Target America: A Sniper Elite Novel Read Online Free Page B

levels at the base are on the rise, and General Cruz has ordered the base to activate the nuclear defense protocols. I’m requesting permission to order every base in Texas to do the same, sir.”
    Feeling suddenly sick to his stomach, the president found himself glad to have taken Tim Hagen’s advice urging him to appoint Couture as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Without Couture’s company in this moment, he would have felt completely rudderless. “Order every base in the country to do the same, General.”
    “If I may offer a word of caution?” the general said.
    “Of course.”
    “I don’t believe a national activation will be necessary at this time, sir. We should definitely put all bases on alert, but to activate the nucleardefense protocols at a national level would almost certainly cause widespread panic among the civilian population.”
    “But where there’s one bomb, General,” Tim Hagen interjected, “surely, there could be another.”
    Couture seemed not to have heard, his eyes fixed on the president. “Does the order stand, Mr. President?”
    The president considered Couture’s assessment of the situation and found the reasoning sound. “No, General. I think you’re probably right. For now, we’ll allow the situation to develop—isn’t that how you people in the military like to put it?”
    The general smiled. “Yes, sir.”
    “Very well then,” the president said, looking at Hagen. “Make sure the deputy director of DHS alerts the city of El Paso about the radiation levels, so their emergency personnel can take appropriate action.” He cast a disgusted glance at the humiliated Radcliff. “It’s apparently going to be some time before DHS and FEMA can get in there to help them.”
    Hagen was busy marking something on the electronic notepad that never seemed to be out of his possession. “I’ll make the call right away, Mr. President.”
    “Now, gentlemen,” the president said to all, opening the door to the Oval Office, “I need to see the directors of the FBI, CIA, and the NSA. I want to make sure everyone’s on the same page moving forward. After you, gentlemen.”
    The three directors filed past the president into the Oval Office, and everyone else moved off down the corridor—everyone but Couture, Hagen, and a pair of Secret Service agents.
    After Hagen finished writing, he slipped the stylus into the side of the notepad and turned to reach for the knob on the Oval Office door.
    To his nearly infinite disbelief, the towering Couture reached out and grabbed him by the necktie, shoving him up against the wall, his merciless gray eyes boring into him.
    “If you ever contradict me again, I’ll break your goddamn neck! Do you understand me?”
    Hagen felt his feet coming off the floor, panic sweeping through him as he looked at the Secret Service agents, who merely stood watching as if made of stone. This was the first time in Hagen’s life that another human being had laid a hand on him in anger, and it was the most unnerving sensation he had ever experienced. “Yes, sir,” he croaked, feeling his bladder threatening to let go.
    Couture released him and set off down the hall with a curt nod to the Secret Service men, both of whom nodded back.
    Hagen stood straightening his suit, taking the time to regain his composure and to make sure that he hadn’t wet himself. “Thanks a lot for the help,” he said to the lead Secret Service man.
    The agent stared back at him, expressionless. “Help with what, Mr. Hagen?”

5
    MOROCCO, CASABLANCA,
Rick’s Café
    Gil Shannon sat at a table in Rick’s Café drinking a cup of coffee. This was not the same Rick’s Café from the 1942 film classic Casablanca . The movie had not even been shot in Morocco. However, the café was modeled after the café from the Humphrey Bogart film, and since its doors had opened in 2004, it had become one of the city’s main tourist attractions.
    The largest city in Morocco, Casablanca proper was home to