* * *

Wyl spent Thursday and Friday in the lab, answering questions and helping students enter their projects. The complete project was in the database by Friday afternoon, ready for the trial run. The trial run would fail, a snag Wyl wanted Ailbe to discover for himself.

“Everything is in, Ailbe.” Wyl stood outside Ailbe’s office. “Do you want me to come for the trial run tomorrow?”

“No, Wyl. You and Rod enjoy your weekend. I expect a bit of tweaking after the trial run, but we can handle that next week.”

“You and Declan have a relaxing weekend. Rod and I may go up to the horse ranch and spend the weekend on horseback.”

“Sounds like fun, Wyl. What’s that place again? Free-Willy or something?” Ailbe asked.

“Carrowholly.” Wyl chuckled. “Westport County. I called to check them out, and they are eager to meet two Texas horsemen.”

Ailbe laughed. “Well, have fun. We’ll catch up next week.”

Wyl turned and left. Everything was ready for launch…or at least that’s what he wanted Ailbe to believe.

* * *

Wyl walked into the flat. “Hi, babe.”

“Hi, Wyl. Did everything go as planned and the project is ready?”

“Yes, and Ailbe is ready to launch…a full week early. I need to let inform Cross.”

Rod frowned. Things moved faster than they anticipated.

Wyl pulled out his government cell phone and dialed Glenn’s MI-5 number.

“Cross,” Glenn answered.

“Glenn, Wyl here. I have news.”

“You sound worried, Wyl.”

“Ailbe is ready to launch. All codes have been entered. He’s planning a trial run tomorrow.”

“Garrett Burke called yesterday to inform us the deadline has changed to the end of the day today. I figured MacGowan wanted to launch early.”

“The launch won’t work. I inserted a step that will stop it before it completes. The sequence will fail when Ailbe does the test run, and the project will abort unless he enters the correct information.”

“I’m sure you remember the correct information, right?” Glenn said.

“It’s three spaces. Anything else, and the program will abort.”

“Outstanding, but he's a determined bloke. You and Rod be extra careful. When he runs that program, and it fails, he’ll want your help.”

“We’ll be careful,” Wyl said.

Rod caught Wyl’s worried expression.

“I’ll alert O’Brien to be on standby,” Glenn said. “Keep me posted on further developments.”

“Thanks. Later,” Wyl disconnected.

“You're worried,” Rod said.

“I think we’re fine, babe. But Ailbe is unpredictable.”

Rod pulled Wyl into an embrace. “Don’t worry. You’re the one who boosted me when I became uneasy. This is what we came for. The game. We need to let it play out.”

Wyl sighed. “Yes, I realize we’re at that point.” The memories of his capture in Italy came to mind. “Now, let’s have a martini, relax, and talk about this weekend.”

“This weekend?” Rod went to the refrigerator to take out a lemon for twists.

“How about we go horseback riding?” Wyl reached for highball glasses.

“Can we ride here in Ireland?” Rod washed the lemon and used a paring knife to slice the lemon rind.

“Don’t you remember James mentioning it at Wilde’s Pub? North of here. Near the coast. I checked them out, and they’re happy to have a couple of Texans ride this weekend.” Ice clinked in the glasses as Wyl dropped cubes in.

“That sounds like fun, Wyl.” Rod dropped the slices of peel in the glasses. “You helped me discover the pleasure of horseback riding, and I miss it.”

Wyl poured the Boru vodka into the glasses, ice crackling as the warm liquid flowed from the bottle. “We’ll drive up in the morning and spend all day riding. We can come back Sunday so I can face Ailbe’s rant when his trial run doesn’t work.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Saturday morning Ailbe ran the program. All that remained was activating the script and raking in the millions.

The program halted and asked for input.

“What feckin’ input?” Ailbe groused aloud to himself as he tried to key in a sequence. The program aborted, and he started over. He tried again and again, always with the same result.

By noon, he figured out the problem. “Feckin’ Sterling did something he'll soon regret,” he muttered.

Ailbe picked up the phone and called Declan. “We need to drive to Westport County and find those Sterlings. Wyl did something to halt the program, and I need him so I can succeed.”

“If you want him, you need Rod,” Declan said.

“Then we’ll feckin take Rod!” Ailbe shouted. “Meet me at home in 15 minutes.”

* * *

Saturday morning, Rod and Wyl drove up to the Carrowholly Stables. They familiarized themselves with two fine horses and the Mulranny Mountain Trail. As experienced horsemen, they didn’t need the guidance offered to regular tourists, so they set out on their own to enjoy the views and nature.

“This is quite different from our ranch,” Rod said as they rode and took in the lush, green Irish countryside.

“I like it when you say our ranch,” Wyl said.