“Is that coffee?” Nate asked.
“It’s probably a little cold,” Orlando said.
“No problem. I’m good with cold coffee.” He walked over to the counter. “Oh. Muffins, too. Nice.” He took his coffee and a muffin over to the kitchen table. “It’s all right if I sit here, right?”
On the table were Quinn’s cell phone, Orlando’s laptop, and a set of Bose speakers.
Orlando pointed at the chair on the opposite side of the table from the computer. “You can sit there,” she said. “Just don’t spill anything.”
He gave her a do-I-look-like-an-idiot look, then sat down.
Jenny’s number was already entered on Quinn’s phone. He only needed to push Send. Once a connection was made, both sides of the conversation would be played through the speakers while it was being recorded on the computer.
The computer also had another, even more important task. Using a secure, satellite Internet connection, Orlando had accessed a program that could pinpoint the location of any cell phone in the world once the phone was activated.
The software was a copy of something created by a joint venture between Japan’s Public Security Intelligence Agency and the NSA in America. There were others she could have used, but Quinn knew she considered this one the best. She had hidden it on a server owned by NHK TV in Tokyo.
Orlando took her place in front of the computer, while Quinn chose to stand.
“Okay,” he said. “It’s time.”
He picked up the phone and punched the Send button.
Through both the phone at his ear and the speakers attached to the computer, he could hear the call begin to ring.
Orlando and Nate watched him, waiting.
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty. Then a half a minute.
“That’s a long ring,” Nate said. “Shouldn’t there be voice mail?”
“Doesn’t sound like it,” Orlando said.
“Maybe she’s not there,” Nate said.
Quinn continued to let it ring, giving Jenny as much time to answer as possible.
Twenty seconds later, he heard a click as someone answered. “Yes?” the voice said.
“Jenny, it’s Quinn,” he said.
Silence.
“Jenny?”
Still nothing. He looked at the phone to make sure the call hadn’t been disconnected.
“Are you there? Please. It’s Quinn.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said, her voice a near whisper.
“You got my message. You know it’s me.”
“You’re just trying to trick me. You’re not Quinn. Quinn has no reason to get ahold of me.”
Quinn closed his eyes, wishing she were right. “San Diego,” he said. “A year ago. Markoff rented a sailboat. We spent a lot of time at the Del Coronado. I took a picture of you and Markoff on the beach, only it was more of you than of him.”
He could hear her suck in a breath. “No. Someone told you all that,” she said, not sounding convinced.
“I helped him pick out a necklace for you,” Quinn said. “It was in La Jolla. A gold disk with the heart cut out of the center. You said you loved it. He said he knew you probably would rather have a diamond, but you told him no, it was perfect.”
Dead silence, then, “Quinn?”
“Yes.”
“Wha... why are...”
“Tell me you’re all right,” Quinn said. “I don’t understand. Why are you trying to find me?” “I know you’re in danger. I want to help.” A pause. “How? How do you know?” “Jenny, I think—” “Steven? Where’s Steven?” He realized he couldn’t hide the truth from her. “He’s...dead.” Her breathing became shallow, ragged. “Forget about me,” she said. Then the phone went dead. Quinn hit Redial, but was greeted with a prerecorded message in
Thai telling him the subscriber was currently out of range. There was no option to leave a voice message. He tried two more times with the same result, then set the phone back down on the table.
“Did you get anything?” he asked Orlando. “Give me a minute,” Orlando said. Quinn leaned over and looked at the laptop’s screen. Orlando was scrolling through a list of data. It was all numbers
and letters, no coherent words. Without warning, she stopped the scroll, and used the cursor to highlight a row of alphanumeric text. She copied it, then minimized the window, making it disappear. Underneath was a second window, all black with the exception of two empty white boxes stacked in the center.
Orlando clicked on the upper box, activating it. Inside, she pasted the information she’d copied, deleting the last five characters. Those she put in the bottom box, then hit Enter.
