The Genius Wars (39 page)

Upon consulting his watch, Cadel saw that he’d been asleep for four hours and twenty-eight minutes.

‘There’s a call for you,’ said the strange man who’d woken him, holding out a cordless phone. ‘You wanna take it?’

‘Uh –’

‘I think it’s your mom.’

Cadel rubbed his eyes. Then he reached for the phone, which he placed gingerly against his ear. ‘Hello?’ he mumbled.

‘
Cadel?
’ It was Fiona, all right. She sounded strained. ‘
Is that you?
’

‘Yeah.’ He coughed. ‘I’m here.’

‘
What’s wrong? Are you sick?
’

‘No. I’ve been sleeping.’ An awkward silence ensued; Cadel finally broke it with a question. ‘How’s Saul?’

‘
He’s good
,’ Fiona replied. ‘
The MRI results came in, and they’re good. He’s got a big lump on his head and a fractured collarbone, but that’s about it. He’ll probably be discharged tomorrow morning
.’

‘Great.’ Cadel would have liked to say something a little more heartfelt, but Kale’s colleague was standing nearby, listening to every word. ‘That’s fantastic.’

‘
I’m not sure where we’ll be living
.’ Fiona’s voice was dull, as if she felt too exhausted to be anxious. ‘
My mother’s offered to put us up, but there’s really no room for you at her place.
’

‘Don’t worry about me,’ Cadel said quickly. ‘I can’t live with anybody, right now.’ That much, at least, was blindingly clear to him – even in his groggy condition. ‘I’m too much of a target. They’ll have to put me in a bunker, or something.’

‘
Is that why you ran away
?’

Cadel swallowed. He couldn’t answer immediately. At last he said, ‘I had to disappear. I didn’t have a choice.’

‘
It wasn’t your fault, Cadel. The house. The injuries. No one’s blaming you for that
.’ When Cadel didn’t respond, Fiona added, ‘
Saul’s here. He wants a chat
.’

‘Hang on.’ Cadel covered the mouthpiece. He gazed up at the man who was hovering over him and said, ‘I need to talk to my dad. Could you … I mean, can I do it in private?’

Kale’s colleague considered this request for one carefully measured beat, then nodded. ‘Sure,’ he replied.

‘Thanks.’ Cadel waited until he was alone in the office before addressing the phone again. ‘Okay. I can talk now.’

‘
Cadel?
’

Cadel’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Uh – hi,’ he said hoarsely, having recognised Saul’s voice. It was a touch weaker than usual, but otherwise unchanged. There was no slurring or hesitation.

Cadel’s feelings were mixed. On the one hand, he was braced for a scolding. On the other hand, he was almost sick with relief and gratitude.

Because Saul was alive. Alive and alert.

‘
Kale tells me you’re okay
,’ the detective remarked.

‘Yes.’

‘
He tells me you managed to decode some of that stuff we lifted off Com’s laptop
.’ Quite unexpectedly, Saul got straight down to business. Cadel had been expecting a preliminary reprimand. ‘
He tells me Raimo Zapp was mentioned in one of Dot’s emails. Along with Niobe, and Prosper English
.’

‘Yes.’ Cadel eagerly pounced on this chance to explain the thinking behind his recent conduct. Could Saul have decided to skip his lecture about wilful recklessness, and move on to a tactical discussion instead? ‘When I saw that email, I realised how important Raimo Zapp’s files would be. And they are. I haven’t looked at them all, but he’s got a scan of Prosper English.
And
one of Rex Austin. Did Kale mention that?’

‘
He did. Yes. He also mentioned that they might not be admissible as evidence in a court of law, thanks to the way you got hold of them.
’

Cadel caught his breath. Then he let it out in a sigh of resignation.

So he wasn’t going to be let off the hook, after all.

‘
I know the law isn’t your area of expertise
,’ Saul went on. ‘
But you’ll have to factor it into a few decisions, if you’re determined to take the lead on this. Which you obviously are. Against all advice
.’

‘I had to come. I didn’t have a choice.’ Hearing no response from the other end of the line, Cadel began to defend himself.
‘Prosper found me at Clearview House. He sent a bunch of builders to pump the basement full of concrete.’

‘
I know
.’

‘He must have told them where to park. So they would block the emergency exit. He had it all worked out.’

‘
I know. Kale briefed me
.’

