The Manhattan Puzzle by Laurence O’Bryan Read Free Book Online Page A

intervention.’
    He leaned forward, put his hands out as if he was appealing to the heavens.
    ‘We have been chosen to open the Seventh Seal.’ He closed his eyes, went forward until he was kneeling on the thick white carpet.
    Lord Bidoner had his hands together too.
    Pastor Stevson whispered, ‘And the vials of his wrath will be poured upon the earth.’
    Lord Bidoner stared out at the twinkling lights of the city. The skyscrapers looked like shards of sparkling crystal as the snow flurries gathered in intensity.
    ‘Have you made the transfer into the fund?’ he asked, after a minute had passed.
    Pastor Stevson opened his eyes, then rose to his feet. His legs were unsteady under him. ‘That was a lot of dough you needed, but it’s done. A hundred million went into your fund this afternoon.’
    ‘The price of heaven is not cheap,’ said Lord Bidoner. ‘If there was another way I would have chosen it. Every penny I have is tied up in this. I can assure you of that.’
    Xena came into the room. She placed a phone on the oak coffee table. It was vibrating. She was wearing only a gossamer-thin black shift, which came down to her thighs. Her thin body was visible through it.
    The pastor stared at her.
    ‘I must take this,’ said Lord Bidoner. ‘I want you and my friend to pray together.’ He put the phone to his ear and walked to the other end of the long room near the double-height window. The glass shone as if it were a mirror. Outside the twinkling lights of other skyscrapers filled the air.
    He listened for a few minutes. Then he spoke, forcefully.
    ‘You will make him cooperate. Do whatever it takes,’ he said.
    He closed the line and put his hand on the window glass.
    ‘The last one is near,’ he whispered.
    Then he turned and went after Xena and the pastor. She had left the door of the panic room open just a half an inch. Through the crack he could see her helping the pastor take his shirt off. He stood in the darkness of the hall and watched until they were both naked.
    She ran her hands all over the pastor’s pudgy white body.
    Few could resist the way Xena prayed. And this pastor certainly wouldn’t have needed much persuasion about the earthy spirituality of her ancient beliefs.
    He had no idea what he was letting himself in for.

16
    Isabel heard heels tapping across a floor. Then another voice came on the line. A woman’s voice. A voice she didn’t recognise.
    ‘Sorry, Mrs Ryan, Sean isn’t here. George asked me to tell you.’
    Her balloon popped.
    Anger threatened like a sudden storm.
    ‘But George said he was there two seconds ago. He went to get him.’
    There was a long pause.
    ‘Sorry, Mrs Ryan, George was mistaken.’ She sounded like a doorman telling some loser she couldn’t get in to their club.
    ‘Please, can you check again? Sean is supposed to be in a meeting there now.’
    There was a pause. This one was longer than the last. Isabel wanted to shout at the woman.
    ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Ryan, I have to go. Your husband is not here.’
    ‘Can I speak to George?’ She wasn’t going to get any sense out of this woman.
    She replied instantly. ‘Sorry, Mrs Ryan, George is out for lunch. Was there anything else?’
    ‘But I just spoke to him!’
    ‘He’s gone out now.’
    The conversation was coming to a quick halt. But there was one other thing she had to find out.
    ‘Was Sean in at all today?’
    ‘I don’t know, Mrs Ryan.’ She sounded irritated.
    ‘Okay.’ Isabel cut the call.
    The activity light on Sean’s laptop was going mad. The Wi-Fi light was blinking. They had night-time only updates set on their machines. There shouldn’t be any Wi-Fi access going on that wasn’t user initiated.
    She checked what processes were active. There was one taking up 90 per cent of CPU time. She killed the process. What the hell was going on? They had the best antivirus software in the world.
    She checked to see what data streams had been active. It took her a while. The result