Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [103]
‘Why be sorry?’ said Edward flatly. ‘Mission successful. You did it.’
‘I’m sorry … because, I think, well, I hope, you and I have become friends. And I’ve put you in this situation.’ Howard could understand if the boy walked away right now and told everything he’d just heard to the others. Then, of course, they’d confront him and perhaps even exact a brutal revenge on him. Howard could understand that and was ready to face the music.
Instead he felt Edward’s small hand on his forearm. ‘It’s OK. I’m not angry with you.’
He laughed. ‘You have every right to be.’
‘No point,’ said Edward. ‘We’re stuck here forever, then. So we’ve got to work together. Right, Leonard?’
Leonard … it sounded like Edward was going to keep this confession to himself.
Howard nodded. ‘So?’
‘So, I’m not telling. You’re Leonard still.’
He smiled. ‘OK … I’m Leonard.’
‘Right.’
‘Right.’
CHAPTER 57
2001, New York
Maddy’s mouth was dry and her head was pounding. She slowly opened her eyes and winced them shut against the painful bright glare of the light overhead.
‘Sorry about that,’ she heard someone say. The lights in the room dimmed slightly. ‘Better?’
She cracked her eyes open again, and then nodded. She felt something cool pressed into her hands.
‘Water. Have a sip. It’s just water, I assure you.’
Maddy lifted a plastic tumbler and gratefully slurped a mouthful. Her eyes blinked and she tried to focus on her surroundings: a small room with a low ceiling, what looked like a medicine cabinet, a strip light overhead. She was lying on what appeared to be a hospital bed and beside her she saw the old man who’d come knocking at their door sitting on a stool. He’d taken his jacket off, rolled up his shirtsleeves and loosened his tie.
‘You took a knock on the head when you went down. I’m sorry I had to taser you.’
Yes … that was it. She’d felt like every muscle in her body had locked and an unbelievably agonizing sensation had coursed through her whole body.
‘Where am I?’ She realized she was lying on some sort of a hospital gurney. But then this didn’t look like a hospital ward, or a private ward.
‘New York still,’ he smiled. ‘And somewhere perfectly safe.’
She sipped the water again. ‘Who are you?’
The man pulled the stool forward. It rattled on castors across a smooth linoleum floor. ‘My name’s Lester Cartwright,’ he answered warmly. ‘And yes – if that’s your next question – I work for a, shall we say, a quiet little intelligence agency on behalf of the American government.’
Maddy nodded and smiled blearily. ‘I figured it would be someone like that who’d come to our door.’
‘Well … who else would it be?’ he asked. ‘Something like this, knowledge of this … it’s far too important for any old Joe to have in his possession. I’m sure you’d agree.’
Maddy shrugged, her hand reaching up to her forehead and finding a dressing there. ‘I suppose.’
‘So,’ he said, leaning forward. ‘I have just about a million goddamn questions I’ve been wanting to ask someone like you. Questions I’ve been waiting for answers to most of my adult life. And, in return, I have a curious message that I’m sure you’re rather keen to see.’
She was encouraged by the old man’s directness. No beating about the bush, no attempting to fool her, beguile her. Just the straightforward declaration of a quid pro quo.
She nodded. ‘A message from a friend.’
‘Yes,’ he said as he got up and reached for his jacket neatly draped on a small storage cabinet in the corner of the room. He fumbled for the inside pocket and finally pulled out a folded sheet of paper. ‘A friend who apparently decided to take a holiday during the, if I’m not mistaken, the late Cretaceous period?’
Maddy’s jaw dropped open. ‘I … uh … when did you say?’
‘The late Cretaceous. We’ve tested the rock. It’s definitely from that time.’
Her lungs emptied a gasp. ‘You mean, like, dinosaur times?’
Cartwright nodded. ‘Yes, I believe it was a popular time for dinosaurs.’
‘Oh my God, I didn’t think the machine –’ She stopped herself before she blurted out anything else.