“Are we suspects?” Tyler asked.
Morgan shook her head. “We checked you out after the police identified you. Because of your security clearances, we felt it was prudent to debrief you here since you may have information vital to US national security. You should feel lucky that our position here kept you from being investigated for the murder of seven people.”
“Hey!” Grant protested. “We only killed two of them. And that was so we could save your butts. Not to mention those of Professor Stevens and Milo Beech, who I understand are doing just fine.”
Morgan took one step closer, so that Grant could feel her breath on his lips. “Mr. Westfield, I will let others bestow whatever honor you think you deserve for this morning’s actions. But I have bigger problems right now. You are here at my discretion, and you will do as I say when you are on this base. Follow me,” she said, and turned on her heel.
Grant leaned over to Tyler and whispered, “Oh, I like her.”
“You would,” Tyler replied. “Because she definitely doesn’t like you.”
“What’s life without a challenge?” Grant caught up with Morgan and matched step with her.
“What?” she said.
“I just thought maybe you’d feel better about us being here if you knew more about us.”
“I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I hadn’t read your file.” Morgan opened a door and led them inside the building. “I know everything I need to know.”
“Oh yeah? What do you know about me?”
“Electrical engineer from the University of Washington. Performed for professional wrestling’s meathead fans who think it’s a real sport before gaining a conscience and becoming a combat engineer. Thinks he’s some kind of badass for subsequently joining the Rangers. Now works for Gordian and is currently annoying me.”
“I also love hot cocoa, Shetland ponies, and moonlit walks on the beach. So tell me about yourself.”
She wasn’t buying. No smile. “No,” she said, and sped up.
“Well, I tried,” Grant said to Tyler.
Morgan stopped at a door and nodded at a series of small cubbyholes.
“You’ll need to put any communications or recording devices you have in there. Although the room is completely shielded, no cell phones or PDAs are allowed inside.”
Tyler took Stevens’ phone from his pocket and put it in one of the empty slots. Morgan looked at Grant, who raised his arms.
“The one I had was turned into dust particles by the truck bomb. Oh, and I’d appreciate your getting mine back from the warehouse when you have a chance.”
Morgan rolled her eyes and went through the door. Grant smiled, thinking this was the most fun he’d had all day.
Tyler followed her, then Grant. He entered an immense laboratory filled with testing equipment, some of which he was familiar with, some that was new to him. Two men in lab coats were having an animated conversation with a guy in a dark blue suit. They stopped talking when they saw the newcomers enter.
Morgan introduced them quickly. The suit was her partner, Vince Cameron. Dr. Charles Kessler, the older lab coat, seemed to be in charge of the place. The intensely uncomfortable-looking younger lab coat was technician Ron Collins.
“I must reiterate my protest,” Kessler said as he sneered at Grant and Tyler. “These men are a security threat to the entire project.”
“The Secretary of the Air Force himself vouched for them,” Morgan said.
Grant wasn’t surprised about that. Tyler’s father had been a two-star general in the Air Force and was a friend of the secretary. A quick call would have verified Tyler’s credentials.
“Besides,” Morgan said, “they may be our only hope for finding the crate quickly.”
“Protecting the weapon is your job. If you were doing it correctly, we wouldn’t need them.”
Morgan stepped forward until she was nose to nose with Kessler. “Dr. Kessler, I don’t give a damn what you think of me. I care about my country’s national security. If you endanger it further, I will arrest you for obstructing my investigation. Am I clear?”
Grant chuckled. Even if Kessler couldn’t see it yet, there was no way he was going to win.
“What was in the crate?” Grant asked.
Kessler glared at Morgan for a moment, then said, “Fine, you win.” He turned to Grant. “She’s talking about the Killswitch weapon systems. They were stolen from right under Agent Bell’s nose.”
For the first time, Morgan’s stoic demeanor dissolved. “What do you mean ‘they’?”
“I didn’t tell you before because it wasn’t relevant. As we do with all our testing programs, we built in redundancy in case we had a malfunction. When the terrorists took the crate, they didn’t steal just one Killswitch. They stole two.”
TWENTY-FOUR
While Fay rested in the SUV after talking with the police for over an hour, Jess stood outside with the Alice Springs detectives and finished detailing the events leading up to the discovery of the bodies in the warehouse. When she’d presented her credentials as a New Zealand police consultant, they’d been forthcoming in what they’d learned so far about the case and the contents of the road train.
It wasn’t until after the police arrived that Fay had received the email from Tyler saying he and Grant were inside the road train. As they were conveying the message to the officers, a massive explosion from the truck bomb detonated south of town. Jess and Fay were in shock at losing them until the police received word that Tyler and Grant had gotten out safely, saving the lives of the professor and his student as well.
As to the bodies inside the warehouse, those five had been traveling under Russian passports and had arrived only this morning. It would take a while to verify the identities, and federal authorities were on their way to take over investigating the biggest terrorist attack in the country’s history.
Jess had tried to convince them that this wasn’t just an act of terrorism, but once they learned that Pine Gap had been the target, she’d gotten nowhere. The secret base had been the site of numerous demonstrations in the past, so the police felt it had been only a matter of time until some wacko took a more drastic step like this.
When Jess was finally released, she returned to the Jeep to find Fay lying in the front seat with it tilted as far back as it would go. She opened the door as quietly as she could, but Fay sat up immediately, then fell back with a moan.
“How are you feeling, Nana?” Jess said as she shut the door.
“Oh, just a little tired. I shouldn’t sit up that quickly.”
“You shouldn’t be out here at all. I’ll run you back to the hotel so you can take a nap.”
“No, I’m more hungry than anything. Any news about Tyler and Grant?”
“They’re fine. Apparently they’re still being detained for questioning.”
Fay looked worried. “The police don’t think they had anything to do with this, do they?”
“I doubt it.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I gave the police my phone number so Tyler could call us when he and Grant are ready.”
“Did they tell you anything about those poor dead people?”
Jess put the Jeep into gear. “Just that they were Russian nationals.”
“Russians? I am so confused by all of this.”
“So am I,” Jess said. “As far as we know, the men who attacked you in Queenstown were Americans. They were part of a group who hijacked an experimental robotic truck that they used to pull four trailers filled with explosives to blow up a secret American base in the middle of Australia.”
Jess kept an eye on her rearview mirror. Although she thought the hijackers would be miles away by now, she was still worried they would make another attempt to get the relic from Fay.