They came up to him, and Ollie clasped him by the hand, beaming. ‘Well, good to see you, laddie! I was hoping you’d be eavesdropping on the boys.’

‘I was,’ answered Marcus. ‘I trust everything went all right? No hiccups?’

‘Oh no!’ crowed Ollie. ‘Nothing serious.’

Albert—myriad images of the horrors they had undergone that night flashing across his mind like some agonizing slide show—could only look at him.

Ollie, in the meantime, finally released the stranger’s hand. ‘Well, let’s get this over and done with, then. All clear?’

‘That is what they say.’

‘All right. Let’s call them in.’

Ollie lifted his hand and Albert watched, fascinated, as around half a dozen men suddenly appeared out of various pipe mouths and began dropping to the ground around them, gathering close—but not too close to Marcus.

‘Quite the little army you’ve got here,’ remarked Ollie. ‘I suppose I should call in mine, too.’

He turned and waved in the direction where they had left June and Theo. Albert strained into the distance, trying to spot where they were hiding in the rubble, but there was no sign of them.

When he looked back, he found the stranger’s cold eyes studying him, the dark brows above them knotted in a frown.

‘This is the “bonus item” they were saying you mentioned?’

‘Oh, yes, of course! This is Al. He’s the one who found the girl.’

A ripple crossed the black pools, and then it was gone. ‘Is he, now?’

‘Uh huh! Quite the journey he went through to get to us too!’

‘Did he, now?’

‘Oh yes, if his story’s to be believed. But he’s a sharp ’un all right. I’ve been watching him all night. Thinks on his feet; does what he’s told when he has to. Oh yes, he’ll be all right—’

‘Here they come.’

Ollie broke off and they swung around, looking in the direction Marcus was pointing, as June and Theo made their way through the rubble towards them. ‘Ah yes,’ he said. ‘So Marcus, if I might have a quick word?’

They stepped away to the side to have a rapid, one-sided conversation in hushed tones, but Albert noticed that even while he listened, Marcus never took his eyes off him.

Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, he turned to watch June and Theo as they approached. Both of them had their eyes fixed on Marcus. They were close enough now for Albert to see them both clearly; June was frowning, but other than that her expression gave nothing away. Next to her, Theo looked positively uncomfortable.

They took a long time to get there, Theo moving slower and slower, dragging her feet as they approached. Albert got the feeling that if she could have walked any slower, she would have.

Coming up to them, she looked at the man with stony eyes. ‘You came,’ she said.

‘I did.’