The Doomsday Code

CHAPTER 35

2001, New York

Sal watched Adam across the archway, bustling around their kettle and fridge, making them some tea.

‘Are we not telling too much?’ she asked Maddy. ‘Showing him too much? I thought Foster said we were, like, this top-secret organization.’

Maddy looked away from the monitor towards him. ‘I know, I know,’ she muttered guiltily. ‘But I … he’s useful, Sal. We need him.’

‘So what happens, though … when we’ve fixed things up and it’s all back to normal? What’re we going to do with him then?’

Maddy said nothing … which Sal misinterpreted. Her eyes suddenly lit up. ‘He can stay?’

‘No!’ she replied quickly. ‘No — we can’t recruit him!’

‘Oh.’

‘He can’t stay, Sal. He can’t. I just can’t take in anyone we — just because we, you know? Just because we like them.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because this is a team already. A four-man team, just like Foster said. The agency is made up of four-person teams. Each with their own role and — ’

‘But with Becks we’ve already got five in our team!’

‘I know! All the more reason not to be taking on any more!’

They watched Adam pour water from the kettle into several chipped mugs, stirring the tea with a tinkling sound that echoed across the archway.

‘So what’re you going to do, Maddy?’

She sighed. ‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing?’

‘Because — ’ she bit her lip and looked away — ‘he’s not going to last very long.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I checked his name, Sal. Checked it against the roll-call of tomorrow’s victims …’

Sal’s gaze returned to the desk, to Maddy. ‘Shadd-yah!’ she whispered. ‘No. Tomorrow? Don’t say to me he’s …?’

Maddy nodded. ‘He works for a company called Sherman-Golding Investment … they’re on the ninety-fifth floor, north tower.’ Maddy realized her voice was wobbling ever so slightly. ‘He’s one of them that never made it out.’

They heard his footsteps approaching. Both turned to see Adam carrying a steaming mug of tea in each hand.

‘Here you ladies are. Nice cuppa.’ He frowned, puzzled. ‘What’s up with you two?’

Maddy fixed a wide smile on her face. ‘Hey … absolutely nothing.’ She reached for her tea. ‘Thanks.’

He glanced back at the kitchen table. ‘I’ll just go get the biccies. Mum always said a cuppa tea’s too wet without something to dunk in it.’

They watched him go. And Maddy found herself wondering what sort of a person this job was turning her into — that she could just knowingly let someone as likeable as Adam walk blindly to his death.