“Mr. Prentice,”Kord said, nodding deferentially to General Archer and the two other security agents in the room, “we know what you and Mr. Hunter did tonight. Our cameras picked you up as you exited the building. We saw you go through the tunnel, and we know that you used Ms. Mitchell’s card to enter the computer room in the Treasury Building.”
Daniel Prentice lifted a brow. “Congratulations. So why are we here?”
Kord clenched his mouth tighter. “You are here because your actions may have jeopardized the financial computer network we have labored to put together. So tell us—what did you do in that computer room?”
“You saw it.” Prentice’s eyes hardened in a challenge. “You tell me what I did.”
Kord drew a long, quivering breath, struggling to master the passion that shook him. Such American arrogance! These braggarts thought they knew everything. They flouted their own laws and taunted their authorities.
General Archer pulled himself off the wall and leaned on the antique table before Prentice and Mitchell. “We saw you key into the mainframe; it’s all on the surveillance video. But you know what happened next— Hunter covered the cameras. So why don’t you make things easy on all of us and tell us what you did.”
Daniel smiled and slipped his arm around the woman’s shoulders. “I’d be delighted to tell you, General Archer. I typed the directory command.” He sent a guileless smile winging around the room. “I wanted to check the directory contents. That’s all. The program scrolled through the files, then I shut it down. No big deal.”
General Archer looked at Kord as if to say, Satisfied? But the German shook his head. “Nein!” he roared, clenching his teeth. “You do not speak the truth!”
“I beg your pardon, I most certainly do.” Daniel tugged on his bow tie as if the entire interrogation were nothing but an annoying irritation.
“You expect me to believe you did not damage the computers?” Kord spat out the words. “Do you take me for a fool?”
“Never, General Herrick.” Prentice’s suddenly cold eyes sniped at him. “I would never underestimate an enemy—that would be a fatal mistake.”
His eyes shifted to Archer. “You see, gentlemen, I’ve been doing some research over the past few weeks. Do you recall the tragic explosion that killed Mrs. Stedman? General Herrick was in Los Angeles at the time, but you, General Archer, were here, at the White House, on a bright and beautiful Sunday morning.” One of Prentice’s brows lifted. “I checked the computer security logs. You had not appeared at the White House on a Sunday in eight weeks, but you showed up that morning, just in time to plant the device General Herrick had left for you.”
Archer’s face contorted in a grimace of pain, as if Prentice had slapped him across the face. “Liar! You could never prove that!”
“I don’t need to.” Lauren Mitchell’s face had gone pale, but Prentice continued, his sharp gaze moving around the room. “General Archer knew about Mrs. Stedman’s heart condition, too. He had access to the family quarters, and he planted the medicine that the president supposedly took by accident. But nitroglycerin is a fast-acting drug, and the only way the president could have ingested it is if someone put it in the coffee cup he sipped from after he addressed the nation regarding Adrian Romulus’s warning about the missing nukes.”
“Daniel.” Lauren Mitchell’s hand trembled as she reached out to touch his arm. “You’ve got to say something. You’ve got to tell the president—”
“I can’t, Lauren.” Prentice gave her the briefest of glances, then met Archer’s eyes again. “I can’t prove it. And the way I discovered these things—well, it’s not exactly legal. We could never use any of the information in a formal proceeding, but I have taken pains to be certain it is recorded. If anything unfortunate should happen to the president, Brad, Lauren, or me, the information will be released to the world.”
Prentice glared at Archer with the ears-back look male dogs give each other before deciding to fight. Kord glanced at Archer, then snorted in contempt. The American general’s face glistened with tiny pearls of sweat. The coward.
“Mr. Prentice,” Kord suppressed his anger under the cloak of indifference, “your assumptions are completely off the mark. I don’t know what sort of conspiracy rubbish you have been reading, but—”
“I’ve been reading your e-mail communications, General Herrick, as well as General Archer’s.” Prentice lifted his chin and met Kord’s gaze straight on. “We broke your encryption codes last month. I must say, the reports to and from Paris and Brussels have been very interesting.” He tilted his head slightly. “Did you know, Herrick, that Romulus plans to elevate Archer above you in the new global community?”
