The Genius Wars (49 page)

A radio crackled nearby.

‘He’ll be heading for Mexico, too,’ Cadel added, before his tongue decided, of its own volition, to stop working. His lips wouldn’t move. His eyes wouldn’t focus.

He felt so tired …

They were waiting at Sydney Airport: Fiona and Saul, Sonja, Judith, Gazo … even Hamish. When Cadel emerged from Customs and Immigration, he spotted them at once.

What with Sonja’s wheelchair, Saul’s bandaged head, and Judith’s neon-pink glasses, they were very hard to miss.

‘Christ,’ muttered Kale, transfixed by Hamish’s leather jacket. It was so heavy with studs and chains and rivets that it must have weighed as much as Hamish did. ‘What is this, a three-ring circus?’

Cadel didn’t respond. The sight of all those eager faces had rendered him mute; he could hardly manage the stiff little smile with which he greeted the flurry of waving triggered by his sudden appearance. Next thing he knew, he was engulfed in a knot of people, as Fiona threw her arms around him and Gazo relieved him of his green bag.

Saul and Kale shook hands, awkwardly. It wasn’t an easy manoeuvre, because Saul’s right shoulder and arm were imprisoned in a complex arrangement of bandages. But the two men did their best, without dislodging anything. Then Saul thanked Kale, and Kale apologised to Saul.

Meanwhile, Cadel was being bombarded by questions.

‘Are you feeling okay? How was the flight?’ said Fiona. ‘Did you manage to get any sleep?’

‘D-did you hear about Dot and Com?’ said Hamish. ‘They were picked up in Melbourne.
Boy
, are they in trouble!’

‘Do you want to go straight to my house? Or is there some kind of police business you need to get through first?’ Judith asked Cadel, in a voice that was just a fraction too loud. And Fiona hastened to elaborate.

‘We’re all living at Judith’s – you and me and Saul,’ she explained. ‘Just for the time being.’

Sonja remained silent. But her brown eyes strained towards Cadel, and her taut, quivering neck told him how keyed up she was. He would have liked to say something nice to her. He would have liked to compliment her on her tartan skirt and matching hairband. He even opened his mouth. The words, however, wouldn’t come.

And he couldn’t give her a kiss. Not in public, surrounded by people like Kale and Hamish.

‘We’re blocking the exit,’ Saul suddenly observed. Though he looked terrible, with bruising and grazes all around his right eye, he seemed to be coping pretty well with the heaving bustle and reverberating noise of the arrivals hall. ‘Let’s get out of here. Who’s going with Judith? Sonja, of course …’

‘Do you want to go with Sonja, sweetie?’ Fiona turned to Cadel, who nodded. Saul threw him a quick, speculative glance, but didn’t speak.

Judith boomed, ‘I’ve got room for two more – the rest of you will have to pile into Gazo’s car.’

It was decided that Judith would take Sonja, Cadel, Fiona and Saul, while Kale and Hamish would ride with Gazo. Both cars would be driven to Judith’s Maroubra mansion, where a bed would then be found for Kale.

‘It’s a bit crowded at my place,’ Judith confessed, as they all trooped off to the airport’s multi-level car park, ‘and I don’t have much furniture, but I’m sure we can work something out.’

‘Is it properly secured?’ Kale wanted to know. Though bleary-eyed and unshaven after the long flight, he was still on full alert. ‘Are we talking about a fully operational alarm system?’

‘It’s safe enough now,’ Saul replied. ‘There was a problem, but that’s been solved.’ Laying a tentative hand on Cadel’s
shoulder, he quietly added, ‘Sid and Steve have been terrific. They’ve cleaned out Judith’s whole network for us.’

‘And they’ve been pulling a whole b-buncha stuff off Dot’s computer,’ Hamish chimed in, ‘because she didn’t get a chance to wipe her files. So what with that, and Raimo Zapp’s data, and whatever they can get out of Niobe, I reckon Vee won’t stand a chance.’ He sidled up to Cadel, as the whole group stopped in front of an elevator. ‘You heard they found Niobe, didn’t you? She was hiding out in San Diego. And it looks like Vee might b-be holed up in New Zealand somewhere, so –’

‘That’s not for public discussion!’ Saul interposed sharply. And Kale clicked his tongue.

‘You got a big mouth, kid,’ he informed Hamish, before addressing Saul once again. ‘I figure Cadel should use the stairs. Just in case. Like the kid said, we’ve still got a certain hacker perp at large.’