‘I got scared. I mean, I got
really
scared.’ Only in hindsight did Cadel realise how scared he had been. At the time, he’d been too busy planning his next move to focus on the welling fear in his gut – which might very well have affected his ability to think things through. ‘Maybe I should have asked Fiona to buy the plane ticket,’ he allowed. ‘Maybe I panicked a bit too much. But I did have to come here. I couldn’t have stayed.’

Saul muttered something inaudible. Before Cadel could ask him to repeat it, however, the detective said wearily, ‘
At least you’ll be safe enough at an FBI field office
.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.’ No matter how feeble it might sound, Cadel knew that he had to apologise. For everything. ‘And I’m sorry about what happened. About your head, and …’ His voice trembled slightly. ‘And the house …’

‘
That WASN’T YOUR FAULT
.’

‘I should never have moved in with you. I should have known that Prosper would come after me one of these days –’

‘
Okay, listen
.’ Saul cut him off. ‘
I didn’t call up to give you hell, or listen to a load of garbage about this being all down to you. I called because you’re in trouble
.’ There was a brief silence, as if the detective was husbanding enough strength to proceed. At last he murmured, ‘
I can’t help you, Cadel. I’m stuck here in bed, my arm’s useless, and I … I’m no good to you, right now. What you need is a lawyer
.’

‘But –’

‘
Kale’s a good guy. I trust him. I like him. And he likes you. Trouble is, he’s not in charge, over there
.’ The sound of laboured breathing suggested that Saul was either close to tears or – more probably – trying to adjust an injured body part without hurting himself. ‘
Fiona and I both think that you should have proper legal representation
,’
he concluded, a little raggedly. ‘
So we’re sorting it out with the FBI. Kale’s got no problem with that. He thinks it’s a good idea
.’

But Cadel didn’t. On the contrary, he was aghast. ‘I don’t want you paying for a lawyer!’ he yelped. ‘You’ll go bankrupt!’

‘
Cadel
–’

‘No way! No
way
!’

‘
You’re a juvenile. Someone has to be there for you
.’

‘No they don’t. Because I’m helping the FBI. I’m going to break this case wide open for them.’ Cadel hurried to back up this extravagant claim, knowing that Saul was probably sceptical. ‘When Kale talks to Raimo, we’re going to find out a whole lot more. We might even find out where Prosper’s living! Don’t you think they’ll go easy on me, if that happens?’

The detective’s sigh came gusting down the line. ‘
It won’t happen
,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘
Raimo’s not talking
,’ Saul pointed out. ‘
He’s lawyered up and accusing you of gaining unauthorised access to his computer. He wants you charged, Cadel
.’

‘How – how do you know that?’

‘
Because I talked to Kale. Before I talked to you. He told me what’s been going on
.’

Cadel felt slightly winded by this unexpected blow. He had to collect his scattered thoughts before speaking again. ‘You mean Raimo’s in custody?’ he asked. ‘You mean Kale got him while I was
asleep
?’

‘That’s right,’ a sharp voice interrupted. It was Kale himself, walking into the room with a couple of dark-suited colleagues. ‘We went straight over and picked your guy up for questioning,’ he said. ‘But I don’t know how long we can hold him. Not on one email pulled off Compton Daniels’s laptop.’ As Cadel opened his mouth, Kale anticipated his question. ‘Your dad had a
warrant
to confiscate that machine. Zapp’s files are another matter. We’re still working on the legalities.’

‘
Who’s that?
’ Saul buzzed into Cadel’s ear. ‘
Is that Kale?
’

‘Yes,’ Cadel replied. ‘Do you want to talk to him?’

‘
Could I?
’

‘Saul wants to talk to you.’ Handing over the phone, Cadel noticed that Kale’s companions had identical looks on their faces: calm, mild, unresponsive looks. He wondered if all FBI agents were trained to look like that when dealing with people they didn’t know.

‘Yeah. Oh, yeah. Uh-huh.’ Kale seemed to be answering Saul’s questions. ‘Yeah, about an hour ago. Nothing so far. Whole place is empty. What?’ A pause. ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ll have to check it out myself. Yeah. Yeah.’ Kale glanced over at Cadel, then quickly averted his eyes again. ‘Yeah, I
was
thinking that. Now we’ve got an all-clear. Wouldn’t be any risk – I’d be going myself. Okay. Sure. Mmm-hmm.’

Cadel sensed that he himself was being discussed, but couldn’t work out the context. What whole place was empty? Why did Kale need an all-clear?

