Ashes - Fire In The Ashes Part 34

"When?" she asked.

"It'll have to be in open daylight," Jake said. "How about tomorrow at noon?"

"I'll be waiting. What about the guards?"

"They won't say anything if you're with me," Jake a.s.sured her. "But they'll be on our a.s.ses like bears to honey in less than an hour-bet on it."

"Do we have a chance?"

The mercenary shrugged. "Fifty-fifty."

"I'll take it."

Lisa hugged her. "We'll be here at noon tomorrow."

Jerre watched them leave. It was growing dark out, spitting snow.

"Whoa, Colonel McGowen!" Matt fought to keep from screaming the words. "It's me, Matt."

"d.a.m.n, boy," Ike said, lowering his knife. "You 'bout bought the farm. What the h.e.l.l are you doin'

here?"

"Same thing you're doing here. I came to get Jerre."

Ike and his team had surprised the young man in the deserted house, just outside of Tremont.

"Old home week, lads," the voice came out of the darkness.

The men spun around, weapons at the ready. Ike grinned when he saw Dan Gray in the dim light that was preceding wintry dusk.

"Well now," Ike said, lowering his CAR-15. "I reckon they'll soon be enough ol' boys here to put what's left of Hartline plumb out of business."

Dan winced. "Colonel McGowen, you certainly have a way with the English language. How many in your team?"

"Twenty-one, all told. Rest will group with me in the morning. Hour 'fore dawn."

"That gives us just a bit over fifty fighters," Dan said with a grin. "Oh, my, yes. More than ample for the task ahead. Let's get our teams settled in for the night and make our plans."

General Altamont removed a piece of paper from his briefcase. The single sheet of white paper had been placed in what looked to Ben an oversized Baggie. "This was delivered to me this morning-at my office at the Pentagon. The messenger was from a courier service. Allied. I tried to find that service listed in the phone book. No such courier service."

He placed the plastic-enclosed sheet of paper on Ben's desk. Ben read through the plastic.

WE HAVE THE ULTIMATE WEAPON. CHECK STORAGE AREA OUTSIDE KIRTLAND IF.

YOU DOUBT US. BEN RAINES BEWARE.

Ben looked up. "Kirtland Air Force Base?"

"Yes, sir. I immediately put people checking on any records that still might exist on the movement of old SSTs. We lucked out. A team from New Mexico was dispatched to that storage site. No trace of the drivers, but transport tickets left in the cabs told us what we wanted-wrong choice of word-what we feared . The SSTs were carrying enough materials to make several very large nuclear devices; perhaps a dozen smaller ones."

"Who sent the message?"

"We have no idea, sir."

"You are in charge of Air Force Intelligence, are you not, General?"

"Yes, sir."

"Forgive me. I'm still attempting to put faces with job t.i.tles."

"Understandable, sir."

"Well, someone obviously doesn't like me. But what threat is implied here?" he tapped the plastic-encased note.

"I don't mean to be flip, Mr. President; but your guess is as good as any."

"From within or from without? Take a guess."

General Altamont was thoughtful for a moment. "Sir, you have enemies all around you. I don't believe the Secret Service is in any way involved in this. That's a gut feeling. Since Cody's death, you have purged the FBI." A very slight smile played around the corners of his mouth. "Demoralized it, might be a better word, if you will forgive me. And you are rebuilding it, or reshaping it, back to what it was intended to be. I don't believe there is any danger there. You have enemies in the armed forces, but none that I am aware of in high or sensitive places. In the House and Senate-yes, surely you know how hated you are among some of those people."

"Senator Carson," Ben said with a small smile.

Altamont glanced at him sharply. Then a look of admiration pa.s.sed briefly across his face. "Not much escapes you, does it, Mr. President?"

"Not much. I wouldn't trust that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d any further than I can spit. And I never was a chewer or a dipper."

"I don't have any concrete proof about him. But I can tell you he plays footsie on both sides of the aisle."

"Don't I know it."

"My brother, bless his pseudo-liberal heart, never did let me get too close to the inner circle. So I can't give you much on them-except their names, and I'm certain you already know that."

"True."

"But before I come down too hard on those who lean left, as compared to our thinking, let me say there are some men and women in both Houses who call themselves conservative that are not what I would call in your camp."

"Yes, and that troubles me, General. Well," Ben sighed, "stay with this thing," he once more tapped the letter of warning. "Keep me informed."

"Yes, sir." Altamont stood up, retrieved the letter, and left the Oval Office.

