Zero Alternative (33 page)

‘Not completely.’ He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but when he checked the date on his watch he realised the Serb was right.

‘Well, you know your way around the ruins, don’t you?’

Walker sighed. ‘I guess.’

The Road Trip

Walker stared at the monitors, willing Layla to materialize out of the arrivals lounge at Orange County’s JW Airport. The trip to Stanford and the backpack with the storage driver he carried were making him nervous, like an athlete on the final straight worrying about someone catching up to him. He wanted to slip out of LA, get on the road and drop the code to Mosha before anything else could go wrong. And airports made him nervous. Especially at the moment.

A crowd of people streamed past the glass doors, coming from a hidden entrance to his left. Businessmen, women with children, a few older ladies on some trip. He glanced at their luggage, trying to read the tags attached to suitcases, struggling to make out the codes. A good-looking woman slid past him and he concentrated on her trolley. MIA on the white sticker, from Florida. Wrong flight. He swore quietly and shuffled forward. Layla’s plane had landed forty minutes earlier from Boston – she should already be out.

The crowds thinned, dispersing as the passengers slowed to a trickle. Walker readjusted the straps on his rucksack, attempting to get comfortable. The damn driver was heavy. He considered popping out for a cigarette but just forced himself to breathe more slowly instead, and to wait. It couldn’t take much longer, unless…
Unless
someone had managed to intercept Layla – maybe they had tracked her from Italy, and caught up with her in Boston.

Maybe she’d taken Deep.

He swore at himself – Layla only carried half of the program anyway, and she knew it. Besides, there was no way she would, not after all…

Another crowd of people bulged from the side entrance, oozing towards him. Suited businessmen, trolleys, laptop bags. A couple of surfers hurried past, carrying a board. Its decorations were gaudy, bright colours on a blue background. Behind it he caught a glimpse of dark hair on top of a black coat and stood on tiptoes, trying to see past a massive, obese man.

Layla
.

The stink of sweat assaulted his nostrils as the fat man wobbled by and there she was, head turning as she looked for him. Walker lifted his hand, waving, just as a tall guy rushed past a couple of children and ran right into her shoulder, almost knocking her over.

Walker jumped forward, trying to make his way through the crowd. He dodged a huge suitcase and approached Layla as she regained her balance, just in time to see her glaring at the tall guy. She
was rubbing her wounded arm and readjusting a big rucksack – Walker hoped she hadn’t dropped the storage driver. He called out her name and she turned quickly, flashing him a smile.

‘Excuse me,’ said the tall guy. ‘I was in hurry…’ He had a strong French accent and looked embarrassed. He placed a hand on Layla’s shoulder, near her neck, and she shrugged him off.

‘Asshole.’ She turned away and stepped towards Walker, grinning. ‘I did it!’

‘Great.’ He glanced around the airport, the nervousness returning. ‘Now let’s get out of here.’

Walker woke groggily, the pain in his neck and shoulders washing away his exhaustion. He glanced out of the window and saw darkness, the rental Chevy’s headlights struggling to illuminate a desert landscape. Joshua trees rose from the sand and cast long shadows that disappeared towards distant mountain peaks.

‘Where are we?’ he croaked.

‘Just past Santa Fe, we should be arriving soon.’

Layla sounded as tired as he felt and he checked his watch. They had been on the road for over thirteen hours straight after he’d picked her up from Orange County’s airport, and he had been asleep for the last four. He groaned. ‘Why the hell didn’t you wake me earlier?’

‘There was no reason to. I haven’t seen another car for hours.’

‘Are you sure?’

Layla half-turned to him, her eyes looking bright in the dim light. ‘I thought I was the trained one here.’

‘You might be tired.’ They were too close to get caught, and it made him nervous.

‘I
am
tired, but not stupid,’ she glared at him.

‘All right. Let’s just stop at the first hotel we can find outside of Taos.’

‘Fine by me.’ Layla stretched her neck and stared ahead, angry.

Walker lit a cigarette and exhaled, trying to slow his heartbeat. ‘I’m sorry. And… just terrified, that’s all. I don’t wanna fuck up now.’

