The Sky Is Falling (28 page)

“What do you want done with her, sir?”

“I would suggest a hit-and-run accident.”

They were flying at a smooth forty-five thousand feet in a cloudless sky. There was not an empty seat on the plane. An American was in the seat next to Dana.

“Gregory Price,” he said. “I’m in lumber.” He was in his forties, with a long aquiline face, bright gray eyes, and a mustache. “That’s some kind of country we’re leaving, huh?”

Krasnoyarsk-26’s sole purpose for existing is to make plutonium, the key ingredient in nuclear weapons.

“The Russians are sure different from us, but you get used to them after a while.”

One hundred thousand scientists and technicians live and work here.

“They sure don’t cook like the French. When I come here on business, I bring my own care package.”

They cannot go outside. They cannot have visitors. They must cut themselves off completely from the outside world.

“Were you in Russia on business?”

Dana brought herself back to the present. “Vacation.”

He looked at her in surprise. “It’s a hell of a time to take a vacation in Russia.”

When the flight attendant came down the aisle with a food cart, Dana started to decline, then realized she was famished. She could not remember when she had eaten last.

Gregory Price said, “If you’d like a shot of bourbon, I’ve got the real stuff here, little lady.”

“No thanks.” She looked at her watch. They would be landing in a few hours.

When Air France flight 220 landed at Dulles airport, four men were watching as the passengers began to come through the exit ramp from the plane. The men stood there, confident, knowing there was no way she could escape.

One of them said, “Do you have the hypodermic?”

“Yes.”

“Take her out to Rock Creek Park. The boss wants a hit-and-run.”

“Right.”

Their eyes turned back to the door. Passengers were streaming out, dressed in heavy woolen clothes, parkas, earmuffs, scarves, and gloves. Finally the flow of passengers stopped.

One of the men frowned. “I’ll go and see what’s keeping her.”

He made his way down the ramp into the plane. A cleaning crew was busily at work. The man walked through the aisle. There were no signs of any passengers. He opened the lavatory doors. They were empty. He hurried forward and said to a flight attendant who was just leaving, “Where was Dana Evans sitting?”

The flight attendant looked surprised. “Dana Evans? You mean the TV anchorwoman?”

“Yes.”

“She wasn’t on this flight. I wish she had been. I would have
loved
to have met her.”

Gregory Price was saying to Dana, “Do you know what’s great about the lumber business, little lady? Your product grows all by itself. Yes, sir, you just sit around and watch Mother Nature make money for you.”

A voice came over the loudspeaker.

“We’ll be landing in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in a few minutes. Please fasten your seat belt and return your seat back to the upright position.”

The woman seated across the aisle said cynically, “Yeah, put your seat back upright. I wouldn’t want to be leaning back when I die.”

The word “die” gave Dana a jolt. She could hear the sound of the bullets ricocheting into the wall of the apartment building and she could feel the strong hand shoving her into the path of the oncoming truck. She shuddered when she thought of the two narrow escapes she had had.

Hours earlier, seated in the waiting lounge at Sheremetyevo II airport, Dana had told herself that everything was going to be fine.
The good guys are going to win
. But there was something bothering her about a conversation she had had with someone. The person had said something disturbing, but it had slipped by. Had it been in a conversation with Matt? Commissar Shdanoff? Tim Drew? The more Dana tried to recall it, the more it eluded her.

A flight attendant announced over the loudspeaker, “Air France flight 220 is ready to depart for Washington, D.C. Please have your passports and boarding passes in hand.”

Dana rose and headed for the gate. As she started to show her ticket to the guard, she suddenly remembered what it was. It was her last conversation with Sasha Shdanoff.

No one knows I am there. It is what you call a “safe house.”

The only person to whom she revealed Sasha Shdanoff’s hideout was Roger Hudson. And immediately after that, Shdanoff had been murdered. From the very beginning, Roger Hudson had been subtly alluding to some dark connection between Taylor Winthrop and Russia.

When I was in Moscow, there was a rumor that Winthrop was involved in some type of private deal with the Russians….

