“But you’ll never find it.”
She glanced quickly at the many, many rooms full of computer terminals, all no doubt working, running some kind of program, and all the same as their neighbors.
But she knew better. “Oh, I think I might.”
She also knew a man like Webb would never consider installing a kill switch. Not after all the hard work he’d put in to acquire such material, not when every sweet stalking he’d ever undertaken lived right here.
She dodged the bat, stopped the knife strike, and left the man with a second bullet hole. She jumped up and followed Wu, then glanced back to see how Dino was doing. All was well. The only problem they had now was the police.
Wu hesitated; the hallway was clear. “Where to?”
Karin ran past, the location seared into her memory. “To the lair of one of the worst monsters that ever lived,” she said. “So keep it frosty. This way, boys.”
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
The room itself was obnoxious, the last vestige of Tyler Webb, crawling with external imagery manifested of a malignant inner madness. They destroyed the locks in seconds, saw the framed pictures on the walls — favored victims and stalkings, before and after shots — and a bizarre collection of spy-gadgets from all over the world, sitting on tables all around the room.
Karin ignored it as best she could, hearing sirens already through the glazed windows. Wu and Dino stood guard whilst she dashed over to the terminal.
Double-checking, she confirmed it was the very one that had received enormous streams of data, plugged in a specially formatted flash drive, and looked for a small green light that would confirm automatic download of the terminal’s contents. Karin had anticipated a large amount of information might be transferred and had configured the stick accordingly. It was as fast as she could make it.
“How we doing?” She glanced up.
Wu shrugged. “All quiet here.”
“Apart from the moaning,” Dino said. “Plenty of that.”
Part of their plan was to leave casualties. It would confuse and delay the cops. Karin was happy that they were, at the very least, thugs and deserved their upcoming new lot in life. She glanced at the flashing green light, saw it was blinking fast, and knew it was almost done.
“Get ready.”
Sirens shrieked outside the window.
The light stopped flashing, signaling all was complete. She withdrew the tiny drive and zipped it inside an inner pocket. “Time to go.”
Instantly, the boys moved out, stepping carefully around the fallen, bleeding men and kicking two that tried to rise up. Karin threatened them with her gun, but wouldn’t have used it. There might still be some confusion as to where the gunfire had come from. Already, they would be manning the surveillance cameras and asking myriad questions. The key to escape was not to be quick, not even to be careful.
It was to be unexpected.
They unbuckled their backpacks, withdrew their contents and then threw the empty bags away. Staring at each other, they nodded.
“Officer.” Wu saluted Dino.
“Officer.” Dino nodded smartly at Karin.
“Sarge,” she exaggerated her British accent and headed for the service elevators.
In her pocket, the key to power, to government and royal manipulation, to coup upon coup, to financial freedom and law enforcement control.
All they needed was a safe place to start it up.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Another day, another plane journey, and Matt Drake was feeling seriously jet-lagged. Takeoff had happened only an hour ago and they were chasing the day toward the Atlantic, en route to the United States of America.
With no clear idea of where to go.
The third Horseman — Famine. Drake dreaded to imagine what kind of warfare the Order had dreamed up for famine. They were still highly engrossed with figuring out the first weapon — the space gun and, in particular, the second weapon — the linchpin code. Hayden still held all the information to it, but the pressure to share was immense. Only the sudden scramble and unclear destination were making her lack of action acceptable.
The linchpin code engineered events carried out across half of Europe, and finally America, to bring down the world’s heads of states, the country’s infrastructures, hobble their armies and free the psychos — those that wanted to send Earth back to the dark ages. It appeared frighteningly real, and frighteningly easy. Once that first domino toppled…
Hayden stayed quiet as she read through. Drake allowed his mind to cruise past all the recent revelations: SEAL Team 7; the Special Forces teams engaging with each other; the French losses, due mostly to the Russians; and now a Native American connection. Of course, the tribesmen had been superb horsemen — possibly the best that ever lived. But where did famine come into it all?
Alicia snored softly at his side, getting a little shut eye. Kenzie tried her best to video the event, but Dahl managed to hold her back. Drake noticed it wasn’t gentle physical persuasion, but rather words that changed her mind. He wasn’t sure about Dahl and Kenzie getting close. None of his business, of course, and he was essentially traveling the same train tracks but…
Drake wanted the best for the Mad Swede, and that was all.
Lauren sat up front, with Smyth as close as he could get without making her feel too uncomfortable. Yorgi, Kinimaka and Mai spoke in quiet tones toward the plane’s rear; the cargo hold they were in not much more than a high-ceilinged, drafty, rattling shell. Just once he’d like to fly first class. Even coach beat luggage class.
Lauren concentrated on the feed they still had going between themselves and DC. The chatter was bland and unfocused right now, more a brainstorming session that a real discussion. That many geeks though? Drake had no doubt they would find exactly what they were looking for.
The hours passed and the States drew closer. Lauren became interested in the various feeds coming in from rival nations. The Israelis, it seemed, had worked out the American connection almost at the same time as SPEAR. The Brits too. The Chinese were silent and the French quite possibly out if it. Drake knew they’d hear nothing from the SEALs. They weren’t really there, of course.
“Interesting to see if they’ll fly these teams into America under the radar,” Dahl said. “Or use internal teams.”
“People already insinuated into society?” Hayden looked up. “I doubt it. Sleeper agents take years to build.”
“And it ain’t hard to fly in unseen,” Smyth said. “Drug dealers have been doing it for decades.”
“Any clue as to this worst Indian that ever lived?” Mai asked.
“Not from DC, and if our rivals know they’re keeping the lid on it.”
“Bollocks.”
Drake checked the time and knew they were nearing the States. Gently, he shook Alicia awake.
“Wah?”
“Time to wake up.”
Kenzie leaned in close. “I have your bottle ready, baby.”
Alicia flapped at her. “Shit, fuck! Get that thing away from me!”
“It’s only me!”
Alicia pulled away as far as the bulkhead would allow. “Bloody circus clown fizzog.”
“What’s a fizzog?” Kinimaka looked genuinely interested.
“It’s English for ‘face,’” Drake said. And in response to Kenzie’s apparent downheartedness he said, “I don’t agree. You’re a reet bobby dazzler.”
“Really?” Alicia growled.
“A what?”
“Means you’re not bad to look at, love.”
Kenzie frowned as Alicia began to snarl and Drake realized he’d probably overstepped the mark with both women. Well, at least with Kenzie. Quickly, he nodded at Lauren.
“No way. Are you sure?”