‘How’s he going to live? I mean, does he have any money?’
‘I don’t believe he’ll have too much difficulty making funds appear in his bank account, do you?’
Zak shook his head, and couldn’t help a small smile. It didn’t last long. There was another question on his lips. It had been bothering him ever since that night, but he hadn’t found the courage to bring it up in front of Raf or Gabs. ‘There’s something I wanted to ask you,’ he said.
Michael inclined his head. Zak had the impression he knew what was coming.
‘When they took Hendricks away, they were taking him to see . . .’ He looked at the floor. ‘To see someone called Martinez,’ he said quietly.
There was a pause.
‘Martinez is a very common name, Zak,’ Michael said.
‘I know, but—’
‘Cruz Martinez is dead, Zak. You saw him fall into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of a storm.’
‘But what if—’
‘Our intelligence networks are very thorough. If Martinez was alive we’d know about it.’
‘He’s clever,’ Zak muttered.
‘So are we. He’s dead, Zak. Put him from your mind. You have other adversaries now.’
‘Michael’s right, sweetie,’ said Gabs. Her eyes were wide with sympathy, and Raf’s solid, dependable face clearly showed that he agreed.
Zak bowed his head. ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘you’re probably right.’ He looked around the room. ‘I might . . .’ He jabbed one thumb in the direction of the door. ‘It’s good to see you, Michael.’
His Guardian Angels said nothing. They just watched him leave. Zak felt their eyes boring into his back as he left the room and closed the door quietly behind him.
Up in his room, Zak took his place by the window again. They were right, of course. He had seen Cruz Martinez plunge into the stormy waves of the Atlantic. No one could survive that. Why, then, did he feel so unsure? Why was his pulse racing and his skin prickling? Why was it that, as he looked out to sea, he had the unnerving sensation that, somewhere out there – who could say where? – a gangly young man with dark hair was thinking about Zak as intently as Zak was thinking about him?
How long he sat there, these thoughts spinning in his mind, Zak couldn’t have said. All he knew was that the sun was setting by the time he closed the curtains and lay down on his bed to rest. Tomorrow was another day. Zak didn’t know what it would bring. He only knew he had to be ready.
DECODING MESSAGES
There are several instances of coded messages within the text where you might wish to check you have decoded them correctly.
Turn over to see the decoding process.
NOTE: don’t cheat and check out these pages first as you could spoil the story for yourself if you do so!
NUMBERS FOR LETTERS
The numbers are matched to letters as follows in this grid:
CHAPTER 2: ADVANCE/RETREAT
The original message sent, using the first random key, is ADVANCE, and the message is received as: JHCFLLH
To decode this using the new key given, SDJOHLO, the calculations are as follows:
CHAPTER 5: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
Using the clues in the crossword grid to decode the message about the second bomb:
CHAPTER 18: THE LONG-TAILED SHRIKE
Decoding the message in the Nature Notes column.
• Joined the SAS in 1984, serving in military hot zones across the world.
• Expert in overt and covert operations in war zones, including Northern Ireland, Africa, the Middle East and other classified territories.
• Commander of the Sniper squad within the anti-terrorist team.
• Part of an 8-man patrol on the Bravo Two Zero Gulf War mission in Iraq.
• The mission was compromised. 3 fellow soldiers died, and 4 more were captured as POWs. Ryan was the only person to defy the enemy, evading capture and escaping to Syria on foot over a distance of 300 kilometres.
• His ordeal made history as the longest escape and evasion by an SAS trooper, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.
• His books are dedicated to the men and women who risk their lives fighting for the armed forces.
Also by Chris Ryan and published
by Random House Children’s Publishers UK:
The One That Got Away
AGENT 21 series
Agent 21
Agent 21: Reloaded
Agent 21: Codebreaker
CODE RED series
Flash Flood
Wildfire
Outbreak
Vortex
Twister
Battleground
ALPHA FORCE series
Survival
Rat-Catcher
Desert Pursuit
Hostage
Red Centre
Hunted
Blood Money
Fault Line
Black Gold
Untouchable
Published by the Random House Group for adult readers:
NON-FICTION
The One That Got Away
Chris Ryan’s SAS Fitness Book
Chris Ryan’s Ultimate Survival Guide
Fight to Win: Deadly Skills of the Elite Forces
FICTION
Stand By, Stand By
Zero Option
The Kremlin Device
Hit List
The Watchman
Land of Fire
Greed
The Increment
Blackout
Ultimate Weapon
Strike Back
Firefight
Who Dares Wins
One Good Turn (Adult Quick Read for World Book Day 2008)
AGENT 21: CODEBREAKER
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 02665 5
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2013
Copyright © Chris Ryan, 2013
First Published in Great Britain
Doubleday Childrens 2012
The right of Chris Ryan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS UK
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Agent 21: Briefing Document
Prologue: Northern Ireland, 1973
15 June
1. The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
2. Advance/Retreat
3. Green Light
4. Room 7
16 June
5. Hidden in Plain Sight
6. The Puzzle Master
7. The Second Bomb
8. St Oswald’s
9. Casualty of War
10. 00:00:00
11. Dishonourable Discharge
17 June
12. NY Hero
13. Liquid Lun
ch
14. Tilt Switch
15. Hangman
16. Evorgdul
18 June
17. The Graveyard Shift
18. The Long-tailed Shrike
19. Chalker Mews
20. Blackout
21. Murder in his Eyes
Epilogue: One Week Later
Decoding Messages
About the Author
Also by Chris Ryan
Copyright