Yet he did. His training told him exactly what to do.

  Launch.

  But his procedures were written during an era when nuclear attack was imminent. He was certain that wasn’t the case here. Launching without being certain was insanity. And this new voice, this Special Agent Kane, was forcing him to question everything up to this point. Yet he had to follow his training, leaving only one clear path.

  “Sir, we’ve gone beyond the failsafe window. We must turn our keys.”

  Daugherty looked at Fraser. “But the abort codes. They’re valid.”

  “Yes, sir, but protocol says we launch. We’ve gone beyond the failsafe window. We must turn our keys.”

  Daugherty stared at his key then flinched when the man claiming to be the President spoke again.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, General Parsons informs me that you’re already past your failsafe abort window. But he also informs me you can still do the right thing. Please, think about this. It’s in your hands now.”

  Daugherty looked at his partner. “What do we do?”

  “We turn our keys.”

  Daugherty shook his head. “No, it can’t be right. We know about the hacks, right?”

  Fraser shook his head. “There’s no way they could hack our system. No damned way.” Fraser jabbed a finger at the speaker. “We have no clue who that is. It could be some damned computer making someone sound like the President.”

  Daugherty nodded slowly. Fraser was right. It could be anyone. Then a thought dawned on him. “Wait! If the system can’t be hacked, then how could someone pretend to be the President?”

  Fraser’s eyes narrowed. “Huh?”

  “Think about it! The only way to communicate with us is through the system. So if the system can’t be hacked, then the launch orders are legit and this call from the President is as well.”

  Fraser paused, his head slowly bobbing. “I-I don’t know.” He removed his hand from his key and turned in his chair to face Daugherty. “I-I think you’re right.” He sucked in a deep breath then squared his shoulders. “You must be right.” He put his hand back on his key. “Turn to Safe?”

  Daugherty nodded, relief sweeping over him. “On my mark, rotate launch key to Safe. Three… two… one… mark.” He turned his key and sighed as the system status immediately changed, his missiles indicating they were standing down, millions of lives just saved.

  Fraser sounded jubilant. “Roger, key to Safe!”

  Daugherty had to talk to the others, to tell them why they had aborted so they too could hopefully make the right decision. He activated his comms. “Mr. President, this is Captain Tony Daugherty, 740th Missile Squadron in North Dakota, can you hear me?”

  “Hello, Captain Daugherty, thank you for responding.”

  “Sir, we are standing down. Umm, can you connect me to the other crews?”

  There was a pause. “You’re on, Captain.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President. This is a message for the crews out there who haven’t made up their minds yet. Some of you probably know me and my partner here from training or serving together. I’m Captain Tony Daugherty, and I’m here with Lieutenant Jon Fraser. I want you to know we are standing down, and if you have doubts, I want you to know our reason for doing so. If the system can’t be hacked, then both the initial launch orders and the President’s message must be legit. And we know they both can’t be. Therefore we must assume that the system was hacked, and if it was, there is no way the hackers would be asking us to stand down. The launch orders must be false.”

  Finished, he looked at his partner, the seconds feeling like hours, when suddenly his headset filled with dozens of overlapping voices, few words understandable, but the excitement of the strays he could catch had him slumping in his chair with relief. His fellow soldiers were standing down.

  And hundreds of millions had just been saved.

  91

  Assembly Command and Control Facility

  Short Hill Mountain, Virginia

  “Mr. President, the crews are standing down!”

  Kane exchanged an excited glance with Katz as he watched the display update, someone at the President’s location delivering the news over the networked comms.

  “All of them?” asked President Starling.

  “Yes, sir, everyone!”

  Kane dropped into one of the chairs, his shoulders slumping as the count of armed missiles rapidly dropped, eventually hitting zero. Starling’s voice came through his headset.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your faith. All crews have stood down, and our missiles are still in their silos. This crisis has been averted. Your commanding officers will be contacting you, I am sure, as soon as they can, though please remember the system is still compromised. Please be patient, and I promise you, we will bring those responsible to justice.”

  Kane sighed as the adrenaline he had been running on wore off. He glanced at Katz, resisting the urge to hug her, one look killing the idea. She simply didn’t seem to care that millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of lives, had just been saved.

  “We’ve failed.”

  Kane looked at the prisoner. “And you think that’s a bad thing?”

  The man stared at him, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe Kane didn’t see things the same way. “Of course it is! We were doing this for the betterment of mankind.”

  “By killing hundreds of millions of innocent people?”

  “Yes! To save billions more.”

  Kane shook his head. “You’re insane. You all are.”

  Katz stepped forward and put a bullet in the man’s head.

  Kane frowned, staring at her. “You really need to stop doing that.”

  Katz lowered her weapon and stared at him, her eyes narrowed. “Why? He was the enemy.”

  Kane batted a hand at her, unwilling to get into an argument with someone who simply didn’t care. He repositioned the headset. “Buddy, you still there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Any luck finding Number One?”

  “Not yet.”

  Kane checked his watch and cursed. There wasn’t much time before Katz’s window was up. He turned to her. “Please tell me where they are.”