Kord felt himself trembling all over, and a heat in his chest and belly he recognized for the pure rage it was. This American was mocking him! He was lying, but like most effective lies, he had hit upon Kord’s deepest fear, as irrational as it was.
Kord drew a deep breath, stilling the spasmodic trembling within him. Prentice knew everything, and he had done something tonight, something dark and dangerous. Both he and Hunter were skillful and devious, but Prentice was a genius, and that intelligence was to be feared.
The door abruptly burst open, and Kord took a hasty back step when President Stedman walked into the room, followed by Adrian Romulus.
“What in blazes is the meaning of this?” Stedman roared, his eyes snapping with more energy than he had displayed in months. The president’s gaze fell upon the trembling woman, and his mouth quirked. “Lauren, honey—are you okay? What’s going on here?”
“Mr. President.” Lauren Mitchell stood to her feet, and her voice wavered as she tried to answer. “General Herrick has accused Daniel of doing something to the Treasury Department’s computers. Daniel has explained that he and Brad Hunter merely went over there to check the directory of the mainframes, but General Herrick remains unconvinced of Daniel’s good intentions.”
The president’s eyes darkened like angry thunderclouds as he swung around to face Kord. “General Herrick, why are you interrogating my people?”
“Sir.” Kord lifted his chin and snapped to attention. “Prentice is deceitful. We have a video record of Mr. Prentice and Mr. Hunter in the Financial Crimes Computer Center. At one point, Mr. Hunter blocked the lenses of both cameras, so we are unable to see what Mr. Prentice was doing. We can only assume that he was up to some mischief with the computer systems.”
Taking a deep, unsteady breath, the president turned to Daniel Prentice. “Well, sir?” He spoke as if he were strangling on repressed epithets. “What have you to say about this?”
Daniel Prentice stood and lowered his head in a deep gesture of respect. “The honest truth, Mr. President, is that Mr. Hunter and I used Miss Mitchell’s courier card to access the computer room. Mr. Hunter is a senior NSA officer, so of course we knew that we were under surveillance the entire time. Our purpose was simple—I wanted to check the computers one final time before our computers link with the European systems on New Year’s Eve. I haven’t been to Washington in some weeks, and do not anticipate returning before the new year.”
The president nodded thoughtfully. “Was it really necessary to block the cameras?”
Prentice smiled and thrust his hands into his pockets. “Would you, sir, feel comfortable with someone peering over your shoulder as you worked? I have proved my loyalty to this country.” Prentice’s gaze shifted and met Kord’s. “I don’t need to be spied upon.”
The president turned to General Archer. “Have you found any damage to the computers over there?”
Archer blanched. “No, sir. But we haven’t had a chance to examine them completely.”
“Well.” The president nodded and thrust his hands behind his back. “If some problem does arise, I assume you know whom to call in order to fix it. As for me, I believe Mr. Prentice. I’ve known him for some time, and he has had White House security clearance for months. If Miss Mitchell vouches for his character, that’s v
alidation enough for me.”
The President’s gaze shifted toward Adrian Romulus. “And as for you, Mr. Romulus, I’d take it as a personal favor if you’d remind your security people that this is still the United States of America, a sovereign nation, and this is the people’s house. Your security agents have been allowed on these premises in order to protect you, not to meddle in our affairs.”
Stedman looked to General Archer, who stood silently in the corner. “General Archer, perhaps a pair of your men can see General Herrick to his hotel now. I believe it’s time to break up this little party.”
Seething with humiliation and anger, Kord stiffened beneath Stedman’s gaze. No one had ever spoken to him in that tone, and no one had ever dared to order Romulus about. This pasty-faced president was nothing, only a figurehead, but he did not have the sense to realize it.
“You fool!” The words flew from Kord’s lips like stones. “Have you no idea whom you are addressing?”