‘Right,’ Saul agreed. There followed a general discussion about who should go in the lift (with Sonja) and who should use the stairs, but Cadel didn’t take part in this debate. He was still dazed and reeling, though whether from jetlag, fatigue or emotional shellshock he wasn’t sure. Physically, he had fully recovered from his near-death experience in the Pacific Ocean. After a very short spell in hospital, he had been released into Kale Platz’s custody, with a prescription for anti-diarrhoea medication and a pamphlet about post-traumatic stress. He had then spent most of the subsequent two days – before his flight back to Australia – eating and sleeping and watching the ninety-seven cable TV channels to which the FBI agent subscribed. No demands had been placed on Cadel. Everyone had tiptoed around him. And on the trip home, he had flown business class, courtesy of Judith Bashford.

So it wasn’t as if he had suffered any kind of injuries, or periods of deprivation. And he was pleased to see everyone – of course he was.
Extremely
pleased. Why, then, couldn’t he scatter smiles and hugs like confetti? Why did the car park staircase feel like a mountain when he started to climb it? Why did he dread
the prospect of a long drive in a crowded car, even though the people who would be sharing it with him were his nearest and dearest?

Perhaps it was sheer cowardice. Perhaps he was scared that someone would raise the subject of Prosper English, long before they reached Maroubra. It was inevitable. It was even understandable. Yet the thought of it made Cadel feel sick.

‘Do you want to sit in the front, sweetie?’ Fiona inquired. ‘You’re not looking very well.’

Cadel shook his head. Then he found his voice, at long last.

‘I want to sit next to Sonja,’ he mumbled.

‘Okay.’ Fiona sounded faintly relieved – perhaps because Cadel had decided to talk. She turned to her husband. ‘Why don’t
you
sit in the front?’ she suggested. ‘It’ll be easier for you.’

Saul concurred. He was quite pale, by this time, and had to lower himself gingerly into the seat beside Judith’s, taking care not to bump his bandaged head or jolt his broken collar bone. It took even longer to get Sonja properly settled; shifting her about had always been a complicated job, and the cast on her leg made it more difficult than usual.

Finally, however, the car was fully loaded. The last door slammed. The last seatbelt was fastened. As Judith pulled out into the sluggish traffic, Saul twisted around to peer at Cadel.

‘We can talk in here,’ the detective announced. ‘It’s not exposed, like that car park.’ A brief silence ensued; when Cadel didn’t ask any questions, Saul went on. ‘I don’t know how much Kale’s told you, but things have been moving very fast, at this end. Hamish was right: Dot and Com are both under arrest, and we’re closing in on Vee. So you don’t have to worry any more. Okay?
There’s no need to worry
.’

‘Our house was fully insured, and there won’t be any legal repercussions,’ Fiona added, backing him up. ‘The lawyer over in Los Angeles is taking care of that, and we’ve got lots of good people working on the case over here. I’m
convinced
you won’t be charged – especially since the cost of that ticket was repaid so quickly.’

‘Still, it’s a good job you’re not sixteen yet,’ was Judith’s unexpected contribution, which elicited a frown from Saul.

‘Age is only one factor,’ he reminded her, in a reproving tone. ‘There are lots of other considerations, too.’

‘Like the extreme stress you were under, Cadel,’ Fiona weighed in. ‘And the fact that you were so cooperative with the police.’

‘It’ll be okay,’ Saul insisted. ‘Like I said, there’s no need to worry.’

Cadel swallowed. His gaze slid sideways, towards Sonja, but she couldn’t offer any reassurance. All she could do was roll her eyes.

Though he didn’t want to upset her, he couldn’t help himself. He had to ask. He
had
to.

‘What about Prosper?’ he croaked.

A weird kind of stillness descended on the car. For a split second, even Sonja stopped moving. Fiona cleared her throat. Judith’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

‘I don’t think …’ Saul began, then paused and took a deep breath before remarking, very gently, ‘I don’t think
anyone
has to worry about Prosper, any more.’

‘Except maybe the Prince of Darkness,’ said Judith. When Saul flicked her a warning look, Judith seemed taken aback. ‘What?’ she demanded. ‘It’s a fair comment!’

Fiona sighed. ‘Judy, we’ve talked about this –’ she began, but was interrupted by Cadel.

‘Prosper might not be dead,’ he murmured. ‘Have you thought of that?’

Another tense silence fell. Fiona pressed his hand. The car jerked forward.

‘If he’s dead, then why hasn’t anyone found him?’ Cadel continued weakly. ‘Why hasn’t he been washed up?’

