A Necessary Kill (28 page)

She looked along both corridors for any indication of layout but saw nothing.

“Okay—straight on it is.”

The floor was quiet, compared to the lobby at least. Only a handful of rooms lined the hallway, and only one of them was occupied—a small group of men in suits were talking animatedly while staring at an image of a spreadsheet projected onto a whiteboard.

All the real work must be done on the lower floors
, thought Ruby.

They reached the opposite end of the corridor, which again branched off to either side.

Jonas stared along the left side. “Looks dead that way,” he observed. “A short hall with only two rooms. No signs of life.”

Ruby was looking right. “Yeah, I think it might be this way.”

Jonas moved alongside her and followed her gaze to a large office at the end of another short corridor. It stretched across almost the full width of the hallway, and the vertical blinds at the window were opened enough for them to see inside. They glimpsed a woman sitting behind a desk, writing feverishly.

Elaine Phillips.

“Come on,” said Ruby, walking purposefully toward the office.

Jonas followed hastily, their muffled footfalls the only sound to be heard.

Eagerly, she reached the door and walked straight in without a moment’s hesitation. Secretary Phillips looked up from her work and watched impassively as the new arrivals stood in front of her.

“Elaine Phillips?” Ruby asked.

Phillips sat back in her chair staring thoughtfully at them both. She placed her pen slowly on top of a small stack of documents covering the surface of her solid, expensive-looking mahogany desk.

When she spoke, the words were clear and deliberate. Stern, without being challenging. “I’m pretty sure someone from the CIA would know to address me as Madam Secretary.”

Ruby let out a small sigh. “Right. Sorry. Madam Secretary, I—”

“You are a very bold and very stupid young woman.” She glanced over at Jonas before continuing. “Today really isn’t the day to try passing yourselves off as government employees. Frankly, I’m astounded you even made it into the building. There will be some serious questions raised about the level of security at our front desk, given you talked your way in with the promise of fake credentials. But—”

“Elaine… Madam… Secretary… Phillips… if I could just—”

“
But
… that doesn’t change the fact you’re in a level of trouble I can assure you is beyond your comprehension.” She looked past them both at the door, just as it opened and four armed guards entered the room. “Get them out of here. Please.”

Two of the guards stepped forward, each placing a hand on Jonas’ shoulders. He quickly shrugged them off, spinning around and holding the briefcase up in front of him like a weapon.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” he growled.

“Jonas!” yelled Ruby, glancing at him. “Easy… Madam Secretary, I’m sorry, I really am, but I need five minutes of your time. It’s a matter of national security.”

Phillips regarded her silently for a moment, flicking her gaze between the two intruders and the briefcase. Eventually, she looked back at the guards and said, “Take them away.”

“No! Wait! Please… my name is Ruby DeSouza. Adrian Hell sent me here. Do you know that name?”

Phillips’ eyebrow twitched, and she held her hand up to the guards. “Adrian Hell is a wanted terrorist.”

Ruby shook her head. “Adrian Hell is a goddamn hero. He’s being framed to cover up a massive conspiracy. A conspiracy we have undeniable evidence of. Please, you
have
to give me time to explain.”

Phillips leaned forward and rested her elbows on her desk, interlocking her fingers. She nodded to the briefcase. “And is this evidence in there?”

Ruby nodded. “Yes. It was given to us by General Thomas Matthews, the former CIA director.”

“Former?”

She glanced respectfully down at the floor. “He’s dead.”

Phillips face failed to hide the shock and emotion, which Ruby picked up on.

“You didn’t know… Shit, I’m very sorry. But he was involved in this conspiracy.”

The secretary of state recovered quickly. “Show me.”

Ruby turned to Jonas and nodded. He stepped forward and placed the briefcase on the desk. Phillips opened it and her eyes widened with surprise at the volume of content contained within.

“Care to summarize this for me?” she asked.

Jonas smirked. “Good luck with that…”

Ruby ignored him. “I’m not as familiar with it as Adrian is, but, basically, President Cunningham was the brains behind the 4/17 attacks and this North Korean invasion. Everything that’s happened, and that’s happening now, is because of
him
. I know it sounds crazy, but the evidence is there in front of you.”

