‘What’s going to happen?’
‘I told you. Wait and find out.’
You’re going to kill us, aren’t you, Harrigan thought. Not without a fight. He concentrated on the road ahead.
‘Don’t drive too fast,’ Sam said. ‘Just on the speed limit will be fine. Don’t attract attention.’
Harrigan glanced in the rear-vision mirror. Elena’s face was turned aside, her chin buried in her shoulder. Her shoulders were shaking. Sam had her in a tight grip, the gun jammed painfully in her ribs. She was looking directly at the back of his head. Her expression was as detached as any he’d ever seen. He reminded himself that she was a trained killer. She wasn’t someone to play games with on the off chance. He drove on. There was nothing else he could do.
30
Past Campbelltown, Daniel Brinsmead directed Grace through the industrial estate. Rising like a monolith out of the ground, the LPS building flashed a hard blue in the early morning sunlight. Grace whistled at the sight of it.
‘It is impressive,’ Brinsmead said. ‘I’ll give Elena that. Don’t stop for the boom gates. Just keep driving.’
The boom lifted for her automatically, the gates swung open. The security guard watched them drive by.
‘You’re privileged.’
‘I told you, my e-tag gives me full access rights.’
They drove into the garage. Even early on a Saturday morning, there were a number of cars in the car park.
‘Scientists,’ Brinsmead said. ‘We all have tunnel vision. You’d think they could stay home in bed on a weekend morning. But here they are, working. Why couldn’t they have taken a day off?’
The sight of the cars gave Grace confidence. She got out after Brinsmead.
‘Do you want to come in?’ he asked, as if surprised.
‘This is too much of a cave to stay in. I’d like to see the inside of the building.’
‘It may not be straightforward. I may have to persuade the security people to let you in. Do you have any kind of ID on you?’
‘Yes.’
‘You may have to use it. I’ve got my dog tag on but you’ll need to be granted visitor’s access rights.’
On his lapel, he was wearing a small gold badge. They went into the foyer to be met by the guards. The man behind the counter listened to Brinsmead stony-faced.
‘We’ve been directed by Dr Calvo not to give admittance to individuals whose names haven’t been cleared beforehand,’ he said. ‘Miss Riordan’s name hasn’t been cleared with me. I’ll have to call Dr Calvo before I can grant her admission.’
‘Please, go ahead,’ Brinsmead replied.
The guard picked up the phone.
‘She’s not answering,’ he said.
‘She’s probably in a meeting of some kind. The responsibility for this visit is mine. Let me point out to you that I’m the chief scientist here. I’ll be the one who deals with the issue if Dr Calvo doesn’t approve. But Miss Riordan is here for a specific purpose which I’m not at liberty to divulge.’
‘Can I see some ID?’
Grace showed the small leather wallet that identified her as an agent for a classified government agency. Then, at the guard’s request, she filled out a form identifying herself for the corporation’s records. This made her feel secure. People knew she was here, it was some protection.
‘All right,’ the guard said, reading over the details and taking a breath. ‘I’ll grant you admission. If you have a mobile phone on you, could you please place it in locker number six and then you can go in.’
‘We have to hurry,’ Brinsmead said, once they had passed through the inner door and were in the lift. ‘He’s too uncertain about the situation. He’ll get on to Elena soon enough.’
They stepped out of the lift on the ground floor into the atrium, where small groups of people were hurrying places. A well-dressed woman greeted Brinsmead and smiled at Grace. Nearby, a small restaurant was open and several people sat inside eating breakfast. It made Grace feel at ease. She stopped to look at the glass wall rising above her head. It was breathtaking.
‘This is grand ambition, Grace,’ Brinsmead said. ‘You don’t care what it costs. Since you’re inside now, I’m going to have to ask you to wait in my lab while I go down to Elena’s office. You can have a look around and meet some of my people. This way.’
He led her through corridors to the north-western side of the building, walking with more determination than speed. This part of the facility seemed empty. He stopped outside a door halfway along a corridor and punched in a combination to a lock.
‘Elena’s office is just along there,’ he said. ‘This is my laboratory. You can wait in here for me.’
‘Isn’t there anyone else here?’ she asked.
‘They should be. They may just have locked the door. After you.’
As soon as they had stepped inside, he shut the door. Grace heard the click of the automatic lock behind them and felt a chill in her backbone. Moving more quickly than usual, Brinsmead had already pushed past her and was inside a glassed-in office. She heard him lock the door and knew she couldn’t get to him. Instead, she looked around the lab. There were no people here; it was silent and mostly dark. Only the night lights were on, the room fading into shadow. There was nowhere to hide where he could not find her.
She looked towards Brinsmead’s office to see what he was doing. He had opened a secure filing cabinet and was taking out a thick booklet with a blue, bloodstained cover, which he put on his desk. Several sets of restraints appeared, followed by a mobile phone. Then he turned back to the filing cabinet. When he opened the door to his office and came out, he was carrying a gun. He was smiling strangely.
‘Come inside my office and sit down, Grace,’ he said. ‘If you do, I won’t have to use this.’
Suddenly everything was clear to her. The guards at the desk might know of her presence, but there was no one in the laboratory but the two of them and no way in or out. No one could hear her. One day your judgement has to be wrong. She should have listened to Harrigan.
The LPS building was huge in the landscape. Harrigan drove towards the gate. This time, the boom lifted for him automatically, and the gates swung open. The security guard raised a hand in greeting.
‘No one stops the boss,’ Sam said.
‘Where are we going?’ Harrigan asked. ‘The car park?’
‘No, the delivery dock. It’s closed up on a Saturday. There’ll be no one there.’
The delivery dock was at the furthest end of the building. As Sam had said, the doors were locked, the area deserted.
‘Won’t the guards at the front desk know this door has been opened?’ Harrigan asked.
‘They will, but they won’t question it if it’s on Elena’s override. Elena, here’s your phone. Turn it on. This is what we do. You use your mobile phone to key in the emergency override and open the fire door. Go on, you can do it. You’re the only one who can. When we go inside, you sit straight down at the console. First thing you turn on all the lights, and then you do what I tell you to do.’
Elena turned her phone on. It rang to announce a missed call. Sam snatched the phone out of her hands.
‘This is from the guards at the front desk. Why are they calling you?’
‘They only call me when there’s a question of access. Someone wants to be admitted who’s not on the authorised list.’
‘Who?’ Harrigan asked.
‘Who knows?’ Sam said. ‘Harrigan, you get out of the car first and walk in front of us. Put yourself between me and Elena and the cameras. Let’s go.’