‘No, I’ll do it now. Okay. Yeah. Don’t worry. Sure. It’s taken care of.’ Abruptly Kale broke the connection. ‘A nurse just came in to see your dad,’ he informed Cadel. ‘But he’ll call again later. You okay with that?’

Cadel nodded.

‘Good.’ Kale surrendered the phone to one of his companions, who whisked it out of the room. ‘Meanwhile, there’s something you can help us with. It’s a long shot, but I think it’s worth a try. Since you know Prosper English better than anyone.’ He turned to his remaining colleague. ‘Have we heard from Gus yet?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Well, go and see what the trouble is, will you? I want to be out of here in ten minutes.’ Having dispatched his messenger, Kale leaned against the nearby desk, arms folded, ankles crossed. ‘I’m still not sure what you know,’ he said, fixing his hard, bright, speculative gaze on Cadel. ‘I guess someone must have told you we’ve been keeping a lookout for Rex Austin? He’s wanted in connection with the Genius Squad bust. But he’s a hard man to get a hold of.’

‘Yes. I heard about that,’ Cadel replied cautiously.

‘In fact he’s
so
damn hard to get a hold of that we’re starting to wonder,’ Kale confessed. ‘I mean, the guy’s always been paranoid. He’s always been security conscious, on account of all the dough he’s got. He was never one to fill his house with staff, or go anywhere on foot. When he wants to meet somebody, he does it by skyping or video conferencing. He’s a loner,’ Kale added. ‘Kinda guy who doesn’t trust people. Like me.’

Cadel waited.

‘But there’s paranoid and paranoid,’ Kale went on. ‘And when a guy sacks the personal assistant he’s had for twenty years, you can’t help taking notice. Especially when he sacks his butler, too. And his accountant. Not in person, mind you. Just leaves a message.’

‘You’ve had him under surveillance?’

‘Not exactly. Like I said – no one’s laid eyes on him for months. But we’ve been monitoring his activities, and he’s been making some pretty big changes. In his business life as well as his personal life.’

‘You mean –’

‘Closing accounts. Selling companies. Firing staff.’ Kale cocked his head. ‘And now this body scan crops up. Sitting in Zapp’s computer, alongside a scan of Prosper English.’

‘So it could be one of two things.’ Cadel’s brain had been working furiously. ‘Either Rex wants to do what Prosper’s been doing, and make it look like he’s somewhere he’s not –’

‘So we won’t be searching in the right place. Yeah. That’s one explanation.’

‘– or Prosper’s impersonating Rex,’ Cadel finished. Although the first possibility had already occurred to him, the second was entirely new. It hadn’t even crossed his mind, owing to a dearth of background information. ‘Maybe Prosper’s trying to take over the whole Austin business empire,’ he posited. ‘Maybe the scan is for security footage. Or videophone messages. Maybe they’ve got some kind of voice transformation technology as well – so people will believe it’s Rex who’s ordering them around, instead of Prosper.’

‘Maybe.’

‘Because that would make sense, wouldn’t it?’ Cadel was thinking aloud. ‘If the police have been cracking down on Prosper’s bank accounts, then where’s he been getting his money from?’

‘Good question.’

‘He could have been stealing it off Rex. Or maybe the two of them are working together, and Rex has been
giving
Prosper the money.’ As far as Cadel could see, there were two acceptable scenarios: either Prosper had persuaded Rex to revamp Austin Enterprises – and elude the police with the help of fake CCTV footage – or Prosper had got rid of Rex, and needed a scan to take over the dead man’s property. ‘What do
you
think? Do you think Rex Austin is still alive?’

Kale shrugged. ‘It’ll be hard to prove he isn’t, unless we find a body,’ was his oblique response. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Cadel. ‘That’s why we’ve raided his place at Laguna Beach.’

Cadel blinked. The look on his face seemed to amuse Kale, who cracked a sour little smile.

‘What do you mean?’ Cadel demanded. He sensed that he was missing a very important piece of the puzzle. ‘When did that happen?’

‘Oh …’ Kale glanced at his watch. ‘About two hours ago.’

‘Two
hours
ago?’

‘We’ve got reason to believe that Prosper English might have moved in.’

A sudden tapping at the door interrupted this exchange. As Cadel gaped like a fish, speechless with confusion, Kale turned to field whatever inquiry might be heading his way.

But it wasn’t an inquiry. It was an announcement, delivered by the same agent who’d been sent to find out what the ‘trouble’ was. ‘We’re set to go,’ he reported, from the threshold. ‘I was just talking to Gus. He says the car’s ready, and it’s all clear at the other end.’