‘It can take weeks for that to happen,’ Saul replied. ‘What with the currents, and the sharks …’ Somehow he must have sensed his wife’s dismay; perhaps he heard the upholstery creak beneath her as she flinched, because he abruptly abandoned the
subject of sharks and their feeding habits. ‘Didn’t Kale discuss this with you? I thought he did. He
said
he did.’

In fact, Kale had discussed the subject endlessly. Upon hearing Cadel’s first (and somewhat garbled) account of the dinghy accident, he’d concluded that Prosper might have faked his own death. But then Cadel had recovered enough to provide more details, and Rex Austin’s boat had been found – along with a flare, an oar, and one of Prosper’s shoes. From that moment on, Kale’s opinion had altered. The fact that the lifejacket was still missing had cut no ice with Kale. He was convinced that Prosper was dead, despite the absence of any remains.

Like Saul, Kale had mentioned things like sharks and tidal currents. He’d insisted that
no one
could have swum to Mexico from Laguna Beach – not in the middle of a storm. And he’d dismissed Cadel’s objections about the missing lifejacket.

‘I’ll agree, Prosper could have been wearing it,’ the FBI agent had conceded at one point. ‘But that doesn’t mean he survived. The bilge pump is missing too, remember. And that length of rope you were talking about.’ According to Kale, the fact that Prosper hadn’t washed up along the coastline of southern California within twenty-four hours of disappearing was pretty conclusive. ‘Of course there’ll be an inquest, but if he didn’t crawl up onto a beach somewhere, he’s dead for sure. He would have been spotted. I don’t care how fit he was – he would have been knocked around so bad, they would have had to scrape him off the rocks.’

This was more or less what Saul was saying as Judith drove beneath a boom gate, out of the car park. Gazo was ahead of them somewhere, on his way to Maroubra. Everything looked slightly strange to Cadel, even though he hadn’t been out of the country for long. He wasn’t used to seeing cars on the left-hand side of the road.

‘You barely made it to shore yourself,’ Saul argued, ‘and you were lucky. I mean, it’s a miracle that the waves pushed you straight onto the beach. If that hadn’t happened, you would have drowned.’

‘Maybe that
isn’t
what happened,’ Cadel replied dully. ‘Maybe
it wasn’t the waves that pushed me onto the beach.’

Fiona gasped. Saul said, ‘What are you talking about?’

But Fiona was way ahead of him.

‘You surely don’t think that
Prosper
saved you?’ she protested. ‘Oh, no. No.’

‘People have been going on and on about how lucky I was –’ Cadel began, before Judith cut him off.

‘Are you kidding?’ she said scornfully. ‘Prosper took the bloody lifejacket! Why the hell would he have done that, if he wanted to save you?’

‘Because he’s a better swimmer than me,’ Cadel rejoined. For days he had been searching his memory for hints and contradictions. There had been a solid presence – he could certainly recall that. But had it been Prosper or the boat?

According to Kale, it had been the boat. According to Kale, Prosper couldn’t possibly have saved Cadel. And Saul shared this opinion.

‘If Prosper had dragged you onto dry land, he would have left footprints,’ the detective pointed out.

‘Not necessarily.’ Cadel refused to budge. ‘Not if he stayed below the tidemark.’

‘Are you serious?’ Judith scoffed, as she spun the wheel. Then Fiona weighed in with her own objection.

‘He wouldn’t have gone back into the water, sweetie,’ she demurred.

‘I’m not saying he did.’ Cadel could feel himself growing more and more defensive. He could feel his heart pounding and his muscles clenching and his mouth drying up. ‘For all we know, he could have walked over to the rocks,
through
the water. There were rocks at the end of that beach. He could have climbed those rocks until he reached the top of the cliff.’

‘And then what?’ asked Saul. ‘He would have been spotted, Cadel. A wet guy in a lifejacket? He would have stood out like a sore thumb.’

‘It was raining.’ Cadel retorted. ‘And he probably got rid of the lifejacket.’

‘In that case, it would have been found.’

‘Not if he threw it into the sea. You just
said
it was probably lost at sea.’

‘Yeah, sure – if it was wrapped around Prosper!’ By now Saul’s irritation was beginning to show. Staying twisted around in his seat couldn’t have been easy; it must have hurt his shoulder, because he was red and shaky, and damp with sweat. For some reason, however, he’d decided that demolishing Cadel’s arguments should be done face to face, and eye to eye. ‘If that lifejacket was thrown off a cliff, it would have washed ashore again,’ the detective declared.

‘You don’t know that.’

‘Cadel, the place was crawling with police. Where could he have gone, with only one shoe? Did he have any money? Did he have a functioning phone? It’s not like he caught a cab.’