U.S. used to do?”
“Something like that. Maybe somebody’s tired of terrorists running the world’s agenda. They want the old ways back.”
“Yeah, great, the old ways that entailed the constant threat of nuclear annihilation.”
“But the cold war also sparked the greatest military buildup in history. And aside from the Israel-Palestine equation nobody really gave a damn about what was happening in the Middle East for the most part back then except for oil. There were no murky moral questions about right and wrong or religious differences. It was simply a case of clearly defined good versus evil. People didn’t have to think about it, it was what it was. Maybe some prefer that, even with the Armageddon possibility. Hell, maybe a lot of people do.”
Katie finished her last potato chip. “You know, that asshole Pender never paid me my twenty million dollars.”
“So?”
“So I said if he didn’t I’d tell the world the truth.”
Realization spread over Shaw’s face. “Katie, you know that’ll make you a target.”
“I’m already a target.”
“Then it’ll make you a bigger one.”
With difficulty she scooted to the edge of the bed and put her feet on the floor. “Shaw, I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to find the truth and I’m not stopping now. And them coming after me is probably the only way we’re ever going to get to the truth.” She reached across and touched his arm. “Besides, I’ve got you to protect me.”
Shaw gripped her hand. “Okay, if we do this, we have to do it my way. There’ll be a lot of risk but you have to trust me.”
“I do. I actually always have.”
CHAPTER 93
AT ZERO HOURS UNIVERSAL TIME, Katie James appeared on a video released on the same Web site as Konstantin had been. It was not a coincidence.
The footage had been shot by Shaw in her hotel room.
Katie had returned to her natural blonde hair, though it was still spiky. She spoke clearly and firmly using no notes. “My name is Katie James and everything I wrote in my earlier story was wrong. I told my newspaper not to publish it but they did anyway without telling me. But I can tell you the truth now. The Chinese are not behind the Red Menace. And the Russians did not commit the London Massacre. My source, Aron Lesnik, lied.” She held up her injured arm. “I was almost killed by the people really responsible for all this.” She paused. “And who are they? A man named Richard Pender was one person behind it. He ran Pender amp; Associates, based in Virginia. He is or was a perception manager. He’s dead now, killed by whoever employed him to create the truth out of lies and make the world believe it. Konstantin was a lie. The tens of thousands of people we thought had been slaughtered by the Russian government was a lie. The ‘Tablet of Tragedies’ was a lie.
“This was all done for one reason: to bring Russia and China to the brink of war. Why? So that the world would rearm. Who would want that? Who would possibly benefit? Well, over a dozen governments, including Russia, China, the U.S., England, France, and Japan have recently placed orders for trillions of dollars in weapons with a number of defense contractors because of the events put in motion by the Red Menace. Someone is trying to create a new cold war where we all live in fear of annihilation. But that’s not going to happen because we won’t let it. So whoever is behind all this, here’s a little message from me.” She paused, “The real truth will come out. And trust me, you won’t like it when it does.”
Along with Katie’s statements on the video, leaks were made to all major news sources about Pender’s involvement and subsequent murder with details designed to make her fellow journalists do all they could to find out the truth. A list of defense contactors benefiting from the new rearmament fervor was posted on the Internet. Details of how it was discovered that Lesnik was lying and his murder were released to two dozen major blogger sites. To say these facts spread like a California wildfire would have been a bit of an understatement.
The global reaction was swift. It was said that skies around the world were filled with smoke from the burning of “Remember Konstantin” T-shirts. The Scribe newspaper scrambled to put a positive spin on what had been done with Katie’s story, found they really couldn’t and Kevin Gallagher, Katie’s editor, was sacked. The FBI started throwing thousands of assets at Richard Pender’s murder. And in London the same was done with the massacre and Aron Lesnik’s death.
All major defense contractors issued statements claiming they’d had no involvement in the Red Menace campaign. Much like the treatment of the Russians, few believed their denials.
Defense departments in every major country were ordered by their civilian leaders to suspend all contracts for new weaponry. Meanwhile, the Russian and Chinese governments ordered a stand-down in their near-war, and President Gorshkov and his counterpart in China agreed to meet at a neutral site to discuss their two countries’ future relations.
Yet the world wanted more. Much more. They wanted to know who had lied to them. They wanted the person or persons really behind it all. And they wanted them yesterday.
CHAPTER 94
NICOLAS CREEL SAT ALL ALONE in his sumptuous conference room on the Shiloh. He’d heard from his executive teams at Ares. And the news was all bad. The contracts were all being suspended, every last one of them. There went several trillion dollars straight to oblivion. The idiot woman had guaranteed that the world would remain stranded in a hellish quagmire, where the weak and maniacal ruled the powerful and civilized. And she was anointed as a savior? Was he, Nicolas Creel, the only one who could see the truth? Under his vision the world would be a far safer place; now all that was ruined. And she had cost him his PM maestro. Pender could be replaced, but Creel knew he would never find anyone as good.
