‘You’ll probably need to sharpen that sword later,’ Czarina said.
She watched him wipe the blade across the fabric of a nearby chair.
‘Why did you do that?’ Sophia said.
DC sheathed his sword and approached her.
‘I guess I’m stupid enough to care,’ he said.
The words were off-hand but she felt them move to something deeper.
DC used a knife to sever the plasticuffs around her wrists. Blood flow prickled into her fingers again.
‘You didn’t care about them much,’ she said.
DC grimaced. He cut the plasticuffs around her ankles. ‘Everyone pays for ignorance,’ he said. ‘Sooner or later.’ He dropped her ruck from his shoulders. ‘Your pistol and phone are inside.’
Sophia grasped the comfort of her own Glock again and covered the closed door. DC freed Czarina and helped her to her feet.
‘Are we escaping?’ Czarina said, her words slurred. ‘Where are we?’
DC shot Sophia a concerned glance. ‘You need to deprogram her properly.’
‘I’ll pencil it into my busy schedule,’ Sophia said. ‘Right now we have to get out of here.’
‘Actually no,’ DC said. ‘We have a bigger problem.’
She met his gaze. ‘Denton.’
Chapter 45
Nasira stepped into the Campbell Apartment, a neo-Florentine cocktail bar with a vividly hand-painted ceiling, stone fireplace and a lavish scarlet palette. Like the rest of Grand Central terminal it was still lit, although dimly, and a trickle of light bled in from the wall-sized stained-glass window behind the bar.
Nasira spotted the camera in the corner. If someone was watching this particular feed then she was busted. She didn’t have the time to circumvent one stupid camera. Everyone’s lives were hanging in the balance so this was a risk she had to take.
She spotted the mahogany balcony above and climbed the stairs. She ran her hand along the wall, pausing when something rippled through her. She traced it down to a cluster of cables fixed to the skirting. She followed the cables to the other end of the balcony and found the ethernet ports Aviary insisted would be there. Nasira plugged in Aviary’s antenna and connected to it with a spare iPhone.
Sauron … Connected. Digging into the phone’s settings, she switched the Personal Hotspot on and made sure to toggle Hijack so Aviary could access the network directly.
‘Got it,’ Aviary said into her earpiece.
Nasira hit the button under her soaked T-shirt. ‘Do it quickly. They’ve already moved out.’
‘OK, gimme a minute,’ Aviary said.
Nasira couldn’t let the iPhone stray too far from the antenna while Aviary was working her magic, so she left it on the balcony, against the skirting where no one would find it.
She was tempted to visit the bar for some water, but it would be stupid to do that now when Aviary was minutes from disabling the cameras. She lay on the floor beside the phone and tried to reassure herself Jay would be OK. She figured she should use the minutes usefully so she checked the camera feeds on her own iPhone. The main concourse was still clear. She’d planted another iPhone on the mezzanine level, facing under the first camera feed so it would hit the blind spot and reveal anyone lingering out of view in the tunnels and ramps that led to the lower concourse.
She swiped from her two feeds back to Sophia’s feed.
It was gone.
‘Nasira to Aviary,’ she said into her mike. ‘You lost Sophia’s feed?’
‘Yeah,’ Aviary said. ‘Gone for a couple of minutes now. It just cut out so probably a reception problem.’
Nasira swallowed. The knot in her stomach was growing.
She switched to the map.
Six operatives were bunching around the Astoria. Only one lingered behind, at the south end of Grand Central. She figured the lone operative was keeping tabs in the control center. There was no movement yet, so the camera feed in the Campbell Apartment had yet to catch the operative’s attention.
The operatives started moving through the Astoria. Suddenly, Sophia’s location blinked to life.
That was a good sign, she thought.
Except Sophia’s dot was no longer outlined in orange. It was red. Her battery was almost toast.
‘OK, cameras out!’ Aviary shouted. ‘You’re clear!’
Nasira launched to her feet. ‘Copy that.’
‘Hey, can you leave the phone there?’ Aviary said. ‘I still want access.’
‘Why?’ Nasira pocketed her own phone and grasped her Glock.
‘A few minutes and I could hijack the security cameras — they see nothing, I see everything!’ she said. ‘Holy crap, why didn’t I think of this before? I’m glad we talked about this.’
Nasira moved down the stairs, quiet but fast. ‘Just keep an eye on everything and—’ she peered out of the cocktail bar onto the west balcony ‘—watch my back.’
‘I can do that,’ Aviary said, ‘but once you reach the lower levels I don’t know if I can talk to you.’
‘I know,’ Nasira said. ‘And when that happens, I know I’m on my own.’
Chapter 46
A pair of masked Blue Berets threw Denton to his knees under a chandelier in the Basildon Room. Near the Parisian marble fireplace, Denton could see the ruck that contained the meteorite. Opposite it, two of his own operatives already bound and stashed in a corner. They had hoods over their heads, probably ear defenders plugging their ears too. Denton wouldn’t receive the same treatment. This Commander seemed eager to chat.
‘Predictable,’ the Commander said through his mask. ‘I would’ve expected a little more flair.’
Denton rubbed his thumb through the plasticuffs. He’d posted his two backup operatives in the building opposite the Astoria Waldorf hotel.
‘It’s early yet,’ he said. ‘I liked the flashbangs but I was hoping you’d fire off the gas just for a laugh.’ He peered down at his own chest, where a pair of swimming goggles hung. ‘I was looking forward to using these.’
The Commander’s tactics were familiar to him, and Denton had no trouble making it into the Basildon Hall with a pair of operatives. The Commander had set off the flashbangs when Denton’s operatives entered, and once he was surrounded by Blue Berets the Commander hadn’t even bothered with the CS gas.
‘It wasn’t necessary.’ The Commander removed his mask. ‘I’m sorry it’s come to this.’
Denton felt unexpectedly icy at the sight of the Commander’s face, but anger flushed through, warming him.
‘I almost didn’t recognize you,’ Denton said. ‘Did you …? New lips? Collagen?’
‘Think bigger picture.’ The Commander ran two fingers along the creases under his eye. ‘Not as remarkable as the regenerative effects of your more recent Chimera vector,’ he said. ‘But for what they had, the Nazis did a bang-up job.’
‘I thought you were dead,’ Denton said.
‘Like I said, they did a bang-up job,’ the Commander said. ‘I could have bled out on the snow or I could have lived to see the day I arrest my own grandson. Honestly, I’m not sure which I prefer.’
‘About that,’ Denton said. ‘Should have left the cellar door open.’
‘What did you say?’ the Commander said.
‘You blew my cover in Norway,’ Denton said. ‘You wanted me dead long ago.’
The Commander seemed caught between two states, as though Denton had frozen him by sheer will. If only there was a Phoenix virus for that too.
Denton smiled. ‘Guess you can finish the job now.’