“That’s right. I don’t want to work for anyone. Just like him.”
Scott. Where was he now? Jamie quickly scanned the building, trying to feel for any sign of his brother’s presence behind the monotonous rows of windows. There was nothing.
He opened the car door and felt the warm, heavy air rush into him. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’d much rather come in with you,” Alicia said.
“Then we’d have twice as much chance of being stopped.” He got out of the car, then turned round and leant back in. “Give me ten minutes. Then make the call.”
“Make sure you’re there, Jamie. The timing has to be exactly right.”
He tapped his wrist. He was wearing a cheap watch. Scott had bought it for him on his thirteenth birthday. “I’ll be there.”
He took a large envelope off the dashboard. One last glance at Alicia and he closed the door behind him.
As he crossed the road, he was suddenly nervous. The revolving doors ahead of him looked like a trap. When they turned round, they would swallow him. Was he so sure that they would let him out again? What exactly was he walking into? He knew almost nothing about the Nightrise Corporation but even its name gave him pause for thought. It employed a man called Colton Banes and Banes had been there when Scott was taken. They were looking for kids like him. And now he was just walking in, delivering himself to them.
It’s the middle of the day. We’re in LA. Nothing bad can happen.
But why not? Who really knew what went on in every street, or even in the building next door? It suddenly struck Jamie that even the brightest sunlight could hide many dark and ugly secrets.
He had reached the other side of the road. Briefly, he glanced back, just checking that Alicia was still there, that she hadn’t driven off. He saw her raise a hand, reassuring him. He felt a spurt of annoyance. Why was he being so cowardly? He was the one who had thought up this plan. It was the only way to find Scott and if it had been the other way round, if he had been the one who had been kidnapped, Scott wouldn’t even have hesitated.
He slapped his hand against the revolving door and pushed. The door turned. He was in.
The lobby was a black box that stretched the entire length of the building. The walls were black granite, the floor black marble. The furniture – there was a low glass table and four chairs – was black too. One wall had a water feature. Streams of water trickled down endlessly, disappearing into a sort of trough. Otherwise there was no decoration. Two burly black men in black suits stood guard, watching anyone who came in. One of them walked over to him.
“Yeah?”
Jamie lifted the envelope. “I’ve got a package for Colton Banes. He’s with Nightrise.”
The guard looked at him quizzically. “You’re a bit young to be working in despatch.”
“I’m doing a week’s work experience.”
The guard nodded. If it had been anyone older he would have been more suspicious. But it was just a kid. And the envelope was clearly labelled. “It’s the forty-fifth floor,” he said – and swiped his own security card to activate the lift.
Jamie stepped in and waited for the doors to close. He felt his stomach shrink as the elevator moved silently up. He glanced at his watch. Only a couple of minutes had passed since he left the car and he was sure he still had plenty of time. However, the elevator stopped a couple of times before it reached his floor. People got in and got out. Another whole minute had ticked away before he finally arrived.
The forty-fifth floor. He stepped out.
It was all very ordinary, after all. What had he been expecting? A wide corridor ran left and right with the words NIGHTRISE CORPORATION in raised silver letters. There was a floor-to-ceiling window at one end, looking across to the building opposite, and a pair of modern glass doors at the other. He could see a reception desk and two women in smart suits, wearing headphones and throat mikes.
“Good morning. Nightrise Corporation. How may I help you?”
“Good morning. Nightrise Corporation. How may I direct your call?”
A second lift door opened and a FedEx delivery man stepped out, holding a parcel. Jamie waited while he went ahead, through the glass doors. The package would have to be signed for. That was good. It would distract their attention. That would give him his chance.
One of the women was talking on the phone. The other was dealing with the delivery. Now! Quickly, Jamie passed through the glass doors, walking as if it was his right, as if he had visited the building a dozen times before. He found himself in a smart, carpeted area with leather seats and a water cooler. There were pictures on the walclass="underline" modern art. A wide, glass door stood on each side, leading to corridors and more offices. Which way? He had to make an immediate decision. If he hesitated, he would be noticed. And then he would be stopped.
He turned right and went through the door, expecting at any moment to hear one of the receptionists call out after him. But they hadn’t seen him. Now it would be easier. He was inside. Anyone seeing him would assume that he had been allowed through.
But where was he to begin? Jamie glanced at his watch again. Everything depended on exact timing and somehow another two minutes had gone by. That just left him five minutes to find Colton Banes. He looked around. The forty-fifth floor had been expensively decorated in different shades of blue, with more paintings between the doors. On the left-hand side of the corridor all the outer rooms, the ones with a view, had been given over to senior executives and their assistants. Their names and the office numbers were printed in small letters beside each entrance. On the other side, the central part of the office was open-plan. Jamie could see a maze of desks divided by partitions. There were perhaps twenty or thirty men and women, most of them young, bent over computer screens or talking on the phone. The carpets were thick and seemed to absorb any sound. Was that how business was done here? With the same hush as a laboratory… or perhaps a church.
He came to an open door and looked inside. There was a photocopying machine and a young man in jeans and an open-necked shirt, only five or six years older than Jamie, sorting through a stack of documents. Jamie was about to move on but the young man suddenly looked up.
“You OK?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“You looking for someone?”
“Yeah…” Jamie lifted the envelope, showing the name on the front. “I’ve got to give this to a Colton Banes.”
“Banes? Do you know his department?”
“No. It doesn’t say.”
“Well, let’s take a look…” The young man went over to a table and picked up a plastic ring binder. He flicked through it. “Banes…” he muttered. He turned a page. “Here he is. You’re on the wrong floor. He’s up on forty-nine. Room four nine two five. Must be a big shot! That’s the way it is here. The bigger you are, the higher you go.”
“Thanks.” Jamie backed out the door.
He thought he would have to go back to the lift, but as he came out of the photocopying room, he noticed a sign: FIRE EXIT. Of course, in the event of a fire, the lifts would shut down. There had to be stairs.
He continued down the corridor. A woman holding a bundle of files hurried past him but nobody stopped him. Nobody even looked in his direction. He came to the fire exit, pushed it open and found a flight of metal and concrete stairs on the other side. He climbed up, taking two steps at a time. He had Banes’s office number but time was running out. Alicia would make her call in just a couple of minutes. And all of this was easy compared to what had to happen next. Jamie dreaded it even as he quickened his pace. He could feel his heart beating and knew it wasn’t just the exertion of the climb.
The forty-ninth floor was exactly the same as the one he had left, with the senior offices and conference rooms on the outside and the common pool at the centre. There were more people moving between the different work stations but they were still talking in low voices as if afraid of being overheard. But there was no art here. The walls were covered with posters: the same poster. It showed a serious-looking, grey-haired man. He had been caught half smiling, as if he wanted to be friendly but had too much on his mind. VOTE CHARLES BAKER. Jamie recognized the name of the senator running for president against John Trelawny. From the look of things, the entire floor had been turned into a campaign office on his behalf.