“It won’t matter, sir,” said Puller. “I’m sure what they plan to do will happen regardless.”
“But if the Ebola virus has been placed in water, maybe it’s been diluted,” said Rinehart.
Knox said, “Johnson also said that one drop of liquid laced with Ebola getting into the body is all it takes to kill you.”
“Where’s the water shutoff?” asked Puller.
“Over there,” said Pritchard.
They rushed to the corner. Knox saw it first.
“They sabotaged it,” she said. “They broke off the lever.”
“We can call the water company and see if they can turn it off at their end,” said Pritchard.
“Good luck with customer service,” said Puller. “We’ll all be dead from Ebola and you’ll still be on hold listening to a Bee Gees song.”
“We have to do something,” barked Rinehart. “We’ve only got minutes left.”
Puller kept looking around the space. “The virus can’t infect people so long as the sprinkler system doesn’t come on.”
“But they must have arranged a way for it to come on,” snapped Rinehart. “Otherwise all of this is pointless.”
Puller turned to him. “I understand that, sir. But if we find out how they plan to turn on the system and neutralize it, then we can deal with the canisters safely later.” He looked at Pritchard.
“Can they activate it remotely, via a computer?”
“No. That would be a bad design if someone could do it remotely when a fire hasn’t been detected. It would cause a lot of water damage.”
Rinehart had a sudden thought. “But can you disable the sprinkler system remotely? I mean by using the computer controls?”
Pritchard shook his head. “Negative, sir. Again, that’s a safety feature. We wouldn’t want someone hacking in and disabling the system. Then if a fire did start there would be nothing to combat it with.”
Puller kept looking around. “The best way to engage the sprinkler system is to start a fire. Flames and smoke will set off the alarm and the sprinklers.”
Knox said, “That’s obvious enough. But where? Like Pritchard said, this is a really big place.”
“Well, it would have to be somewhere that people didn’t frequent. Otherwise, someone might discover it and report it.”
Pritchard said, “What if the folks are in the building right now? And they’re going to engage it directly?’
“I doubt they would want to be here if they’re going to unleash Ebola-contaminated water,” said Puller.
“Right. They’d want to be as far away as possible,” said Rinehart.
“Just like I would,” muttered Knox.
Puller looked at Pritchard. “If the sprinklers do come on, will it be all over the Pentagon? Even if the source of the fire is small or contained in a particular area?”
“The sprinkler system is on zones,” replied Pritchard. “For example, because this room houses the water main for the sprinkler system, a fire here will trigger a very large deployment of water, the theory being if the fire knocked out the water supply for the sprinkler system you want to wet down as much of the place as possible before that happens.” He pointed upward. “And right above us is the E Ring. Lots of senior people up there. They’d definitely get hit with the water.”
Puller kept looking around. “They took a risk bringing this shit in here. But getting to one place is easier than getting to a second place. You risk getting stopped and your whole plan unravels. But this room is the key. A fire here triggers a ton of water like Pritchard said.”
“Here?” said Rinehart.
“Yes. If they could go to one room to do everything they needed to do, they would probably opt for that.”
As Puller walked around the room his gaze drifted upward.
“There,” he called out. He was pointing to the ceiling in a darkened corner about forty feet from the water pipe. “Best place to set the igniter is right here where the canisters and water supply intake are.”
“We’ve got two minutes, Puller,” warned Rinehart.
“Looks to be a large burn pack,” said Puller as Knox joined him. “They probably figured that would be all they needed. It won’t reach the water pipe and disrupt the sprinkler system. But it’ll have a hot flash point, lots of smoke and fire. And the fire will eventually burn this room up enough that it’ll take a long time for them to find those extra tanks. By then nearly everybody and everything in this place could be contaminated.”
“Well, rip it down and let’s get it out of here,” barked Rinehart.
