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.Any messages I can pass along?”“Tell them my prayers are with the people injured in the attack, and that I share your determination to apprehend whoever did this.”“I will.” There was a brief pause while he spoke to somebody nearby.Whitlow came back on the line.“As for your inauguration.How do you feel about rescheduling it for early this evening in the rotunda of the Capitol Building? My Secret Service people say that building can be made secure, but it’s still big enough for the press to be there and holds enough guests so it doesn’t look like we’re running scared.My people think the inauguration needs to be televised live so there’s no doubt about the handoff of power having happened in a smooth and timely manner.Wouldn’t want any crazy rumors to get started about your presidency before you’re even in office.”Right.As if there hadn’t been rumors swirling around him ever since the first Q-group attack, compliments of his erstwhile running mate, Thomas Wolfe.“That sounds fine.I’ll pass the suggestion on to my people and have them get back with your people.But I don’t anticipate any problems with it.”Ah, the joys of changing administrations, particularly when there was a change of political party involved.It had been a tough campaign, and the outgoing president had been bitter throughout the transition phase.Gabe asked, “Where will you be during the swearing in? I assume our security teams want us in separate locations?”“I’ll stay here in the White House until you’re sworn in.And then the job’s all yours, son.This mess reminds me of why I’m glad to be retiring from politics.”Gabe mentally snorted.Come tonight, Whitlow would have to be peeled out of the Oval Office with a crowbar, kicking and screaming the whole way.As it was, he had no doubt his predecessor was tickled pink to get an extra five hours on the job.Gabe hung up the phone and turned to Owen Haas.“For lack of any of my other staff or advisors, I guess you get to be ‘my people.’”Haas grinned, although it looked more like a crack in concrete than an actual facial expression.Gabe continued.“Whitlow’s people want to hold my inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda at seven o’clock this evening.That okay with you?”Haas shrugged.“Works for me.I’ll need to get a detail of men over there to start clearing the building ASAP.”Gabe looked over at the other Secret Service agents huddled in a far corner of the room.“Would one of you guys call the White House and let them know the plans for tonight are a go?”A burly blonde peeled away from the group and reached for a telephone.Haas gave a couple of short orders and several of the men sat down at other phones.Soon, they were in deep conversation with their people.Funny, but he didn’t have a blessed thing to do.He sat down at the end of the table and noticed a small slide-out tray under the table.He pulled it open.An elaborate TV remote controller sat there, along with various writing utensils and a pad of paper.He pulled out the remote and pointed it at the wall of monitors.One of the televisions blinked on, startling Haas.Gabe grinned at the disgruntled agent.“Down, Tonto.I just want to see how the news networks are spinning the attack.”Haas scowled and went back to his phone calls.Gabe stared at the television screen as it replayed in slow-motion, full-color detail the last few moments prior to the attack.The voice-over and a digital arrow added by the network pointed out a blurry object sailing through the air, frame by painfully slow frame, toward his limousine.Hell of a move Owen made there.Gabe flinched as the satchel charge blew up the backup limousine in vivid living color.Good God, that was a hell of a blast! He watched the ensuing carnage in dismay, gruesome even after being edited for home viewing.And Diana had been caught in that?Holy Mary, Mother of God.He picked up the phone.Instead of a dial tone, a female voice said immediately, “White House secure operator.May I help you?”“This is Monihan.Any luck getting through to that phone number I gave you?”“Not yet, sir.We’ve gotten through to the phone once and it rang, but there was no answer.As soon as the party you’re trying to contact picks up, we’ll forward it through to you.”“Thanks.”Dammit, where was Diana? Why wasn’t she answering her phone? What had happened to her? His gaze swiveled back to the screen.He stared at the bloodied and torn bodies of dozens of victims lying on the ground in various stages of triage and evacuation.He was about to be the President of the United States, for God’s sake, and he couldn’t find out what had happened to the courageous, feisty, funny woman who’d been willing to sacrifice her life for him?He picked up the phone again.“What can I do for you, Mr.President-elect?”This operator was slick.He replied, “I need the names of the victims of the bombing.One name in particular.Who should I speak to?”“At the moment, that would be the Chief of the Washington Metro Police Department.By this evening, the Director of FEMA—the Federal Emergency Management Administration, and the Director of the FBI should have that information.”