  Katz shook her head. “You didn’t deliver on your end of the bargain. Number One is still alive.”

  “Yes, but eleven others are dead. And once we find him, we’ll kill him too.”

  “I have no guarantee that will happen.”

  Leroux’s voice came through the headset. “Dylan, pretend I’m not talking, but we just received word that Sherrie and Fang have been rescued, and so have our parents. You don’t need her anymore.”

  Kane shook his head at her then turned to face the screen. He tossed the headset casually onto the console then drew his weapon, spinning around to find Katz’s already pointed at his head. He frowned. “Well, this is awkward.”

  Katz nodded, her eyes dropping slightly to see his gun pressed against her chest.

  “So I guess now the question is who can pull the trigger the fastest?”

  She smiled slightly. “There is an alternative.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “We each go our separate ways.” She motioned with her chin toward the headset he had tossed aside. “The fact you are willing to kill me, tells me that your girlfriend has been rescued.”

  “For a woman with no emotions, you’re very intuitive.”

  “I’m driven by logic, so of course I am.”

  “I could have been told she was dead.”

  “Then your overly emotional self wouldn’t be having this perfectly rational conversation.”

  Kane nodded. “You’ve got me there.”

  “Then since I no longer have any leverage over you, and you no longer need me to save your women, I suggest we let each other go.”

  Kane couldn’t argue with the logic, and even if he could, he only had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving this encounter should he try. “Agreed.” He smiled. “So, who will lower their weapon first?”

  The answer was delivered with Katz’s usual matter-of-factness. “You will.”

  “Umm, I don’t think so.”

  She stared at him. “I’m not the emotional one here. You are.”

  Kane sighed. She was right. “Fine.” He lowered his weapon, slowly, and she mirrored his moves, both soon aimed at the floor.

  “Then we have an agreement?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. But there is one last thing I want from you.”

  Kane’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”

  She told him, and he chuckled. “I’m not sure if I can deliver on that, but we’ll see.”

  92

  Williams Residence

  Bronx, New York

  Larissa stood with her back against the apartment building doors, her chest heaving, tears streaking her cheeks, her eyes closed as she tried to calm herself. The food she had stolen from the hospital was gone, she had barely managed to avoid getting arrested or worse, and she had no idea what she was facing when she went upstairs.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?”

  She yelped, opening her eyes and pressing against the doors even harder as two heavily armed men strode toward her.

  Then she caught her breath. “Do you work with Leon?”

  One of them smiled. “You must be Larissa. I’m Jagger, this is Casey.” His eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “My boys, are they okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Atlas is with them now.”

  She sighed in relief as they led her to the elevator. She looked at Jagger. “Atlas?”

  He chuckled. “Just a nickname, ma’am.” He took a deep breath, imitating muscles. “You know, strong enough to carry a planet on his shoulders?”

  She smiled as they stepped into the elevator, Casey remaining behind. “He is a little ridiculously big, isn’t he?”

  Jagger grinned. “You said it, ma’am. Me? I wouldn’t dare!” The doors opened on the twelfth floor and they were greeted by two other soldiers. “Gentlemen, this is Larissa, Atlas’ sister.”

  The men smiled and gave her two-fingered salutes. “Ma’am, a pleasure,” said the first, holding out his hand, directing her toward her apartment. “They’re inside.”

  She ran down the hallway, catching her breath when she saw the destroyed door. Then she heard laughter.

  My babies!

  She rushed inside and found them all piled on Leon.

  “Mom!” cried Michael as he extricated himself from the tangle of limbs. Suddenly she was surrounded with bundles of energy she had feared she’d never see again.

  “Oh, my little darlings, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  “We’re fine, Mommy.” Michael pointed. “Look, Mommy, it’s Uncle Leon!”

  Leon came over and gave her a hug, his massive arms enveloping her in a cocoon of safety and comfort. She closed her eyes, feeling completely safe for the first time in days. “Thank you, Leon, for helping my boys.”

  “Anytime, Sis, anytime.”

  She pushed away. “Shannon?”

  He shook his head. “She didn’t make it.”

  Tears filled her eyes and her heart ached. “Oh no! Who did it?”

  “Apparently, her boyfriend.”

  She gasped, her hand darting to her mouth. “Levar!” She frowned. “Her mother knew he was no good. She’s going to be devastated.” She looked down the hallway. “Where…?”

  Atlas shook his head. “Don’t worry. The Guard already came and took the body.” He pulled out his phone and brought up a photo. “Is this him?”

  She stared, not recognizing him at first, the appearance slightly off. “Oh my God, he’s dead!”

  “Yes. Is this the Levar you referred to?”

  “Yes. What happened?”

  “The Guard caught them loading up their car with your supplies out in front of the building. When they tried to arrest them, Levar here pulled a gun. The rest, shall we say, is history.”

  She sighed, patting Leon’s chest. Her stomach grumbled and she remembered what this was all about. “Our supplies?”

  “Confiscated by the Guard. They didn’t know who it belonged to until we secured the location, so it was already sent for redistribution.”

