Matt Drake 11 - The Ghost Ships of Arizona Read Online Free Page A

we’re talking about terrorists here.”
    “And they have individuals working inside their organization as clever as those who work at the CIA.”
    “So there will be others?” Lauren asked. “Myths or unimpeachable individuals hiding what they really do?”
    “Undoubtedly,” Dahl told her. “Haven’t you heard of the Russian mastermind Chopa Bolokov? Or his brother—Yanksa?”
    Lauren didn’t even smile. “Oh, I love your English jokes.”
    “I’m not—”
    “I know and I don’t care. I thought we were talking serious shit here.”
    Hayden continued, “So, Ramses is trying to orchestrate the biggest event of his entirely unpleasant career. The world is a very large place and these people certainly have ways of communication we don’t yet know about. They could stage something like this and, believe me, we want them to. We just have to be there when it happens.”
    A soft knock at the door brought them all around. Before Hayden could utter a word it opened and a lithe figure entered the room, sending the place into a state of shock. Drake felt his jaw hit the floor and glanced across at Dahl, wondering what they should do. Yes they were inside one of the safest buildings in the world, but this man was an enemy and working for the Pythians.
    Wasn’t he?
    Dahl gawped back at him. It took a long moment before anyone found their voice.
    Smyth snorted loudly. “What the hell are you doing here, you asshole?”
    “I am sorry, my friends,” the figure said, moving swiftly. “But your Ramses will have to wait. I don’t have long and I have a far, far bigger problem to lay upon you. No pun intended, of course. You’re going to have to move and move fast if America is to survive.”
    Hayden audibly gulped. “S-Survive?” she stammered. “What are you talking about?”
    “The return of the dark ages,” came the answer. “We’re all about to die. Will you hear me out?”
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Drake peered around the lithe figure.
    “Alicia with you?”
    “Ah, sadly not. She is chasing Hercules, I believe. That girl cannot live a day without a man in her life. But perhaps you will see her soon, no?”
    Drake shrugged. He could see from the periphery of his vision that the others had Beauregard well covered, but past memories stung almost as much as the bruises that had been inflicted. The Frenchman was one slippery character.
    But there was one overbearing question . . .
    “You do realize this is the Pentagon?” Dahl asked it first. “How . . .”
    Beauregard allowed a self-assured smile to play across his lips. “My boss called your boss,” he said. “You know how it goes.”
    “I had a call,” Hayden said. “From Robert Price. He explained that an informant would be dropping by this morning but he never said it would be this guy.”
    “Wait. Wait.” Drake squeezed his eyes shut. “Your boss called Robert Price? Don’t you work for the Pythians?”
    Beauregard only smiled.
    The SPEAR team tensed. If the Secretary of Defense had allowed this man into their midst then perhaps he was as corrupt as had once been intimated. Drake knew that Hayden was trying to quietly investigate the new Secretary but had barely had time to breathe during the last few months. Something would give . . . he just wondered how bad it would be when it did.
    Beauregard then sat down and spread his hands wide. “I would love to spin this out longer,” he said. “The indecision on all your faces is worth my time. But sadly it is not worth the country’s time, and real lives. So I will tell you this—I work for a good guy and I am in deep cover. The time is fast approaching when the Pythians will self-destruct, a fact mostly down to their leader who is about as stable as a Greek bank. You will all need a man on the inside when that happens.”
    Drake didn’t move a muscle. “Who do you work for?”
    “That is his secret to tell, not mine. But now, I am here. Will you listen?”
    “What kind of question is