Shortly before Taylor Winthrop became our ambassador to Russia, he told close friends that he had definitely retired from public life….

It was Winthrop who pressured the president into appointing him ambassador….

She had told Roger and Pamela her every move. They had been spying on her all the time. And there could have been only one reason:

Roger Hudson was Taylor Winthrop’s mysterious partner.

When the American Airlines flight landed at O’Hare airport in Chicago, Dana peered out the window looking for anything suspicious. Nothing. It was quiet. Dana took a deep breath and started to deplane. Her nerves were on fire. She managed to keep as many passengers around her as possible as she walked into the terminal, staying with the chattering crowd. She had an urgent call to make. During the flight, something so terrible had occurred to her that it made her own danger seem unimportant.
Kemal
. What if he were in danger because of her? She could not bear the thought of anything happening to him. She had to find someone to protect Kemal. Immediately, she thought of Jack Stone. He was with an organization powerful enough to give her the kind of protection she and Kemal needed, and she was sure that he would arrange it for her. He had been sympathetic to her from the beginning.
He’s not really one of them
.

I’m trying to stay outside the loop. I can best help you that way, if you know what I mean.

Dana walked over to a deserted corner of the terminal, reached in her purse, and took out the private number Jack Stone had given her. She called it. He answered immediately.

“Jack Stone.”

“It’s Dana Evans. I’m in trouble. I need help.”

“What’s going on?”

Dana could hear the concern in his voice. “I can’t go into it all now, but some people are after me, trying to kill me.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. But it’s my young son, Kemal, I’m worried about. Can you help me get someone to protect him?”

He responded instantly. “I’ll see to it. Is he at home now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll send someone over. Now what about you? You say someone is trying to kill you?”

“Yes. They’ve — they’ve tried twice.”

There was a momentary silence. “I’ll look into that and see what I can do. Where are you?”

“I’m at American Airlines at O’Hare, and I don’t know when I can get out of here.”

“Stay right where you are. I’ll get someone there to protect you. Meanwhile, you can stop worrying about Kemal.”

Dana felt a sense of deep relief. “Thank you. Thank you.” She hung up.

In his office at the FRA, Jack Stone replaced the receiver. He pressed down the intercom button. “The target just called. She’s in an American Airlines terminal at O’Hare. Take her.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jack Stone turned to an aide. “When is General Booster returning from the Far East?”

“He’ll be back this afternoon.”

“Well, let’s get the hell out of here before he finds out what’s been going on.”

DANA’S CELL PHONE RANG.

“Jeff!”

“Hello, darling.” And the sound of his voice was a blanket wrapped around her, warming her.

“Oh, Jeff!” She found that she was trembling.

“How are you?”

How am I? I’m running for my life
. But she could not tell him that. There was no way he could help her, not now. It was too late. “I’m — I’m fine, darling.”

“Where are you now, world traveler?”

“I’m in Chicago. I’ll be back in Washington tomorrow.”
When are you going to be with me
? “How — how is Rachel?”

“She seems to be doing okay.”

“I miss you.”

Rachel’s bedroom door opened, and she stepped into the living room. She started to call Jeff’s name and stopped when she saw that he was on the phone.

“I miss you more than you can ever imagine,” Jeff said.

“Oh, I love you so much.” A man nearby seemed to be staring at her. Dana’s heart began pounding. “Darling, if — if anything happens to me… always remember that I—”

Jeff was instantly alarmed. “What do you mean if anything happens to you?”

“Nothing. I — I can’t go into it now, but — I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“Dana, you can’t let anything happen to you! I need you. I love you more than anyone I’ve ever loved in my life. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

Rachel listened a moment longer, then quietly went back into her bedroom and closed the door.

Dana and Jeff spoke for ten minutes more. When Dana finally hung up, she felt better.
I’m glad I had a chance to say good-bye
. She looked up and saw the man still staring at her.
There’s no way one of Jack Stone’s men could have arrived so quickly. I need to get out of here
. She felt a rising panic.

