Dead Aim(10)

“Fine . . .” Her eyes were closing. Then she suddenly came awake. “Who was it? Who tried to hurt you?”

She shook her head. “I don't know. He was gone by the time the fire department came.”

“Tell John. You could be . . . Might happen again.”

“Hey, I'm fine. Leopold called in the FBI and I'm going to be positively surrounded.” She brushed the hair from Sarah's face. “And you were the one who got shot.”

“Bad aim?”

“He probably aimed for you because he wanted the car to go off the cliff and explode. There wouldn't have been much evidence left.” She leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Now stop worrying and go to sleep. Everything will be fine. I'm going to go now. Leopold wants me to talk to Bob Jurgens, some FBI agent.”

“Good. But tell John.” She was dozing off again. “He'll fix it. He's good at fixing things.”

Alex had a sudden memory of Logan's grim expression when she'd told him that she wasn't going to do what he wanted. “I'm sure he is,” she murmured as she headed for the door. “And I imagine he's pretty good at breaking things too.”



Sarah was sleeping.

Logan sat down in the visitor's chair and covered her hand with his own. God, she looked fragile.

Don't panic. The doctor said she was going to be fine.

He'd better be right. Logan wouldn't be able to stand it if Sarah was taken from—

Stop it. She was going to get well.

Monty whimpered, got up, and put his chin on Logan's knee.

“Shh.” He stroked the dog's head. “We've got to let her sleep. We have to take care of her, boy.”

And he would take care of her. This wasn't going to happen again. He couldn't take any chance of Sarah being hurt. He would stay here beside her for a little while, holding her hand and celebrating the fact that she was alive and still with him.

And then he would phone Galen.


The White House

3:35 A.M.

“Could I speak to you for a moment, Mr. President?”

Andreas leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. God, he was tired. He must be getting old. “As long as you're not here to tell me there's been another bombing, Keller. I'm not up to that right now.”

The Secret Service man smiled faintly as he shook his head. “I beg to disagree. I've known you too long, sir. In an emergency you bounce right back.”

“Your confidence is gratifying,” Andreas said dryly. “If totally misplaced. Why are you here, Keller?”

“It's the trip to Arapahoe Junction, sir. There have been some developments that make me uneasy. I want to cancel your visit.”

Andreas stiffened. “What developments?”

“I told you about the recent landslide. It's not safe.”

“Bullshit.” His gaze narrowed on Keller's face. “You told me that the dam disaster was probably caused by an earthquake. This second landslide seems to indicate an aftershock. Has anything changed?”

“No, it's the most likely explanation. There doesn't appear to be anything suspicious.”

“Well, I want to go there and see for myself.”

“Sir, we weren't compromised.”

“Compromised? What a nice clean word when you're talking about the death of over a hundred people.” He met Keller's gaze. “I'll accept the possibility that natural disasters happen. I won't accept the possibility that we may not be exploring every avenue to determine that's what it really was.”

“The CIA assures me that there's absolutely no sign there was terrorist involvement at Arapahoe Dam. Ben Danley says Cordoba and his Matanza group were too busy staging the bombing in Mexico City. They may be widespread, but it would take enormous resources to attack us on our own turf. That hasn't been their modus operandi in the past.”

“That doesn't mean they can't change. Maybe they're graduating to the big leagues.”

“Mexico City was fairly big league, sir,” Keller said quietly. “Two of our embassy workers were killed. I know it pales in comparison to Arapahoe Junction, but I'd say Matanza was stepping up to the—”

“I know,” Andreas said. “I wasn't thinking.” He was so tired it was difficult to focus. “So tell me the real reason you don't want me to go to Arapahoe Dam.”

Keller hesitated. “It's not just this trip. I believe you should stick close to the White House for the next few months. I've proved I can keep you safe here. We've managed to foil two attempts on your life since the last election.”

“And I'm duly grateful.” He grimaced. “I'm particularly grateful you managed to keep the attempts from Chelsea.”

“I don't want gratitude for doing my job. I'm only saying that the Matanza threats against you are becoming increasingly frequent and pointed. There'll come a time when Cordoba and his group will have to put up or shut up and lose face among their fellow terrorists. I think that time is very near.”