No, not knives — but still something metal and sharp-edged…
The vent cover on the roof. Its grille would be made of thin sheet steel, intended only to keep out the weather and birds, not to withstand a projectile weighing close to three pounds fired at it with great force.
Gray had rigged the cannon to hit the vent — and set off the alarm. Why, though? And where was he? If he hadn’t come down the duct, then…
The answer hit him like a truck. ‘Shit!’ he cried. ‘This whole thing — it’s a decoy! It’s all some goddamn Mission: Impossible crap! Gray never came in here at all!’
Spence jumped down from the cabinets. ‘Then where is he?’
Baxter already had a horrible suspicion. He took out his phone. ‘What’s your number?’ he asked Reed. ‘Quick, your cell number! I need to reach the Admiral, now!’
Chapter 47
End Run
Harper turned at a junction, heading back towards Washington. Given favourable traffic, if he took the Suitland Parkway into DC he would reach his home in around twenty-five minutes. Then he could destroy the WORM disk, and the only piece of evidence linking him to the death of Sandra Easton would be gone.
Lights flashed in his mirrors, some impatient idiot in a muscle car wanting to get past. Despite being in a hurry, he allowed the black car to overtake. The last thing he needed was for a highway cop to pull him over for speeding.
The Mustang powered past with a V8 snarl — then cut back in right ahead of him, slowing to the legal limit. ‘I gave you the road, asshole,’ Harper muttered. He was about to give the other driver a piece of his mind with the horn when Reed’s phone rang. He fumbled in his pocket, taking it out—
‘Don’t answer it,’ said a voice right behind him. ‘It’s dangerous to use the phone while you’re driving.’
A shape rose up in the rear-view mirror. ‘Gray!’
‘Yeah.’ Adam pushed the gun he had taken from the Admiral’s house against its owner’s head. ‘Put it down and pull over.’
Harper reluctantly tossed the phone on to the passenger seat beside the disk. He brought the Cadillac to the kerb. The Mustang ahead also stopped, then backed up, its reversing lights turning Adam’s reflection a demonic red. ‘So are you going to kill me?’
‘No. I just want the disk.’
‘What for? Blackmail?’
‘Justice.’
Harper made a sarcastic sound. ‘There’s no such thing in this world.’
‘I know you think that — but I also know that not everybody else does. So maybe there’s hope for us all yet. Get out. Slowly.’
The phone’s trill stopped. Harper glowered over his shoulder at Adam, then opened the door.
‘Thank God,’ said Bianca as she saw Adam emerge from the CTS. He waved, and she got out and ran to him. ‘It’s a good job I saw you get into this thing, otherwise I’d still be sitting there waiting for you.’
‘I made sure you’d see me,’ he replied. He had never even reached the Gorman Building’s roof, dropping from the rope once he was over the fence and sneaking through the parking lot. ‘I just had to make sure the guards didn’t.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me you were going to hide in his car?’ She nervously regarded Harper, who stared back in menacing silence.
‘Because I didn’t know how I was going to play things until they actually happened. Here, hold the gun. Keep him covered.’
She took the pistol. ‘But you knew he’d get the disk.’
Adam leaned into the car to collect the item in question, and the phone. ‘It was the only thing connecting him to what happened in Islamabad — and I knew he’d want to destroy it, but in some deniable way that wouldn’t incriminate him. A house fire, maybe?’ he asked Harper, who couldn’t conceal his shock at being second-guessed. ‘Yeah, I thought it would be something like that.’
‘If you really thought like me, you’d have killed me by now,’ the DNI rumbled.
Adam fixed him with an icy look. ‘I’ve considered it. Believe me. The only reason you’re still alive is that just because I can think like you doesn’t mean that I have to.’ He pocketed the phone and disk, then turned back to Bianca. ‘I knew I wouldn’t be able to go in there and get it myself. I know all his passwords and security codes, but there’s no way I’d be able to pass myself off as him.’
‘So you got him to get it for you.’ She realised what he had meant earlier. ‘That’s the solution to Levon’s puzzle, isn’t it? There’s no way you can get the diamond out of the vault yourself — so you mug the owner after he’s collected it!’
‘That’s right. Is the override still in the car?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. Okay, I’ve got to go.’ He marched past her towards the Mustang.
‘What? Adam, wait!’ she cried, not daring to take her eyes off Harper. ‘Where are you going?’
‘I’ve got to get the disk to someone who can use it to bring this son of a bitch down.’
‘Why can’t I come with you?’
‘Because that phone call was probably Baxter trying to warn him that I threw them a decoy at the repository. I need you to make sure that Harper doesn’t tell anyone where I’m going.’
‘But you didn’t tell him.’
‘He knows.’ Adam opened the Mustang’s door. ‘Keep him here for fifteen minutes, then take the car and go.’
‘Why fifteen minutes? What happens then?’
‘If I haven’t delivered the disk by then, I never will. They’ll have stopped me.’ He started to get into the car — then hesitated. ‘Bianca?’
‘What?’
He jogged back to her and, to her surprise, kissed her cheek. ‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For everything. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have known the truth about what happened in Pakistan — or who I really am.’
‘And if it hadn’t been for me, we wouldn’t be on the run from a bunch of people trying to kill us,’ she pointed out.
‘The glass is always half empty for you Brits, isn’t it?’ He became more serious. ‘I hope I see you again.’ With that, he ran back to the car and jumped in, setting off with a skirl of tyres. The throaty roar of its engine quickly faded as it headed for the Parkway.
‘You won’t,’ said Harper. ‘He won’t make it to where he’s going. And you… you’ll be spending the rest of your life in prison. I guarantee that, Dr Childs.’
‘Shut up,’ she said, jabbing the gun at him. ‘Get over by the car and sit down.’
He didn’t move. ‘And if I don’t?’
‘Then I’ll shoot you.’
‘No. You won’t.’ He stepped closer to her; only by a foot, but enough to make a point. ‘I don’t need the PERSONA machine to know how people think. It’s how I got to where I am. I know people — and I know you. You’re a carer, Dr Childs.’ The word sounded almost like an insult. ‘Your career, helping Gray — you do what you do because you care about other people, on an individual level.’
‘Whereas you don’t care about anyone except yourself.’
He shook his head firmly. ‘I care about people — as in, we the people of the United States. My duty is to protect them and their country. And I’ll do whatever’s necessary to achieve that.’
‘Including murder? You let your own Secretary of State be assassinated. In fact, you gave information to terrorists to make sure it happened! You’re not some great patriot — you’re a criminal and a traitor.’ Her face creased with disgust. ‘I’m normally opposed to the death penalty, but in your case I’ll make an exception. I hope they hang you.’