Alex rubbed her eyes and tried to focus. She should probably stop and try to get a little sleep. She sure as hell wasn't accomplishing anything in this shape. She'd been working all night, taking Powers's sentences apart and putting them back together. She'd come up with half a dozen possible explanations for every word he'd spoken. None of them made sense.
Or maybe they did and she was too tired to see it. She hoped Morgan was having better luck getting answers.
She instinctively shied away from that thought. She'd been trying not to think about Morgan or the fact that he hadn't called either her or Galen.
Maybe he was too busy. Maybe he was caught in a situation where it would be dangerous for him to—
Dammit, the bastard should have phoned. Didn't the cold son of a bitch know what he was doing to her? When he came back, she was going to make him—
If he came back.
He would come back. He had to come back.
Stop thinking about him. Focus on this damn computer screen.
Morgan's hand closed on his shirt. “Answer me. Where's Z-3?”
“Kettle . . .” Powers's body stiffened and then convulsed. His mouth opened wide in a silent scream. It stayed open as life fled.
“Kettle?” Alex repeated. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” It might mean nothing. It could have been the confused meanderings of a dying man.
But he'd said Z-2 was in West Virginia, and he hadn't lied about that. He hadn't lied about Lontana.
He'd said Z-2 wasn't important. If it wasn't important, why had they buried those miners?
“West . . . Virginia. Not important . . . Z-3. Z-3 . . .”
“And Z-3 is important? Not Z-2?”
“Z-2 . . . It's all bunk—” He arched upward as agony struck him. “Son of a bitch. Screw him.” Powers's eyes were glazing. “Screw Z-3.”
Her phone rang.
Morgan?
She jumped for it. “Hello.”
“Any luck?” Galen asked.
Disappointment tore through her. She tried to keep the emotion from her tone. “Not yet. Have you heard from Morgan?”
“No, but I heard from Salazar. He said that Morgan had all his plans in place and was going to contact Leary tomorrow night.”
“Contact?”
“Well, that wasn't exactly the word he used. He said that Morgan was one tough bastard and he wouldn't be in Leary's shoes if they gave him a winning ticket to the lottery.”
At least Morgan was still alive. She supposed she should be grateful for small favors. “I don't think that's why you called me in the middle of the night.”
“No, I wanted to warn you. Logan checked on the request to bring Sarah and Monty to the disaster site. It was bogus.”
It didn't surprise her. “Just so he's warned Sarah. And I don't think there's a chance in the world that he wasn't on the phone to her the minute he got word.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Now, if you don't mind, I'll try to figure out why Z-2 wasn't important. Why it was—” She jerked upright in her chair. “My God.”
“Alex?”
“Hang up, Galen. I've got to call Logan.”
“What?”
“I'll call you back.” She hung up on him and dialed Logan's number. Her hand was icy cold as it clutched the phone. She listened to it ring.
Please pick up. Logan, for God's sake, answer.
Morgan called her at six the next morning. “It occurred to me that you might do something reckless just because you're angry with me. So I thought I'd let you get it out of your system.”
Sweet Jesus, he was alive. She was almost limp with relief. “You persist in thinking I'm going to react like an idiot,” she said unevenly. “When have I ever done that?”
“Touché.”
“But that doesn't mean I'm not going to tear the hide off you when I see you. You bastard, how dare you lie to me?”
“I couldn't take you with me.”
“So you played Spock and gave me the Vulcan knockout punch?”
“Actually, it was a Tibetan blow I learned from a monk who—”
“I don't care. It was wrong and you're going to pay for it.” She drew a deep breath. “When I have time to spare from trying to figure out where this damn kettle is located.”
“Kettle?”
“Remember Powers said that at the end? It has to be a topographical formation of some sort. I asked Logan to try to talk to the President. He'd know. But Logan can't get through to him. And who else is he going to trust when the FBI and CIA seem to be breeding grounds for—”
“Easy. Why would the President know about this kettle?”
“Bunkers. He'd have to know about the bunkers.”
“Bunkers?”
“Remember when Powers said ‘It's all bunk—' we thought he meant it wasn't important, that it was all bullshit. But he broke off because of the pain. He was trying to say they were all bunkers. Arapahoe Junction, Plummock Falls, and this kettle place.” She moistened her lips. “Right after September eleventh it came out that bunkers had been established to make sure the U.S. government could still function if Washington came under direct attack. They were principally concerned with nuclear threats, so underground facilities were chosen.”