. At times like this, he wished he was a woman. They didn’t pester him to get involved. To all intents and purposes they seemed to have forgotten his existence, which he liked. For the twenty-five minutes it took them to get from Islington to Westminster, he felt at peace with the world. The Great Universal language spoke through the singing and the dancing and the way the bus glided towards its destination and how the driver didn’t shout up for them all to pack in or they were off.

The reason for that became clear when they left. He’d recognised Soraya. He switched the engine off for a moment, handed over his smartphone and got out of his cab. Mordred took three pictures of him and Soraya, her pretending to kiss his ear. He was about fifty with sticking up grey hair and long sideburns, and he kept saying, “Wait till my little girl sees this!”

It was a brilliant evening, spoiled only by the knowledge that when they got where they were going, they were set to participate in the sort of prank a fifteen year-old might have dreamed up. Assuming they got that far, they’d sit on the floor of the House of Commons with banners saying something like ‘Free freedom’. Like the world needed a second Karl Lagerfeld ‘women’s rights’ demonstration.

They caught sight of Chapman Hill and Julia when they came within sight of the entrance to the Houses of Parliament. The couple stood against the railings looking glum alongside a few people with banners, as expected. He held a travel bag. Annabel stood to one side in a bomber jacket, taking photos. Two policemen talked to a group of young women. When Hill saw Mordred, he somehow looked both pleased and disappointed at the same time. Annabel struck up a conversation with Julia, Hannah and her two friends went to where the placards were, and Hill broke away to speak to Mordred.

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