Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [106]
Well, that cinched it, Alex thought. General Jose Luis Garaldo was crazy. Certifiably insane. He would never be able to make his mad plan a reality.
But in attempting it, he might kill hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of innocent people, in the U.S. and Mexico both. If he got his hands on that new nerve gas—the very existence of which Alex still struggled to grasp—there was no telling how much damage he might do before he was stopped.
And there was just the slimmest of chances that he might succeed, at least in blackmailing the U.S. into ceding the southwestern states back to Mexico.
After all, nobody with any sense would have dreamed that the President could get away with as much as he already had.
Garaldo spread his hands. “So, Chief Bonner, now you know what I intend to do. You can see that your only choice is to cooperate with me.”
Alex glanced again at the gun on the desk. Cooperating wasn’t her only choice, not at all. She could still make a play for the pistol. If she could get her hands on it, she could kill Garaldo, even though it would surely cost her her own life a moment later when his men rushed in. But without their leader, could the plan go forward?
That was a chance she might have to take.
Garaldo raised a finger. “I can see what you are thinking, Chief. I beg you, consider not only your own life, but those of the citizens of Home.”
“What are you talking about? “ Alex asked tightly.
“My intention is to leave them alive when my men and I pull out later today. But I would not have to be merciful. In fact, it might be good to have a small field test of the nerve gas….”
Alex went cold all over. “You wouldn’t,” she said. “That would be cold-blooded murder.”
“No. It would be the first act in a long-overdue war. “ Garaldo shrugged. “Anyway, what makes you think I would hesitate at cold-blooded murder?”
He had a point there. Still, every fiber of Alex’s being itched to make a grab for that gun….
And she might have, if the ground hadn’t suddenly jumped under them from the force of an explosion that shook the whole town.
It was a minor seismic disturbance, barely enough to make the needles on the gauges wobble. But on this particular day, that was just enough to trigger a red flag and send an e-mail. That e-mail prompted a technician in the basement room that didn’t officially exist to tap some keys on his computer terminal and call up current surveillance satellite footage for the area of West Texas where the ground had shaken briefly a few moments earlier. The tech frowned at what he saw as he zoomed in.
That resulted in a phone call to the Chief of Staff, one of the few people who knew this room existed. He was so disturbed by what he heard that he came down to the basement himself to look at the footage.
Then he rushed upstairs.
“Sir?”
“What is it, Geoff? I’m getting ready to go play golf with the Speaker of the House. She won’t like it if I’m late.”
The Chief of Staff swallowed hard. “It appears that something is happening in Home, sir.”
“Home? The place where we took away their guns?”
“The town that’s sitting right on the route out of Casa del Diablo. You know what’s happening today—”
The President turned sharply and held up his hand to stop the Chief of Staff. “I don’t know anything,” he said.
“Yes, sir, I realize the plan is maximum deniability, and that’s why we’ve committed so few resources to the operation, for the sake of secrecy and not calling attention to it, but—”
“But nothing. Don’t tell me anymore.”
The Chief of Staff knew what he was risking, but he had to do it. He had to speak.
“Sir, it appears that a military force of some kind has occupied and taken over Home.