CHAPTER 16
William Cross had been a ghost so long he’d almost forgotten what it was to be like a normal person. He’d spent so much time over the years watching people – listening to private conversations and following those who had something to hide – whilst always remaining within the shadows and seldom venturing out into the light. But this was the life he chose. Or rather, this was the life that he’d somehow fallen into.
The standard career expectancy of a Special Forces operative was, to say the least, short. When circumstance and opportunity had handed him the chance to extend that career outside of Military control, he had barely hesitated before accepting. Over the years he’d discovered that working in the private sector was just as dangerous as being in the Armed Forces, if significantly better paid. The country home he shared with his wife was mortgage free and he’d put both his eldest sons through top-class University education.
His youngest son was just a handful of years older than the boy he was now tracking.
Cross had listened in to the call Daniel had made to Eleanor a little after eleven: he’d suggested that they meet at Franco’s Diner on 2nd and East 46th at three o’clock. Apparently someone he’d met had recommended their Mochas, Daniel told her.
Cross was parked twenty metres away from the junction, on East 46th Street, facing the diner with the police-band radio playing quietly in the background. To any onlooker he was simply reading the newspaper, but he eyes were watching the street like a hawk’s. He watched as Daniel walked to the diner, from the direction of the United Nations building, at a little before three and took a seat at one of the outdoor tables.
Cross checked his phone – the three-dimensional display of the immediate area showed him that there was still no signal from the tracking devices he’d planted on the boy. He placed a small directional microphone onto the dashboard of the car and angled it towards Daniel, listening to him order a white coffee. Cross tweaked the microphone sensors and phased out the background noise of the traffic; making Daniel’s words clear and distinct. The camera mounted on the microphone fed Daniel’s image to Cross’s phone.
With each new encounter Cross’s admiration for the boy grew; his hair was now a dark brown colour and much shorter than before, and his eyes were also brown. If Cross didn’t know better he would’ve thought Tiberius had had military training. The boy appeared relaxed and only an expert would have been able to notice the stiffness in the teenager’s shoulders, the sole indication that he was tense or nervous.
It was at this point that Cross noticed Eleanor’s reflection in his wing mirror. She walked along the sidewalk towards the diner, and at once Cross knew what caused Daniel’s anxiety. There was no doubt about it: the girl was beautiful. A smile creased his lips. Fleeting memories of being a teenager came back to him.
Eleanor approached the junction and smoothed down the front of her blouse as she passed Cross’s car. Daniel spotted her and ordered a Mocha before she reached the table. She made her way across 2nd Avenue and Cross was sure that Daniel blushed as she gave the teenager a hug and a continental-style kiss on each cheek.
‘You know, I really don’t buy the whole “I’m not on the run” line now,’ she said as they sat down. ‘What’s with the hair and eyes?’
‘I just felt like a new look,’ Daniel replied, running a hand through his short hair. ‘Don’t you like it?’
‘I think it looks great, but …’
‘But what?’
‘But you’ve gotta be honest with me, Daniel. What’s going on?’
Daniel opened his mouth but the waitress’s arrival with Eleanor’s Mocha made him stop until the girl had gone back into the diner.
‘Okay. Honesty. Right.’ Daniel took a deep breath. ‘Can I trust you?’
Eleanor sat back in her chair and folded her arms. ‘One of the things they taught us in the first semester at college was that if anyone asks someone else if they can be trusted, it usually means that the person asking the question is themselves untrustworthy. What do you say about that?’
‘I …’ Daniel leaned across the table to her. ‘I don’t know about everyone else, but maybe not everyone who asks that question is being—’ he glanced quickly to either side ‘—chased by people who murdered their parents, followed them to another country and are trying to take them back to be experimented on.’
Eleanor paused. ‘Wow. That’s … Wow.’ She took a sip of her drink.
‘I’m not mental or anything,’ Daniel said looking into her wide eyes. ‘I’m not making it up; you wanted me to be honest so I have been. It’s just a really long story and I want to tell you the truth. I’d love to be able to tell you the truth but it’s dangerous for you just by being with me. The least you know the better.’ He took another deep breath. ‘They already know who you are.’
‘What? What do you mean? Who are they?’
