Internal Threat (23 page)

He had found another way to get back at her, though. When the person first approached him on one of his chat boards, he practically leapt at the opportunity they were presenting. The money was more than he had ever gotten before and, even though he was not quite sure how, he knew that it was something that could be trouble for Emma.

As he lumbered back to his desk chair, he could now hear the klaxons blaring overhead. Something was going on. He logged on to his computer to see if there was a notice about a drill.

A shadow flitted across his monitor.

Cameron spun, surprised. When he saw who was standing behind him, though, he relaxed.

“You scared me,” he told the person. As he caught his breath, another thought occurred to him. “I thought you were-”

His sentence was cut off with a bullet to the forehead.

Cameron did not die right away. He heard the glass monitor shatter behind him, the distinct tinkle of shards falling to the floor. His thoughts were a jumbled mess he could not organize. His mouth mumbled what sounded like gibberish to his ears. He was about to ask what was happening before a second bullet passed through his cheek and all his thoughts ceased.

T
he Porsche Panamera spun around the corner of Sunset Boulevard and on to the empty lanes of the Pacific Coast Highway. For one brief second, Matt and Ashley could feel the left wheels lift off the ground before pounding back down to the asphalt. Matt downshifted and floored the accelerator.

“Do you think we lost him?” Ashley asked, desperately trying to catch her breath.

“I haven’t seen him since I cut through that last alley.”

Ashley chanced a look behind them. Beyond the rear window, the PCH stretched to the horizon before it bent around a far-away curve. The black ocean pounded at the rocks and sand hugging the highway’s side.

“I don’t see the police car,” she told Matt, who merely nodded. “What happened back there? The gunshots. Do you think Larsen is…” She could not bring herself to say the words. There had been more death tonight than she had imagined she would ever see in her entire life.

“Larsen’s a hero,” Matt replied cryptically. His eyes shifted and he angled the car towards the side of the road. Slowing down, he saw his destination.

“What are you doing?” Ashley asked. “Is there something here?”

“Yes,” Matt said, bringing the Porsche to a full stop. As he opened the door to climb out, he added, “My son.”

Luke was cold. He wrapped his arms around his midsection, trying to hold in some warmth. His teeth chattered but he was unsure if it was due to nerves or the chill. He steeled himself; there was no turning back now. He knew what he had to do. Slowly, he stood up on the sand. His feet began the slow trek towards the pounding surf that lay in front of him. The water crept towards him and he felt its icy tendrils make their way over his toes. As he lifted his knee to take another step, he paused.

He could have sworn he heard his name being called. Turning, he saw nothing but the shadowy sand and the craggy rocks that formed the surrounding cove. Shaking his head, he went back to the water. Suddenly, it was up to his chest. Salty spray was hitting his nostrils and mouth. He coughed and sputtered, thinking about going back.

“No,” he told himself. “You can’t.”

He gulped a breath of misty air, preparing to dive beneath the waves. As he was about to plunge beneath the cool water, an unseen force yanked him backwards. He struggled against two arms that were clamped around his waist in a vise-like grip.

“Let me go!” Luke shouted, thrashing against his captor. He fell backwards on the sand, the breath knocked out of him. His legs kicked furiously, trying to gain purchase but finding it impossible on the shifting ground.

“Luke, stop!” a voice answered, bringing a pause to his struggling.

“Dad?” Luke stopped moving long enough to turn and see his father looking down at him. Tears sprang to Luke’s eyes. He buried his face in Matt’s shirt. “Why are you here?”

Matt hugged his son fiercely. “I came for you. What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going to swim far away. I have to so nobody will get hurt.”

Matt kneeled down to meet Luke’s eyes. “That’s why you came here?”

Luke nodded. “I figured a bomb won’t work in water.”

“Luke, listen to me. You’re not going to hurt anyone. I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“It’s not your fault, Dad.”

“Listen to me!” Matt insisted. “I will always protect you. I promised your mom I would and I am never going back on that promise. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Luke said softly.

“But I can’t do it without you, buddy. We’re all we’ve got in this whole world.” Luke sagged against him. “We came to this beach with Mom.”