“Sir, when it detonates we’re still going to be in this building no matter how fast we push the golf carts. And the blast will still set off the sprinklers wherever we are. We have to disable it here. Now.”
He slid a pocketknife from his pocket and handed it to Knox. “Get on my shoulders.”
“What?”
He spun her around, gripped her hips, bent down, and hoisted her over his head, settling her seated on his shoulders with her legs on either side of his head facing the same way he was.
“Tell me what you see,” said Puller.
“A black box with an LED timer.”
“What’s the timer at?”
“Twenty seconds and counting.”
Pritchard said, “Just pull out the detonator from the pack.”
Puller barked, “They’re not stupid. That’ll just accelerate the detonation.”
“He’s right,” said Rinehart, his voice strained. “Shit, we’re nearly out of time.”
“How many wires?” asked Puller.
“Two. One red, one black.”
“Are they both single-strand?”
“The red is a double.”
“The dummy, probably. You cut that it accelerates the time to zero, and boom.”
“Probably!” snapped Rinehart. “You don’t know for sure? We don’t have time for probably, Puller.”
Puller barked, “Cut the red one, Knox.”
“But you just said that was the dummy.”
“Cut the red one. Now!”
“Are you—“
“Puller,” yelled Rinehart. “We’re out of—”
“Now, Knox,” shouted Puller. “Do it!”
She cut the red one and closed her eyes.
There was a pop, a fizzle, and everyone held their collective breath.
Knox finally opened her eyes and was staring at a burn pack that had failed to burn. She exhaled and gasped, “Thank you, sweet Jesus.”
“Right,” said Puller, after he let out his breath too.
She looked down at him from her high perch. “We did it. Mission accomplished.”
Puller shook his head. “No. Not so long as Susan Reynolds and Anton Bok walk the earth.”
The next moment the fire alarm went off. Thankfully, the sprinklers did not.
CHAPTER
69
PULLER SAT IN a chair and stared over at his brother. Robert had been filled in on what had happened at the Pentagon.
Knox sat between them on the edge of the bed. It was dark outside. Rain was falling. Knox’s hands shook a bit.
“The sound of the damn rain makes me think about what could have happened at the Pentagon today,” she said.
“The biohazard squad managed to detach the canisters from the water pipe,” said Puller. “They’re cleaning everything up, checking it all out.”
“So did they change the aerosolized Ebola to a water-based bioweapon?” asked Robert.
“I don’t know, Bobby,” Puller said wearily, rubbing his face. “They’re figuring it all out. The threat has been neutralized, but the problem isn’t solved.”
“Because of Reynolds and Bok,” Robert replied.
Knox added, “Everyone is looking for them. They won’t be able to hide for long.”
“Don’t be too sure of that,” said Puller in a cautioning tone. “They’ve managed to do just about everything they wanted to so far.”
; “Except kill everyone in the Pentagon,” she shot back.
“Where do you think they might be?” asked Robert.
“Well, they don’t strike me as the types to just walk away from a fight, especially after we screwed up their plan,” said Puller.
“So they hang around to try to do something else. A Plan B?”
Puller shrugged. “A guess would only be that—a guess.” He quieted and gazed solemnly across at his brother. “It’s time, Bobby.”
“Time for what?” said Knox quickly.
“To turn myself in,” answered Robert quietly.
Knox shot Puller an incredulous glance. “What? Are you crazy?”
Puller said, “There’s no other way, Knox.”
She stood. “Listen to yourself. We still don’t have proof that he’s innocent. They’ll put him right back in DB. And this time he won’t get back out.”
“My brother’s right,” said Robert.
“So you’re just going to waltz in and surrender?”
“Not exactly,” said Puller. “Groundwork needs to be laid.”
“What sort of groundwork?” asked Knox.
“You ask a lot of questions,” said Puller.
“I usually do when I don’t get any answers,” she retorted.
Robert said, “How do you want to do this, Junior?”
Puller rose. “I’ll need a little time to put the pieces together. Stay put.”