‘The people who are after me, the people I’m running from. I wanted to meet you today to say that –’
Cross couldn’t hear Daniel’s next words as the police radio burst into life. He turned up the volume from the microphone but the radio interfered with its signal, leaving Daniel’s words distorted and unintelligible. The woman’s voice on the radio was saying that units were being dispatched to apprehend a car used in a bank robbery near Giuliani Central. The suspect’s vehicle had crossed Madison Avenue and was speeding towards the United Nations building along East 46th Street.
Cross switched his attention to his rear view mirror – in the distance behind him he could see the flashing red and blue lights of police cars. The wail of sirens grew louder. The woman on the police dispatch claimed that shots had been fired from the fleeing vehicle, and that officers should consider the criminals hostile and extremely dangerous. In the mirror Cross could make out that the police chase was getting nearer, as other vehicles darted out of the way of the escaping felons.
A black-and-white police car drew up alongside the criminal’s tan-coloured sedan and an officer fired shots at the wheels. One of the bullets scored a hit and the tyre exploded, sending the sedan careering across the road. It collided with the police car, sending it smashing into a trio of parked cars; the police vehicle somersaulting onto its roof. The driver of the sedan managed to gain some control over the car but, with sparks firing from the tireless wheel, it still swerved around the road like a pinball. And it was heading directly for the tables outside Franco’s Diner on the corner of 2nd Avenue.
Cross focused on the two teenagers. He could no longer hear the words between Daniel and the girl, but they were now both standing – arguing, it appeared – with the boy holding onto her arm. They were oblivious to the chase bearing down on them.
Cross turned the key in the ignition and slammed the car into gear. If he was going to act then he only had seconds. The saloon’s tyre’s screeched as he spun the car across the road, and into the path of the tan sedan. The fleeing driver had no time to react as the grey saloon appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the sedan’s front wing, sending both cars smashing into the corner opposite Franco’s Diner, scattering pedestrians and shop-workers alike.
Eleanor screamed as the two cars disappeared in a shower of glass and brickwork. The sedan’s wheels continued to spin even though it had been lifted off the ground by the building debris. Within moments the chasing police arrived to surround the scene, pistols aimed at the criminal’s car and shouting at them to come out with their hands up. A pistol shot from inside the car was their reply. A crack from a police officer’s gun pierced the noise, as the man took control of the situation. The other officers followed suit and the air was alive with gun fire.
With the argument momentarily forgotten Eleanor held tightly onto Daniel’s arm, open-mouthed with shock.
Half of the grey saloon could be seen sticking out of the corner building and before the police could open the driver’s door, a non-descript man fell out onto the rubble. Blood seeped from a cut on his forehead and his left leg was bent at an unhealthy angl
e.
Daniel’s first reaction was to run over and help him but as the driver pushed his way clear of the car Daniel knew immediately who he was looking at. Despite the blood running down the man’s face and the dust that covered him, he knew that this was the same person who he’d seen in the alley behind Pickford’s building.
This was the man who worked for Gregory Dryden. This was the man who’d come to take him back.
Daniel froze, and a million questions ran through his mind. As he stood there trying to understand what had just happened, the man looked up. He stared across the junction towards the diner and directly into Daniel’s eyes. From his reaction it was clear that the man knew that Daniel recognised him.
Daniel grabbed Eleanor’s hand. ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘we have to get out of here.’
‘Are you serious?’ she screamed. ‘After what you’ve just told me? Are you mad? I’m not going anywhere with you.’
Daniel’s voice became like granite. ‘He’s one of them,’ he said pointing at Cross. ‘Alright? I saw him two days ago. He followed me to Chinatown and now he’s followed me here. He’s come for me, Eleanor. They’ve threatened you and he’s come to take me back. We have to go. Now!’
He pulled Eleanor’s hand so hard that she stumbled into the table, sending their drinks crashing to the sidewalk. As Daniel dragged her away from the diner she cast one last glance back towards the accident. The driver from the grey saloon had been propped up against the car and was receiving attention from a pair of paramedics, but through the crush of people she managed to look into the man’s eyes.
There was recognition in them. This man knew her. She gripped Daniel’s hand tighter and kept pace with him as they ran north along 2nd Avenue.
Eleanor was gasping for breath by the time she and Daniel had turned left on to East 51st Street. The wails of police sirens were now a faint echo in the distance.
‘I have to stop,’ she panted. ‘I have to stop.’
