Rubber soles padded softly against concrete. Briggs angled his eyeballs upward. Through dimming vision, he saw Jeremy Pascal stoop down and pick up his phone.
Pascal pressed a button, ending the call. Then he knelt next to Briggs.
Briggs felt a pistol dig into his forehead. Tears flooded his eyes as he tried to plead for his life. But again, his mouth refused to operate.
“Sorry.” Pascal squeezed the trigger. “But you shouldn’t have come down here.”
A second blast rang out. Briggs felt a single moment of excruciating pain. A duller ache spread through his body. Then his vision began to dim.
Clothing swished. Rubber thudded against concrete.
Briggs tried to lift his head. When that failed, he tried to lift his arm. Then his hand. And finally, just a single finger.
His vision blinked out. Unable to move, he lay on the ground, feeling the dull ache spread across his body. His brain experienced one final moment of clarity. And then the ache, along with his life, came to an end.
Chapter 53
“I’m not going to mince words.” Barney Samuels took a deep breath. “We’ve got a problem.”
Soft chatter halted as the room’s occupants fell silent. Despite the gravity of the situation, Samuels couldn’t help but enjoy the moment. The Separative members liked to talk and more importantly, to be heard. It was rare to see them reduced to silence.
Samuels cast his gaze across the room. An overhead LED fixture shone brightly, sending blinding rays of light to all four corners. The room was on the small side, measuring just ten feet by fifteen feet. That was how the Separative preferred it. Debate and discussion called for intimacy, not ample space.
The room was located in his basement, near his office. It contained no windows. But otherwise, it was almost an exact replica of Simona Wolcott’s old living room. Even the furniture — two long couches, one rocking chair, one easy chair, two metal folding chairs, and a rickety coffee table — was the same, having been donated by Simona many years earlier.
Although deliberately designed as a replica, the room wasn’t entirely a sentimental gesture. Yes, the Separative had first met in Simona’s living room all those years ago. But they were also interested in retaining the lively energy of those meetings. And while none of them were interior designers, they suspected her original setup was no accident. Somehow, it had brought out the best in them.
Janet Baker, Secretary of Agriculture, broke the silence. “Does this problem have something to with that gentleman who showed up at your party?”
Samuels rubbed his eyes. It was early morning and he’d barely slept a wink since Hooper’s visit. “His name is Ed Hooper,” he replied. “He’s a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service.”
Janet looked genuinely puzzled. “The Secret Service?”
“Agent Hooper doesn’t deal with protection. He investigates financial crimes, specifically major fraud.”
Bert Bane, Secretary of Defense, lowered his hairless scalp to his hands. “What does he know?”
“Obviously, he knows about us. He also knows Patricia …” Samuels nodded at his wife, a tall woman with a clenched face, “… infiltrated the Columbus Project’s systems.”
“It doesn’t make sense.” Patricia, CEO of Fizzter Computers, shook her head. “Our digital footprint is covered. I made sure of it.”
“And yet, he still knows.”
“But does he know?” Secretary of Transportation George Kaiser leaned forward in his easy chair. “I mean does he know about Pagan?”
“He didn’t mention it. But he’s threatening to go to the press. If that happens, it’s only a matter of time before the whole world knows about Pagan.”
“He wants money, I take it.” Carly Nadas, Executive Director of PlanetSavers, exhaled. “How much?”
“One million dollars,” Samuels replied.
“That’s it?” Casually, she waved her hand in the air. “I say we give it to him and move on.”
“If we pay him now, we’ll be paying him forever,” Patricia said.
“We could just kill him,” Bane suggested. “It wouldn’t be hard to make it look like an accident.”
Kaiser frowned. “No, we need to question him first.”
“Agreed. We question him. Then we kill him.”
“Are you two insane?” Kate Roost, Secretary of the Interior, shook her head. “We’re not killing anyone.”
“Yeah?” Bane glared at her. “So, we should just let him go to the press?”
“Sure.” She shrugged. “A group of high-ranking cabinet officers conspired to transfer billions of dollars to an environmental group in the middle of nowhere? Who’s going to believe that? And even if he managed to get his story out, we have the power and resources to quash it.”
Bane’s face pinched. “I’ll have you know—”
“Hang on.” Samuels held up his hands. “Obviously, we need to make a decision on Mr. Hooper. But before we do so, I need to make you aware of a second problem.”
The room fell silent for a second time.
Samuels took another deep breath. “A few days ago, I sent Alan Briggs to inspect Simona’s model.”
Janet groaned. “I thought we voted that down.”
“We did.” Samuels paused. “I know how everyone feels about this issue. But look around. Half the world is living in dust, the other half is inundated with water.”
“Simona told us things would get worse before they got better.”
“People are starving, fighting, even dying. And we’re responsible for it.”
“It’s for the greater good,” Kaiser replied.
“I know that’s what Simona says.” Samuels swallowed. “I just want to be sure.”
“Get to the point.” Carly gave him a look of mild disgust. “Did Briggs find anything wrong?”
“I’m not sure. You see, I’ve lost communications with him.”
John Tipper, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, leaned forward. “As in, he’s not picking up his phone?”
“As in, I think he’s dead.”
No one moved. No one spoke.
“Are you sure about this?” Janet asked.
“Briggs called me right before this meeting,” Samuels replied. “He was panicked. He said something about the model being fake. And then …”
“And then what?”
“Then I heard a loud blast. Like a gunshot.”
Tipper exhaled. “Did he say anything else?”
“Unfortunately, the line died.”
“Did you try to call back?”
Samuels nodded. “He didn’t pick up. So, I tried Simona. She didn’t pick up either.”
“It’s nothing.” Bane rubbed his scalp. “Briggs was probably just playing a joke on you.”
“Briggs doesn’t play jokes.” Samuels looked at everyone in turn. “I know no one wants to hear this. But maybe he found something. Maybe Simona killed him to cover it up.”
The room erupted with protest. Samuels sat back in his chair and waited for the initial furor to sort itself out.
Finally, Carly gained control of the floor. Her eyes glittered and she spoke with tremendous passion. “Admit it,” she said, practically spitting out her words. “You’ve been after Simona for months now.”
“That’s not true,” Samuels replied. “I just think—”
“You didn’t think,” Kate said. “Simona started the Separative. She taught us how to think, how to debate. But more importantly, she taught us how to be better citizens of the world. She’s not a killer. Not then, not now.”
Samuels exhaled. “But Briggs—”
“Never should’ve been on Pagan in the first place,” Janet retorted.
Samuels shifted his gaze across the room. “I know how all of you — all of us — feel toward Simona. And I understand why you disagree with my decision regarding Briggs. But he still claimed the model was a fake — his word, not mine — and he’s still disappeared.”