The Doomsday Prophecy

Chapter Fifty-Six

It was after 10 p.m. when Ben and Alex emerged from the conference room. The operations office was still as bustling and hectic as before. Murdoch led them down a hallway and through a set of doors to a computer lab that was so crammed with equipment there was barely room for the half-dozen or so staff manning it.

Callaghan was hunched over a terminal with one of the technicians. He looked up as Murdoch walked up to him. ‘There are over twenty-two thousand males named Slater between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five in the USA,’ he said.

Murdoch leaned on the desk ‘Can you narrow it down? Hair colour, height, build, profession.’

‘It’s going to take a while to factor in those kinds of parameters,’ Callaghan said testily.

‘Don’t take too long. Time is short.’

Then Ben and Alex were left alone in a quiet lobby for a few minutes while Murdoch went off to make some phone calls.

‘Thanks for what you did in there,’ she said. ‘It’s not fair, what they’re doing to you.’

‘Promise me two things,’ Ben said.

She nodded. ‘Name them.’

‘First, you’ll make sure Zoë gets back to her family safely.’

‘Of course I will. And the other promise?’

‘That you’ll look after yourself. Have a good life, all right?’

She smiled uncertainly. ‘This is your way of saying goodbye?’

‘Maybe. I don’t know what’s going to happen.’

‘Can I give you a call sometime?’

‘I’d like that,’ he said. He told her the number of his mobile. She repeated it.

A door swung open and Murdoch reappeared. ‘It’s done,’ he told Ben. ‘Your plane leaves for Israel at midnight.’

‘What happens when I get there?’

Murdoch frowned. ‘You’ll appreciate that we’re busking this to a large degree. I’m hoping I’ll know more by the time you touch down in Jerusalem. Our agents there will be figuring out the likely targets. You’ll be contacted.’ He looked at his watch and winced. He turned to Alex. ‘You’re working under Agent Callaghan now. We’re releasing Miss Bradbury into your care. She knows you, she’ll feel safe with you. She’s a little uptight, and maybe you can help calm her.’

‘No problem,’ Alex said. ‘She can come home with me tonight.’

For the first time that evening Murdoch looked pleased, real warmth in his eyes. ‘Thank you, Alex. There’ll be three agents outside your door, although I have a feeling Miss Bradbury’s no longer under threat.’ He gestured towards the door, looking expectantly at Alex.

She hesitated, glanced at Ben.

‘So this is it,’ he said to her.

‘I guess so,’ she replied. ‘I’ll see you around, then.’

‘Sometime,’ he said.

She touched his hand. Their fingers interlocked for a brief moment, then parted. Murdoch noticed it and looked away.

‘Take care,’ Alex murmured, and then she turned and Ben watched her walk away and disappear through the door.

‘Now let’s see if you and Callaghan can find your man Slater,’ Murdoch said.

Ben spent the next seventy minutes alone with Callaghan in a dark room filled with screens, sifting through the hundreds of ID photographs that the agent and the computer lab tech had narrowed down from the original thousands of files. When they’d gone through the whole lot, Ben sat back in his chair and shook his head.

Callaghan narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re sure about that?’

‘Absolutely sure,’ Ben said. ‘I never forget a face.’

‘Then he gave you a false name. Which I knew all along. I can’t figure out why Murdoch can’t see it. It’s obvious. And it leaves us with a big fat zero. Waste of time.’

Ben said nothing.

Callaghan peeled back his sleeve to check his watch. ‘Let’s move. I need to get you on that flight.’