As a tense silence enveloped the room, Kord realized he had said too much. A man who could not control his tongue did not deserve to control others, but surely Adrian would forgive—
“Calm yourself, General Herrick.” Romulus’s low voice rang with reproach, then Adrian smiled at President Stedman. “You must forgive my security officer,Mr. President. The general has not been himself for several days; I’m afraid he encountered a light case of food poisoning. He spent several hours in an emergency room, and I fear he is rather fixated on hospitals at the moment.”
Lies, lies, all lies, but Stedman did not see through them.
“The man is a disgrace.” The president’s disapproving eyes peered out at Kord from deep sockets like caves of bone.
“I believe he has spoken and acted only out of concern for our pending Millennium Treaty.” Romulus now spoke in a pleasant voice, hypnotically lilting. “In the interest of peace and cooperation, why don’t we put this unfortunate incident behind us?”
Apparently somewhat mollified, the president nodded. “Fine. But I want it understood that you must leave my people alone. We have agreed to enter into a cooperative association on January first, but at this moment you are still standing on the sovereign shores of the United States of America.”
“Of course we are.” Romulus turned his gaze from the president to Prentice, and Kord saw the tightening cheek muscles that turned Romulus’s smile from a social grace to a rictus of necessity. “And if there should prove to be some problem with the computers in the Treasury Department, Mr. Prentice, can we count on you to correct the problem?”
Prentice’s face split in an arrogant smile as he met Kord’s gaze. “Indubitably, Mr. Romulus.” He turned his eyes back to Romulus. “It would be my pleasure—provided I’m available. I’m planning to take an extended honeymoon trip. Tonight I have asked Miss Mitchell to marry me, and she has accepted.”
“Really?” A smile gathered up the wrinkles by the president’s mouth. “Now that is good news! Come, you two, and tell me all about it!”
And with that, the American president escorted the prisoners out of the room and down the hall. Kord, Romulus, and Archer watched them go. A trace of laughter lined Romulus’s voice as he turned toward the doorway. “General, are you ready to leave for the ambassador’s residence? Apparently we have overstayed our welcome here.”
In the limo, Romulus spoke in a quiet and controlled voice. “Don’t worry, General Herrick. If we need Prentice, we will find him. A man of his stature leaves a large footprint.”
“He knows everything.” Archer spoke in a suffocated whisper. “What will we do? He could go to the media, he could ruin things—”
“He will say nothing.” Romulus crossed his arms, then caressed his throat with his fingertips. “Mr. Prentice cannot accuse us without implicating himself in our work. After all, he did give us the Millennium Chip.”
Romulus put the matter aside with sudden good humor. He smiled cruelly, ice in his eyes. “General Herrick, consider your previous orders now amended. I had asked you to invite Mr. Prentice to join our team—I no longer want him. When you are certain he caused no harm to the Treasury computers, eliminate him, and let that be the end of it.”
“It will be a pleasure, sir.” Kord crossed his arms and stared out the window at the brilliantly lit Capitol building, his rage fading as he thought about the satisfaction he would take when he met Daniel Prentice again.
THIRTY-FOUR
10:17 P.M., Thursday, December 23, 1999
A CHILLY WIND BLEW THROUGH DANIEL’S COAT AS HE AND LAUREN STEPPED OUT into the night air. He looked at her thin evening wrap, then slipped out of his coat and draped it around her shoulders. Despite the cold, warmth permeated his being as he put his arm around her waist and ran with her to his rented car.
They fell into the car, laughing, and Daniel paused to rake his hand through his hair before turning to her. He’d gathered the courage to plant the device and win the woman of his dreams, and the fact that he’d experienced two unimaginable successes left him feeling more than a little giddy.
“Well?” he asked,meeting her eyes for the first time since their narrow escape from Herrick. “Shall we seize the moment?”
Her eyes widened with understanding. “You mean—now?”
“Yeah.” Slowly, he reached out and took her hand, then gently chafed her cold fingers with his own. “Honey, they’re not going to let go. The president saved us back there, but Herrick has agents scattered throughout the country. They know I did something, and they know the clock is ticking. They’re not going to let us just walk away.”