  Her stomach flipped. “What are we going to eat?”

  Leon smiled. “Haven’t you heard? It’s over.”

  Her eyes widened. “Huh?”

  “It’s over. It’s all over the news. They’ve caught those responsible, and there won’t be any more hacks. Once the systems are fixed, everything will be back to normal. Probably a couple of days, though it might take weeks to clear up some of the mess. No nuclear war, no more nutbars trying to take down our cities.”

  Larissa’s eyes narrowed. “Nuclear war? What the hell has been going on since I left the hospital?”

  Leon laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I think you’re a little bit behind the rest of us.”

  She rested her head on his chest and smiled. “You should visit more often.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “The next time madmen threaten New York, I’ll be sure to drop by.”

  She slapped his chest. “Leon James, I want to see that muscled booty here this Thanksgiving. That’s an order.”

  One of the soldiers grinned. “Muscled booty. I’ll have to tell Niner that one.”

  Atlas slapped his forehead. “Aww, Sis, now look what you’ve done!”

  93

  George Washington University Hospital

  Washington, DC

  Kane burst into the waiting area, finding the room jam-packed, a cluster of heavily armed Delta operators in one corner. He rushed over to Dawson, Niner, Spock, and Jimmy. “Where is she?”

  Dawson motioned to a set of doors. “Through there.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Sherrie came through the doors, covered in blood and grime. His jaw dropped. “Are you okay?”

  “Nothing a shower couldn’t fix.”

  “And a stick of deodorant,” complained Niner, pinching his nose. She nipple twisted him, nearly bringing him to his knees.

  “Fang?”

  She smiled. “They got to her in time. Motor-mouth and Jimmy were able to stabilize her. She’s going to be fine.”

  He smiled at his former team, putting his hands on the nearest shoulders. “Thanks, guys. I owe you one.”

  Dawson shook his head. “Don’t thank us. Sherrie’d pretty much killed everything in sight by the time we got there.”

  Niner rubbed his nipple. “Yeah, we were just there to make the news coverage look sexy.”

  Jimmy stared at Niner, now rubbing both nipples. “Enjoying yourself?”

  Niner continued rubbing. “Yeah, I didn’t realize how good this felt. You should try it.”

  Kane’s hand darted out, twisting the other one. “Christ, they’re hard. You really are enjoying yourself.”

  Niner did a little groin thrust. “You wanna see what else is—”

  Jimmy smacked him. “Lady present.”

  Sherrie grinned. “Yeah, a lady who can kick your ass.”

  Niner shook his head. “Promises, promises.”

  Spock’s eyebrow rose. “I think he’d actually enjoy getting his ass kicked by a woman.”

  Niner grinned. “Or you, big boy.”

  Jimmy delivered himself a facepalm. “Just when I thought we were clearing this up.”

  Kane chuckled and headed for the doors, Sherrie following. She pointed to a room on the right. “In there.”

  He gave her a hug. “You’re the best.”

  She laughed. “Tell the Director.”

  He grinned and stepped inside the room, his heart breaking as he saw the woman he loved, gaunt and sallow, hooked up to monitors revealing life signs that were steady though weaker than they should be. He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. She turned her head toward him and smiled slightly.

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “So how are you feeling?”

  “Tired, sore, thirsty, hungry. You know, pretty standard for getting shot and almost dying. You? Where have you been?”

  He shrugged. “Oh, you know, just saving the world again. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  She laughed then winced. She took his hand in both hers, and brought it to her lips, kissing it, her expression serious. “We need to talk.”

  His stomach flipped, those four words never good. “Now?”

  She nodded.

  “Umm, okay. What did you want to talk about?”

  “I want you to tell me what’s bothering you.”

  He looked away, his chest aching as his pulse pounded in his ears. He let go of her hands, but she gripped him tighter.

  “I know what it is.”

  His head spun toward her, his eyes filled with tears. “How? How could you?”

  “A woman knows.”

  A tear spilled down his cheek and he wiped it away. “I’m so sorry.”

  She smiled at him. “It was for the job?”

  “Of course!”

  “Then you’ve got nothing to be sorry about.”

  He stared at this amazing woman, his love for her even stronger than a moment ago, something he wouldn’t have thought possible. He lowered himself gently and put his head on her shoulder, hugging her as tightly as he dared. “I love you so much.”

  She kissed his cheek and he felt a tear roll from hers to his. “I love you too. But next time when something’s bothering you, we talk, okay?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She patted his shoulder. “Oh, by the way, I met your parents.”

  He bolted upright. “Huh?”

  A throat cleared behind him and he glanced over his shoulder. “Mom! Dad!” He leaped from the bed and embraced them both, tears erupting from his mother, even his father appearing a little overwhelmed in the emotions department.

  But it was the smile on his father’s face that he couldn’t get over.

  Pride.

  He hadn’t seen that in what felt like forever.

  He glanced at Fang. “So, umm, you met Fang?”

  “Yes, dear, she seems like a lovely girl.”

 

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