Nightrise

BAD THOUGHTS

“I wish I hadn’t talked you into this,” Alicia said. “I’m going to be worried sick about you.”

Jamie shrugged. “You don’t need to worry. I can look after myself.”

“I just don’t like the thought of you going in there alone.”

“It’s broad daylight. We’re in LA. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

Jamie looked through the windscreen at the office building across the road. It seemed very ordinary in the morning light with the sunshine bouncing off the windows. There weren’t so many people around now. The traffic had died down and the pavements were virtually empty. Jamie had quickly learned that in Los Angeles, nobody ever walked anywhere.

And yet there were at least a thousand people inside. Jamie tried to imagine what it must be like to work on the twentieth floor of a skyscraper with your own office and a personal assistant and a pay cheque at the end of each month. Ordinary life. There had been a time when this had been his dream, all that he wanted. To have a job. Holidays. Promotion. He had looked at the office buildings in Reno with a sort of envy. This sort of life would always be beyond his reach.

Once, he had said as much to Scott. But Scott had laughed at him.

“I don’t want to work in one of those places, Jamie. You go in young, you come out old. And you don’t notice what’s happened in between.”

“I thought you wanted to be Bill Gates.”

“That’s right. I don’t want to work for anyone. Just like him.”

Scott. Where was he now? Jamie quickly scanned the building, trying to feel for any sign of his brother’s presence behind the monotonous rows of windows. There was nothing.

He opened the car door and felt the warm, heavy air rush into him. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’d much rather come in with you,” Alicia said.

“Then we’d have twice as much chance of being stopped.” He got out of the car, then turned round and leant back in. “Give me ten minutes. Then make the call.”

“Make sure you’re there, Jamie. The timing has to be exactly right.”

He tapped his wrist. He was wearing a cheap watch. Scott had bought it for him on his thirteenth birthday. “I’ll be there.”

He took a large envelope off the dashboard. One last glance at Alicia and he closed the door behind him.

As he crossed the road, he was suddenly nervous. The revolving doors ahead of him looked like a trap. When they turned round, they would swallow him. Was he so sure that they would let him out again? What exactly was he walking into? He knew almost nothing about the Nightrise Corporation but even its name gave him pause for thought. It employed a man called Colton Banes and Banes had been there when Scott was taken. They were looking for kids like him. And now he was just walking in, delivering himself to them.

It’s the middle of the day. We’re in LA. Nothing bad can happen.

But why not? Who really knew what went on in every street, or even in the building next door? It suddenly struck Jamie that even the brightest sunlight could hide many dark and ugly secrets.

He had reached the other side of the road. Briefly, he glanced back, just checking that Alicia was still there, that she hadn’t driven off. He saw her raise a hand, reassuring him. He felt a spurt of annoyance. Why was he being so cowardly? He was the one who had thought up this plan. It was the only way to find Scott and if it had been the other way round, if he had been the one who had been kidnapped, Scott wouldn’t even have hesitated.

He slapped his hand against the revolving door and pushed. The door turned. He was in.

The lobby was a black box that stretched the entire length of the building. The walls were black granite, the floor black marble. The furniture – there was a low glass table and four chairs – was black too. One wall had a water feature. Streams of water trickled down endlessly, disappearing into a sort of trough. Otherwise there was no decoration. Two burly black men in black suits stood guard, watching anyone who came in. One of them walked over to him.

“Yeah?”

Jamie lifted the envelope. “I’ve got a package for Colton Banes. He’s with Nightrise.”

The guard looked at him quizzically. “You’re a bit young to be working in despatch.”

“I’m doing a week’s work experience.”

The guard nodded. If it had been anyone older he would have been more suspicious. But it was just a kid. And the envelope was clearly labelled. “It’s the forty-fifth floor,” he said – and swiped his own security card to activate the lift.

Jamie stepped in and waited for the doors to close. He felt his stomach shrink as the elevator moved silently up. He glanced at his watch. Only a couple of minutes had passed since he left the car and he was sure he still had plenty of time. However, the elevator stopped a couple of times before it reached his floor. People got in and got out. Another whole minute had ticked away before he finally arrived.

The forty-fifth floor. He stepped out.

It was all very ordinary, after all. What had he been expecting? A wide corridor ran left and right with the words NIGHTRISE CORPORATION in raised silver letters. There was a floor-to-ceiling window at one end, looking across to the building opposite, and a pair of modern glass doors at the other. He could see a reception desk and two women in smart suits, wearing headphones and throat mikes.

“Good morning. Nightrise Corporation. How may I help you?”

“Good morning. Nightrise Corporation. How may I direct your call?”

A second lift door opened and a FedEx delivery man stepped out, holding a parcel. Jamie waited while he went ahead, through the glass doors. The package would have to be signed for. That was good. It would distract their attention. That would give him his chance.

