“I haven’t talked to that egomaniac in years. I have nothing for you.”
“You know him better than we do. You worked for him, earned his trust—he respected you. Barstow forced you to hack into his company’s computer systems. You’re our best chance at stopping him right now, before he burns down the city. You help us, and I’ll get you out of here.”
“Talk to his freak of a brother. He knows him better than I do.”
“His brother is dead.”
Temora’s eyes narrowed. “You say Radu Ardelean is dead?”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“In a way, I suppose. I was part of a raid on Ardelean’s house to save a woman he’d kidnapped, a twin like himself, who could read and speak Voynichese. Unfortunately, there were complications. He bled to death.”
“Well, it’s a bloody miracle he made it this long. It’s taken serious cash to keep that man alive. His hemophilia was off-the-charts bizarre, nothing in modern medicine touched it. Imagine not being able to close off a vein, unheard of. I thought it really wasn’t hemophilia at all. Something else—”
“How about something in not-so-modern medicine?”
“You mean Roman’s ridiculous idea that the Voynich held the key to curing all of Radu’s ailments? Yes, I know all about their attempts to find the missing quires.
“If Roman and Radu could truly read the Voynich, then they must be the only two on the face of the world. I couldn’t read it, and I can read any code.”
“It’s not a code, it’s a language. Only certain twins can read it.”
“Yeah, yeah, so you said. Do you know I even saw the original manuscript? Barstow had it stolen from Yale. Ah, I see you didn’t know that. Here’s another freebie. The original Voynich is at his house, in his safe. He bragged about it.”
“Thank you. Whatever else the Ardeleans believed, they trusted the instructions in the manuscript to cure Radu, that and the right blood.”
“I don’t suppose you know they also used it as the basis for their encryption, believing they were only ones who knew the language and so no one could ever crack their systems?”
“I do, actually. Tell me, you can’t read the Voynich, yet you cracked their systems?”
“I had a leg up. Being on the inside of the company was a help for Barstow’s mission, wasn’t it? They may have been crazy, but Radu and Roman knew how to design bulletproof code.”
“How’d you get in, then? If it’s bulletproof?”
“Drummond, you of all people know all code is designed with a back door. I simply opened the one I’d left behind and walked in. Made their lives a living hell for a bit.”
“Does Ardelean know you went into ISIS as an operative?”
“Of course, he always could find just about anything he wanted to know. But he couldn’t catch me.” He shrugged. “Sure, I helped them out for a while, but I didn’t like it, too strict for me, the violence too senseless. I’m an anarchist, not a zealot.”
“How did you manage to send me the video of you and Barstow? And why?”
“Barstow had planted a camera in here—look over your shoulder.” Nicholas looked up, saw the red eye beaming down on them. The exact view in the video. “When I agreed to screw around with Ardelean’s code, Barstow gave me a computer. Piece of cake to send out a video, telling all. It was time to out the old bastard.”
“It helped, thank you.” Nicholas said nothing else, waited, waited, and Temora started up again.
“Look, I have no idea what Roman’s planning. I can’t help you.”
“I think you can, Caleb. You said it yourself. He has a bone to pick with you. The moment he finds out you’re involved, he’s going to come for you, and he’s going to make you wish you’d died in one of those coded hellholes you crawled out of. He is bent on vengeance against everyone he feels is responsible for ruining him and killing his brother. He has the tools to accomplish this, too.”
“Yes, he does. His software resides on ninety percent of the computers in the free world. A few keystrokes and he could shut it all down: power grids, air traffic control systems, satellites. Without phones and power, money or food, the world would descend into chaos. He could close the doors of the grocery stores and open the doors of the prisons. He is omnipotent.”
“So he controls the computers. What else does he have?”
“What else does he need?”
With a brief glance at the camera and a raised eyebrow, Nicholas said, “He has a weaponized drone army.”
Temora started to laugh, shaking his head. “Amazing, absolutely amazing, but I’m not surprised, not really. Roman has this strange patriotic streak in him, wants to wipe out terrorism, arm poorer countries. So he did it. I wonder why Barstow never told me.”
Nicholas shook his head. “I’m asking you nicely to tell me what you think Roman’s going to do next. He’s already killed Barstow. Is he going to run? Hide? Or attack?”
Temora’s eyes lit up. “He killed Barstow? Good for him. I wish I could have killed the old monster, but I couldn’t.” Temora paused, then said, “I’d say Barstow was pretty close to being crazy, crazy evil. You want to know what’s sad? The old bugger believed all the lies he spewed.”
“Where is Ardelean, Caleb? What does he plan to do for revenge?”
“Sorry, I swear I don’t know what his end game might be. But whatever it is, it will be big. Huge. Since you people killed his brother, he’s not going to run. He’s going to come after all of you with everything he’s got. It’s always personal to him. Very, very personal.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Upstairs, Nicholas put a frozen pizza in the oven while Mike pulled together a quick salad. Then he, Harry, and Mike sat at the table and ate, discussing their next moves.
Nicholas said, “There’s one thing I believe Temora about. Ardelean is going to come after us. He already has twice, no reason he won’t try a third time. If he blames us for his brother’s death, then we’re in twice as much danger. We have to find him.”
Mike swallowed a bit of pizza. “Let me call Adam, see if he’s found anything yet.”
She put her cell on speaker when Adam answered. “Gray and I were about to call you. Sorry, guys, we don’t have good news. The blueprints for several major London landmarks were on Ardelean’s hard drives. Maps, detailed information, insider stuff, things not available to the public. Seems he used his connections to the servers to lift all the information he could possibly want.”
Nicholas asked, “So how many possible targets?”
“There are eight different spots around London that he’s done epic amounts of research on. I’m talking all the major tourist destinations and government buildings. It’s going to take us a while to find out if there’s one he’s favored over another. He still may try to kill you guys off one at a time, or he may focus on a single huge attack. We don’t know yet. He’s up to something, regardless.”
“Get back to it, Adam. Find everything you can and send it our way.”
Nicholas patted his mouth with a napkin, stood up. “Come on, Mike, let’s go talk to Isabella. She might have heard something, seen something to help us figure out what he plans next.”
Harry said, “I’ll keep talking to Temora, see if I can’t sweeten the deal. If he gives me anything, I’ll let you know.”
When the door shut behind them, Nicholas realized the sun was dropping behind the mews. They stood in ready silence on the stoop for a moment, listening—no drones above them.
Nicholas pulled on his leather jacket, and they started down the street, back toward the church.
Mike saw a garden along the way, chestnut and limes lining the sidewalks, the leaves full and deep. White flowers sprinkled the beds like dropped pieces of cotton. The evening felt calm, and still. There was no one around, only the distant sounds of traffic.
Nicholas glanced at the pink sky. “I didn’t realize it was so late. The car will be waiting on the other side of the church. Let’s cut through to the hospital.”