Sidney Sheldon - The Doomsday Conspiracy

No one’s going to hurt you anymore, Robert. Come to me. I’m waiting here for you.

Slowly, Robert opened his eyes. He lay there for a long moment, then sat up, filled with a sudden sense of excitement. He knew now who the eleventh witness was, and he knew where he was to meet her.

Day Twenty-Three

Paris, France

He telephoned Admiral Whittaker from the doctor’s office.

“Admiral. Robert.”

“Robert! What’s going on? They told me …”

“Never mind that now. I need your help, Admiral. Have you ever heard of the name Janus?”

Admiral Whittaker said slowly, “Janus? No. I never heard of him.”

Robert said, “I’ve found out he’s heading some kind of secret organization that’s killing innocent people, and now he’s trying to kill me. We have to stop him.”

“How can I help?”

“I need to get to the President. Can you arrange a meeting?”

There was a moment of silence. “I’m certain I can.”

“There’s more. General Hilliard is involved.”

“What? How …?”

“And there are others. Most of the intelligence agencies in Europe are in it, too. I can’t explain any more now. I want you to call Hilliard. Tell him I’ve found an eleventh witness.”

“I don’t understand. An eleventh witness to what?”

“I’m sorry, Admiral, but I can’t tell you. Hilliard will know. I want him to meet me in Switzerland.”

“Switzerland?”

“Tell him I’m the only one who knows where the eleventh witness is. If he makes one wrong move, the deal is off. Tell him to go to the Dolder Grand in Zurich. There will be a note waiting for him at the desk. Tell him I also want Janus in Switzerland, ;.n person.”

“Robert, are you certain you know what you’re doing?”

“No, sir, I’m not. But this is the only chance I’ve got. I want you to tell him my conditions are not negotiable. Number one, I want safe passage to Switzerland. Number two, I want General Milliard and Janus to meet me there. Number three, after that, I want a meeting with the President of the United States.”

“I will do everything I can, Robert. How will I get in touch with you?”

“I’ll call you back. How much time will you need?”

“Give me one hour.”

“Right.”

“And Robert …”

He could hear the pain in the old man’s voice. “Yes, sir?”

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, sir. I’m a survivor. Remember?”

One hour later Robert was speaking to Admiral Whittaker again.

“You have a deal. General Hilliard seemed shaken by the news of another witness. He’s given me his word you will not be harmed. Your conditions will be met. He’s flying to Zurich and will be there tomorrow morning.”

“And Janus?”

“Janus will be on the plane with him.”

Robert felt a surge of relief. “Thank you, Admiral. And the President?”

“I spoke to him myself. His aides will arrange a meeting for you whenever you’re ready.”

Thank God!

“General Hilliard has a plane to fly you to …”

“No way.” He was not going to let them get him into a plane. “I’m in Paris. I want a car and I’ll drive it myself. I want it left in front of the Hotel Littre in Montparnasse within half an hour.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“Admiral?”

“Yes, Robert?”

It was difficult to keep his voice steady. “Thank you.”

He walked down Rue Littre, moving slowly because of the pain. He approached the hotel cautiously. Parked directly in front of the building was a black Mercedes sedan. There was no one inside. Across the street was a blue and white police car, with a uniformed policeman behind the wheel. On the sidewalk, two men in civilian clothes stood watching Robert approach. French Secret Service.

Robert found that he was having trouble breathing. His heart was pounding. Was he stepping into a trap? The only insurance he had was the eleventh witness. Did Hilliard believe him? Was it enough?

He walked toward the sedan, waiting for the men to make a move. They stood there, silently watching him.

Robert moved toward the driver’s side of the Mercedes and looked inside. The keys were in the ignition. He could feel the eyes of the men fastened on him as he opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat. He sat there a moment, staring at the ignition. If General Hilliard had double-crossed Admiral Whittaker, this was the moment when everything would end in a violent explosion.

Here goes. Robert took a deep breath, reached down with his left hand and turned the key. The motor purred into life. The Secret Service men stood there, watching him drive away. As Robert approached the intersection, a police car pulled in front of his car, and for a moment, Robert thought he was going to be stopped. Instead, the police turned on their red flashing light, and the traffic seemed to melt away. They’re giving me a fucking escort!

Overhead Robert heard the sound of a helicopter. He glanced up. The side of the helicopter was marked with the insignia of the French National Police. General Hilliard was doing everything possible to see that he arrived in Switzerland safely. And after I show him the last witness, Robert thought grimly, he thinks he’s going to kill me. But the General is in for a surprise.

Robert reached the Swiss border at four o’clock in the afternoon. At the border, the French police car turned back, and a Swiss police car became his escort. For the first time since the affair had started, Robert began to relax. Thank God Admiral Whittaker had friends in high places. With the President expecting a meeting with Robert, General Hilliard would not dare to harm him. His mind turned to the woman in white, and at that instant, he heard her voice. The sound of it reverberated through the car.

Hurry, Robert. We are all waiting for you.

All? Was there more than one? I’ll find out soon enough, Robert thought.

In Zurich, Robert stopped at the Dolder Grand Hotel and wrote a note at the desk for the General.

“General Milliard will ask for me,” Robert told the clerk. “Please give this to him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Outside, Robert walked over to the police car that had been escorting him. He leaned down to talk to the driver. “From here on in, I want to be on my own.”

The driver hesitated. “Very well, Commander.”

Robert got back in his car and started driving toward Uetendorf and the scene of the UFO crash. As he drove, he thought of all the tragedies that had occurred because of it and all the lives that had been taken. Hans Beckerman and Father Patrinl; Leslie Mothershed and William Mann; Daniel Wayne and Otto Schmidt; Lash Bushfekete and Fritz Mandel; Olga Romanchanko and Kevin Parker. Dead. All of them dead.

I want to see the face of Janus, Robert thought, and look into his eyes.

The villages seemed to race by, and the pristine beauty of the Alps belied all the bloodshed and terror that had started here. The car approached Thun, and Robert’s adrenalin began to flow. Ahead was the field where he and Beckerman had found the weather balloon, where the nightmare had begun. Robert pulled the car over to the side of the road and switched off the engine. He said a silent prayer. Then he got out of the car, crossed the highway and went into the field.

A thousand memories flashed through Robert’s mind. The phone call at four in the morning. You are ordered to report to General Milliard at National Security Agency Headquarters at Fort Meade at 0600 this morning. Is the message understood, Commander?

How little he had understood it then. He recalled General Hilliard’s words: You must find those witnesses. All of them. And the search had led from Zurich to Bern, London, Munich, Rome and Orvieto; from Waco to Fort Smith; from Kiev to Washington, and Budapest. Well, the bloody trail had finally come to an end, here, where it had all begun.