A Heartbeat Away - Michael Palmer [58]
“Did you have strong visual of the target?” Cain asked.
“Dead on,” Fink said. “Beard. Thin. He’s the bloke we saw arrive in the Marine chopper, all right. Heavily guarded, too, right until he entered the helicopter. Then he got aboard alone and the bird carrying him lifted off from the south lawn just as you told us it would. We were in position prior to liftoff and engaged without incident.”
“Nice work,” Cain replied. “That man had the potential to be a serious fly in the ointment.”
Fink chuckled.
“You pay for the best, you get the best.”
“We have a couple more pieces of business on our plate. The first of them involves our inside man from the Capitol. His name’s Tannen. The president knows now that he was working for us.”
“None of this would have been possible without him.”
“That’s true,” Cain said, “but now I’m afraid he’s become something of a liability.”
“Funny coincidence,” Fink said, punching his cohort on the deltoid. “Señor Ramirez, here, was just telling me he’s starved for action.”
“In that case, you guys work something out. Tannen’s stashed in a Motel Six south of Alexandria. He’s expecting a ride west. He has a place in the Smokies and a cousin there who’s going to help get him out of the country. You’ll both split Tannen’s share once he’s dealt with.”
“Sweet,” Ramirez said.
“No hill without gravestones, no valley without shadows,” Fink said, quoting a South African proverb he had learned from his father. “You said there were other pieces of business?”
“It’s time we moved to phase two, and let the president know what our demands are in exchange for a truce, and maybe even the treatment for that virus.”
“I thought there was no treatment for that virus.”
“As long as Allaire believes there might be, we’re in a good position. And now, thanks to that shot of yours, his options have been greatly reduced. In fact, I believe that at the moment, we’re now the only hope he has.”
“If there’s anything we can do to get those demands to them, just say the word.”
“Well, as a matter of fact, there might be. Before the cameras and listening devices went dead, Ramirez, there, picked up enough chatter to know that the chaos inside the Capitol is increasing. He also sent me enough audio and video segments so that we are certain President Allaire has picked himself up an enemy—a serious, powerful enemy, who is bent on bringing him down. Once you two have taken care of that business at the Motel Six, get back to me. We’re putting together a package that we’ve decided to get to that person. From what you’ve seen, do you think you could get close enough to send it inside the Capitol?”
“I believe so,” Fink said. “Right now, the chaos inside the building can’t be any worse than the chaos we encountered outside. That’s all we need.”
“Excellent. The package should be waiting when you and Ramirez get back from Virginia.”
“Mind if I inquire who the package is for?” Fink asked.
For several seconds there was silence. The mercenary feared he might have overstepped his bounds. Cain paid his salary and those of his men, but the man made it clear at the outset that Genesis would share information only on a need-to-know basis, and would respond harshly to any employee who questioned them.
“Well,” Cain replied finally, “you’ve done well by us, Fink, and you, too, Ramirez. Our new ally-to-be, and spokesperson, provided we can get her to cooperate, will be Ursula Ellis, the speaker of the house.”
“Quite a looker, that one,” Fink said. “I know exactly who she is.”
CHAPTER 26
DAY 3
12:30 P.M. (CST)
The corrugated steel hangar was carefully constructed to conceal the entrance to the Kalvesta Biosafety Level 4 facility. In one of its previous incarnations, the massive Quonset-style structure had been part of an Air Force training center. The government left behind the skeletons of a few decommissioned aircraft to convince any trespassers who snuck by the small security contingent that the facility contained nothing of any great