As Strong As Death by C && C Spellman

Author:C && C Spellman [Spellman, C && C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rosemont Books

13

ICARUS

Barrett leaned forward in the computer chair, spying the numbers in the upper right-hand corner of the laptop screen: 2:53 a.m. He drummed his fingers against the desk and double checked that he had everything prepared for the conference call. Despite the early hour, he felt sharp and alert—ready for the attack. His habits had changed: he had become nocturnal, a creature of the night now. He didn’t trust that idiot Tyrell enough to leave him in charge overnight. He’d likely sleep on the job, leaving Barrett susceptible to some night attack. The JPD could break down that flimsy front door and kill him at any time …

But pretty soon he’d reach safety. Just this call and then he’d be free again. He could almost taste it. Where should he go first? Miami? Or Los Angeles? Nah, better stick with somewhere overseas. Things here in the U.S. had become too volatile for his liking.

One minute left. He double-checked his 4tress Security dashboard. Good: everything’s running smoothly. Ha! Let Starkley and company do their best to figure out his IP address! They’d never break through his enterprise software’s protective measures and learn his hidden location in this dump of a house in Maine.

The computer chimed; the conference call had begun. Barrett sat up straight in his chair, his face already smug with the knowledge he’d get to impart.

Starkley appeared on the screen. She seemed to sit in a black room with only the monitor’s light illuminating her face. It cast an unnatural glow on her, her skin a freakish ghostly white and her eyes blazing with intensity.

Yet her voice sounded calm and ever so collected. “Good morning, Barrett.”

“Morning, Madam President.”

“I see you’re enjoying your tropical paradise.”

What the … oh. He had put a fake background behind him. Starkley mocked him; she knew he was nowhere near paradise.

“You know this is hell.”

“Then it suits you. Kind of like Milton’s famous line, no? Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.”

“Are you insinuating that I’d rather be here than working for you again?”

“You and I both know you’d rather have it all: being your own boss but with all the benefits and glory that working for me again could give you. That’s why we’re speaking now. You have a proposition for me, I assume?”

Barrett snickered. “It’s more than a modest proposal.”

“It would have to be; your life is on the line, need I remind you.”

“It’s your life that’s on the line.”

Starkley flicked an eyebrow and perched her gold, oval glasses higher up the bridge of her nose. “That’s nothing new. It’s always survival of the fittest here.”

“What I’m about to tell you is something of a completely different caliber.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Bartering time. “I’ve uncovered a plot on an enormous level. I’ve got information that will save your administration—and your life. How much is your life worth to you?”

“You’re the one in need, not me. I can end this conference call right now if I want to do so and I’d lose nothing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.