Nicholas said, “Good point. When his world begins to unravel, he might not want his life saved.”
“Nicholas, we need to find what was in that tube Woody Reading gave to Zahir Damari, and fast. If it wasn’t plans for Yorktown, and I don’t think it was since Vanessa said they could get that information when COE took down the oil companies’ computers, then whatever the plans were, it can’t be good for us.”
“No, it can’t be good for us.”
In unison, they both looked at the countdown clock.
Two minutes to go.
Wednesday
4 p.m.–Midnight
75
KING TO D1
They had a bird’s-eye view from the satellite images over Yorktown. One of the screens now showed strategic areas around the plant and stress points, and listed the names of the various buildings, too. There was no movement. It looked deserted.
When they told Sherlock about what Adam Pearce had discovered, she rubbed her hands together. “Well done, Adam. We’ll send a team to grab Mr. Woody Reading as soon as the ink’s dry on the warrant.”
Nicholas said, “I’m beginning to think of Adam as our secret weapon.”
All eyes in the conference room were watching the countdown clock draw closer to four zeroes.
With every tick of the clock, more agents filed into the room. All the agents from the CAU came in, Jimmy Maitland with them. He said to Sherlock, “Savich called, said to keep him informed. He can’t get back in time.” He said aloud to the room, “No surprise, the media is going wild on the story of the president’s plane. They’ve only been told there was a mechanical problem, and they were forced to land in Nova Scotia. The press secretary’s statement assured the president is fine and resuming his schedule as soon as he’s back in D.C. However, apparently it’s all over the Internet what Superman here pulled off. They won’t be able to deny the truth of the attack much longer.”
Director Comey asked, “How did the media take the news about the cancellation of Yorktown?”
“Not a problem, sir,” Maitland said. “The president is being praised up and down, primarily for not backing down in the face of Iran’s provocation and walking out of the peace talks, and almost as important, for proving he’s not stupid for canceling Yorktown. Not in those exact words, of course. I believe the word more used was the president was prudent.”
Sherlock said, “It’s nearly four o’clock.”
Mike flashed on a memory of the high school principal gathering all the students in the gym to watch the Space Shuttle Columbia take off. She remembered clearly the heart-pounding excitement, wondering what it was like to be inside, a real live astronaut. And then, two weeks later, watching the shuttle return to earth, and with no warning, it exploded. Dead, all dead. Please, please, she prayed, staring at the countdown clock. Please.
The countdown ended.
The drone and satellite views drew closer to the facility.
Everyone was holding their breath.
Her prayer wasn’t answered.
It started in the western edge, a small plume of smoke, and then every screen flashed a blinding white, with yellow edges. A ball of fire consumed the plant entirely.
It was Bayway all over, only bigger, huge in fact, which meant Spenser used a larger portion of one of his bombs. What would a whole one do? Two of them? But this time she and Nicholas weren’t running through the flames, feeling the heat burn their lungs, singe their flesh, hearing screams, knowing people were dying, already dead, and the fear, the gut-wrenching fear.
She said aloud, “But where was the bomb?”
Nicholas said, “The smoke plume came from South Four-G. We need to find out what was stored there.”
Sherlock unrolled the plans for the plant. “Here’s Four-G. It’s a metal depot. They keep tungsten there, among other things.”