“Connect me to the Chief of Police.”Without comment, the operator patched him through.“What?” a voice snapped in his ear without preamble.The poor man sounded harassed beyond belief, and Gabe felt a twinge of guilt for bugging him.But he was really worried that Diana hadn’t answered her phone.If she’d indeed been the one to shout the warning to Owen, she’d saved his life.He owed her.Big-time.“This is Gabe Monihan.I’m sorry to bother you, but do you have an initial casualty list yet?”The police chief sputtered.“Uh, forgive me, sir.Didn’t mean to be rude, there.”“You’re authorized under the circumstances.I’d be more worried if you weren’t short with me.How’s it looking?”“The fire’s contained.Six dead and about sixty injured.Some minor, some severe.Probably gonna lose another couple more before it’s all said and done.Good thing your man tossed that bomb under an armored car or we’d be looking at a whole lot more casualties.We still have some injuries trickling in to area hospitals.No suspects yet.We’ve got imagery of the bastard—pardon me—the perpetrator.It’s at the FBI lab now getting digitally enhanced so we can make out a face and put out an APB.We’ll get him, sir.”“I’m sure you will,” Gabe replied smoothly.“I had a friend at the parade and I have reason to believe she was very near the blast site.Could you check her name against the casualty lists for me?”“Of course, sir.”“Her name’s Diana Lockworth.”There was a short pause.“Her name’s not on my list.Either she wasn’t hurt or she hasn’t been reported through the hospitals to us, yet.”“But she’s not one of the known dead?” Gabe asked.“No.We’ve got names on all of them.Next of kin are about to be notified.”Gabe sagged in his chair in relief.Thank God.“Let me know if there’s anything you need from me.”The police veteran grunted.“A small tactical nuclear strike up the ass of this SOB when we find him?”Gabe chuckled.“You got it.Keep up the good work.”He hung up the phone as frustrated as before.Where in the bloody hell was Diana?3:00 P.M.Diana stared at the tiny black bore of the pistol pointed at her.Hard to believe that nearly instantaneous death could come out of something so small.And then behind her, she heard the sound of hooves clattering on the hard ice.The police officer.The horse was coming at a dead run judging by the rapid, staccato sound of it.Albadian’s head jerked up.Now!She took two running steps and dived for the gun.Both her hands wrapped around the guy’s forearm and shoved upward with all her might [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Any messages I can pass along?”“Tell them my prayers are with the people injured in the attack, and that I share your determination to apprehend whoever did this.”“I will.” There was a brief pause while he spoke to somebody nearby.Whitlow came back on the line.“As for your inauguration.How do you feel about rescheduling it for early this evening in the rotunda of the Capitol Building? My Secret Service people say that building can be made secure, but it’s still big enough for the press to be there and holds enough guests so it doesn’t look like we’re running scared.My people think the inauguration needs to be televised live so there’s no doubt about the handoff of power having happened in a smooth and timely manner.Wouldn’t want any crazy rumors to get started about your presidency before you’re even in office.”Right.As if there hadn’t been rumors swirling around him ever since the first Q-group attack, compliments of his erstwhile running mate, Thomas Wolfe.“That sounds fine.I’ll pass the suggestion on to my people and have them get back with your people.But I don’t anticipate any problems with it.”Ah, the joys of changing administrations, particularly when there was a change of political party involved.It had been a tough campaign, and the outgoing president had been bitter throughout the transition phase.Gabe asked, “Where will you be during the swearing in? I assume our security teams want us in separate locations?”“I’ll stay here in the White House until you’re sworn in.And then the job’s all yours, son.This mess reminds me of why I’m glad to be retiring from politics.”Gabe mentally snorted.Come tonight, Whitlow would have to be peeled out of the Oval Office with a crowbar, kicking and screaming the whole way.As it was, he had no doubt his predecessor was tickled pink to get an extra five hours on the job.Gabe hung up the phone and turned to Owen Haas.“For lack of any of my other staff or advisors, I guess you get to be ‘my people.’”Haas grinned, although it looked more like a crack in concrete than an actual facial expression.Gabe continued.“Whitlow’s people want to hold my inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda at seven o’clock this evening.That okay with you?”Haas shrugged.“Works for me.I’ll need to get a detail of men over there to start clearing the building ASAP.”Gabe looked over at the other Secret Service agents huddled in a far corner of the room.