Page 120 of Enemy Within

Heavy silence filled the room after he spoke.

Levi leaned in close. “Madam President, there’s more. And you’re not going to like it.”

She met Levi’s gaze. For the first time, she saw naked terror in his dark eyes. Endless, aching terror.

49

Kara Sea – Madigan’s Base Camp

COOK GLARED OVER THE ice, his arms crossed, radio clenched in one fist, and watched six snowmobiles speed toward him.

He’d sent a team of three Serbs and three South Americans out to take care of whatever survivors there were. That had been over an hour ago. He’d lost contact after they’d engaged, after reports of the survivors holed up by the plane, three firing on the team, and then—

Nothing.

On top of that, Lieutenant Cooper had disappeared. The two men he’d put on guard, Sudanese fighters who’d made names for themselves as hardened war criminals, were in Cooper’s cell with broken necks. So much for the brutality they’d promised. Cooper was supposed to eat his own intestines for his last meal, choke on his own blood before slowly bleeding to death.

Cook left their bodies there. They didn’t matter.

But finding Cooperdid.

Where had he gone? What had happened to his men?

Who was coming back now?

One of the snowmobiles pulled right up to him. The driver wore the same mismatched uniform and winter jacket and face mask as all the criminals did: a hodgepodge of Russian, African, and Latin American military uniforms, none of the pieces matching. They said they looked intimidating, showing the different countries they’d fought and killed in.

Cook thought they looked stupid.

He stared down at the driver, waiting as he pulled to a stop. Behind him, a body lay draped over the back of the snowmobile. Brown hair, white arctic jacket, filthy and stained. Blood-spattered.

Slowly, Cook smiled. He grabbed the dead man’s hair and lifted his head. Cooper’s pale, bloodstained face gazed back at him. His eyes were closed, but blood matted one side of his head, thick and oozing. Gunshot to the temple, if he had to guess. There was enough blood for it. “What happened?” He dropped Cooper and turned to the driver.

The driver stared him straight in the eyes as he tugged down his face mask. “We took out the survivors. Dropped them all. Found this one making a run for it on the ice and put a bullet in his head.”

Cook nodded. “Who were they?”

“President Spiers and his fuck toy. That crazy Russian president, and some kind of bodyguard of his.”

The other snowmobiles waited, ten yards away. Draped over the back of each snowmobile lay a body in arctic gear. Circles of blood marred the backs of the white jackets.

“What happened to your radios?”

The driver pulled his handheld out of his jacket. A bullet had smashed the receiver. There was a hole clean through the case.

Cook nodded. “Bring them to me. I want to—”

Cook’s radio spat static, and then Kobayashi’s voice fell from the speaker.“Captain. The reactor is back online. Should I begin weaponization now?”

“I’m on my way. I need to see it.” Cook glared at the driver as he dropped his radio, his eyes flicking from Cooper’s slumped body to the other riders. “General Madigan will want to see the bodies. You know where to take them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cook peered into the driver’s eyes. “What’s your name?”

The driver grinned, almost wolfishly. “Scott. My name is Scott.”

“Scott? I don’t remember you. Where did you come from?”