Page 137 of Wrecked
“Ding, ding, ding. A winner. Finally, you came up with a clever thought.” He grinned with true delight. “Everyone knows my persona as Senator Turner was hated by this elusive W villain. Notice I used the word villain for your enjoyment.”
She’d enjoy a chance to use a move that would break his neck. Instead, she said, “It’s a nice touch.” She looked around and guessed they had eight more floors to go.
The air became cooler up here with a front moving in.
She could feel the building sway.
“Where was I?” he asked no one in particular. He wasn’t even looking at her.
“You were going to tell me why this attack is far more brilliant and creative than the others.” She realized he had not mentioned someone. “What about Kovac? How can he be involved in this? If so, you discovered a capability in him I never knew existed.”
“Kovac is a tool. One step above a blunt weapon. He’s greedy.”
“Agreed.”
“His greed and shipping empire aided me in facilitating this project. It’s how I covertly moved a new secret Chinese submarine from the coast of Africa to sit three hundred miles off the coast of Pennsylvania. It rests on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean hidden beneath one of Kovac’s container ships. In fact, the submarine sailed beneath the container ship the entire way once they crossed paths. This has been one of my most amazing ideas. Sadly, that brilliance will never be discovered once China and the US go to war.”
He possessed both sides of the knife blade known as insanity and intelligence.
She had no words. The senator had shocked her beyond speech. Kovac had voluntarily aided a terrorist. Worse than a terrorist, this man was single-handedly going to destroy the world when two superpowers clashed.
Forcing herself not to start screaming at his insanity, she said, “That’s a hell of a plan.”
He preened.
Being that he’d charmed so many, he might actually be a psychopath. He was so proud of himself.
“How’d you get a Chinese submarine out of China’s hands?”
The elevator stopped six floors short of the top.
Her heart thumped in fear. She’d strode into dangerous situations to save children, but like any sane person, she did not want to die.
She wanted to be assured Phoebe had escaped.
She wanted another day with Sam, or a million days.
Coop had been right about one thing. She’d wasted too much of her life with her head down working and keeping any potential relationship at a distance.
Sam had blasted past her walls.
She knew what it felt like to have that one person, the only person, she’d want to spend a lifetime with.
On the other hand, she would die here. Why put someone like Sam in the position of losing her?
Always confident, he would dismiss that and tell her he would not lose her.
Even Sam couldn’t save her now.
“Walk.” The senator waved his phone toward the exit side.
She watched for sharp objects like nails or industrial staples to avoid even though her feet had plenty of cuts she couldn’t think about.
Thankfully, someone had laid a plywood floor up here where it appeared meetings were held on-site. She entered a huge room with two large rectangular holes on each side for picture windows but no glass. A corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows for the person who had made it halfway up the prestigious ladder to the top of a business.
Wind howled around the building and swept through quickly, lifting dust particles.
Standing near a window opening, she could see shorter buildings, a crane, lots of trees, and cars moving at a normal pace. People living their lives with no idea of the malevolence surrounding them.
