Chapter Twenty-Eight
Adam tried to act cool as he swiped his out-of-hours security pass over the door pad, and led Dylan, Tariq, Ivan, and Amy into the dimly-lit foyer of the Quinlan Brothers building. There was only ever one night-time security guard on duty, so it should be easy to gain access to their suite. Not that they were doing anything wrong – it was after all their office. So why was Adam feeling nervous?
But he knew his nerves weren’t really due to this shady undercover operation. The world had changed in a flash, and Adam had changed with it. Ivan was alive, and Adam was in love! A week ago, he never would’ve expected either of those scenarios to be true. But here he was, breaking into his own office in the dead of night, accompanied by his two older brothers, a man whom he’d recently fantasised about throttling, and the woman who’d captured his heart.
Adam swaggered over to the uniformed guard, who was sitting quite low down behind his huge desk. The others hung back and tried to hide Ivan, just in case anyone recognised him. It was risky for him to walk around in public like this – the Saudis could be lurking – but he’d been resolute that he needed to witness this. He and Tariq had argued boisterously about it just before they’d left, and Adam now understood just how much Tariq cared for Ivan. There was a deep love and respect between them, and their whole crazy plan had centred around keeping them both alive.
Adam rested his hands on the front of the guard’s desk. “Hi, Bob. These are a couple of people… clients that Dylan and I wanted to show around the office. Okay we if just go straight up?”
Bob glanced over. He lowered his voice. “Isn’t that Tariq Shard, Mr Quinlan? We’ve had strict instructions not to allow him access.”
“Yeah, that’s correct, Bob, and well recognised. But actually, Mr Shard will be doing business with us after all.”
Bob shrugged. “Well, I guess it’s up to you who you take up, sir.”
“Thanks, Bob.” Adam spun to face the others, who looked as if they were about to commit a heinous crime. “Okay, everyone, this way.”
They travelled up in the elevator in silence, then tramped through the dark suite towards Dylan’s office. Adam felt like a burglar – which was actually quite exciting. He held Amy’s hand and realised that she was trembling slightly; the adrenaline of this situation was obviously getting the better of her, too.
They all gathered around Dylan’s desk as Dylan opened his safe and pulled out the USB sticks and three DVDs that Ivan had brought here on the day he’d died.
Not that he had. Adam put his arm around Amy and pulled her close. He never wanted to feel loss like that again. He was struck with an overwhelming desire to protect her from the harms of this cruel world. And his brothers, too. He gazed at Ivan; he looked tired and desolate.
“You sure you wanna do this?” Adam asked. “After
everything you’ve worked on?”
“We must destroy everything,” Tariq said. “Think of the harm…”
He trailed off and shook his head, clearly feeling as devastated as Ivan about what they were about to do.
“What shall we do with them, then?” Adam asked. “Start a fire?”
Tariq shook off his sullen mood and grabbed the metal waste-paper bin from under Dylan’s desk. “Good idea. Throw everything in here.”
Adam reached down and slid the USB sticks and DVDs across the desk and into the waiting bin.
“What about the prototype?” Dylan asked.
“Oh yeah.” Adam glanced up at Amy. “Really sorry, babe, but I’m gonna need that pendant back.”
She frowned, then fingered it as it hung around her neck. “Why?”
“It’s the prototype.” Ivan said, with a gentle smile.
Amy’s beautiful mouth fell open. “What?”
Adam leaned over and kissed her, suddenly not caring about their audience. “I’m sorry. I knew you’d take good care of it for us.”
She stared at it in awe. “This is a perpetual motion engine?”
Adam shrugged. “Yeah. Or least, I think so. Right, Ivan?”
“It’s part of it. The bit we managed to build. Your company was poised to build the rest of it.”
Still in shock, Amy reached up and unhooked the clasp of the chain, then she handed the pendant to Adam. They shared a tender smile. Her eyes were so full of lightness and love now, so different to the hard woman he’d met a week ago. They’d been good for each other in their own way.
Adam kissed her on the forehead, then turned and dropped the pendant into the bin, which was now standing on the desk like a lamb for the slaughter. Dylan grabbed a few sheets of paper and a lighter, then he lit the paper and dropped it into the bin. Adam watched as the yellow and red flames consumed the flimsy plastic with crackles and screeches, releasing Ivan and Tariq’s hard work into the air in the form of thick grey smoke. Adam felt as if they were witnessing the death of what might’ve been. The perpetual motion engine had the potential to do so much good; yet so much harm. Adam bowed his head and tried to ignore the raw emotion that was emanating between Ivan and Tariq at the loss of their creation.