The God Complex: A Thriller by Murray McDonald

have online banking.”
    “So call them .”
    “I don’t know the number or my account details!”
    “Seriously?”
    Cash shrugged.

***
    “They’re back ,” said Steve, the DIS Team Leader into his cell, nodding to his colleague across the lobby.
    “Have they got the evidence?” asked his boss, Mike Yates.
    “Yes, I recognize the files they’re carrying.”
    A young woman with a pram walked across the lobby of the hotel and pressed the ‘Up’ button on the elevator as Cash and Rigs approached.
    “We can take them out . What do you want us to do?” asked Steve.
    “ Take them, but only if you can do it quietly,” Mike instructed.

***
    Cash watched the numbers descend while Rigs cooed at the pram next to them. He’d always been the same around babies, they seemed to be immune to his awkwardness.
    “What’s your baby’s name?” asked Cash.
    “Err … Lacey,” replied the young mother.
    Cash smiled. “You sure?”
    “Yes,” she said confidently, looking down at the bu ndle of blankets that covered her baby.
    Rigs took out a $50 bill. “A little something for her,” he said more to the baby than the mother, his hand moving down towards the bundle.
    “No, please don’t touch her !” the mother said sharply, surprising both Rigs and Cash. Rigs always did the same thing. He didn’t want kids himself but always spoiled them.
    “Are you alright?’ Cash asked. The mother was becoming increasingly agitated, looking around wildly.
    “Perhaps we’ll catch another elevator,” offered Rigs , his head dipping.
    “No, it ’s fine,” said the young mother. “Please, I just don’t like anyone touching him.”
    “Him?” asked Cash.
    “My baby,” replied the woman, sweat pouring from her brow.
    Rigs hadn’t missed it either . “Lacey is a him?”
    The young mother glanced across the lobby at Steve. He winced at her performance and shook his head imperceptibly. The woman took off at a run, leaving behind her baby. Cash and Rigs had a decision to make. Was she a kidnapper or a bomber? What was really in the pram? Cash went for bomb and pushed the pram into the opening elevator. The steel elevator encased by three concrete walls would contain a significant portion of any blast.
    Rigs followed it in, snatching back the blankets to reveal a silenced pistol.
    “I think maybe we should find another hotel ,” said Cash.
    “I’d vote another town, state , or country, personally.”

Chapter 15
     
     
    Travis stared at the phone long after Cash had hung up.
    “What’s wrong?” asked Vince.
    “I’m not sure, something they’re not saying.”
    “Your go- to guys are holding out on you?”
    “Maybe,” said Tra vis, recalling the conversation. Cash’s tone had notably changed from the beginning to the end of the call. “And they’re not my go-to guys.”
    “Yeah . It just so happens that anything you get involved in, your boys turn up?”
    Travis ignored him. T he breaking news story on the NSA’s TV screen had caught his attention.
    ‘ Presidential assassination attempt failed’ scrolled across the TV screen on the back wall of the office. He hit the volume control.
    “… interrupt for breaking news from California. The attacks in Santa Cruz earlier this morning are being confirmed as a failed attempt to assassinate President Mitchell. President Mitchell, who today has signed the historic disarmament treaty, was due to visit the location of the attack later today…”
    “Why are we just hearing this bullshit now?” asked Travis.
    Vince was already grabbing for his phone, asking himself exactly the same question. He demanded that the press secretary get his ass in gear and into his office in the next five seconds.
    “Blindsided us , sir,” explained the press secretary. “They haven’t even asked us for a comment.”
    “I take it you’ve spoken to them now?”
    He nodded. “They say they’ve got enough hard evidence to implicate half the Hill. They’ve passed on the details to