Jack wasn't one to dodge responsibility. It was why he called his employer immediately instead of stalling, putting it off as long as he could. He believed in taking his medicine quickly and moving on. Jack also wasn't afraid of anyone. Was Bernard Holmes a dangerous man? Sure, in that he had billions of dollars. But Jack was dangerous too, in many other ways. There was a mutual respect between the two. If Jack didn't know any better, he'd say Holmes even feared him a little.
"I have confirmation the Americans weren't killed."
"Which ones?"
"All of them. They must not have been in the building when it blew."
Holmes thought for a moment before continuing. "What are you going to do about it?"
"We suspected one of them survived. We knew where they'd go and what they'd be looking for."
"Let me guess: they got away."
Jack remained calm and drew in another deep breath of fresh air. "Yes, they got away. I'll have to replace the men."
"How many?"
"All of them."
"All of them?" Holmes was on the verge of outrage.
"Yes. And this time, I'll handpick them myself. None of these cookie cutter guns for hire. Don't worry, sir. I'll take care of it."
Something still troubled the billionaire. "Fine. Do whatever it takes, but how are you going to find them again?"
"I already have an idea of where they're headed right now. I'll throw out a net. Sooner or later, one of the fish will swim in."
Chapter 14
Tommy didn't stop the car until they reached the town of Richmond — a quiet suburb to the northwest of Sydney. He pulled into the parking lot of the first cafe they spotted and stopped the car in a spot around back. No one had been following them for the last hour or so, but he'd rather be safe than sorry. Never make it easy for the bad guys.
The four left the car and went inside the little diner. Two men sat at a counter, eating sandwiches and potatoes. Sean led the way to a table in the back corner.
When they were seated, a friendly-looking waitress in a blue dress with white collar walked over and offered to take their order. She looked about fifty years old, with a few streaks of gray running through her reddish-brown hair.
After they gave their drink orders and asked for a few more minutes to decide on food, the waitress returned to the counter to start pouring the drinks.
Tommy leaned in close like he was about to share a big secret. "So let's take a look at this."
He set his phone down on the table and opened up the image of the key.
"It might be easier if you send me that picture and then pull up the one from the desk." Sean suggested. "That'll save us the trouble of having to write everything down."
"Good idea." Tommy hit the share button on the image, and a moment later Sean's phone vibrated.
Sean set his phone next to Tommy's and opened the picture so they could compare them side by side.
"Okay," Tommy continued, "we have a message and a key. This might take a minute to figure out since the cipher is stacked."
"You figure out what you'd like to eat, yet?" the waitress interrupted.
Tommy nearly jumped out of his skin. He yanked his phone back like he was looking at something he shouldn't have.
"We'll just need another minute," Adriana said in a polite tone.
"Not me," Reece said. "I'll have a burger, cooked medium."
"You know what?" Sean said, "Four burgers. Although I'll take mine medium-well if that's okay."
"Same here," Adriana added.
"What if I don't want the burger?" Tommy asked, looking like he'd just lost his favorite puppy.
"Then look at the menu and decide on something else," Sean said. "I'd really just like to stop wasting this nice woman's time."
"It's no trouble, mate," she said. "You two Americans?"
Sean nodded while Tommy kept poring through the two-sided menu. "Just flew in from Atlanta last night."
"Oh, I've never met anyone from there. How's the weather right now?"
"Cold," Sean said. "Winters there are hit or miss. This year, it's hit."
"I know what you mean." She turned to Reece. "Now you're a local, for sure. But you," she pointed at Adriana, "I have no idea where you're from."
Adriana kept her tone as cool as her expression. "I'm from all over."
"Fair enough," the waitress said in a cheerful tone. She looked back to Tommy. "You decide on what you want to eat yet?"
He gave a defeated nod. "I'll have the burger. Well-done, please."
"All right, then. I'll have your food out in a few minutes."
She bounced away, and when she was out of earshot, Tommy slid his phone next to Sean's again.
"All that fuss, and you ended up getting the burger anyway," Sean said. His eyes dripped with derision.
"Yes, fine. I got the burger. Mind if we continue?"
"By all means."
Reece and Adriana shared a chuckle at the interaction.
"Okay," Tommy began, "let's take the first symbol here."
They worked for the next ten minutes, matching every sign to a letter on the key until they'd figured out the first five letters of the code from the desk.
As soon as Reece saw the fifth one, he stopped them. "Walkabout," he said.
The Americans looked over at him, expecting further explanation. Instead, he simply took another sip of his drink.
Tommy was hunched over the table with his elbows on the surface. He put his hands out, palms up. "You gonna elaborate on that?"
Reece leaned back and pointed at the phone. "The word you're trying to figure there is walkabout. It's a fairly unique term. Never heard it used outside Australia. Though, to be fair, I've not been in a lot of other places."
"You sure?" Tommy asked.
Reece shrugged. "You're welcome to go ahead and spend the next ten minutes trying to figure it out yourself, but you'll come to the same conclusion. It's walkabout, mate. And our food's here."
The other three turned just in time to see the waitress stop at their table with four plates of burgers and fries.
"Here's the well-done, for you," she set the plate down in front of Tommy and then passed around the rest. "Can I get anything else for you?"
"No, ma'am," Sean said. "This looks great."
"I'll be sure to let the cook know."
She walked away, and the group continued their conversation.
"Okay, I believe you," Tommy said. "It's walkabout. But what does that have to do with the Mathews paper? It doesn't make any sense." He picked up a knife and cut his burger in half.
Reece picked up his sandwich and took a big bite. He chewed for twenty seconds before he answered the question. "I have no idea, Tom. That's your department. I'm just the guide, remember?"
Adriana snickered. She held her burger in one hand while she stared at the phones. "Can you pull up the Mathews document again?"
"Sure," Tommy said.
He tapped the phone, scrolled to his email, and then opened the attachment. He slid the device closer to her and sat back to take a bite of his sandwich.
Adriana and Sean reread the document again. Sean spoke up first.
"This part about forty-five suns. That has to do with the passage of time. Essentially, it means forty-five days."
"Right," Tommy agreed through a mouthful of food.
"But we don't know how that applies to a distance."
Adriana's eyes widened. "Yes, we do." She set her burger down on the plate and scooted forward. "That's what walkabout means. The distance traveled is forty-five days on foot. Walkabout." She put her hands out like a blackjack dealer who'd just finished a shift.
The other three nodded slowly as they connected the dots.
"Right," Tommy said. "But that still doesn't give us the location. Everyone walks at a different speed."