Luke nodded. “I want to go home,” he looked up and told his father. “Can we just go home?” Luke knew the answer before Matt spoke it aloud.

“Not yet,” Matt said. He helped Luke to his feet, brushing off the sand that covered his clothes. “Let’s get back to the car. Then we’ll talk.”

Together, they made their way back up the small winding path that led back up to the road. As they crested the top, Matt immediately knew something was wrong. The Porsche lay abandoned, its doors thrust open to the night.

“Ashley?” Matt called out to the air.

“I failed to find her, too. Guess she finally gave up on you.”

Matt spun to see the police car pressed against the scrub at the side of the road. At its driver side door was John, a gun leveled at Matt’s chest. “You have made this quite difficult, Weatherly.”

Matt reached behind him and whipped up his own gun to meet John’s. “It’s over, John,” he said, fingering the trigger.

“Wrong. It is not over until my mission is complete. And I will let you know when that moment comes.”

“I’m not doing what you say anymore.”

John nodded as if he expected this. Keeping his gun trained on them, he reached behind to open the back door of the squad car and motioned with his head. Behind him, a wide-eyed middle-aged man climbed out, his hands held high. John grabbed him so that he was pressed against his side.

“Dad-” Luke whispered.

“Close your eyes, Luke,” his father answered in his own whisper. Luke did, pressing his face against Matt’s shirt.

“Matt,” John said in his eerily calm voice, “I would like you to meet…what’s your name again?”

“Joseph, sir.”

“Joseph, right. I saw him walking on the side of the road. Thought maybe he could use a ride. Where were you going, Joseph?”

“The bus stop,” the man replied in a shaky voice. “I clean offices downtown.”

“Enough of this,” Matt growled.

John’s head snapped in Matt’s direction. “Enough of this? You are right, Matt. I have had enough of this.” He turned back to Joseph, whose mouth was twitching in fear. “How many kids did you say you have?”

“I’ve got two. They-” A gunshot rang out, silencing Joseph’s further words. He slumped to the ground, a bullet hole placed neatly in the side of his throat.

Matt clutched Luke as John kicked Joseph’s body to the side and stepped over it, blood splashing on to the cuffs of his pants. The gun was brought back up to cover both Weatherlys.

“Do you understand, Matt? He was an innocent man. And you killed him because of your stupid detour. This ends. Now. We have one more server to bring down and then it’s over. You can have the injection that will cure your precious boy and I will be gone. If not,” he jerked his head back towards Joseph’s body which lie in a pool of crimson. “More of this.”

Matt shut his eyes against the insanity. Somewhere inside, he knew that John would keep killing. This night needed to end and he was the only one who could end it. Yet, if he were the bargaining chip, then he was not finished negotiating.

He glared back at John. “I’ll go.”

“How sensible of you.”

“On one condition.”

“Certainly, you do not think you are in a position to negotiate.”

“I want the antidote for Luke now.”

John shook his head. “Afraid not.”

“Then how do I know you’re not bluffing?”

“You do not.”

Matt nodded, as if expecting this. “Luke, go sit in the car.” Luke scampered towards the Porsche, John’s eyes tracking him.

“You made the right decision,” John said. He noticed that Matt was inching backwards. “What are you doing?”

Matt did not answer, extending his arms out from his sides. His feet now hugged the edges of the cliff. Waves pounded against the jagged rocks thirty feet below him.

“Give him the antidote or I jump,” Matt said.

“Now who is bluffing?” John countered.

Matt responded by adjusting his heels so that they hung over the edge. Pebbles skittered in their wake, falling down the steep drop. “If I die, you can’t complete your mission.”

“I can cut off your hand after you fall.”

“If you could do that, you would have done it hours ago. You and I both know you need live body heat for the finger scan to work. Another layer of security.” He scooted back. “Clock is ticking, John.”

“You would die and leave your son alone?”

“Why not? He’ll be dead soon anyway, thanks to you.”

Matt could see that had gotten through to John. The wheels inside the murderer’s head were practically visible to him.

