Drink Me

50. INSIDE OUT

INSIDE OUT

Four days later Riley was finally well enough to travel but the journey hadn't been an easy one. He'd spent most of his flight trying not to be overwhelmed by his nausea and replaying the few hours before his attempted murder, hoping to remember anything that would help find the culprit. Despite his best effort, all memories were but a messy tangle of alcohol and confusion. When he finally stepped outside Heathrow Airport into the fresh, cold night air, Riley almost felt like kissing the ground.

Aidan was waiting for him just outside, on a phone call that he immediately ended when he saw his cousin emerge from the terminal.

"Jesus, Riley, it's good to see you," Aidan said, pulling him close in his arms for a quick but tight hug. "Let me take your backpack," he motioned to Riley who refused politely.

"I'm fine, Aid. The cab line is just over there," he said.

Aidan observed him for a moment longer before agreeing to his cousin carrying his belongings and the two started to walk towards the taxi curb.

"I can't believe I've almost lost you," Aidan continued, a heavy look in his eyes as he stopped a sensible distance from the people in line.

And it was times like these when Aidan's affection and love for him shone through that he felt guilty for what he was doing. But Noah's memory inked on his skin was a constant reminder of what his cousin had done and what he intended to do.

"Well, you didn't. Luckily whoever did this isn't great at maths," Riley replied trying to lighten the spirit of Aidan's words. Apparently, he was only alive because the perpetrator had misjudged the poison doses needed to kill a man of Riley's size.

"We'll find out who did it, Riley," Aidan said sternly, looking around for any prying ears but the curb was now empty and a new cab approached. Aidan shared Riley's address with the driver and the two men sat in the back, keeping quiet until the car was well outside the airport perimeter.

"Do you recall anything at all?" Aidan asked eventually.

Riley shook his head. Well, he recalled things but if they weren't figments of his drunk and poisoned imagination, he certainly couldn't share them with Aidan.

"The poison was in the bottle of water, waiting for me. I didn't see anything unusual in my room..." he explained.

Aidan nodded, pensively; other than the worry for his cousin's health something was evidently bothering him.

"Whoever it was, it's a threat to the group too," he declared eventually.

"That's what Newby said. Do you think someone was trying to send a message?" Riley asked.

But Aidan shrugged. "It's a possibility. We do know that MI6 are onto us..."

"It's not MI6," Riley replied a little too quickly.

Arsenic makes us sloppy, Murphy.

"I mean, they would have arrested us if they had the necessary evidence," he added nonchalantly. "They're not the Corleone family," he joked.

Aidan relaxed against the seat and focused on the road outside the window for a moment.

"It makes sense," he said. "And we don't know of any hostile groups, nobody claimed it either." He turned to face Riley with a disheartened expression on his face. He looked tired.

"So it's likely internal..." Riley said out loud what Aidan was thinking.

"The guys in New York are trying to get hold of the CCTV recordings at the hotel but it's taking longer than necessary since they can't do it the official way," Aidan explained.