The Last Second (A Brit in the FBI #6)(64)

“We believe Byrne stole or paid off the Dr. Linton to give her the plutonium, killed both him and his wife, and then Byrne and Patel handed it off to Al-Asaad to make the nuke. Which means at their cozy get-togethers on Corsica, they made a deal. Get Al-Asaad the plutonium and he’d arrange for scientists on his payroll to make the nuke. We believe Al-Asaad paid Patel millions for the plutonium with the promise she’d use one of Broussard’s rockets to hijack a satellite and send the bomb to space, with the intention of setting it off to cause an EMP. Bring down the West, bring down the world, it doesn’t seem to matter much to terrorist organizations. And they can afford it, what with all the oil money funneled into their pockets in the Middle East.

“Adam’s been using the NGI database hooked into CCTV from all possible locations, searching everywhere for Al-Asaad, and we think we’ve spotted him.”

Mike’s heart began to pound, shooting adrenaline into her system. She couldn’t believe he was alive. “Where? Where is he?”

“Khaleed Al-Asaad is in Lyon.”





CHAPTER FORTY-SIX


Mike was starting to shout out to Nicholas when Gray continued. “So why is he in Lyon? A final meet with Patel? Or maybe Al-Asaad found out Broussard is alive and came to kill him, on Patel’s orders. Or on his own? We simply don’t know. So be careful, Mike. We don’t know how many people Al-Asaad might have with him. My own feeling is he knows Broussard’s alive and will do whatever it takes to kill him. Why? Now, that’s uncertain, sorry, I can’t be more definitive.”

“Thank you, Gray. We’re safe right now. We’re inside Galactus, and it’s all been cordoned off since there’s plenty of media in the surrounding area. Surely he wouldn’t make a run at us here. But if you locate him, holler, and we’ll do our best to bring him in. Or take him down.”

She hoped she sounded more certain than she felt. Al-Asaad here? His reputation, before his supposed termination by the CIA, was terrifying. Suicide bombers in Jerusalem, bombs blowing up buses in London, bombs ripping trains off the tracks in France. Everyone had been relieved when word came he was dead. But he wasn’t. It was all a ruse. He was alive and he’d managed to have his scientists make a nuclear bomb to go off in space above the Earth, with the plutonium Kiera Byrne had stolen from the Idaho Research Facility in 2015.

Gray said, “We have a satellite on you, watching. Now, what are you guys doing at Galactus?”

“We’re getting into Patel’s computer, seeing if there’s anything that will tell us where she is. You’re going to receive an open channel here shortly. We need you to pull everything you can find from her systems. Has her phone come online yet?”

“Not yet. We’re—”

She heard a pinging noise, like firecrackers muffled inside a pillowcase—Small arms fire, semiautomatic weapon.

She said calmly, “Gray, Adam, I have to go. There’s gunfire somewhere close by. I suppose Al-Asaad figured out where Broussard is. Do find out why he personally wants Broussard dead. Did Patel pay him or what?”

She broke off the call, slammed her laptop shut. She heard Grant shouting to Nicholas. She pulled her Glock off its clip, did a press-check, saw a bullet was in the chamber.

Nicholas already had his Glock in his hand. “Evidently some of Broussard’s security are breaking into the building. Grant and Broussard are watching it on the cameras in his office.”

Mike yelled, “It’s not Broussard’s security—Gray and Adam just told me—it’s Khaleed Al-Asaad and his thugs, downstairs. They want Broussard dead. Why? Probably Patel ordered it. I’ll tell you all of it later.”

Nicholas blinked at that, slowly nodded. “Al-Asaad? Okay, we need to get Jean-Pierre to a safe place while we deal with Al-Asaad. We need more weapons, too.”

They found Grant and Broussard standing at the windows in his office. Broussard said without looking up, “Those men are not my security. I don’t know who they are.”

Mike said, “It’s Al-Asaad and—I don’t know how many men are with him.”

Grant said, “But I thought he was long dead.”

“No, he’s far from dead. I’ll give you the details later. Al-Asaad broke through the gates and is coming to kill us. Jean-Pierre, can you give us more weapons?”

Mike heard three shots, closer now. A single look of panic crossed Broussard’s face and then it was gone. He cleared his throat, pulled on his leader skin, and became utterly calm.

“At the end of the hall there is a security outpost. I don’t know what they have in there, but here’s the key.” He fumbled a key from his desk drawer, tossed it to Nicholas. Nicholas and Grant were out the door, their pounding footsteps loud in the hallway. Mike said, “We want to keep you safe, Jean-Pierre. What’s the most difficult area to penetrate?”

“R&D, but it’s in the basement. If they get in, we’re trapped, and there’s only one egress. There’s a chopper on the roof. Wait, Mike—Al-Asaad—he’s that terrorist, isn’t he? Why would he want to kill me?”

Mike said, “Patel’s orders.”

She heard him suck in his breath, then Nicholas stepped into the open doorway, loaded down with weapons. He grabbed Broussard’s arm. “Let’s get to the roof.”