Phillips stared at her with an unblinking gaze. Her heart rate began to climb slightly. She absently brushed a hand through her hair, and then looked at the four guards. “You can leave us, it’s okay.”

“Madam Secretary, are you sure?” asked one of them. “I’m under orders to detain these people pending a formal arrest.”

“I’m fairly certain any order
I
give outranks any orders given by anyone else in the building. I said
leave
.”

Her tone was strong and final and prompted no further dispute. The guards filed out of the room, with the last shutting the door behind him.

Ruby and Jonas watched them go and looked back at Phillips, who had leaned back in her chair once again.

She stared at them both in turn. “Start talking.”

17:56 EDT

This traffic is shit. I can literally see the turn I need to take coming up on the left, which will lead me to the security firm, and our van, but these
assholes
in front of me aren’t moving when they have a chance to.

“Come on…” I say, mostly to myself, as a gap appears for me to go through, but this clueless dick in front of me isn’t paying attention.

And now the gap’s gone again. Fucking great!

I let out a heavy, impatient sigh.

Next to me, Oscar chuckles. “Man, I bet your road rage is somethin’ else!”

I look across at him, unable to shift the angry expression from my face. But a smile slips through after a moment.

“I don’t like waiting for things. I called in sick the day they were handing out the patience allowance.”

“We’re almost there. I’ll drive to Washington once we’re in the van, give you a break.”

“Thanks.” I glance ahead. “What’s causing this hold up?”

“I can’t really see. It looks like—”

An explosion sounds out, shaking the vehicle and everything around us. Ahead, a thick, dark plume of smoke rockets into the air, distributing dust and brick over the nearby area.

“What the fuck was that?” I step out of the car, stand, and lean on the open door as I look around. People on every side of me are doing the same. The bitter stench of the smoke is traveling quickly, burning my nostrils.

Oscar joins me outside the car. “What the hell…?”

My spider sense is doing somersaults. “I don’t like this…”

Another loud explosion, this time away to my left. I instinctively duck my head a little as I look over and see two military Jeeps full of soldiers speeding toward our traffic jam. Behind them, in a black pickup truck, are four guys—two in the cab, two in the back. One’s standing, holding on with one hand and carrying a machine pistol in the other. His friend, who I can just about see crouching behind him hanging onto the side, is throwing grenades at the soldiers.

What the…?

I look back up the street and see another pickup truck appear from the right. All around me people start screaming. Men, women, children—some locking themselves in their cars, others abandoning them.

“Adrian, what’s happening?”

“If I were to guess, I would say Cunningham’s decreed martial law on account of the world being at war with North Korea. And by the looks of it, some of the locals ain’t all that pleased…”

The guy on the left raises his machine pistol—which looks like a TEC-9 from here—and empties his mag into the air. A very amateurish attempt at crowd control, I think.

I turn to Oscar. “This is gonna turn real ugly real fast. We should leave. Now.”

“I’m with you on that…”

I move to the trunk, open it, and take out the black sport bag full of weapons. I unzip it and select a handgun—a Beretta—and some ammo. I quickly tuck it at my back, pocket the spare mags, and pass the bag to Oscar.

“You carry this, and I’ll shoot anyone who comes near us. Deal?”

“Yes, sir…”

People begin stampeding past, away from… whatever the hell is in front of us. Until I know exactly who’s behind this and how many there are, I need to stay smart and invisible.

I crouch and signal to Oscar to do the same. “Follow my lead and stay close. Move when I do, hide when I do. We need to make it to that security firm. Nothing else matters, understand?”

He nods. “I hear you.”

“No, Oscar, listen to what I’m saying.
Nothing else matters
. You see innocent people in trouble, you don’t help. You don’t look, you don’t even
think
about it. We can’t afford to let anything stop us getting to that van. Everything depends on it.”

He takes a sharp breath, steeling himself and tensing his jaw. “Shit… I understand, Adrian. Let’s just get out of here.”

“Okay, follow me.”

I keep low, move around the driver’s side of the car, and pause level with the hood. I hear Oscar behind me. A sea of open doors and screaming people stand between us and where we need to be. A little farther on, the pickup truck is circling in the street, and the one that was chasing the military Jeeps has joined it.