“Would one of you guys call the White House and let them know the plans for tonight are a go?”A burly blonde peeled away from the group and reached for a telephone.Haas gave a couple of short orders and several of the men sat down at other phones.Soon, they were in deep conversation with their people.Funny, but he didn’t have a blessed thing to do.He sat down at the end of the table and noticed a small slide-out tray under the table.He pulled it open.An elaborate TV remote controller sat there, along with various writing utensils and a pad of paper.He pulled out the remote and pointed it at the wall of monitors.One of the televisions blinked on, startling Haas.Gabe grinned at the disgruntled agent.“Down, Tonto.I just want to see how the news networks are spinning the attack.”Haas scowled and went back to his phone calls.Gabe stared at the television screen as it replayed in slow-motion, full-color detail the last few moments prior to the attack.The voice-over and a digital arrow added by the network pointed out a blurry object sailing through the air, frame by painfully slow frame, toward his limousine.Hell of a move Owen made there.Gabe flinched as the satchel charge blew up the backup limousine in vivid living color.Good God, that was a hell of a blast! He watched the ensuing carnage in dismay, gruesome even after being edited for home viewing.And Diana had been caught in that?Holy Mary, Mother of God.He picked up the phone.Instead of a dial tone, a female voice said immediately, “White House secure operator.May I help you?”“This is Monihan.Any luck getting through to that phone number I gave you?”“Not yet, sir.We’ve gotten through to the phone once and it rang, but there was no answer.As soon as the party you’re trying to contact picks up, we’ll forward it through to you.”“Thanks.”Dammit, where was Diana? Why wasn’t she answering her phone? What had happened to her? His gaze swiveled back to the screen.He stared at the bloodied and torn bodies of dozens of victims lying on the ground in various stages of triage and evacuation.He was about to be the President of the United States, for God’s sake, and he couldn’t find out what had happened to the courageous, feisty, funny woman who’d been willing to sacrifice her life for him?He picked up the phone again.“What can I do for you, Mr.President-elect?”This operator was slick.He replied, “I need the names of the victims of the bombing.One name in particular.Who should I speak to?”“At the moment, that would be the Chief of the Washington Metro Police Department.By this evening, the Director of FEMA—the Federal Emergency Management Administration, and the Director of the FBI should have that information.”“Connect me to the Chief of Police.”Without comment, the operator patched him through.“What?” a voice snapped in his ear without preamble.The poor man sounded harassed beyond belief, and Gabe felt a twinge of guilt for bugging him.But he was really worried that Diana hadn’t answered her phone.If she’d indeed been the one to shout the warning to Owen, she’d saved his life.He owed her.Big-time.“This is Gabe Monihan.I’m sorry to bother you, but do you have an initial casualty list yet?”The police chief sputtered.“Uh, forgive me, sir.Didn’t mean to be rude, there.”“You’re authorized under the circumstances.I’d be more worried if you weren’t short with me.How’s it looking?”“The fire’s contained.Six dead and about sixty injured.Some minor, some severe.Probably gonna lose another couple more before it’s all said and done.Good thing your man tossed that bomb under an armored car or we’d be looking at a whole lot more casualties.We still have some injuries trickling in to area hospitals.No suspects yet.We’ve got imagery of the bastard—pardon me—the perpetrator.It’s at the FBI lab now getting digitally enhanced so we can make out a face and put out an APB.We’ll get him, sir.”“I’m sure you will,” Gabe replied smoothly.“I had a friend at the parade and I have reason to believe she was very near the blast site.Could you check her name against the casualty lists for me?”“Of course, sir.”“Her name’s Diana Lockworth.”There was a short pause.“Her name’s not on my list.Either she wasn’t hurt or she hasn’t been reported through the hospitals to us, yet.”“But she’s not one of the known dead?” Gabe asked.“No.We’ve got names on all of them.Next of kin are about to be notified.”Gabe sagged in his chair in relief.Thank God.“Let me know if there’s anything you need from me.”The police veteran grunted.“A small tactical nuclear strike up the ass of this SOB when we find him?”Gabe chuckled.“You got it.Keep up the good work.”He hung up the phone as frustrated as before.Where in the bloody hell was Diana?3:00 P.M.Diana stared at the tiny black bore of the pistol pointed at her.Hard to believe that nearly instantaneous death could come out of something so small.And then behind her, she heard the sound of hooves clattering on the hard ice.The police officer.The horse was coming at a dead run judging by the rapid, staccato sound of it.Albadian’s head jerked up.Now!She took two running steps and dived for the gun.Both her hands wrapped around the guy’s forearm and shoved upward with all her might [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]