At last, John reached into his pocket. He withdrew a small glass vial filled with an amber liquid. “Fine. Here it is.” He tossed it towards Matt who snatched it from the air as he stepped off his small ledge. Rushing to the car, he ripped off the plastic covering of the needle.

“Luke, give me your arm.” Luke did as instructed, proffering his vein. Matt jabbed it in and depressed the plunger. He waited for any sign of a negative response but there was none. After a minute, Luke looked up at him with clear eyes.

“I think I’m okay, Dad.”

Matt reached for him but was pulled backwards. “Time to go,” John’s voice said behind him. He was thrown to the ground towards the police car.

“Luke,” Matt started to say as he started to get up. Before he could react, John’s black boot caught him in the cheek, sending him back down again. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as his vision blurred.

“The time for talking is over,” John said, hooking his hands beneath Matt’s arms and dragging him to the car. He tossed him in the passenger side, then climbed in behind the wheel.

Matt’s head cleared for a moment to look at John. “Ironic how you wanted to save Luke’s life,” John sneered. “When he will be dead soon anyway.”

Matt was about to respond when John slammed the butt of his gun into his forehead. There were no more things to wonder about. His world was a sea of blackness.

J
ason and Emma sprinted down the hallway, klaxons blaring in their ears. As they rounded the corner that would lead them to Cameron Allen’s office, Jason brought them to a halt. He pressed Emma back against the wall and joined her side. Peeking around the corner, he nodded.

“All clear,” he told her.

“We should still have a few minutes before the locks disengage. No doubt Griggs is working on overriding them but he won’t be able to do it.” She moved forward but Jason stopped her with a hand.

“Tell me why we’re going to see Cameron,” he said.

She hesitated. At last, she admitted, “We had a date.”

Jason responded with a confused look.

“It wasn’t really a date,” she continued, flustered now. “I mean, I didn’t realize it was until too late. He’s pretty much hated me ever since.”

“And you think one bad date is enough to turn him into a traitor?”

Emma shook her head. “No, but I think it’s enough to let someone else convince him to do something that would make me look bad. Cameron is the one that developed the internal cell phone tracking program for me. Only he could manipulate the data to make it look like I’m guilty.” She glanced at her watch. “We’ve got to move.”

Jason nodded his agreement and the pair made their way towards the open door of Cameron’s office.

“So if Cameron isn’t the mastermind, who do you think is?”

“Griggs,” she answered simply. “He’s had it out for me from day one.”

“You think a five-star general wants to bring down one of the nation’s defense systems?” Jason asked incredulously.

“To prove that he’s right, yes I do. Think about it – if my system is proven flawed, then he would be back in control of the NIA while I would be rotting in a federal prison for the rest of my life.”

“I don’t know, Emma.”

They reached the office door, finding it slightly ajar. “Let’s find out together then,” Emma said. She reached for the door handle as Jason withdrew his sidearm. Expelling a breath to steady herself, Emma gently pushed the door open.

Her scream came instantly as her senses were assaulted by the scene.

Blood splattered the walls and desk. Cameron Allen’s body lay crumpled on the floor, having toppled from his chair. A crimson pool spread from beneath arms, where a half-eaten Snickers bar was still clutched in one hand. Emma felt Jason’s arms suddenly around her, his voice in her ear.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he was saying soothingly.

Emma turned her head away from the gruesome tableau, her stomach threatening to empty itself on the tile floor. She forced herself to bury the revulsion. The clock was still ticking and if she had any hope of finding the answers she needed, she would have to find them quickly.

She pulled away from Jason and headed to Cameron’s keyboard. Her fingers flew over the blood-slicked keys as she resolutely stared beyond the cracked monitor in front of her.

“Emma, it’s over. Let’s get out of here,” Jason was saying behind her.

She ignored him, at last bringing up what she needed on one of Cameron’s side monitors – Cameron’s personal files. Months ago, she had discovered them in a routine examination of all personnel’s desktops. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she had not investigated further. She knew now, though, that what she needed lay somewhere buried within those files.

“Emma,” Jason was trying to get her attention.