Because of Katie James, a legion of investigators would be delving into every detail of the origin of the Red Menace. And despite Creel’s great pains to keep his involvement unknown, someone might get lucky enough to follow the trail to his doorstep. He would never go to prison, of course. The rich and powerful almost never did, despite whatever crimes they might have committed. His lawyers were too accomplished, his purse too deep, his reputation too good. He had built elaborate safeguards into the plan as part of his exit strategy in the case of a disaster. And his men had destroyed every single scrap of evidence at Pender’s office. There was no direct proof anywhere. His fingerprints were on nothing. Pender was dead. No one else knew of his involvement except for a very few who had just as much to lose as he did.
No, it was not fear of prosecution that was crushing him now. It was the taste of a terrible injustice done to him. Instead of his triumph, instead of the world being put back into its natural balance, the earth was resonating with one name: Katie James. James had saved the world, people were saying. James had righted a great wrong. The woman was a true hero.
Yet the only thing James really had done was screw him, Creel concluded, and emasculate the part of the world that really counted. And for that she would have to pay. He was not a man who held grudges. At least not for very long. He was far too impatient when it came to that. The offending person must be dealt with quickly. Revenge was not best eaten cold. It was a dish that needed to be served with hatred still blazing hot.
He picked up his phone. He might not be getting his beloved cold war back. But there would be more casualties. Starting with one in particular.
He said into the phone, “I don’t care if you have to take out an entire city with a dirty bomb. Either you bring me the lady within forty-eight hours, or our arrangement is ended permanently. And so are you.”
Nicolas Creel left his beloved Shiloh and boarded a launch headed to shore. He spent the next several hours visiting with Italian officials regarding the construction of the new orphanage. After that he prayed in the chapel, the mother superior by his side. That evening he had dinner at a local restaurant and shared a bottle of Chianti with the mayor and his wife, trying to forget at least for a few hours the co
mplete disintegration of his vision for the world.
Before returning to his yacht, Creel visited the construction site. He stood looking down into a pit that had been excavated a few days before. Very soon they would pour the foundation here. Hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of concrete would flow into this hole. The place would stand for a century, providing a worthy roof for many orphans.
But the foundation would not be poured until Creel gave the order. And he wasn’t going to do it just yet. He had something very special he wanted to bless this place with. A gift that would lie here for all eternity.
He rode the launch back to the Shiloh.
And counted down the minutes until Katie James’s death.
It wouldn’t make everything all right, of course. For now, though, it would have to be enough.
CHAPTER 95
FRANK AND ROYCE BURST INTO THE ROOM where Katie was being kept under the watchful eye of two FBI vets. Frank said, “We just got another credible bomb threat. They must’ve found out where she was. There’s an SUV waiting in front.”
They hustled down the stairs. Royce pushed Katie into the SUV and then called out to Frank. “This is the third damn time. We better bloody well get her out of the country, Frank.”
“I’m on it.”
“Where do you want me to take her this time?”
“Location four. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”
Royce nodded, shook his head wearily, and climbed into the seat next to Katie.
“Here we go again,” he said kindly. “Sorry, Katie.”
The driver sped off and the man next to him, big and burly, turned to face her, a large gun in hand.
Caesar smiled and said, “Glad to have you with us, Ms. James.”
Katie looked startled, but then something jabbed her in the arm. She looked down at the syringe sticking out of her. And then at Royce who was pushing the plunger all the way down. As the meds hit her bloodstream, Katie slumped over in the seat.
Royce pulled the needle out and nodded at Caesar.
Caesar said, “Bugs?”
Royce expertly searched Katie for surveillance devices and shook his head.
Caesar handed Royce a battery-operated saw, which he used to cut off Katie’s cast. Royce checked it over minutely and shook his head again.
The truck slowed to a stop, Royce got out, and tossed the split cast into a passing garbage truck. He climbed back in. “If the cast is bugged, they’ll be on a jolly nice detour now. Hit it!”
The driver punched the gas and the Suburban shot forward, hung a left, and was gone.
Eight hours later the private plane touched down on a remote airfield in Italy. A truck pulled up next to the aircraft and a box was loaded onto it from the plane. Several men got in the truck and it rolled off. An hour after that it arrived at the Italian seaside, the Mediterranean moodily aglow under a setting sun. A launch carried the box, Caesar, Royce, and several other men out to the Shiloh.
The crew had been given the evening off. Only the captain remained on board, and he was sequestered on the upper bridge. Special visitors of a sensitive nature had been the only explanation given to the man. He didn’t ask for another.
Nicolas Creel was sitting in the ship’s library surrounded by first-edition books he’d purchased over the years, and unlike some collectors he’d actually read them. When the door opened and the box was brought in he didn’t smile. He actually felt as though he would never smile again.