‘I know. Neither do I.’ She grabbed his Marlboro and took a long drag. ‘So this is it?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You give DeepShare to Mosha. By the way, where exactly are we meeting him?’

‘A place called Montezuma. It’s a crumbling hotel in the middle of nowhere.’

Layla turned to him, surprised. ‘Why?’

Walker shrugged. ‘No idea. But at least we’re both familiar with the place. He might have something else to do there, I guess.’

‘And you know the drop spot? How?’

‘Long story. I’ll tell you on the way back.’

Layla sighed, sounding annoyed. ‘
Fine
.’ She concentrated back on the road, let the seconds tick by. ‘So what happens afterwards?’

‘We rush back to LA to get our new passports, and disappear.’

‘Seriously?’

Walker nodded, taking his Marlboro back. ‘Yep. There’s nothing else to do, anyway. Mosha will set up his positions, and after that we only need to wait for the fireworks. I’ll have to stay hidden, at least until Frankel is taken down and Pienaar and the rest exposed.’ He paused, eyes lost in the darkness outside. ‘Deep thinks the events in Italy will happen fast, then Hackernym goes public. Let history unfold – we just have to avoid being found in the meantime.’

‘Or there might not be an after.’

Walker could feel ice cubes sliding along his spine. ‘Don’t even think of that.’

‘I’ll try not to. Where are we…?’ She hesitated for a second. ‘Are we going together?’

That’s a great question
. Walker finished his cigarette, flicking the butt out of the window. He wasn’t ready for the answer. ‘No.’

Layla went quiet for about a minute, then she slowed and stopped the car on the right side of the road, her hands turning white as she held onto the wheel. ‘Will you ever forgive me?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘You said you loved me. Was it true?’ Her voice shook a little.

Walker opened the car door and stepped into the desert night, marching a dozen yards away. The air felt thin and freezing and he remembered the altitude of the plains. Was it true? Of course it was fucking true – he had fallen for the damn woman from the first moment. But he still didn’t know if he could trust her again, now or ever. He heard her climb out of the car but kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to find something in the moonlight, anything.

Her steps crunched on the sand as she drifted closer. He held his breath, felt her hands circling his lower chest. Before Layla could let her head rest on his shoulder he slipped away and turned,
facing her.

‘Yes,’ he answered simply.

She took it in, paused for a second. ‘And now?’

‘Now I need to think. A lot.’

Layla nodded, her eyes pools of darkness in the car-light haze. ‘I see.’ She sighed and pointed back to their Ford, her voice lower. ‘I guess we should go.’

Walker watched her hurry back, not trusting his legs. He could feel himself trembling and fought to remain in control for a few seconds, his blood loud in his ears and thumping his temples. When he had calmed down enough he retraced his steps to the car and sat down without another word. She started the engine and eased away from the shoulder, back to the empty, dark tarmac.

It took over one hour for the atmosphere to thaw and become breathable again. Layla eventually glanced at him, then back to the road. She was biting on her lip again, uncertain.

‘What?’ Walker asked.

She cleared her throat. ‘Where are you going to go?’

‘I haven’t decided yet.’ Walker sat back in his seat, raising the backrest a little as he tried to get more comfortable. He lit another cigarette and cracked the window, considering the Old Man’s plan and concentrating on the days ahead. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence Layla glanced at him again, whispering, ‘It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. I understand.’

‘It’s not that. I just haven’t thought that far ahead.’ He relaxed a bit, feeling wrung out. There was other stuff to worry about – no point in raising the tension further. ‘I’ve never been to the gulf coast of Mexico.’

Layla gave him a little smile, stretching her neck. ‘The capital of Yucatan, Merida – it’s a lovely town. Big enough to get lost in.’

‘Does it have beaches?’

‘No, it’s inland.’

Walker shook his head. He’d already checked it out. ‘Nah, after all this… I want a sea view.’

‘Italians,’ Layla groaned. ‘What about Tulum, on the Gulf?’

‘Never heard of it.’

‘You’ll love it. Tiny bays, little shacks on the beach, a quiet town. Good bars.’

‘Sounds great. What about you?’

