One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [177]
Kurt interjected, “Mainly because the terrorist put all his faith in the spores and didn’t embed any shrapnel in the explosive. He also knew what he was doing. He kept the explosive power low to prevent burning up the WMD material, which worked in our favor, especially when his own body lessened the blast radius. If he had set off a conventional bomb with higher explosives and shrapnel, we probably would have had the same amount of casualties, so the story’s plausible.”
The president continued. “If he had made it to Israel, and had been able to implicate the Iranians, it would have caused immediate retaliation. He would’ve killed hundreds, and Israel would have feared a second strike. Unlike Bosnia, they wouldn’t have asked for our help or listened to any pleadings of restraint. Trust me, the WMD was real. Real enough to get us into World War Three.”
“Okay ... I guess that’s good news.... Wait, that didn’t come out right. I mean I’m glad the effort was worth it. I couldn’t live with Ethan’s death on my conscience if this was all for nothing.”
She squeezed my hands, her face now alive, the broken look gone. “Ahh ... this is a bit much to take in all at once. I’m not sure why I’m here. What do you need from me?”
The president spoke again. “Nothing. We were meeting here to discuss the repercussions of the whole affair when you landed. I asked for you to come here simply to thank you. You have immeasurably helped the country, and quite possibly the world. Your perseverance deserves my thanks as the representative of the American people.” He gave his winning campaign smile. “That’s all I wanted to say. If there’s any way I can help you, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Jennifer winked at me, then smiled at the president with all the charm she could muster—which was substantial. Uh-oh.
“Well, sir, I appreciate it. I really do. Unfortunately, I promised Pike I was going to kick someone’s ass in the U.S. government for leaving us hanging out there. I suppose I should start with you. Can you help with that?”
I closed my eyes. I cannot believe she just said that. When I opened them again I saw a roomful of the most powerful people on earth looking anywhere but at her. I could tell she was enjoying this immensely. She continued. “Then again, you guys did do the right thing in the end, so maybe I’ll let it go. I guess all’s well that ends well.”
I squeezed her arm a little harder than was necessary, trying to shut her up before she did some real damage.
“Hey, guess what?” I said. “The folks you want to beat up took care of our little problem in Charleston. We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
I thought she was going to rip into the rest of the group just for the enjoyment, and prayed she wouldn’t. She grinned at me and said, “Okay, then, how about a nice hotel room?”
The room broke into relieved laughter. The president said, “I think I can manage that.”
He grew serious again. “Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate your time, but I have a press conference in an hour. I can’t thank you enough for your service.”
The meeting broke up with people shaking hands and saying good-bye. Shortly we found ourselves outside, me hobbling along on my broken ankle with Jennifer trying unsuccessfully to help. Eventually, everyone was gone and it was just us. She looked around, noticing we were alone.
“Where are we going? Better yet, how are we getting there?”
I said, “I guess we go hail a cab.”
“Wow,” she said, “that thank-you didn’t last very long.”
Jennifer began walking toward the gate with me hobbling along beside her, when someone shouted behind us.
“Jennifer ... Pike?”
“Yes.”
“The