Anthony Horowitz - Nightrise

“You’re wasting your time.”

“We’ll see, shall we?”

Alicia smiled pleasantly but Warren scowled. He didn’t like being talked to in this way but it was clear that Alicia wouldn’t be argued with. Warren held up a single finger and walked away, his head cocked, talking into a concealed microphone. To anyone else looking, he could have been arguing with himself.

“Warren is John’s personal security officer,” Alicia explained. “He’s supposed to liaise with the secret service but half the time he thinks he actually runs it. We never did get along.”

“I can see that.”

“They say he was with the CIA a while ago but he got thrown out. Personally, I think…”

But Alicia didn’t finish the sentence. Warren Cornfield was walking back towards her and his whole demeanour had changed. He was like a sulky child. “He says he’ll see you,” he muttered.

“Thank you, Warren.”

“Why don’t we make that Mr Cornfield? You’re not part of the team any more…”

He snapped his fingers like an angry diner demanding a drink. One of the younger secret service men came running over. “Show these people up to twelve,” he said.

“Yes, Mr Cornfield.”

Alicia smiled at him and she and Jamie went over to the lift. The security man inserted a key into the lock and pressed the button for the twelfth floor. The doors closed. “You friends of the senator?” he asked.

“I used to work for him,” Alicia said.

“He’s a good guy,” the security man went on. “I might even vote for him myself. Charles Baker is a jerk.”

There was a silver-haired man in a suit but no tie waiting for them when the lift arrived. Warren must have radioed up from below. The man knew Alicia at once. “My dear, it’s very good to see you. How have you been keeping?” He had an Irish accent.

“It’s great to see you, Patrick. Still playing the horses?”

“Still losing.”

“This is a friend of mine.” She indicated Jamie but was careful not to say his name. “Patrick is John’s campaign chairman for the state of California.”

“Good to meet you.” Patrick smiled and Jamie warmed to him at once. He was obviously puzzled by Jamie’s appearance but had decided to ask no questions. “He can’t see you for very long, Alicia,” he said, as he led them down a corridor. “Right now the pressure’s on.”

“How is he?” Alicia asked.

“He’s doing a grand job. I just wish the contest wasn’t going to be so damned close…”

There was a set of double doors at the end of the corridor with yet another secret service man on guard. Patrick showed a pass and led Alicia and Jamie into a large conference room with a single table scattered with notepads and pens, computers, printouts, files, trays of sandwiches and bottles of mineral water. There were a dozen people sitting round and from the look of them none had slept very much in recent days. They were busy talking, arguing over a graph of some sort, but as Alicia came in, one of them stood up and with a shock Jamie recognized the man he had seen on posters all over Los Angeles.

John Trelawny didn’t look like a politician. That was Jamie’s first thought. He was a handsome man, taller than Jamie had expected from his picture and younger too, perhaps in his late forties. He had hair which had once been fair but had since faded, on its way to going grey. But he looked fit and healthy. He was wearing cords, a loose-fitting blue sweater and trainers. He was obviously tired but his light brown eyes were full of life.

“Alicia, this is a very unexpected surprise. How are you?” He embraced her. “Is there any news of Daniel?”

“Yes, there is, Senator. That’s why I wanted to see you.” She turned and introduced Jamie. “This is Jamie.” This time, she used his name.

Trelawny reached out and they shook hands. “How do you do.”

“Sir…” Jamie found it hard to believe that he could be shaking hands with the next president of the United States.

“I’m sorry to come here like this,” Alicia went on. “I know how busy you are and how important this time is for you. But I urgently need to talk to you.”

“You’ve found your boy?”

“I think I may have. Yes. But I can’t reach him.”

“Senator…” A woman sitting at the table held up a cell phone. “I have the mayor of Auburn on the phone for you. He wants to talk about the birthday parade.”

Trelawny looked bemused. “Not right now, Beth,” he said. “Can you tell him I’ll call him back?” He turned to Alicia. “I’m afraid I can’t give you too much time,” he explained. “There’s a lot going on right now. But, you know, a break might be good for me. In fact, it might be good for all of us. OK, everyone!” He raised his voice. “Go out and get some fresh air or have a snack or do something that approximates to real life. We’ll get back together in ten minutes.” He turned to Alicia. “Why don’t you and I go next door where we can talk undisturbed?”

Alicia glanced at Jamie. He nodded back. The senator and his former assistant walked off together. There was a sitting room next to the conference centre. Jamie watched the two of them go in. They shut the door behind them. None of the campaign workers left the table. They just went on working as they had before. The Irish man came over. “Can I get you a drink, young man?” he asked.

“Do you have a Coke?”

“Sure. Why don’t you sit down on the couch and make yourself at home.”

Jamie did as he was told, glad to be out of the way. There was a plasma TV turned on in the corner but it had the sound turned down and was tuned into a news station. Patrick returned with a Coke and Jamie drank it slowly, wondering how long Alicia would be. John Trelawny had said ten minutes but it seemed to him that much time had already passed.

At last the door opened and Trelawny appeared again. “Michael,” he said, addressing one of the men in the room. “Can you get me the file on Nightrise?” He turned to Jamie. “I’d like to have a word.”

Jamie got up and went in. He was aware of the campaign workers glancing at him with curiosity. They were working on a major speech. Why was this teenager taking up so much of their boss’s time? The man called Michael had snatched up a thick folder and handed it to Trelawny, who nodded his thanks. Jamie followed Trelawny into the second room, closing the door behind him.

Alicia was sitting on a sofa but Jamie was directed to an empty chair as if the senator wanted to keep them apart. Trelawny stood by the door, gathering his thoughts, then he put down the folder and moved into the room.

“Alicia has just told me the strangest story I’ve ever heard in my life,” he began. “If I didn’t know her well, I’d have already told her to leave. In fact, even now I have to ask myself if she isn’t in some way disturbed. I don’t mean that cruelly. After everything that’s happened to her, the loss of her son, I’d understand. But she tells me that you have also lost someone… a brother. Scott. That he was taken from a theatre in Reno – is that right?”

Jamie nodded. He knew what was coming.

“According to Alicia, the people who took Scott may be the same people who took Daniel. And the reason they’re interested in you, she says, is because you have an extraordinary ability. You can read people’s thoughts. My thoughts, for example.”

“I’m sorry, Jamie,” Alicia muttered.

“That’s OK.” Jamie had guessed what he was going to have to do, but this time he wasn’t worried. Everything about Senator Trelawny, even the way he spoke, made him feel comfortable. He wouldn’t be the same as Colton Banes. He didn’t live in the same world.

“I try to keep an open mind,” Trelawny went on, “and I’d be the first to admit that there are plenty of things in this world that can’t be explained. But this…” He shook his head doubtfully. “Anyway, this should be fairly simple. Alicia suggested to me that I put you to the test. Do you mind?”