Will you come with us, or do we leave you here?'
'Come with you where?'
'That is not important,' Kendra interjected.
'Away from here, ostensibly to keep the senator safe,' Stone said. 'Yes or no, Kat? Are you coming or staying?'
Kat looked at the gun. 'You wouldn't shoot me. Not here, not now.'
'No one will hear,' Stone assured her. 'Your answer, please.'
The woman did not know what to say. The silent barrel of a pistol was more persuasive than Stone's arguments. The sight had a way of short-circuiting the brain and weakening the legs. It was one thing to believe in an ideal. It was quite another to perish for it. But there was a stubborn part of her soul that did not want to be bullied.
Especially when she and the senator had worked so hard to get here.
The brief, internal debate was resolved a moment later when a third option presented itself.
One that no one had anticipated.
FIFTY-THREE
San Diego, California Wednesday, 4:44 p.m.
The low hum, more tangible than audible, came upon them suddenly. The windows began to wobble before anything else. That caused the drawn drapes to shake. A few moments later, everyone felt the vibrations.
The nearly sixty-foot-long AH64-D Apache Longbow helicopter lowered itself sideways beside the hotel. The sun threw its stark shadow against the drapes. The Longbow looked like a mosquito, with its slightly dipped rotors and stubby wings set against a long, slender body, a large General Electric T700-GE-701 turboshaft engine mounted high on each side of the fuselage.
The helicopter rotated slowly so that its 30 mm automatic Boeing M230 chain gun was pointed toward the room.
'Christ in heaven,' Stone muttered as the aircraft turned.
He started toward the door just as the knob and lock popped loudly, and the door flew in along the hinges. Mike Rodgers stepped through the acrid smoke of the C-4 blast. He was followed by a small complement of marines. The marines were all carrying MP5-N assault rifles. Several of them moved toward Thomas Mandor and Kendra Peterson. They directed the two toward the bedroom. Neither of Stone's companions protested.
Two of the marines remained with Mike Rodgers.
'Put your weapon down!' Rodgers ordered as he walked toward Stone. He had to shout to be heard over the beat of the Apache that had ferried them to the rooftop. Rodgers expected to be using it again shortly.
The USF officer hesitated, but only for a moment. He turned the gun from Kat to Senator Orr.
'Don't!' Kat screamed.
'You are leaving me no choice!' he replied.
'I am,' she said. She edged toward the senator. 'We can talk about your concerns. We've done that before, all of us.'
'It's too late,' Stone said.
'Eric, have you actually killed anyone?' Rodgers asked as the marines filled the room.
'No,' he admitted.
'Then don't start now. I know you think there's no other choice.
