Дэвид Балдаччи - The Escape

Puller looked at Pritchard. “If the sprinklers do come on, will it be all over the Pentagon? Even if the source of the fire is small or contained in a particular area?”

“The sprinkler system is on zones,” replied Pritchard. “For example, because this room houses the water main for the sprinkler system, a fire here will trigger a very large deployment of water, the theory being if the fire knocked out the water supply for the sprinkler system you want to wet down as much of the place as possible before that happens.” He pointed upward. “And right above us is the E Ring. Lots of senior people up there. They’d definitely get hit with the water.”

Puller kept looking around. “They took a risk bringing this shit in here. But getting to one place is easier than getting to a second place. You risk getting stopped and your whole plan unravels. But this room is the key. A fire here triggers a ton of water like Pritchard said.”

“Here?” said Rinehart.

“Yes. If they could go to one room to do everything they needed to do, they would probably opt for that.”

As Puller walked around the room his gaze drifted upward.

“There,” he called out. He was pointing to the ceiling in a darkened corner about forty feet from the water pipe. “Best place to set the igniter is right here where the canisters and water supply intake are.”

“We’ve got two minutes, Puller,” warned Rinehart.

“Looks to be a large burn pack,” said Puller as Knox joined him. “They probably figured that would be all they needed. It won’t reach the water pipe and disrupt the sprinkler system. But it’ll have a hot flash point, lots of smoke and fire. And the fire will eventually burn this room up enough that it’ll take a long time for them to find those extra tanks. By then nearly everybody and everything in this place could be contaminated.”

“Well, rip it down and let’s get it out of here,” barked Rinehart.

“Sir, when it detonates we’re still going to be in this building no matter how fast we push the golf carts. And the blast will still set off the sprinklers wherever we are. We have to disable it here. Now.”

He slid a pocketknife from his pocket and handed it to Knox. “Get on my shoulders.”

“What?”

He spun her around, gripped her hips, bent down, and hoisted her over his head, settling her seated on his shoulders with her legs on either side of his head facing the same way he was.

“Tell me what you see,” said Puller.

“A black box with an LED timer.”

“What’s the timer at?”

“Twenty seconds and counting.”

Pritchard said, “Just pull out the detonator from the pack.”

Puller barked, “They’re not stupid. That’ll just accelerate the detonation.”

“He’s right,” said Rinehart, his voice strained. “Shit, we’re nearly out of time.”

“How many wires?” asked Puller.

“Two. One red, one black.”

“Are they both single-strand?”

“The red is a double.”

“The dummy, probably. You cut that it accelerates the time to zero, and boom.”

“Probably!” snapped Rinehart. “You don’t know for sure? We don’t have time for probably, Puller.”

Puller barked, “Cut the red one, Knox.”

“But you just said that was the dummy.”

“Cut the red one. Now!”

“Are you–“

“Puller,” yelled Rinehart. “We’re out of–”

“Now, Knox,” shouted Puller. “Do it!”

She cut the red one and closed her eyes.

There was a pop, a fizzle, and everyone held their collective breath.

Knox finally opened her eyes and was staring at a burn pack that had failed to burn. She exhaled and gasped, “Thank you, sweet Jesus.”

“Right,” said Puller, after he let out his breath too.

She looked down at him from her high perch. “We did it. Mission accomplished.”

Puller shook his head. “No. Not so long as Susan Reynolds and Anton Bok walk the earth.”

The next moment the fire alarm went off. Thankfully, the sprinklers did not.

PULLER SAT IN a chair and stared over at his brother. Robert had been filled in on what had happened at the Pentagon.

Knox sat between them on the edge of the bed. It was dark outside. Rain was falling. Knox’s hands shook a bit.

“The sound of the damn rain makes me think about what could have happened at the Pentagon today,” she said.

“The biohazard squad managed to detach the canisters from the water pipe,” said Puller. “They’re cleaning everything up, checking it all out.”

“So did they change the aerosolized Ebola to a water-based bioweapon?” asked Robert.

“I don’t know, Bobby,” Puller said wearily, rubbing his face. “They’re figuring it all out. The threat has been neutralized, but the problem isn’t solved.”

“Because of Reynolds and Bok,” Robert replied.

Knox added, “Everyone is looking for them. They won’t be able to hide for long.”

“Don’t be too sure of that,” said Puller in a cautioning tone. “They’ve managed to do just about everything they wanted to so far.”

“Except kill everyone in the Pentagon,” she shot back.

“Where do you think they might be?” asked Robert.

“Well, they don’t strike me as the types to just walk away from a fight, especially after we screwed up their plan,” said Puller.

“So they hang around to try to do something else. A Plan B?”

Puller shrugged. “A guess would only be that – a guess.” He quieted and gazed solemnly across at his brother. “It’s time, Bobby.”

“Time for what?” said Knox quickly.

“To turn myself in,” answered Robert quietly.

Knox shot Puller an incredulous glance. “What? Are you crazy?”

Puller said, “There’s no other way, Knox.”

She stood. “Listen to yourself. We still don’t have proof that he’s innocent. They’ll put him right back in DB. And this time he won’t get back out.”

“My brother’s right,” said Robert.

“So you’re just going to waltz in and surrender?”

“Not exactly,” said Puller. “Groundwork needs to be laid.”

“What sort of groundwork?” asked Knox.

“You ask a lot of questions,” said Puller.

“I usually do when I don’t get any answers,” she retorted.

Robert said, “How do you want to do this, Junior?”

Puller rose. “I’ll need a little time to put the pieces together. Stay put.”

Knox stood. “I’m coming with you.”

“You don’t have to,” he said.

“I’m quite aware of that. It’s my choice to come with you.”

“I can plead my brother’s case.”

She smiled demurely. “I never said you couldn’t. But it’s always better to have someone with you who can talk out of both sides of her mouth. And suffice it to say, I can.”

“You mean lie ,” said Puller.

“I mean present the best case possible using whatever facts or near facts are handy.” She held up her car keys. “Let’s go.”

After what had happened at the Pentagon, Rinehart saw them at once. Puller spoke for twenty minutes. Then Knox did so for another five.

When she fell silent, Rinehart said nothing. He sat there in his chair, his large hands clasped together and resting on his desk.

More than once Knox glanced at Puller, but he simply sat there watching Rinehart.

Finally, the three-star cleared his throat and said, “I can’t say I approve of what you’ve done, because I don’t. You were tasked to bring Robert Puller in, not to work with him. You disobeyed that order.”

“I did, sir.”

“For that you could be court-martialed. By harboring a fugitive you could be sent to DB.”