One of the women was talking on the phone. The other was dealing with the delivery. Now! Quickly, Jamie passed through the glass doors, walking as if it was his right, as if he had visited the building a dozen times before. He found himself in a smart, carpeted area with leather seats and a water cooler. There were pictures on the wall: modern art. A wide, glass door stood on each side, leading to corridors and more offices. Which way? He had to make an immediate decision. If he hesitated, he would be noticed. And then he would be stopped.

He turned right and went through the door, expecting at any moment to hear one of the receptionists call out after him. But they hadn’t seen him. Now it would be easier. He was inside. Anyone seeing him would assume that he had been allowed through.

But where was he to begin? Jamie glanced at his watch again. Everything depended on exact timing and somehow another two minutes had gone by. That just left him five minutes to find Colton Banes. He looked around. The forty-fifth floor had been expensively decorated in different shades of blue, with more paintings between the doors. On the left-hand side of the corridor all the outer rooms, the ones with a view, had been given over to senior executives and their assistants. Their names and the office numbers were printed in small letters beside each entrance. On the other side, the central part of the office was open-plan. Jamie could see a maze of desks divided by partitions. There were perhaps twenty or thirty men and women, most of them young, bent over computer screens or talking on the phone. The carpets were thick and seemed to absorb any sound. Was that how business was done here? With the same hush as a laboratory… or perhaps a church.

He came to an open door and looked inside. There was a photocopying machine and a young man in jeans and an open-necked shirt, only five or six years older than Jamie, sorting through a stack of documents. Jamie was about to move on but the young man suddenly looked up.

“You OK?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“You looking for someone?”

“Yeah…” Jamie lifted the envelope, showing the name on the front. “I’ve got to give this to a Colton Banes.”

“Banes? Do you know his department?”

“No. It doesn’t say.”

“Well, let’s take a look…” The young man went over to a table and picked up a plastic ring binder. He flicked through it. “Banes…” he muttered. He turned a page. “Here he is. You’re on the wrong floor. He’s up on forty-nine. Room four nine two five. Must be a big shot! That’s the way it is here. The bigger you are, the higher you go.”

“Thanks.” Jamie backed out the door.

He thought he would have to go back to the lift, but as he came out of the photocopying room, he noticed a sign: FIRE EXIT. Of course, in the event of a fire, the lifts would shut down. There had to be stairs.

He continued down the corridor. A woman holding a bundle of files hurried past him but nobody stopped him. Nobody even looked in his direction. He came to the fire exit, pushed it open and found a flight of metal and concrete stairs on the other side. He climbed up, taking two steps at a time. He had Banes’s office number but time was running out. Alicia would make her call in just a couple of minutes. And all of this was easy compared to what had to happen next. Jamie dreaded it even as he quickened his pace. He could feel his heart beating and knew it wasn’t just the exertion of the climb.

The forty-ninth floor was exactly the same as the one he had left, with the senior offices and conference rooms on the outside and the common pool at the centre. There were more people moving between the different work stations but they were still talking in low voices as if afraid of being overheard. But there was no art here. The walls were covered with posters: the same poster. It showed a serious-looking, grey-haired man. He had been caught half smiling, as if he wanted to be friendly but had too much on his mind. VOTE CHARLES BAKER. Jamie recognized the name of the senator running for president against John Trelawny. From the look of things, the entire floor had been turned into a campaign office on his behalf.

Jamie felt more exposed here. It could only be a matter of time before he was noticed. But at least he knew where he was going. 4907, 4908… He followed the office doors round. Another quick look at his watch. He had two minutes left.

Colton Banes had an office suite at the far corner and the door was half open. Jamie edged forward and looked through. There was an outer room with a desk for an assistant but it was empty. A second door, also open, led into another, larger space. And there he was, sitting in a high-backed leather chair behind an antique, highly polished desk. Jamie drew a breath. He had come here looking for Banes, but even so it was a shock to see him again: the cold, watery eyes, the bald head that could have been the result of some disease. This was a world away from the Reno Playhouse and Jamie found it almost impossible to make the connection. Had Nightrise sent this man to kidnap him and his brother? Had Banes really killed two people – Don and Marcie – when the plan had gone wrong?

He looked at his watch. Thirty seconds left.

“Who are you? What are you doing there?”

The voice had come from behind him. A man was moving down the corridor and Jamie could see at once that he wasn’t anything like the younger man he had met in the photocopying room. He was plump and bearded, wearing a suit, and he had a radio transmitter in his hand. He must be part of security. And he was suspicious.

The telephone rang. Jamie heard it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Banes pick it up.

“Who are you?” the security man demanded.

“Hello?” Jamie heard Banes answer the telephone and knew he had to get into the office. There were just seconds left.

Sitting outside the office building, speaking on her cell phone from the car, Alicia asked, “Is this Colton Banes?” She had been passed through to his office by the switchboard.

“Yes.” Banes was already puzzled. He didn’t know the voice. Why was this woman calling him?

