Page 50 of The Circle

“Were you also the ones responsible for what happened to Lars? After?”

There’s a long pause. Then, “No. We made the grave mistake of assuming that Mr. Lynch was capable of completing the task we set him to. He behaved in a manner that was unacceptable. We regret it. But he has, as you are aware, been admonished.”

Admonished. There’s a fokken euphemism if ever I’ve heard one. So these okes, whoever they are, are the ones responsible for the shot that killed Brasil.

“Why did the Cillian oke grab Christine and why all the—?” I start to ask.

“All your questions will be answered, I promise you,” he interrupts, “but the shortest version at the moment is: We hoped to avoid having to make direct contact. But here we are. So, may I continue advising on next steps?”

I look around the room at all the faces staring at me as if I have any clue about what’s happening right now. “Sure,” I say, “advise away, man.”

“Thank you. We have arranged safe passage for you from London to Vienna.”

“All right…”

“We have also arranged for a car at your hotel—”

“How do you know what hotel we’re—?”

“—that has diplomatic plates and will allow you to safely travel from Belfast to London without fear of encountering any obstacles in the form of local law enforcement. However, if you do come upon any impediments, we will remove them.”

Heilige fokken kak, man. I don’t know who these okes are, but they clearly are not here to fuck spiders, as my Australian mates might say.

I’ll not lie: I’m simultaneously anxious and impressed. Whoever they are, they go about their business the same way I would. Grandmaster versus grandmaster. Excellent. Let’s see who can topple whose king first.

“Are there any questions, Mr. van den Berg?” he asks.

I put the phone on mute once more. “Anyone?” I ask.

“They’re giving us Theo and Andra. What do they want?” Danny says.

I nod and start to take the phone off mute—

“How can we trust that the car is safe? Or whatever way they’re getting us to Vienna?” Christine interrupts.

I nod again, go to take the phone off mute—

“I’m coming,” Eliza declares.

“Eliza,” I start.

“I’m. Fucking. Coming. Alec,” she states again. Emphatically.

I sigh and eye her as I unmute the phone. “Two questions and a counter,” I say.

“Very good.”

“How can we trust that we’ll get to Vienna safely?”

“If we didn’t want you to arrive safely, you wouldn’t be speaking with me.” (Fair enough.) “Next question?”

“What do you want in exchange for the Watsons?”

“At the moment, just that you, Mr. Fortnight, and Ms. Keene present yourselves as requested. Once you have arrived and we have shown you that the young Ms. Watson and her uncle are in good condition, we will clarify further.”

I look at Danny. He shakes his head with a strong, non-verbal, I don’t like it energy. I raise my eyebrows and tilt my head at him. I don’t like it either, but we seem to be at the disadvantage in this negotiation. And, given that I’m about to make a request that feels significant, I believe I need to keep our powder dry.

“The counteroffer, please?” the annoyingly courteous Austrian says.