The Sixth Day (A Brit in the FBI 5)

Adam started typing furiously. A few minutes later, he said, “Uploaded. Ready for your code.”

Nicholas wasn’t quite ready, held up a finger to say wait, and Adam grinned at him. “Getting slow in your old age?”

“You know I can have you arrested, don’t you? I’m trying to understand the base code without the usual markers from our normal computer languages. It is genius, isn’t it?”

“It is. To develop a new system is advanced stuff, to rewrite the world of code is another level entirely. I can’t say I understand it all yet, though I can admire its architecture.”

“Ready,” Nicholas said, pressing the button that would launch his code to follow Adam’s into the system.

The terminal blinked, then went black.

“What’s this?” Adam looked at his screen.

They could hear voices in the hallways, people shouting. Nicholas went to the door, opened it, as Adam shouted after him, “A kill switch. They have a kill switch, and we triggered it. It’s melting down the entire system here. Oh, man. We are in serious trouble.”

And the lights went out at MI5.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

The peregrine, wrote W. Kenneth Richmond, is a bird of “perfect proportions and finely cut features, daring and intelligence, spectacular performance in the air and matchless execution in the chase—a natural aristocrat.”

—Helen Macdonald, Falcon

The Old Garden

Twickenham

Richmond upon Thames, London

Roman was in Radu’s suite looking at the computers when he saw the black spot start to filter through the Internet.

Radu poked his fist in the air. “Roman, they’ve activated the kill switch.”

“Good. That one’s for you, Drummond. That should keep you busy for quite some time.”

“But we are rendered blind, as well, now,” Radu said. “And they are aware of how we’ve killed. They know MATRIX is compromised. I’m afraid, Roman. After they figure out how to turn things back on, they’ll figure it out and they’ll come.”

Roman saw his twin’s fear, his face pale, his restless hands wringing in his lap, and set himself to soothe. “They will have no idea we’re involved, Radu. I’ve taken care of it all. When—if—they manage to get the systems back, everything will be wiped. There will be nothing to lead them to us. And the install I did will confuse them.”

Radu was shaking his head, his oily hair slapping his face. “Nothing seems to be going right, Roman. How can you simply sit here doing nothing and hope the FBI and Scotland Yard and MI5 look elsewhere?”

“I’m not doing nothing. On the contrary, they’ll be looking elsewhere very soon now. And while they do, I’m going to secure the lost pages for us. Then, Brother, we will have the means to cure you. It’s the only thing that matters to me. I am happy to let Radulov burn to the ground if it means your blood will be clean.”

Radu saw it—Roman slipped a microdose into his mouth.

“How much of that are you taking?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m in control. I’m always in control. I need a new batch made, by the way, with your special formula.”

“Roman. That’s two weeks’ worth of LSD you’ve consumed in two days. Even with the alterations I made in the formulation, you can’t keep this up. If you’re dead or in jail, having a cure won’t matter.”

Roman reached to touch his brother’s arm, stopped when Radu pulled away.

Roman turned and punched a number into his mobile. “Cyrus, it’s time. Yes. Yes, that’s right.”

He punched off, saw Radu was shaking his head.

“What do you have Cyrus doing? I don’t like him. He thinks I’m crazy, but I’m not. Roman, we don’t need him.”