Dead Aim(94)

Andreas stepped to the ground. “You shouldn't have come out, Shepard. There's no telling what—”

A shot.

But Andreas was still standing, Betworth realized.

Dammit, Runne had missed.

Another shot.

Andreas was falling to the ground.

Finally.

“Hit the dirt,” he shouted to Shepard. “The President's down.” He dove for the ground. “Keller, for God's sake, do something. The President is—”

Keller wasn't moving to help Andreas.

And Shepard wasn't moving either. The Vice President was crumpled on the ground a few feet from him. There was a small round hole in his temple.

Rage tore through him. Runne, that asshole. What fucking good did it do Betworth to kill the President if he killed Shepard too? All his plans blown by—

“Kill that son of a bitch, Danley!” he screamed. “Kill him now!”

Another shot.

Pain tore through his back.

Jesus. He'd told Danley not to hurt him. A shoulder wound . . .

Just enough to make him a hero . . .

He felt cold. He could taste the blood in his mouth.

He was dying, he realized incredulously.

“No!”



Logan, Galen, and Keller left the helicopter at a run, but Keller was the first to reach Andreas. “Are you okay, sir? I told you this was crazy. Why didn't you let me do my job?”

“Because I'm tired of sitting in that ivory tower and relying on everyone else.” Andreas got to his feet and dusted off his pants. “If I'd had more hands-on interaction before this, maybe Betworth wouldn't have been able to take out those bunkers.” He looked down at Betworth and Shepard. “Dead?”

Galen was kneeling beside Betworth and checking his pulse. “As a doornail.” He glanced up at the bluff. “It's a really bad angle. He made a great shot.”

“I never said I wanted them dead.” Andreas's lips tightened. “Get Morgan down here.”

Galen stood up and flipped open his phone. “Come on down, Judd. As usual, you've taken too much on yourself.” He hung up and turned to Andreas. “I can't be sure he's going to obey your orders. He may take off. He's been a scapegoat before.”

“So you've told me,” Andreas said. “But that doesn't mean he has the right to arbitrarily kill the Vice President of the United States.” He glanced down at Shepard. “And he took him out first. If there was to be an assassination, I'd have thought Betworth would have been the primary target.”

“I'm sure Morgan had a reason,” Logan said. “He's not a—”

“I'm here.” Morgan was coming down the trail. “Stop making excuses for me, Logan. I can talk for myself.”

“Be quiet, Morgan.” Alex was trailing behind him. “Let him make excuses. You can use all the help you can get.”

Morgan turned to Logan. “I know she shouldn't be here. She wouldn't stay on the bluff.” He stopped in front of Andreas. “Any deal we make has to include a free pass for her.”

“Deal? I don't make deals, Morgan.”

“The hell you don't. As President you're the consummate deal-maker.”

“I ordered Galen to tell you to eliminate a possible assassin on that bluff.”

“And that's exactly what Galen told me.”

“You weren't told to kill Betworth and Shepard. Keller could have arrested them and brought them to trial. That's the way we do things in this country.”

“But that's not what you wanted. You didn't want the American people disillusioned with their government. They've gone through enough heartache lately. It might have taken years in court to convict them, and that would have been constant salt in the wounds.”

“Is that what you told him?” Andreas asked Galen.

“I might have mentioned that you were a bit unhappy with the situation.”

“No, he didn't,” Morgan said. “It was pure intuition on my part. Intuition is a wonderful thing. Galen told me how after you'd located the bomb, you had it disarmed and then staged a fake explosion in Shepard's office. Now, intuition made me wonder why you did that. And then Galen told me you'd placed that phony call to Shepard so that you could tape any incriminating communication between him and Betworth. Why did you want to lure Betworth here? Why not just call out the Marines and round everyone up?”

“So you're saying you killed Shepard to help me out.”

“I didn't kill Shepard or Betworth.” He stared directly into Andreas's eyes. “It was Runne. You'll find the bullets came from his rifle. Wonderful shooting, wasn't it?” He smiled. “I couldn't have done better myself.”

“I imagine that's true,” Andreas said dryly.

“Of course, it was also Runne who answered his phone when Danley called and told him he was ready to take you out. But unfortunately he killed your true-blue CIA man, Danley too. You'll find his body on the bluff. Such a shame. But what can you expect when terrorists like Matanza send in their hired guns? You were lucky Keller was able to discover the plot in time to save the day.”