Daniel eased up and slowed to a walk. Eleanor let go of his hand and leaned with her back to a wall – her head low with her hands resting on her knees.
‘We have to keep going,’ Daniel said.
‘I can’t even breathe let alone run.’ She took deep, shuddering breaths while Daniel paced anxiously around her. He moved to the corner and stared back down 2nd Avenue. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for but it made him feel better.
‘I don’t think we’re being followed,’ he said after moving back to her. ‘Are you alright?’
‘Alright? You’re joking, yeah? You tell me all that ridiculous stuff and at first I’m thinking that you’re just really bad at saying that you don’t like me but … but then I saw that man’s eyes. I’ve never seen him before, Daniel, but he knew me. I could see it in his eyes: he knew me!’
‘I know, and I’m sorry.’
‘How could he know me? How? What have you got me mixed up in?’
‘I’ve already told you.’
‘But that’s ridiculous. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen. And why aren’t you even sweating? I’m dying here and you’re not even out of breath.’
‘I … I do a lot of running. Well I used to, back home.’
He returned to the corner, looked along the route they’d come and scanned the road. ‘We might be okay for a while,’ he said as he re-joined her. ‘When I saw that man the other day he was by himself and it doesn’t look as if there’s anyone with him now. I’ve told you the truth, Ellie. I wish to God that it was all made up but it’s not. I’m sorry that … I’m sorry that I’ve gotten you involved.’
‘So what happens now?’
‘That’s a good question, and one I’ve been asking myself for the last week.’ He looked up; a few doors away he saw the Antoine Bakery and Deli. ‘How about I get you another Mocha and we talk about it? Yeah? I’m sure this’ll all be alright.’
Eleanor pushed herself away from the wall and took a deep breath. ‘It’ll have to be one hell of a good Mocha to make this alright.’
Daniel picked up her bag and put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Whatever I have to do to make this right,’ he told her, ‘I will. I promise you.’
Daniel chose a table against the far wall of the deli that was close to the rear exit and also allowed him a clear view of the street. There were about twenty or so other people in the room, along with two waitresses. A large screen behind the serving counter played a news channel; a ticker-tape feed that ran across the bottom of the screen was already detailing what had happened a few blocks away. Daniel and Eleanor sat with their drinks in silence for a few moments as Eleanor got her breath back.
‘So who is this Dryden guy?’
‘I’m not really sure. He used to be a politician but I’m not sure what he is now.’
‘And he threatened me?’
‘Indirectly.’ Daniel took a sip of his drink. ‘He knew I was in New York. I’m not sure how but he knew. That day in the library – when we first met – and my screen died …’
‘Yeah?’
‘That was him.’
Eleanor frowned as she tried to understand what Daniel meant. ‘How do you mean?’
‘Somehow he knew that I’d started looking for him. Thinking about it now I suppose that it’s not that difficult, but he was able to shut down that specific screen. He must have used all the cameras over here to follow me. Then he sent that man. The only thing he hasn’t been able to track was the new phone I got.’
‘Why not?’
Daniel glanced to either side. ‘I got it from … well, someone on the black market.’ He slipped the phone from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. ‘Ask no questions, you get told no lies; that sort of thing.’
‘It just looks like a normal cell.’
‘I think that’s the point. Anyway, the man who I got it off included a piece of software which makes it impossible for the signal to be tracked. It creates a dampening field or something. That’s why it’s a withheld number, I guess; nothing to trace. I used it to do a search on Dryden a couple of nights ago after I called you and even though he knew I was looking at him he couldn’t do anything about it. Then I spoke to him.’
‘You spoke with him?’
‘Yeah. He wanted me to give myself up, to go back home and let them do whatever it is they want to do to me. He said that he wasn’t the bad guy but I know it was him who ordered my parents killed.’
Eleanor shook her head. ‘Daniel, I’m … I’m so sorry.’
‘He knew about you, as well. He didn’t say your name but he knew about you. He said that if I didn’t give myself up then he’d have to come and ask you about what you knew.’
‘But I don’t know anything. I mean, I didn’t until a few minutes ago.’
‘That’s what I told him but he didn’t care. I thought he might’ve been bluffing, maybe he’d just seen you in the library from the security cameras but after what’s just happened I have to believe he’s serious.’ Daniel glanced over his shoulder and noticed the sign for the toilets. ‘I’ve just got to use the gents. I won’t be a minute. You’ll still be here when I get back? Won’t you?’
