Tinnean - No One Should Be Alone.pdf

(1345 KB) Pobierz
829854156.002.png
No One Should Be Alone • Tinnean
C hapter 1
I
t was New Year’s Day, but that didn’t matter. Trevor
Wallace, the man who ran the Washington Bureau of
Intelligence and Security, said, “Come in,” and I came in.
This past year hadn’t been a bad one. I had gotten my
usual bonuses and commendations. All that was left was to
tie up a couple of loose ends for The Bossand yeah, that
was with capsand then I’d see what I was up for: blonde or
brunet for bed, Italian or French for dinner.
Ned, the day security man, wasn’t around, but I didn’t
give it much thought, figuring he was in the can. He was an
older man, and he’d been having problems with his prostate.
I passed his station and took the stairs to the seventh
floor. Elevators were for the careless.
My secretary wasn’t at her desk in the outer office, but
that didn’t surprise me either. None of the support staff were
required to work on any of the major holidays. Most of the
agents and directors weren’t either, but I hadn’t achieved the
position of senior special agent by taking the odd day off. As
far as I was concerned, I was always on the clock.
I turned on my computer, but instead of the wallpaper
with Robert Sperling’s face in a bull’s-eye coming upI’d lost
good men because of him, and one day I’d make him pay in
spadesa Word document opened.
2
829854156.003.png
No One Should Be Alone • Tinnean
By order of the President of the
United States of America:
As of this date, the Washington
Bureau of Intelligence and Security
has been disbanded, and your
services will no longer be required.
It was signed by the CEO of Huntingdon Corporation.
“What the fuck ?” I wasn’t buying this. I stormed up to
Trevor Wallace’s office on the tenth floor.
Ms. DiBlasi, The Boss’s secretary, sat staring at her
monitor.
“Is Mr. Wallace in?”
“Where else would he be?” She turned to face me. Slow
tears rolled down her cheeks.
Oh shit. The world must be coming to an end. I’d never
seen her exhibit any emotion other than a supercilious
disdain.
But I was too steamed to even knock on the door. I just
shoved it open and stalked toward the desk. “What the fuck
is this bullshit?”
The Boss’s elbows were propped on his desk, and his
face was buried in his hands. His Glock was on the desk
before him. He looked up, and it was as if he’d aged a
hundred years.
3
829854156.004.png
No One Should Be Alone • Tinnean
“It’s over. Huntingdon has been forced into bankruptcy
court.”
“But”
“The vice president somehow learned that Huntingdon
was a front for the WBIS. He’s made sure all funding has
been withdrawn. I’m sorry. He’s always had a hard-on for
me.”
“I guess it’s just as well he never asked you to go
hunting with him.”
The Boss laughed, but it was a hollow sound at best. I’d
never seen him look so lost.
“What will you do, sir?”
He nudged the gun.
“Don’t give the bastard the satisfaction!”
“It’s not a question of satisfaction, Mark.” He’d never
called me anything other than Vincent. More than anything,
that signified this was the end of… what? An era? The world
as we knew it? “The WBIS has been my life. I’m too old to
start again, and I have no intention of moving down to
Florida to wind up in some senior citizens retirement facility
listening to my arteries harden and playing canasta.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” It was hard to accept that The Boss was
in his midseventies. He’d always been strong, vital, and in
control.
“Don’t be. I’ve had a good run.” He studied me carefully.
“You, though. You’ve got a long way to go. The CIA has put
out feelers for you.”
4
829854156.005.png
No One Should Be Alone • Tinnean
“Already? How long have they known?”
The Boss scrubbed his face. “Their e-mail showed up
just after the one from Huntingdon.”
“Bastards.” I laughed bitterly. “As if I’d work for those
fuckers.”
“I’m requesting you do just that, Mark, if only to show
them what the best can do.”
It would be like bending over and asking for it, and if
anyone but Trevor Wallace had asked this of me, I’d have
told him to eat shit and die. But I respected The Boss more
than anyone on God’s green earth, and so I’d do it for him.
I felt my throat start to clog, something that hadn’t
happened since ’91 when I’d learned Tio ’Ze, one of the
decent men my old lady had somehow managed to bring
home, had gone down in a nor’easter.
I cleared my throat and extended my hand. “It’s been an
honor, sir.”
“I can say the same, Mark. Good luck.”
As I walked toward the door, I heard The Boss thumb
the intercom and request Ms. DiBlasi to come in.
She was walking around her desk as I came into the
outer office. Her eyes were dry now, and her lips were in a
firm line.
“Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“Help me?”
5
829854156.001.png

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin