[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Uniformed men quietly bustled around, shooting him haughty looks,even snickering. This the girl the Senator wants so badly? The General lookedMelissa up and down dispassionately. Yessuh. He swallowed the sir as if he hailed from Alabama orLouisiana.Lieutenant Lamont was a good-looking young man.Almost aman at any rate.He looked to be fresh out of college.Tall and lean, withclassical dark looks, he d fit better in a college frat house than this missiletomb.Tension made the air oppressive, although Cody doubted it ever feltcomfortable, much less pleasant, to be inside this rocket silo.He wouldn twant the job of turning one of those keys and annihilating all mankind.Death lurked here, laughing, waiting, trying to trick the unwary to turn thekeys as if in a Stephen King nightmare.He finally spied one of the keys.Itseemed to glow, radiating negative energy. Hello, Melissa. Nathan swaggered up to them as Cody stood stoic,holding his breath, biding his time. DEADLY LOVE Ashley Ladd 138 Well, well, Senator, Cody drawled in his best imitation of thePresident s voice. You ve got what you want--me and this young woman.Call off your goons.Disarm the warheads. The Reverend drew Melissa away from Cody by both hands. There sonly one way I ll disarm them. He didn t waste his glance on Cody--theywere all for the woman. Concede all power to me now.Declare me ruler. Ruler? Cody s skin crawled.He faced a truly crazy man. Emperorof the United States? Or King of the world? Nathan turned feral eyes on him. Why, emperor of the world, ofcourse. Our government doesn t work that way.I don t have that kind ofpower.Even if I was willing to hand over power to you, which I m not, Idon t have the authority to speak for all other countries. Oh, I have the authority.I think I have about fifty tons of authority. Nathan drew and cocked a handgun, and aimed it at Cody s head. You do exactly as I say, the way I say, or we ll send this world back to ourMaker.Our society will disappear in a flash--just like Babylon.Because ofyou and your government, this world is too evil to survive.Drastic measuresmust be implemented, and I ve been ordained to lead His disciples. Melissa s eyes widened as all color drained from her face. Whochose you? Divine revelation was revealed to me.Why everyone here believesthat.Why can t you, my chosen one, see it? Nathan lifted his face and armsto the sky as if he were nailed to a cross.Several of the men glanced their way.Lt.Lamont stood at parade rest,his gaze straight ahead.He and the other presidential guards re-holsteredtheir pistols.Shocked and dismayed, Melissa choked out. Wh-what? Are all thesecurity guards members of your Lions? Are they all your disciples? Of course.I leave nothing to chance, Nathan said with a haughtygleam in his eyes. You got me.Isn t that what you wanted? You still going to attack theAmerican people and fill the sky with fire and brimstone? Cody grimaced,shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Call off your disciples.Dowith me what you will. Maybe Cody could avert global bloodshed if hesacrificed himself.But Nathan chuckled and shook his head, cocking the firearm. Where s the real president? Cody stiffened, barely able to breathe, his focus on the gun. DEADLY LOVE Ashley Ladd 139 You think I wouldn t recognize you under all that plaster? The make-up s good but you don t sound or act a thing like the real President. Heclucked his tongue. Your conceit continues to amaze me, Richards--first,you thought you could steal my intended bride and hide her from me.Nowyou thought you could fool these yokels with such a poor facsimile. Henotched his arm higher so that the gun aimed at Cody s heart. You know, itoccurs to me that you ll let me shoot you, the noble hero, the martyr. Hereeled around and grabbed Melissa, putting the gun to her temple and cockedit. But will you sacrifice your beloved lady love for the world? Melissa turned deathly pale, all blood draining from her face, but shedidn t make so much sound as a whimper.Her eyes implored him to do whathe must, even if it meant sacrificing her--which Cody wasn t about to lethappen without a struggle. So what happens now? You re going to shoot your own wife? Thelove of your life? A purely crazy smile lit Nathan s face. We ll be together througheternity.These are but our earthly shells.Bullets or bombs can harm oureternal souls. Then why should I be scared of your guns or your missiles,Reverend? Ahhhh, my brother, why indeed? I can see in your eyes that yoursoul is not prepared as is mine.You don t have one one-hundredth of myfaith.You re afraid to die. Unfortunately, Alexander was right.The thought of his world and allmankind exploding scared Cody to his core.Why should innocent childrendie because of this one man s insanity? So what do you want me to do? As you said yourself, I m not thePresident.I can t make you ruler or emperor of anything. He tried some ofMelissa s poker tactics. Do you truly want to end the world? Nathan narrowed his eyes and seemed to ponder Cody s question.Finally, he swiveled the gun toward him and snarled. No, just you.You vebeen a thorn in my side ever since I hired you. No! Melissa bit Nathan s hand, and stomped as hard as she could onhis foot, just as the bullet exploded from his gun.The gun jerked upward towards Cody s head instead of at his heart.Cody threw himself to the side, but felt a burning through his rightshoulder, as he rolled to the ground.He couldn t tell if the bullet hadimpacted him as his shoulder had been throbbing wildly already, his earlierwound raw and probably infected by all the abuse it had been through. DEADLY LOVE Ashley Ladd 140Nathan yelled, as he backhanded Melissa to the ground amid thesounds of bones crunching. Launch at the US Eastern Seaboard. She hurtled backward, howling in rage and pain.Twin spots glowedin each cheek, almost nuclear red. You re not a man of God, a Lion ofJudah.Men of God don t hurt innocent people.They don t enjoy power anddegrading others.You re a demon! Women should be seen and not heard. Nathan strode over to her,towered over her, and aimed a deadly foot at her face. Learn your place,wife. No! Cody struggled to his knees and lunged for Nathan s legs justas his steel booted toe almost connected with Melissa s jaw.She rolled out of the way just in time.Teetering, Nathan kicked at him but Cody managed to roll and catchthe other man s leg in the process, flipping him to the floor.The guntumbled out of Nathan s hands; flame burst forth in mid air from thespiraling gun and a bullet ricocheted in the compound.A fist connected toCody s eye and pain flared out of control.Blood trickled down his cheek asshouts of rage roared in his ears.Lt.Lamont said in a deadly voice above him, Lie still, or I ll blowyour head across the room, suh. Forget him, Nathan puffed. I ve got this handled.Help Potter getthat key turned. Yessuh! Lamont turned & and saw Devereaux, Move away fromthe General or I ll shoot. The elite task force burst into the silo, fanning out, before thelieutenant s voice stopped echoing
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]