Knox stood. “I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to,” he said.
“I’m quite aware of that. It’s my choice to come with you.”
“I can plead my brother’s case.”
She smiled demurely. “I never said you couldn’t. But it’s always better to have someone with you who can talk out of both sides of her mouth. And suffice it to say, I can.”
“You mean lie,” said Puller.
“I mean present the best case possible using whatever facts or near facts are handy.” She held up her car keys. “Let’s go.”
After what had happened at the Pentagon, Rinehart saw them at once. Puller spoke for twenty minutes. Then Knox did so for another five.
When she fell silent, Rinehart said nothing. He sat there in his chair, his large hands clasped together and resting on his desk.
More than once Knox glanced at Puller, but he simply sat there watching Rinehart.
Finally, the three-star cleared his throat and said, “I can’t say I approve of what you’ve done, because I don’t. You were tasked to bring Robert Puller in, not to work with him. You disobeyed that order.”
“I did, sir.”
“For that you could be court-martialed. By harboring a fugitive you could be sent to DB.”
“I could, sir.”
“Where is he?”
“At a motel in Virginia.”
“And you say he’s been helping you?”
“He was the one who pinpointed the Pentagon as the target. But for him—”
Rinehart interjected, “The virus would have been unleashed. Thousands of people would have died. This country’s military leadership would have been decimated.”
“All true,” said Knox, glancing anxiously at both men. “I think he’s more than redeemed himself.”
“It’s not a question of redemption,” barked Rinehart. “It’s a question of the law.” He looked at Puller. “You need to bring him in. Right now.”
“I’ll do so under one condition.”
Rinehart gave him a molten look. “You’re in no position to lay out conditions, Puller.”
“One condition.”
“I know what you’ve done, soldier. You’ve risked your life to save lives. But you are dancing perilously close to the edge.”
“You need to give my brother protection.”
“Protection?”
“He can’t go back to DB. Not yet.”
Knox said, “They’re still out there, sir. Reynolds and Bok and God knows who else. They got into the Pentagon. They have spies, it seems, everywhere. They will know that Robert Puller blew up their plan.”
“Well, so did the two of you. If he needs protection, so do you both.”
Knox looked at Puller. “It might not be a bad idea, at least for a little while,” she said.
“And what about Reynolds and Bok?”
“We’re going to get them, Puller,” replied Rinehart. “We have thousands of agents looking for them. We have every possible way in and out of this country covered. They won’t get away.” He paused. “I’ll match your condition with my own. You two will join your brother in protection. That way you stay safe and we can have time to sort this out. You’ve done enough.”
“I don’t like this,” said Puller. “I owe these people, sir. I owe them a counterattack with everything I have.”
“I understand that, soldier. But the three stars on my shoulders mean I outrank you by a landslide. And you will stand down. Because I order you to. And I’m not in the habit of repeating myself. Do you understand?”
When Puller didn’t acknowledge this, Knox grabbed his arm. “Puller, it’s the only way. You don’t have a choice. You can’t throw everything away now. You’ve fought too hard.”
Puller looked away for a moment and then swung his gaze back to Rinehart.
“I understand, sir.”
CHAPTER
70
GENERAL RINEHART SAT across from Robert Puller at the safe house where they were being kept. It was a three-bedroom house at the end of a cul-de-sac in a Maryland neighborhood that had suffered multiple foreclosures during the economic collapse. That made it isolated, but also more secure. The safe house itself had a perimeter security force and also personnel in the house. A chopper did a pass over the area every two hours.
Rinehart was in uniform; Robert Puller was in jeans and a sweatshirt. Yet the men seemed on roughly equal footing.
Rinehart said to Robert, “I want to believe that you are innocent of all charges, Puller. I don’t want to see you go back to DB. But that’s not up to me.”
“I understand, sir.”
Puller and Knox hovered in the background, listening intently.