He nodded at Royce. “Good work. I never had any doubts your association would pay off for me.”
“Pleasure, Mr. Creel. MI5 never saw my potential. And certainly never paid me fairly for it.”
Creel looked at Caesar. “Shall we let the illustrious Ms. James join us?”
The big man opened the box and lifted Katie out. She was just coming to. Caesar laid her on a table. The men stood there until she sat up and looked around.
“Welcome, Katie,” Creel said. “I may call you Katie? I feel like I know you so well even though we’ve never even met.”
Katie slipped off the table and dropped into a chair. She rubbed her head and grimaced as she clutched her arm. “Where the hell’s my cast?”
Royce said, “We thought it best to remove it. GPS devices can be embedded in such things.”
“It was just a damn cast, you idiot.” Katie held up her arm where the break in the skin was clearly visible.
“So you say.”
She turned her attention back to Creel. “But I do know you,” she said. “Nicolas Creel. Any journalist worth her salt would know you.”
“I’m flattered. Yet you don’t seem altogether surprised.”
“Once I’d thought out a few things the list of suspects narrowed considerably.” She glanced at Royce. “His involvement I didn’t figure on, though.”
Creel did smile now. “Of course not. But one must always have a safety valve. An inside source. And Mr. Royce shares my view of how the world should be. A view that you have now effectively destroyed. I can’t even imagine how much you’ve cost mankind.”
“What I’ve cost it? By stopping China and Russia from going to war?”
“There was never going to be a war, you fool!” Creel roared. “The cold war was the safest period humanity has ever lived through. My plan would have liberated the world. That’s right, I was a liberator,” he snapped, as Katie stared at him incredulously. “Now you’ve ensured that we will be ruled for eternity by savages who have no regard for human life. They have toppled all balance, crushed all possibility of diplomacy. We are as close to global annihilation as we have ever been, thanks to you, Katie James.” He said her name as though it was the most repellent two words that had ever passed his lips.
“Yeah, I’m sure that has you bummed. But I’m thinking you’re really pissed about losing out on all those weapon dollars.”
“I have enough money, I can assure you. But Theodore Roosevelt had it right. Speak softly and carry a big stick. America’s greatest presidents knew that military power was the key to everything. Everything!”
“Yeah, war is great, isn’t it?”
“You built your career covering them, so you have no room to complain. Glory always goes to the victor.”
“I didn’t cover them by choice. And my reporting showed the horror of wars. I never found any glory in it.”
“You obviously didn’t look hard enough. Political history is defined by such confrontations.”
“Didn’t some famous general say it’s a good thing war is so terrible or we’d grow too fond of it.”
“That was Confederate general Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Fredericksburg. And, as history has shown, he was a loser. I only deal in winners.”
“Have you ever been in the military, Mr. Creel? You ever been shot, or even shot at?” Creel didn’t answer her. “Well I have. And let me tell you, with people who actually fight the damn wars there are no winners or losers. They’re just survivors.”
“Yes, well, I didn’t bring you here for a lecture. I brought you here to die. But I wanted you to know why. And I want you to die knowing you have no one to blame but yourself.”
She moved a bit closer to him. “Can I tell you something?”
“Every condemned person is granted a few last words.”
“Go screw yourself.”
“Brilliant, Ms. James. What a wordsmith you are.”
The door opened and one of his men came in. “You have a visitor, Mr. Creel.” His voice sank lower.
After he listened to him Creel said, “Get her off the ship right now.”
The man said, “Sir, she mentioned something about seeing some computer files in your office.”
Creel’s eyes widened a bit. “I see. All right, I’ll come out.”
Out in the hall, Creel’s wife was standing in high heels and a short skirt. Two of Creel’s men stood next to her.
“My dear, what a pleasant surprise,” Creel said.
Her response was to s
lap him. Creel’s men grabbed and held her.
She screamed, “You think you can just leave me by the side of the road like a pile of crap? After all I did for you? And to you? You bastard! I’m Mrs. Nicolas Creel and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
“I can see you’re upset. But all good things must end and the divorce payment is more than generous.”
“You’re not divorcing me. I know things,” she said, a triumphant tone in her voice. As Creel eyed her stonily, she hurried on. “I know you think I’m just some dumb shit. But do you remember I told you I liked your office? Well, it wasn’t for the reason you think. I’ve found it’s always nice to have a little ammo in case people get too big for themselves. So I checked your computer. You know, Nick, when you divorced your last wife you should’ve stopped using her name as your freaking password. And from what I saw you’ve been a really bad boy.”
“Well,” Creel began pleasantly. “That does put a whole new spin on the matter. Come with me and we’ll talk this out.” He looked at his men. “Send her launch back in. She won’t be needing it. She’s staying with me.”
Miss Hottie pulled away from the pair and sauntered after her husband.
When they entered the room and Creel shut the door behind them, Miss
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