The security man was waiting for Jamie to answer. When Jamie said nothing, he took a step forward. “I think you’d better come with me,” the man said.

“I’m with him.” Jamie jerked a thumb in the direction of the office. He knew it sounded feeble but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

On her cell phone, Alicia knew the moment had come. “Where is Scott Tyler?” she asked.

Banes looked up and saw a scrawny boy in a brightly coloured shirt and baseball cap standing in his office and knew he had been tricked. The woman on the phone had asked him a question and although he had no intention of saying anything more, he couldn’t stop himself thinking of the answer. That was why Jamie was here. This was what the two of them had arranged. He had arrived just as Alicia had opened a window in the man’s mind.

Jamie jumped through it.

He did exactly what he had done a thousand times on the stage. He jumped – not physically, but as if he were throwing a miniature replica of himself out of his head. But this time it wasn’t Scott at the other end. This time it wasn’t his brother with his warm and familiar thoughts.

It was Colton Banes.

Jamie felt himself plunge into utter darkness. It was like diving into a pool of freezing oil. And at that moment, he shared everything that Banes had ever felt or thought. There were pictures – millions of them – but there were also experiences and emotions: fear, arrogance, lust, anger, cruelty, hatred and much, much more. Jamie had tried to explain it to Alicia but he could never have found the words. A man’s brain is a world. That’s what he should have said. And the world in which he now found himself was beyond any imagining.

He saw the death of Kyle Hovey. Worse than that, it was his hands that were around the other man’s neck. He could feel the warm flesh and the pulsing vein under his own fingers as he squeezed. This had been the most recent killing and it was uppermost in Banes’s mind. He saw a woman watching him. She had very short grey hair, a long neck, glasses. Banes was afraid of her. Jamie felt the fear. He saw the cruelty in her eyes and for a moment she was looking straight at him, smiling while he committed murder.

But then the image folded away and he was inside a trailer. There was a young girl lying on a bed with a dazed expression on her face and long hair straggling over the pillows. She moved her arm and Jamie saw that the flesh was bruised and mauve and that there were puncture marks, some of them covered with scabs. There were clothes everywhere, crumpled beer cans and ashtrays spilling out their contents, a dirty calendar on the wall. Colton Banes at home. It was there and then it was gone. Jamie had seen it only for a second. But it felt like an hour or even a day.

And then he saw other murders; a gun fired endlessly in front of him, a whole line of people, young and old, being shot down as if in an obscene fairground gallery. Some had died quietly. Some had cried for mercy. Jamie heard them and watched them fall. Mainly men. A few women. The bullets spat out, one after another, and blood splattered a dozen different walls.

And then he came to Don White.

“Whose murder?”

“ You shouldn’t have asked.”

He heard the words and saw Don White jerk backwards as the bullet hit him. Then it was Marcie’s turn. She had been taken by surprise in the kitchen. She hadn’t even heard the door open. She had just turned round and that was it.

So many deaths. A chamber of horrors.

He saw himself, chased out of the theatre. The dog – Jagger – forced to the ground. And the man who was running for president, Charles Baker. That was crazy. What was he doing in Banes’s head? But it was definitely him, raising a hand and smiling, saying something to a journalist.

Another flicker, a hundred different places, flashing past like a falling deck of cards. He had arrived in a city, maybe somewhere in China. A strange boat with dark, wrinkled sails making its way across a stretch of water. Gone. Now he was back in Los Angeles, seeing himself as he entered the office. He felt the moment of recognition, his own name whispered in anger and surprise. Jamie fought against the torrent of words, images and emotions, searching for the one thing he needed.

“Where is Scott Tyler?”

Alicia had asked the question and the answer had to be there, ricocheting through Banes’s mind. Jamie wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay there. He was going to be sick. He felt as if he was drowning.

And then he saw him. His brother. Scott.

He was lying on his back in an enclosed room, stripped to the waist. He was ill. There was a tube running into his nose, the sort of thing you get in a hospital, and another in his wrist. Some sort of transparent liquid was dripping down. Scott was covered in sweat. His hair was soaked through. There was a trickle of dried blood at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were open and filled with pain. Jamie wanted to know what Scott was thinking but that was impossible. He was seeing him as Banes had seen him. When? Not yesterday. The day before, maybe. Recently…

“Where is Scott Tyler?”

Banes didn’t want anyone to know. He was fighting it. But still the images came, one after another. Jamie saw desert. A cactus shaped like the letter Y. He saw mountains with the moon suspended eerily between two peaks. There was a loud electronic buzz as a gate opened automatically, then an echoing crash as a second one closed. Faces. Other boys, some the same age as Scott, but all of them lifeless, vacant. A security camera swivelling round. Showers, the steam rolling out. More boys, their outlines just visible behind plastic curtains. Another gate smashed shut. And there it was at last, the sign that Banes didn’t want him to see.