Hali had no choice but to punch in the progression. 1243 Enter, 1324 Enter, 1342 Enter, 1423 Enter, 1432 Enter.

“What’s happening?” Juan asked.

“Random number. I haven’t hit it yet.”

“You’ve got ten seconds.”

2134 Enter, 2143 Enter, 2314 Enter, 2341 Enter.

“Hali,” Linc whispered, “Try 3142.”

“Five seconds.”

Kasim didn’t question Linc’s guess. He hit the numbers and stabbed the Enter key.

The chime sounded again and the light began to blink at double speed.

“We gotta go,” Hali said, his voice strained with the tension.

“Reverse ’em,” Linc ordered. “Try 4231!”

“One second.”

Linc’s suggestion wasn’t a reversal of the numbers, but Hali punched them in anyway: 4231 Enter.

The light stopped blinking. The alarm had been disabled. Hali shot a questioning look at his partner.

“Hey, man you should have paid more attention to Max’s briefing.” Linc’s smile was that of the Cheshire Cat. “Isphordings have two grown children. One born on April second and the other March first. Four/two, three/one. Elementary, my dear Hali, elementary.”

Hali spent a few more minutes with the alarm panel to disable the panic buttons. One on this control and no doubt one next to the Kara Isphording’s bed.

“All right, clear out,” the chairman whispered as he and Doc Huxley entered the foyer. “If we’re still inside after twenty minutes, assume everything’s okay and you can head back to the safe house. Julia will take Mrs. Isphording’s car to Regensdorf tomorrow. Once she’s back she’ll babysit her over the weekend, and I’ll borrow the car to get back to the city.”

After Hali and Linc returned to the SUV, Juan stepped outside and dialed the Isphording residence from his cell. He heard the phone ring in his ear and throughout the house. After the third ring a sleepy voice croaked, “Allo?”

“Frau Isphording, my name is Yuri Zayysev,” Juan said in Russian-accented English. “I am an associate of your husband. It is important that I see you tonight.”

“Was? Nein. That is not possible,” Kara Isphording groused, switching to English. “Mein Gott, it is two o’clock in the morning.”

“This concerns your husband’s safety, Frau Isphording.” Juan had deepened his voice, adding menace. By now she must have realized that many, perhaps all, of her husband’s clients worked the other side of the law. “I am just outside your home. Please meet me downstairs. I have already disabled your alarm system. If I wanted to harm you, I would have done so already.”

“Who are you?” Fear had crept into her tone.

“Someone who is trying to help you and your husband. He is a trusted member of an organization I work for, and we have learned that he’s been targeted for assassination on Monday morning.”

“Assassination?”

“Yes, Frau Isphording. By members of the PLO.”

“What did you say your name is?”

“Yuri Zayysev. I have been sent from Saint Petersburg to help your family.”