“And now, over to José Sánchez in Chile.”
The scene changed to a male reporter standing next to a middle-aged farmer. The reporter looked into the camera and then over to the farmer.
“Rachel, I’m standing here with Darío, a farmer here in Chile, five hours after a second major earthquake rocked the country. Dario, what happened to your flock?”
A grimace darkened Darío’s furry face.
“The earthquake came without warning. It was . . . insane.” His voice broke, and he coughed lightly. Then he continued, “The ground opened and swallowed half my herd of animals. Instantly. They just disappeared.” Darío fell silent, noticeably shaken. José put his hand on the farmer’s shoulder and turned to the camera.
“And this is just another story on top of the hundreds of similar ones happening over and over in South America. As for a cause, everything points to the intense mining efforts of QuantumCorp. And it appears that the occurrence of these earthquakes is only increasing. Rachel?”
Klaus swore. The damned peasants, unable to even keep their animals in order. And they have the nerve to blame us for their incompetence! He thought. He cursed again, turned off the TV, and threw the remote across the room.
7
The police poured into the office. In the blizzard that raged outside, some thirty reporters stood behind the barrier that surrounded the building. Hugo had never seen anything like it. He looked down at the crowd, and as he appeared in the window, a chorus of voices shouted up to him.
“What happened?”
“How are you? Did anyone die?”
He flinched and stepped back, and Madeleine rolled up to him. Her gaze flickered, but there was still a fire in them.
“How does it look out there?”
“Like a pure zoo.”
Madeleine smiled. “You’re like your brother.”
Hugo swallowed hard to push away the nausea. He hoped to God that Felix would pull through his surgery; he didn’t know what he’d do if his brother died.
“Thanks. He’s a good asset to the company, I hope.”
“You know he is—he’s one of the best. He’s the leader of one of the two action teams we have. The other team is out of action now—one death and two seriously injured.”
“And Felix’s team?”
“You’ve met them. Freya, Sussie, and Mikko.”
Hugo stared at the swirling snowflakes. The flashing lights of the police cars made the entire scene seem even more surreal.
“And what happens now?” he asked.
“Well, there will certainly be an investigation into what happened. We’ll be talking with the police, and I imagine they’ll use a lot of their resources to solve it.”
“Solve it?” Hugo frowned. “But you already know who it is.”
“Yes, I know, but it hasn’t been proven yet. Even with the picture we’ve got of Xi Liu, it’s too early to make a one hundred percent absolute statement that he’s the one who was behind the attack.”
Hugo turned from the window suddenly and began pacing the room like a trapped bull. Anger surged through him; he could barely hold back the white-hot rage that was struggling to explode from within.
“But you just talked about this Klaus Horst and Xi Liu, about their motives, why you were sure they did it,” he said, using all his effort not to shout. “You said they came from QuantumCorp. What kind of company is that, anyway?”
“It’s a large, international security company. They’re locked in a tough fight with Techyx, a security field competitor. Techyx has a big press conference planned for tomorrow morning in London with a top team of their environmental scientists.”
Hugo stopped pacing and turned to Madeleine. “You know who makes the decisions at QuantumCorp?”
She tilted her head at him curiously. “Sure. Their board does. Twelve people—youngish, spoiled, too powerful for their own good. I know them—well, I know of them. Every man and woman on that board is incredibly driven and will do everything possible to promote their own advancement. Their ambition is money and power. One of the members of the board has a guardian, Klaus Horst, who’s a real cold fish, and he’s the one who I think was behind the attack.“ She paused, seeing that Hugo wanted to interrupt. She held up an index finger—wait, there’s more—and went on. “A group of Techyx’s top researchers, who are also the best environmental researchers in the world, are going up against QuantumCorp in a bunch of scientific trials, which means QuantumCorp is at risk of losing billions. They needed a way to get Techyx’s research panel discredited, so Klaus took matters into his own hands. He contacted a rogue Russian scientist who had made, shall we say, questionable discoveries in the field of chemistry, and hired him to program someone to murder the researchers during the press conference.”
Hugo stared at Madeleine.
“What a mess. That’s crazy.”
Madeleine didn’t answer. She felt that there was a possibility she could get Hugo to take on Felix’s responsibilities; after all, he looked and acted just like him. Admittedly, it was a gamble, but still. She couldn’t let the opportunity slip by. The company had received a severe blow and was down for the count.
But Madeleine also knew it was under those circumstances—hurt, bloody, and down for the count—that the true master was most dangerous.
There was a knock on the door, and they spun around.
*
A man stood in the doorway. He was tall and wore a dark suit. He brushed away the accumulated snowflakes from his shoulders and opened his arms.
“Madeleine, I’m so sorry about what happened here.” He looked at her wrapped ankle as she stood to greet him, and he winced. “What happened to your leg there? You okay?” He walked over to her, and she hugged him.
“Henrik. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I came as soon as I heard.”
“I’m okay,” she said, nodding toward her ankle. “Broke or sprained it, but it’s nothing that won’t heal. At least I’m alive.”
“How many did you lose?”
Madeleine grabbed the report she had received from the police half an hour earlier and handed it to him. Henrik scratched his forehead as he read.
“Good Lord, Madeleine, this is awful,” he said, giving it back to her. “Listen, we’re ready with any and all resources you may need. Just ask, and we will fix it.”
Hugo, who was standing silently at the window, cleared his throat; the other inhabitants of the room spun around at the sound.
“Oh, sorry, Hugo. This is Henrik Albertsson, our contact with the Swedish Military Forces. Henrik, this is Hugo. His brother Felix works here.”
Hugo reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, Hugo. I hope your brother is one of the survivors?”
“Thanks, he is, but he’s injured. He actually called me as the attack was happening. I dropped everything and drove here. When I got here, I found him unconscious on the floor. He’s in the hospital now.”
Henrik put his hand on Hugo’s shoulder and looked at him with clear, slate-gray eyes. “I’m so sorry.”