I take my gun out, make sure the mag’s full, and work the slide. Safety off.

There’s a small gap between the hood of one car and the trunk of another. Crouching, I move as quickly as I can down the side of the next car, pausing again by the front wheel.

“Oh my God! Help me!”

A man’s crawling along the ground toward me, his face a crimson mask as blood gushes from a head wound above his eye.

“Please!” he insists.

I close my eyes for a second, cursing my own sense of morality and justice. Ordinarily, I would be compelled to get as many people to safety as I could. But if I don’t get to that van, it’s game over. It won’t matter how many people I save here, millions will die elsewhere.

Sometimes the greater good is a real bitch.

I look at the man next to me and place a finger on my lips. “Hey, keep quiet—you’ll attract attention to yourself.”

He shakes with emotion as he tries to keep his pleading and whimpering to a minimum.

“You got a cell phone?” I ask him.

He nods, terrified.

I hold my hand out. “Gimme.”

He reaches slowly into his pocket and hands it to me.

“Thanks. Now shut up, okay?”

I quickly dial Josh’s number. He’s probably busy, but it’s worth a shot. It rings three times.

“Hello?”

A female voice…? Huh?

“Hello?”

“Who’s this?”

“Where’s Josh?”

“He’s a little fucking busy. We all are, believe it or not. Who’s this?”

“I’m Adrian Hell. Who are you? His fucking secretary?”

“Adrian? Holy shit! I’m Fisher. Julie Fisher.”

“Julie… you’re heading up Josh’s new D.E.A.D. unit, aren’t you?”

“For my sins, yeah.”

“How come you’re answering his phone?”

“He gave it to me. He’s had to duck out and sort some urgent shit.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that right now. Well, look, I need your help. You got access to satellite feeds or something?”

“I do, as it happens. What d’you need?”

“I’m in Annapolis, Maryland. Two explosions have just brought the street to a standstill. I’ve got eyes on two pickup trucks full of assholes shooting at civilians and soldiers. No fucking idea why, but they’re in my way and I need to know how to get rid of them.”

“Jesus… sounds like a modern-day lynch mob to me. There have been reports coming in from all over about locals trying to take control of their districts. Cunningham has imposed martial law for our so-called
protection
in most major cities in the last six hours. Some of the smaller towns don’t like the idea. Gimme a sec.”

I look back at Oscar, whose eyes are rapidly flicking in every direction. “This shit is happening all over,” I explain. “Locals don’t like the army taking over.”

He frowns. “What’s their problem? Better our army than Korea’s, right?”

I shrug. “I don’t think logic is playing a very pivotal role right now.”

Julie’s voice sounds in my ear. “Still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“I’ve pinged your cell signal and triangulated your exact location so I have eyes on you now. Where are you heading?”

“There’s a security firm just off the next left turn ahead of me. Josh has arranged a van full of goodies for me, but I can’t get there.”

“Yeah… you’ve got two pickups in front of you, plus I count… six men on the ground. The Jeeps are surrounded and the soldiers look like they’ve been disarmed and are being held at gunpoint. Not sure how you’re—”

Loud whipcracks of rapid gunfire sound out. The burst of death and noise start and stop before I even have chance to react.

“What the fuck was that?”

I hear a sigh on the phone. “Shit… Yeah… they’re not being held at gunpoint anymore.”

“Jesus. How many?”

“Soldiers?”

“No, assholes…”

“I’ve got eyes on fourteen.”

“Am I clear on all other sides?”

“To your left and behind, yeah. Nothing on your right, and once you’re past the mob, you should be fine getting to the van. What are you—?”

“Thanks Julie. I’m guessing the police aren’t rushing to help here… I’ll handle this.”

“What? You’re just gonna—”

“Look after Josh for me, would you? Just in case I don’t… y’know.”

She sighs again. “Yeah, of course. So, listen, are you the man he says you are? Can you really stop this?”

I stare blankly at the ground for a moment. “Yeah, I can.”

“Good. When you have, head over to California for some R and R—me and the boys wanna buy you a drink.”