“I’m sorry, Jack,” Mo-bot responded, and I could sense her heartbreak. She was a key part of the Private family and would feel Andi’s betrayal too. “Are you safe?”
I looked around the park and saw no sign of pursuit in the dim light. “For now. I managed to escape. But she’ll be looking for me. She has friends in the Garda, and the Dark Fates have a lot of bodies on the street.”
“We need to get you off it in that case. Let me start to work on that,” Mo-bot said.
“Mo, where there’s one rat, there are usually more. We need every country office to do in-depth background checks of every new hire. Look for connections to any key players in this investigation, including Andi.”
“I’ll send out an alert to all office heads,” Mo-bot told me. “Stay safe until I get back to you with a place to lie low.”
“Thanks, Mo,” I replied.
She could have no idea just how grateful I was at that moment to have someone in my life I could trust, completely and unequivocally.
Chapter 68
Mo-bot phoned me back thirty minutes later.
I was on my feet, exhausted but determined not to be caught, and keeping moving seemed to be the most sensible option. I’d left the park and was on a wide street called Serpentine Avenue, which had pretty two-story terrace houses on one side and impressive new commercial buildings on the other. The road was busy with traffic and the sidewalks were crowded with a steady stream of workers on their way to Meta’s Dublin headquarters. It was easy to be anonymous here and blend in as just another face in the crowd. I stepped out of the flow of pedestrians and paused beneath a tree when my phone rang.
“Jack, I’ve got you a safe place. Last-minute rental under one of our gray names. Key-box entry, so you don’t even need to see anyone to check in. It’s ready now. I’ll message you the address. It’s near the river.”
“Thank you,” I said with a sense of tremendous relief. I felt tired and vulnerable and needed sanctuary. “I’m going to get right over there and then I want to talk if you and Sci are still up.”
“He’s at the hospital with Justine, but I can patch him in. Are you sure you don’t want to rest first?” she asked.
“This is very personal, Mo. They planted someone inside my business and used her to try and kill us. I’m going to do whatever it takes to ensure the entire Propaganda Tre organization answers for this.”
“I understand,” she responded. “And I feel the same way. I’ll wait for your call and tell Sci to stand by.”
I hung up and checked my messages for the address, which was on Pigeon House Road. I checked Google Maps and saw the property was located on the bank of the river, opposite Dublin Port.
To make sure I wasn’t followed, I took three different taxis to reach the rental house and walked the last mile. I took a circuitous route, stopping in a cafe for an espresso and a cream breakfast cake, a local treat recommended to me by the cashier.
I finally reached Pigeon House Road shortly before 9 a.m. and found a long terrace of tiny single-story homes that looked out over a highway with beyond it the estuary and busy port on the far bank of the river. The key-box was beside the front door of the small white-rendered house with black trim located halfway along the terrace. I used the code Mo-bot had sent me to open it. I took out the key, unlocked the front door and went inside the two-bedroomed home.
It was decorated on a nautical theme, with boats, anchors, seashells and depictions of mermaids everywhere. I went into the kitchen, which overlooked a small yard, and took a seat at the table. I was worried a more comfortable chair would entice me to sleep.
I phoned Mo-bot, who answered immediately.
“Let me loop in Sci,” she told me, and the line went silent for a moment.
“Jack,” he said when he joined the call. “How are you? Mo says you’ve run into trouble and she told me about Andrea Harris. Turncoat!”
“It’s been rough,” I responded. “Does Justine know anything?”
“I don’t agree with keeping secrets, but I understand about not wanting her to be worried right now,” he said. “She’s sleeping, but she’s been pushing herself hard to get out of here. Too hard maybe. Sometimes I see the pain and fatigue on her face when she thinks no one is watching.”
It distressed me to hear about Justine soldiering on like that, being made to suffer through no fault of her own. I wondered if she was pushing herself so hard because she was desperate to be useful again. I hoped not.
I briefed Mo-bot and Sci on the events that had led to me escaping from Andi, and when I was through, Sci spoke first.
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” Mo-bot agreed. “Wow.”
“I know,” I said.
“This might seem outside my comfort zone but one of my specialist lecture topics is forensic accounting and data analysis. I’m not just fingerprint dust and fibers,” Sci said. “I suggested to Mo that she look for any links between Andi and all the key players.”
“He did,” Mo-bot chimed in. “Much as it pains me to admit his brilliance, credit where it’s due.”
“And?” I asked, knowing neither would have raised a dead end in these circumstances.
“I didn’t find a link to a major player, but I did discover a connection to a minor one,” Mo-bot revealed. “Remember the warehouse you escaped from? It’s owned by Longshore Holdings. The law firm that incorporated Longshore Holdings is a small corporate outfit with offices in London and Dublin called Byrne and Fitzgerald. It’s the same firm that negotiated Andrea Harris’s employment contract when she joined Private.”
Chapter 69
I slept fitfully. While the world was awake, working, studying and playing, I was lying in a darkened converted attic in the tiny riverside home. I had nothing but the clothes I’d hurriedly gathered when I’d fled the house in Fitzwilliam Square. I’d abandoned the rest, my computer and passport there, and could not risk a return.
I had nightmares when sleep overtook me. Images of fallen comrades, colleagues, victims of crime. Their faces filled my mind, which made the horrifying dreams so vivid they would wake me, and then I’d spend a while listening to the steady flow of traffic on the highway outside. I couldn’t stop wondering how someone as seemingly intelligent as Andi could support such violence against innocent people. I was deeply troubled by the memory of Adel and his family at the refugee center, how close they had come to burning to death. Surely no one with the slightest shred of decency in them could sanction such persecution. I was also distressed to reflect upon how normal Andi had seemed to me while we’d worked together. I wished I could believe she wasn’t in her right mind when she acted as she did and could rationalize her treachery that way. But instead, she’d seemed proud when Mo-bot had exposed her treachery, portraying it as somehow justified in pursuit of the greater good.
Eventually the drone of cars going by would lull me to sleep and I’d fall right back into nightmares until the next fitful episode of waking.
Finally, at 5:13 p.m., I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore. Even if my mind didn’t feel at peace, I knew that my body had been partially restored. I showered again, eager to wash away troubling memories, and once dry, I put on yesterday’s jeans and top, which felt slick with sweat and grime.
I left the house and walked along the riverside to a long bridge, crossing it to reach the docklands leisure center, office and shopping development on the other side. I found a men’s clothing store and brightened the shop assistant’s day twenty minutes before closing by purchasing a whole new wardrobe.