‘Who knows? I might just take my chance and run.’
Daniel’s eye went wide. Eleanor smiled and her dimples returned. ‘Go,’ she said, ‘use the restroom. I’ll still be here. I haven’t finished my Mocha, and you know how much they mean to me.’
Daniel smiled back as he headed towards the toilets.
William Cross had been injured in the line of duty many times before, and a broken leg – although painful – was not the worst he had suffered.
The paramedics gave him a pain-killing shot and isolated his leg in an inflatable gel-splint. They treated his head wound with a white powder which stemmed the flow of blood within seconds, and covered the cut with a large adhesive pad. They loaded him into the back of an ambulance and as the vehicle turned left onto the East River Drive – en route to Cornell Medical Center – his phone bleeped; a specific bleep which me
ant only one thing: his tracking sensors had re-acquired Tiberius.
Cross fumbled to get the phone out of his jacket pocket.
‘Hey, buddy,’ the paramedic sitting across from him said, ‘you can’t make any calls from here. It screws up the equipment. We’ll be at Cornell in a few minutes and you can make a call after they’ve seen to you.’
‘I’m not making any calls,’ Cross muttered, tapping the screen and loading the tracking programme.
‘Hey, I’m serious,’ the paramedic repeated. ‘No calls.’
He went to grab the phone but Cross caught hold of the paramedic’s hand and pinched the nerve cluster between the thumb and index finger. The paramedic squealed as the nerves running along his arm set afire, paralysing him.
‘Jesus, man. What are you doing?’
Three red dots appeared on Cross’s screen. With his free hand he zeroed in on the signals in the three-dimensional display and isolated the address. He frowned at the screen. What could have caused the tracking sensors to come back on-line?
‘He never found them,’ Cross muttered in realisation. ‘They were just being masked.’
‘Okay, buddy. Just let go of my hand, will you?’ the paramedic begged. ‘Jesus, man. You’re killing me!’
‘Stop the ambulance,’ Cross ordered.
‘What?’
‘You heard me. Pull over now.’
‘We’re in the middle of East River Drive.’
Cross let go of the man’s hand and pulled a pistol from under the folds of his trench coat. ‘Pull this thing over!’
Daniel gave a relieved sigh when he found Eleanor still at the table when he got back from the toilets.
‘I called my mom,’ she said pushing his phone across the table, ‘to see if she was okay.’
‘Is she?’ He sat back down.
‘Yeah, she’s fine.’
‘Did you … did you tell her anything?’
‘Oh yeah, sure I did. “Hi mom, I just wanted to let you know that some international bad guys are coming to get us”, or words to that effect. As if she’s not stressed out enough as it is. My aunt’s been stopping with us for the last few weeks.’
‘Look, Ellie, you need to –’ he stopped and stared at something high over her shoulder.
‘I need to what? What is it?’ She turned to see what he was looking at. ‘What’s wrong?’
On the TV screen behind the counter the news channel was showing an old man being bundled through a crowd of angry people. The flash of cameras lit up his face. The ticker tape information running across the bottom of the screen read: Esteemed English professor arrested for double homicide, kidnap and child-molestation.
Daniel stood up from the table and stepped towards the counter. ‘Excuse me,’ Daniel called to the woman. ‘Excuse me, could you please turn that up?’
‘Sure.’ She picked up a remote and the newsreader’s voice boomed out of the speakers.
‘Sources from within London’s Metropolitan Police,’ the female newsreader said, ‘have confirmed that Alan Cedric Cuthberts, a sixty-three year old bachelor and former Vaughn Scholar professor, has been arrested following the murders of Joshua and Elizabeth Henstock in a quiet English suburb, less than a week ago. Professor Cuthberts is also being questioned over the kidnap of sixteen year old Daniel Henstock—’ a class photo of Daniel appeared on the screen ‘—as well as other serious sexual offences with minors.’
‘That’s the professor,’ Daniel muttered.
Eleanor stood at his shoulder. ‘Is that you they’re talking about?’
‘Detective Chief Inspector Brian Reynolds of Scotland Yard,’ the newsreader continued, ‘gave this statement.’
