Page 4 of The Square
She goes that way, I go this way and it takes me seven calls, actually, to find Russ. But on the pay phone outside a little bar called Alika’s, which I kinda like the sound of, I finally get him.
“Danny Fortnight,” Russell says. It comes out sardonic, but I don’t take it personally. Last time I saw Russell and his crew we’d just stolen a couple hundred thousand dollars from them.
“Hey, Russell. You’re pretty fuckin’ hard to find these days, aren’t ya?”
“You know me,” he says, his British accent clipped. “Always here, never anywhere. Whatcha need, mate?”
“How much have you heard?”
“Mmmm-hmmm,” he drawls out. The world is kinda big, but our world is actually pretty small. “Yup.”
“Which means… everything?” I laugh.
“I heard you three might be back together. Should I be worried?”
“Hmm,” I say.
“What?”
“We’re not quite back together yet. Which means you haven’t heard. Fuck, man, I was really hoping you had some info for me.”
“Info? Well, I can always scrounge something up if you really need it. But it’ll cost you.”
“I got money. But I don’t got time. Russell, I’m sorta in the middle of something.”
“Oh, yeah. I did hear about that.”
“What?”
“Brasil, yeah? Oh, everyone knows about that.”
“No, not Brasil. Not yet, anyway. And I don’t need info on that shit.”
“Then what?”
“Christine.”
He laughs. And it’s not sardonic, either. It’s possibly a little bit sympathetic. “Nothing ever changes with you three.”
“Nothing ever changes with anyone,” I reply back.
“True. But…” He kinda laughs again. It’s clipped and curt. “What about Christine could I know that you don’t?”
“I’m missing the past four years.”
“Oh, right. That.”
“And she’s keeping a secret. Something about Alec. You know anything about that?”
I can almost hear him think for a moment and then shrug. “Not any more than you do, probably.”
“Seriously? I mean… Alec and Eliza—”
“No, mate. Sorry. Can’t tell you anything.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?”
“Does it matter? I’m not gonna give anything out about Eliza. So you can just tell Alec, ‘Nice try.’ But—”