When he was certain the general was gone, Ben punched his intercom. "Susie? Have Mitch.e.l.l put a tail on General Altamont."

"Yes, sir. Want him to report straight back to you, sir?"

"Yes."

"Very good, sir."

"Did he buy it?" Senator Carson asked General Altamont.

"All the way, Bill," the general said with a laugh.

"When do we detonate the first one?"

"Next week. I'll blow it in a deserted town so no one is likely to get hurt."

"Lovely," the old senator said. Then he slapped Altamont on the back. The three men shared a laugh in the night.

Altamont turned to the Secret Service agent. "When you report back to Raines, tell him I went straight home."

"Yes, sir," the agent responded.

"Does Bob Mitch.e.l.l suspect anything?"

"Not a thing, General. He's fat, dumb, and happy."

"Good. Let's be sure we keep it that way."

The three men broke apart, walking out of the small park just a few miles from the White House. They got in separate cars and drove away.

"Cute," Rosita said, stepping from the shadows. "Con que esas tenemos!Gentlemen, I will show you how my mother's people deal with traitors-very shortly."

She walked swiftly back to her car, got in, and drove away into the damp night. Not even the president of the United States knew the Spanish-Irish lady had come to Colonel Hector Ramos's command from Captain Dan Gray's Scouts. She was as thoroughly trained in the art of counterinsurgency as a person could be. And she was as lethal as a ticking time bomb.

Ben sat alone in his office. He had dismissed Susie, sending her home. The White House was quiet, and he was alone with his thoughts. The twins were with their nanny, in their rooms down the hall, but Ben had no desire to go and play with them. They reminded him too much of Jerre. He wished he had someone to talk with.

He tried Cecil. No, the secretary told him, the VP was out for the evening. A meeting with several department heads.

He knew Dawn had gone out of town; Ike was off in search of Jerre. Lamar was back in Idaho. So many of the old bunch dead and gone.

What the h.e.l.l was he doing here in the White House? He didn't want this d.a.m.ned job! Loneliest G.o.dd.a.m.ned job in the world.

And what about those SSTs? The message? Ben Raines beware?

What the h.e.l.l was that all about?

d.a.m.n! but he was tired of double crosses and triple crosses and backbiting and the whole scene.

He wondered if his house in Louisiana was still standing. And suddenly he thought of Salina.

Ben pulled into his driveway at five o'clock in the afternoon. He had been wandering for almost a year since the bombings. Nothing had changed except the lawn had flowers where none had been before. A station wagon parked in the drive.

Since the outskirts of Shreveport, Ben had seen hundreds of blacks. No one had bothered him; they had all been friendly, waving to him and chatting with him when he stopped.

But the vague and somewhat amusing-to him-thought was: he knew how Dr. Livingstone must have felt.

Ben got out of the truck thinking: there is a lot of land to be had. I'm not going to spill any blood for an acre of land in Louisiana.

He felt kind of silly knocking on his own front door. But as he raised his hand to tap on the door, it swung open.

"Come on in, Ben Raines," Salina said. "I've been waiting for you."

"h.e.l.lo, Salina." Ben revised his original appraisal of her: she was not just good-looking. She was beautiful.

"I was about to invite you in, Ben, but that would be rather silly of me, wouldn't it? This is your house."

She looked at Juno. "What a beautiful animal. What's his name?"

"Juno."

She held out her hands and Juno and Ben stepped into the house. Not much had been changed except the house was a great deal cleaner and neater than when he'd left it. He said as much.

She smiled. Lovely. "Most bachelors aren't much on housekeeping. 'Sides," she said, a mischievous light creeping into her eyes, "us c.o.o.ns have been trained for centuries to take care of the master's house while he's away seein' to matters of great import."

"Knock it off, Salina," he said, then realized she'd been ribbing him. He gave back as much as he got.

"You're only half-c.o.o.n. So the house should be only half-clean."

She laughed. "Call this round a draw. Dinner's at seven. Guests coming over. We knew you were coming."

"How?"

"Tom-toms!"

Ben grimaced. "I'll be hungry by seven, I a.s.sure you."

Her eyes became a flas.h.i.+ng firestorm of humor. "Got corn bread, fatback, and greens."

"Salina, you're impossible!"

She laughed. "You think I'm kidding?"

She wasn't.

Cecil and Lila and Pal and Valerie came over. After dinner the six of them sat in the candlelit den and talked.