Layla shrugged. ‘I don’t know – I’ll just be glad when this is over.’

‘What, you don’t enjoy being chased by a homicidal maniac?’

She glanced at the rearview mirrors, shivering. ‘I want…’ she sighed. ‘I just want to be happy, for a while. Not running, not worrying, just…’

‘Just being.’

‘Yes. And… after all – if your plan works? What will you do?’

‘I’m not sure.’ Walker exhaled, considering. He’d been wondering the same thing for days. Or years. ‘Something useful I hope. With Deep, maybe. The way DM wanted it to be used.’

‘What about money? You might need a fortune for something like that.’

Walker nodded. That hadn’t really crossed his mind, but he guessed it made sense. Using money for something good – what a weird thought for an investment banker. ‘True. But you forget…’

‘What?’

‘I’m a derivatives trader. Don’t you think I can make a buck or two in bringing a bank down?’

‘
They’ve stopped at a road motel in Taos, in New Mexico
.’

Pienaar’s voice was muffled by a static hiss, and Friedman had a little trouble in making out the words. His face still hurt, badly
. ‘
New Mexico? Why?
’

‘
No idea. You have the line to the smart guys
–
I just follow the bug on the bitch. Should we go in?
’

‘
No. We don’t know yet if they’re carrying all of the software
.’
Friedman thought for a second
. ‘
Maybe it’s in the servers at Los Alamos?
’

‘
They wouldn’t drive so far east. And Los Alamos is mainly military
.’

‘
Good point
.’
Friedman glanced through a couple of files
. ‘
There must be something in the area. I’ll get the team to run background checks on both
–
perhaps there’s a connection in their past, someone they know
.’

‘
Do it fast. The shadowing game is tricky and we could lose them again
.’
Pienaar’s anger was
surfacing again, always close to exploding. Friedman shivered
–
the Australian was a time-bomb that would need to be defused when they had Omega
.

‘
I will. Just be ready to act, Francois
.’

‘
I’m always ready
.’

Chapter Eighteen

UWC

No more suffering
.

The old man closed his eyes, knowing it was for the last time. He bid farewell to his paintings and his consciousness spun, numbed by drugs. Images flashed by him fleetingly: his children, his friends. His enemies. He had many regrets, but the work of the last few years
–
Hackernym
–
that would be his legacy. Bringing the scum into the light, remaking some of the world. There was hope, a chance of redemption
.

His mind drifted off into the past, circling onto itself. Faces, words…

Oddly, Walker’s steely gaze came back to him and he wondered whether the young man would understand. It was a little betrayal, one of too many, but done for the greater good. Maybe things would be clear to him, in the end. He hoped so
.

But now it was time to go, and the silence engulfed him
.

After sleeping for a sweaty few hours in a motel that looked like it had been crumbling for most of the previous century, they hit the road again. Walker drove through darkness for seventy miles straight south of Taos before turning into a small town named Las Vegas, NM. He sped past a couple of empty intersections, scoured his memory and took a side street that wound further into the hills, through ancient conifer woodland. Minutes later he swung a sharp left onto a rutted dirt track and followed it for a while, headlights bouncing up and down, before parking their Chevy in a small clearing hidden among cypress trees.

The road must have been half-abandoned for years, and the little pathway he remembered was now overgrown with plants. He got out of the car and led Layla into a couple of dead-ends, deeper into the forest. He knew the hotsprings he was looking for were just a few hundred yards away and he kept pushing through the woods, using his flashlight as little as possible. After a few minutes of
scrambling in the dense vegetation they chanced on a newer track, emerging behind the old hut that served as changing rooms by the steaming rock-pool.

The abandoned hotel – The Castle – was a vague grey outline on top of a low hill a few hundred yards away. Walker once again decided that it did look a little like a medieval castle, three stories tall, a large round tower spurting off by the right side. He tightened his backpack, heavy with the storage driver, and turned to check on Layla. She had unzipped her black leather coat and was fiddling with the knife holster on her left leg. ‘You okay?’ he asked.

‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘How the hell do you know this place so well?’

‘I went to school here. For two years – Mosha, too.’

Layla swore. ‘School? What about the students?’