“Mr. Secretary, you’ve got to stop this!” I yelled. I glanced up at the countdown and saw it pass through one minute. “If my story doesn’t check out, you can restart the countdown.”
Someone pressed my face into the floor.
“Shut the hell up!” a voice commanded.
It would take more than that to make me shut up. “This is our national security we’re talking about. Surely it’s worth checking out.”
“Can we get these people out of here?” a voice shouted. I was pretty sure it was the four-star general who’d been sitting near Kavanagh. “And let’s get this machine online.”
I felt strong hands lift me up, and I was frogmarched toward the blast door. Fuller and the sergeant were pushed ahead of me.
“Hold on there,” Secretary Carver said. “Someone switch this thing off.”
I glanced round and saw him gesture at the countdown.
“The man’s right. One last check won’t hurt. And if he’s wrong, we just start it up again. No harm no foul. It’s not like anyone’s got anywhere more important to be.”
There was a ripple of laughter, and the mood lightened, but I noticed two people who weren’t smiling: Ann Kavanagh and Veles.
“Mr. Secretary—” the four-star general began.
“Indulge me, general. Let’s hear what this Mr. Morgan has to say,” Carver cut him off.
The blast door opened, and Corpor
al Ryan entered with Hector and Dinara.
“More guests?” Secretary Carver remarked. “Why not? The more the merrier.”
Another ripple of laughter ran through the audience, but it stopped when the first gunshots rang out.
Six members of Ann Kavanagh’s entourage were on their feet, wielding handguns and shooting at the nearest Marine guards and Secret Service agents. Kavanagh ran behind the podium, while Veles leaped onto it, grabbed Carver and took him hostage.
I watched in horror as the Russian assassin disappeared behind the large swirling Stars and Stripes. He followed Kavanagh, dragging the US Secretary of Defense with him.
CHAPTER 110
THE CROWD SCATTERED as the firefight intensified between members of Kavanagh’s entourage and the Marine guards and Secret Service agents. Screams filled the air, punctuated by semi-automatic gunfire. Jack and the two Marines with him were released and the men who’d been holding them captive joined the shootout.
“Fuller!” Jack yelled. “With me!”
He set off with Fuller in pursuit. The other Marine who was with them took a couple of paces, and was shot in the shoulder.
“Help him,” Dinara said to Hector, who nodded and rushed to the fallen man’s side.
Dinara ducked as she set off after Jack. He and Fuller ran round the seating area, behind the podium and down an access corridor that led away from the auditorium. They were chasing Kavanagh and Veles, who was being slowed by dragging a struggling man at gunpoint. A Secret Service agent was also chasing them. The agent was twenty or thirty paces ahead of Jack and Fuller, and Dinara was twenty paces behind them.
“Stop!” the Secret Service agent yelled.
Veles opened fire in reply, and hit the man in the leg. The agent went down as Kavanagh reached a security door. She opened it with a swipe card, and Veles unleashed a couple of wild shots, forcing Jack, Fuller and Dinara to take cover behind columns that lined the corridor walls.
When Dinara broke cover, Kavanagh, Veles and the hostage were gone, the security door was closed, and Jack and Fuller were beside the fallen Secret Service agent.
“Veles,” Dinara observed as she joined them.
Jack nodded. “And Kavanagh. I think they’re going for the servers. Can they switch the system on from in there?”
“I don’t know,” Fuller replied. “We can’t wait here to find out, but if someone doesn’t stay with this man, he’s going to bleed out.”