The image on the screen changed to show DCI Reynolds in front of Scotland Yard headquarters. ‘I can confirm that Alan Cuthberts was apprehended this morning whilst trying to flee to the Continent. He’s being held at a secure location and has been charged with multiple accounts of murder as well as kidnap. We also have cause to believe that he was the mastermind behind a Europe-wide child-smuggling syndicate which we’ve been investigating for several years now.’
The image returned back to the female news reader. ‘We’ll bring you more news on this later. Now over to Fiona, and the weather.’
‘Do you know that man?’ Eleanor asked.
‘That’s the professor,’ Daniel repeated, in a daze. ‘He saved me … the night my parents were killed. He gave me the passports and DNA cards to get out of England. He thought something like this might happen, well maybe not quite this but something bad. He’s set him up to take the blame for what happened.’
‘Who’s set him up?’
Daniel picked his phone from off the table and tapped the screen. ‘Dryden.’
The call rang twice. ‘Yes?’
‘I’ve just seen the news,’ Daniel said.
The thin voice paused before replying. ‘Have you now?’
‘Do you think this’ll change anything?’
‘I have no idea what you mean, Daniel.’
‘I told you to leave me alone, Mr Dryden, and I meant it. But I suppose that was too complicated for you. Do you think arresting the professor will make any difference?’
‘You tell me.’
‘Am I speaking a foreign language? I told you to leave me alone.’
‘Daniel, you’re the one who’s calling me.’
‘I’ve just left your man in the trench coat with a badly broken leg, by the way. You should’ve stopped him following me when you had the chance, now it’s too late. I’ve done it for you.’
‘I don’t have anyone following you.’
‘Do you think this is a game?’
‘Daniel, Daniel. It’s very simple, really. Come back to England so we can sit down and talk about it.’
The muscles in Daniel’s jaw tightened. ‘I’m coming back alright,’ he said. ‘And you’ll be sorry.’
‘I’ve told you before; threats are only real if you have something of value to threaten with. You have nothing, therefore your threats are empty. I’m not scared of you, Daniel.’
‘Then you should be.’
Daniel ended the call. ‘Come on,’ he said to Eleanor. ‘We have to go.’
‘You’re going back to England?’ she asked. ‘You’re going to go back to that?’
‘They have the professor; I have to go back. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for him. He rescued me, now I have to rescue him.’
‘But if what you say is real then they’ll kill you.’
‘They’ll have to catch me first.’
He picked up her cell phone and activated its compatibility app then opened the same on his own phone. ‘I’m synching your phone to mine, just in case you need to call me.’ He handed it back and looked her in the eye. ‘You’re the only person that’ll be able to do that, I hope you know what that means. But now,’ he put his hand on her arm and pulled her towards the door, ‘you have to go home. Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.’
‘Alright? How?’
‘If I go back then they’ll have no need to be bothered with you. Going back is the only way that I can make sure that you and the professor will be safe.’
‘That’s madness,’ she said, tears forming in her eyes. ‘Madness.’
‘Look,’ he said, a little louder than he intended, grabbing her arms. Some of the other deli customers glanced over at them. ‘Look,’ he said quieter, ‘I’m not going to let them do this to the professor and I’m not going to let them consider you a target.’
‘But it’s bound to be a trap.’
‘That’s exactly why they won’t catch me.’
Eleanor screwed up her eyes and shook her head. ‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
He held her face in his hands and kissed her, surprising himself with his passion. ‘Right now all you need to understand is that you’ll be safe.’
He picked up her bag, ushered her out of the deli and onto the sidewalk. He held up his hand and signalled for a taxi to pu
ll over.
‘Go home,’ he told her as the yellow cab came to a stop.
‘But –’
‘Ellie, just go home.’ He opened the taxi door and bundled her onto the seats. ‘I’ll call you if I can.’
He kissed her again then slammed the door closed. He tapped on the driver’s window and held out a five-hundred dollar bill. The driver wound down the window and took the money.
‘See she gets home,’ he told the man. ‘Safe and quick.’
‘Will do, buddy.’
The taxi pulled away from the curb with Eleanor looking back through the rear window; tears streaming down her face.
Daniel took a deep breath. ‘I hope to God you know what you’re doing,’ he muttered to himself.
He took out his phone, dialled a different number and hailed another taxi as he waited. It took nearly a minute before it was answered.
‘Yeah?’
‘Pickford?’ Daniel said as the taxi pulled up. ‘It’s Daniel. I’m coming over. There are some things I need.’