Dana’s next-door neighbor knocked on Dana’s door. Mrs. Daley opened it.

“Hello.”

“Keep Kemal home. We’re going to need him.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Mrs. Daley closed the door and called to Kemal. “Your oatmeal is almost ready, darling.”

Mrs. Daley went into the kitchen, took the oatmeal off the stove, and opened a bottom cabinet drawer filled with packets of drugs labeled
BuSpar
. Dozens of empty packets were at the bottom of the drawer. Mrs. Daley opened two new packets, hesitated, then added a third. She mixed the powder in with the oatmeal, poured sugar on top, and carried the cereal into the dining room. Kemal came in from the study.

“Here you are, love. Nice, hot oatmeal.”

“I’m not very hungry.”

“You must eat, Kemal.” Her voice was sharp in the way that frightened him. “We don’t want Miss Dana to be disappointed in us, do we?”

“No.”

“Good. I’ll bet you can finish every bit of that for Miss Dana.”

Kemal sat down and began to eat.

He should sleep for about six hours
, Mrs. Daley calculated.
Then I’ll see what they want me to do with him
.

Dana raced through the airport until she passed a large dress shop.

I need to hide my identity
. She went inside and looked around. Everything seemed normal. Customers were busily buying merchandise and clerks were taking care of them. And then Dana looked out the shop door and she could feel her flesh crawl. Two menacing-looking men were standing there at each side of the entrance. One of them held a walkie-talkie.

How had they found her in Chicago
? Dana tried to control her panic. She turned to the clerk. “Is there another way out of here?”

The clerk shook her head. “I’m sorry, miss. That’s only for the staff.”

Dana’s throat was dry. She looked out at the men again.
I have to escape
, Dana thought desperately.
There has to be a way
.

Suddenly, she grabbed a dress off the rack and started to walk to the entrance.

“Wait a minute!” the clerk called. “You can’t—”

Dana was approaching the door, and the two men started to move toward her. As Dana stepped through the door, the sensor on the dress tag triggered an alarm. A store guard came rushing out. The two men looked at each other and stepped back.

“Just a minute, miss,” the guard said. “You’ll have to come back inside the store with me.”

“Why should I?” Dana protested.

“Why? Because shoplifting is against the law.” The guard took Dana’s arm and pulled her back inside. The men stood there, frustrated.

Dana smiled at the guard. “Okay. I admit it. I was shoplifting. Take me to jail.”

Shoppers began to stop to see what was happening. The manager came hurrying over. “What’s the problem here?”

“I caught this woman trying to steal this dress.”

“Well, I’m afraid we’ll have to call the pol —” He turned and recognized Dana. “My God! It’s Dana Evans.”

Whispers rippled through the growing crowd.

“It’s Dana Evans…”

“We watch her on the news every night…”

“Do you remember her broadcasts from the war…?”

The manager said, “I’m so sorry, Miss Evans. Obviously there’s been a mistake.”

“No, no,” Dana said quickly. “I was shoplifting.” She held out her hands. “You can arrest me.”

The manager smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it. You can keep the dress, Miss Evans, with our compliments. We’re flattered that you like it.”

Dana stared at him unbelievingly. “You’re not going to arrest me?”

His smile widened. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll trade you the dress for an autograph. We’re big fans of yours.”

One of the women gathered around exclaimed, “Me, too!”

“Can I have an autograph?”

More people were approaching.

“Look! It’s Dana Evans.”

“Can I have your autograph, Miss Evans?”

“My husband and I watched you every night when you were in Sarajevo.”

“You really made the war come alive.”

“I’d like an autograph, too.”

Dana stood there, growing more desperate by the second. She glanced outside. The two men were still there, waiting.

Dana’s mind was racing. She turned to the crowd and smiled. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Let’s go outside in the fresh air, and I’ll give each of you an autograph.”

There were cries of excitement.

Dana handed the dress to the manager. “You can keep this. Thank you.” She started toward the door, followed by her fans. The two men outside backed off, confused, as the crowd descended on them.