The Beginning of the End (Book 2): Toward the Brink II by Craig A. McDonough Read Free Book Online Page B

had.
    Elliot bid everyone a good morning and headed off to one of the beds for a few hours.
    The convoy started up for the long day’s drive, all of them knowing they would need to stop in Missoula for gas and warm clothes. No one said anything, but each hoped they could get in and out of Missoula without incident.

Thirteen
    Milton Etheridge sat in his limousine in an open parking lot in Washington, DC. His driver and an extra bodyguard stood on either side of the car and faced away from it. Each held a portable CD player that boomed out a sound described in some quarters as music. It was near dark, but in this neighborhood, noise was common. Etheridge wasn’t trying to fit in. It was to mask the conversation inside from any long-range listening devices. Etheridge picked up the encrypted satellite phone and made the call to a colleague of the Chamber.
    “Yuri, it’s me, Milton,” he said when the call was eventually answered.
    “But of course it is. Who else would call on this phone?”
    Etheridge grinned, though he never considered security a joke. Yuri Anteleski’s manner always seemed to coax a smile from him, no matter the circumstance. “Are we free to talk, Yuri?”
    “Yes, of course, tovarish!”
    “Let me get straight to the point.”
    “Go on, I am listening.”
    “I’m sure you’re aware of the emergency in Idaho.”
    “Yes, not of the extent or the cause, but it has raised some concerns, particularly among our health officials.”
    “As it should, Yuri, as it should. What you don’t know is that the president’s powers—his executive powers have been wrested from him.”
    “What, removed? How could such a thing happen? He’s the president!”
    “Shaun Hadlee, the secretary of homeland security.”
    “How was he able to get control of these powers?” Yuri paused as a more serious question entered his thoughts. “Does this mean he has access to your nuclear arsenal?”
    “Yes, and that’s what I want to warn you about.”
    “What do you mean warn, tovarish?”
    Etheridge informed his Russian counterpart of Hadlee’s right-wing attitudes and his militaristic nature. “And he is backed by the chairman of the joint chiefs, Yuri.”
    This news worried Anteleski, but not nearly as much as when Etheridge told him of Hadlee’s plan to use nuclear weapons within his own country.
    “My God … what kind of madman is he?” Yuri asked. He wasn’t concerned at all with the mental state of Shaun Hadlee. He considered all Americans to be mad, but if this one was prepared to nuke his own country, then what would prevent him from doing the same to others—to Russia?
    “I wanted to warn you, Yuri, but also ask your discretion for the moment. I have a man keeping a watch on Hadlee, so don’t say or do anything until I exhaust all my options.”
    “If you wish, but I cannot wait for long, not when we are dealing with nuclear weapons … thirty—six hours, tovarish , thirty—six.”
    Etheridge thanked Anteleski for his trust and ended the call. He was about to tell his men to turn off the blasted racket outside his car when the phone rang.
    “Etheridge,” he answered without hesitation. He thought it might have been Yuri calling back. “Ahh, Mr. Holmes, I was just thinking of you. What news do you have?”

Fourteen
    By midafternoon, the trio of vehicles edged to the outskirts of Missoula. The nerves of the occupants began to jump. The population of Missoula was too high for the Twin Falls group to risk a direct route through it. No doubt many had fallen to the “green meanie” disease, but with such a population, it would be a safe bet some had survived—at least the initial outbreak. Some would be in the early stages of human-to-foamer transition—if, indeed, that was how it worked. Others would be as healthy as they were before it all started but as deadly as any foamer. If they intended to survive, they’d have to be. No one in Missoula would be holding out the welcome mat for a bunch