Reckoning Read Online Free Page A

the right time and do some major ass kissing. That’s just the way it went, and Leland was nothing if not a pragmatic. He might be officially in charge of Omicron’s day-to-day business, but Raines was the guiding force behind its highly secret operation. One that benefited them both.
    Raines sat in the king’s chair in the conference room. It was slightly higher, slightly bigger and at the head of the table so everyone else in the meeting would have to look up at him. The decorator who’d done this building and Omicron’s office in Colorado hadn’t understood the necessity of the king’s chair until Leland had explained it to him. Men need to know who’s boss, who has the final say. In this pansy-ass age of political correctness, it wasn’t words that communicated, it was body language, position, the king’s seat.
    Raines brought in the money. Therefore, he was the king pin. He’d called the meeting for 7:00 a.m., knowing it would be difficult for the managers to get here so early. When Leland’s secretary had proposed bringing in coffee and Danish, Raines had given an emphatic no. It was all games. Games with damned high stakes.
    Leland himself was the Prince Regent and soon the dynamic was going to shift in his favor. Not today. Today there were going to be fireworks. Nonetheless when the shipment went out and Leland put the money in Omicron’s secret offshore account, Raines would have to give Leland his due.
    “Thank you, gentlemen,” the senator said, leaning back in his chair.
    That’s all that needed to be said. The underlings moved out in an orderly fashion, taking BlackBerrys and PDAs with them, leaving Ingram to hear the private word.
    When the door to the conference room closed, Leland prepared by focusing his gaze on the bridge of Raines’s nose. It would appear, from the king’s seat, as if his eyes were slightly downcast, but not subservient. That he might be receiving a dressing-down, but he wasn’t a toady.
    “We didn’t get the chemist,” Raines said, his voice muted. “We didn’t get her data. And we lost three men.”
    “We found her once, we’ll find her again. We know she’s still in L.A. And we destroyed the lab.”
    “You found her and lost her. She could be anywhere by now. And the lab was never the problem.”
    “We’re on it.”
    “You’re on it?”
    That was about fifteen decibels louder. By the end of the conversation, Leland fully expected to hear him roar with rage.
    “What the fuck does that mean, you’re on it? Do you know where she is at this moment? Do you know if she’s still connected to that Delta Force bunch? Where’s the soldier who escaped from Colorado? What the hell kind of operation is this, that you can’t find a few grunts and a chemist?”
    There it was. The roar. The voice that carried across the senate floor. Now Leland’s gaze moved down a half inch and he let his shoulders sag by the same degree. “Senator, I’ve replaced the man in charge and I believe the new man will have the Delta team within the week.”
    “Based on what, exactly?”
    “We’re meeting later to go over the details. I’ll give you an update first thing tomorrow.”
    “I’d better have answers I can count on, Leland. We cannot have this situation exposed. The American people have a great need for the money we’re bringing in with this weapon. A great need, indeed. I will not disappoint the American people, are we clear?”
    “Yes, Senator. Completely.”
    “I want that update by seven.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Raines leaned back and his posture eased. “Bring me up to speed on the plant.”
    This was the part of the meeting Leland had been waiting for. He had no idea how in hell they were going to find the scientist or the soldiers. Eventually, they’d make a mistake and that would be that. Of course, he couldn’t say that to Raines, but he wasn’t too worried. Not yet.
    Now, the plant, on the other hand, had exceeded his expectations. Putting it inside the