“But you said you had the information recorded. I thought we’d be safe—”
“I’m sorry, Lauren, but that was a bluff. I just wanted to buy us time to get away.”
She took a deep breath, then her blue eyes blazed into his. “Okay. Let’s go to my place. I’ll pack a bag and pick up the dog, then we can get the license and find a preacher.”
“The dog?” Daniel’s brows lifted in pretended horror as he started the car. “I’m marrying a dog, too?”
“For better or worse, remember?” Lauren leaned toward him and lightly kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry. She’s a good guard dog, and you just might appreciate that in a few days—”
Daniel smothered her last words with his lips, returning her kiss in earnest. Her nearness sent a wave of warmth along his nerves, and it was with difficulty that he pulled away after a moment and rested his forehead against hers.
“Dog, license, preacher, honeymoon,” he whispered, his heart slamming into his ribs as her warm breath fanned his face. “Do we have to stick to that order?”
“’Fraid so, love.” Her fingertip came to rest upon his lower lip. “And we’d better get moving. Herrick will know where I live, and he knows you’re with me.”
Spurred to action, Daniel kissed her once more, then released her, put the car in reverse, and pulled out of the parking space. She was right; Herrick and his men wouldn’t scratch their heads for long. “Let’s get the dog and whatever you need,” he said, turning out of the parking area, “then wake up a justice of the peace. He can issue a license and marry us—”
“I’d rather get the license, then wake up my pastor.” She snapped her seat belt, a beatific smile lighting her perfect face. “Let’s go.”
Two hours later, Lauren stood in her pastor’s living room, her hands in Daniel’s, her eyes intent upon his face. Mixed feelings surged through her. She had no doubt that she was marrying the right man, a good man, but she couldn’t deny that she was moving into the unknown. Daniel had committed high treason against Adrian Romulus tonight, and Romulus and his cronies knew it. Whether they would discover exactly what Daniel had done remained to be seen, but the gauntlet had been thrown down. Lauren knew General Herrick would eventually rise to the challenge.
The bleary-eyed minister paused and looked at Lauren. “Is there anything you would like to say to each other?” Reverend Scarborough had the sort of round, cheerfu
l face whose natural expression was a smile, but even he had been caught off guard by Lauren’s knock at the door. They had awakened his household at one-thirty in the morning, after a quick trip to Lauren’s townhouse and a visit to a justice of the peace across the border in Virginia, where blood tests weren’t required and there was no waiting period for a marriage license. At first the official had sputtered and flatly refused to issue a license, but after Daniel flashed an obscene amount of cash, the man relented.
Now Rev. James Scarborough stood before them in house slippers, a pair of plaid shorts, and a Washington Redskins jersey. His wife, wide-eyed and frowning, wore a terry cloth robe and sat in a corner wing chair with their sleeping two-year-old in her arms.
“Yes, pastor, I would like to say something.” Lauren smiled up into Daniel’s eyes. “Daniel Prentice, I have come to respect, appreciate, and understand you. And in the time we have known each other, God has moved in my heart; he has moved me to love you. I can’t explain why or how, for both you and I know this love could be a risky business. But I’ve come to see that faith is not an intelligent understanding and calculated risk. It is a deliberate commitment to a person,” she smiled to herself, “even if I can see no earthly chance of success.”
The minister stuttered in surprise, but Daniel’s eyes flashed with humor and understanding. “Lauren Mitchell,” he answered, lightly squeezing her hands, “you are all I could ever hope for, and far more than I deserve. The fact that you are willing to stand beside me now means more than any earthly possession, achievement, or success. I freely give up whatever I must in order to be with you, . . . for as long as God allows us to be together.”
In spite of her resolve to control her emotions, Lauren’s chin wobbled and her eyes filled. She hadn’t expected Daniel to accept her faith; she knew he would have to confront God in his own time. And yet he had just proven that he was willing to meet her halfway, to respect her beliefs. And with everything in her heart she believed that Daniel would surrender his life to Christ. He had seen too much to deny God’s hand, and he would undoubtedly see more as time grew shorter.
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