Against All Enemies by Thomas M. Wing

Author:Thomas M. Wing
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Five days later they drove up to the Justice Department building in Washington. It hadn’t been deemed important enough to receive treatment by the Chinese.

The trip had taken much longer because they’d had to navigate around National Guard roadblocks.

At the first one, the attorney general had laid into the master sergeant in charge. Had it not been for the tank actually blocking the road, Hauptmann would certainly have ordered Neustein to run it. As it was, the more Hauptmann harangued the sergeant, the more stubborn the soldier got. He’d finally ordered the car to turn around. At gunpoint.

After running into another roadblock on a different highway, Hauptmann hadn’t even tried to control his temper. The result had been the same.

By the time they’d made a lengthy detour and reached a third one, the word was out, at least within New York, that a madman claiming to be the attorney general was trying to force his way through. The colonel controlling traffic through the area ordered him stopped and arrested.

The colonel didn’t care if he really was the AG. He figured the president’s poorly worded martial law declaration gave him all the authority he needed. Moreover, he intended to use it, especially if the person in question was a pain in the ass. Eventually, after demonstrating his authority, the colonel released them and provided an official pass for the rest of the trip.

When they arrived at Justice, Hauptmann’s vile temper continued to overflow.

Not waiting for Neustein to open the door, Hauptmann threw it open and stormed up the steps as rapidly as his arthritic knees allowed. At his private elevator, he tore down the “closed” sign and shredded it, mashing his finger into the Up button again and again. Neustein caught up with him but stood back, letting his boss blow off steam.

The security guard in the lobby heard Hauptmann cursing and moved quickly to the private lobby entrance. When he recognized Hauptmann, he said, “Sir, the elevator isn’t working. The generators get dragged offline when the motors start up. We can’t use it.”

Hauptmann spun on him.

“Get it working right now. I’ll be damned if I’m going to walk up the friggin’ stairs. We spent millions on generators for these buildings. I don’t believe for a second they don’t work.” When the man hesitated, Hauptmann shouted, “Move!”

The guard pulled out his keys, opened the hidden door to the electrical panel and flipped the breakers.

Stepping back, he silently prayed as he gave Neustein a thumb’s up. He had enough experience with the AG to know he shouldn’t try to speak to the man directly. Once Hauptmann was angry, it could only be made worse.

The doors to the elevator opened and Hauptmann and Neustein stepped inside. Hauptmann continually jabbed at the Close Doors button and they eventually did. The instant the motor started, the lights went off, emergency illumination came on, and the elevator stopped.

Hautpman shouted, “Get these damned doors open, now.”

Neustein tried to get his fingers between the doors to pry them open.

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