All eyes were on McNeil.
Heavy breathing from the amped-up airmen was the only sound in the room.
McNeil squinted and considered the overwhelming firepower aimed his way. “Of course, no problem.” He thumbed the hammer and slowly returned it to the safety position. “You have the situation well in hand, Lieutenant. I was holding these violent criminals in my office until you brave men showed up.” He laid the .38 down on Crawford’s desk and backed away.
The men kept their guns trained on McNeil. Adrenaline coursed through their veins. Their trigger fingers were twitching.
“Stand down, dammit!” McNeil ordered.
They ignored the general and looked to their team leader.
“Lower your weapons,” he said.
The men reluctantly complied.
“Sir, what’s the situation here? Why did you have them at gunpoint?”
Colonel Wilmer stumbled into the office panting heavily. He bent down and planted his hands on his knees. “General McNeil…” He gulped down three deep breaths. “There’s been an emergency at site Alpha One.”
“I’m fully aware of what happened, Colonel.” He pointed at Cyndi. “They just confessed to sabotaging the site and trying to launch a nuclear missile at China.”
“Jesus!” Wilmer gasped.
“He’s lying!” Cyndi and Lance shouted out in unison.
“When I attempted to stop them from fleeing, they tried to kill me.” McNeil touched his cheek then displayed his bloody hand for everyone to see.
Cyndi and Lance’s torn and blood-stained flight suits only served to add more nails to their quickly closing coffins.
“You’re missileers, for God’s sake,” Norris said with disgust. “How could you betray your country like that?”
“He’s behind all this!” Cyndi yelled, pointing at McNeil. “He just admitted it. You have to believe me!”
The lieutenant waved his men over. “Handcuff these two. They’re under arrest.”
A policeman approached Cyndi and pulled handcuffs out of a pouch on his belt. “Hands in front. Wrists together.” From memory, he recited, “You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, it can—”
“No!” Cyndi had no intention of going quietly. She spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of his temple. His body went limp as he hit the floor like a bag of wet sand.
In a flash, Lance extended his right leg behind the airman in front of him, grabbed his tactical vest, and shoved with all his might. The man tripped and tumbled backward to the ground.
The remaining airmen sprang into action. They violently tackled Cyndi and Lance.
An all-out brawl erupted. Arms, legs, and fists thrashed wildly about.
The fight was over before it had even started. Cyndi and Lance didn’t stand a chance of prevailing against such overwhelming odds.
Moments later, they lay on their backs, pinned down by five men apiece.
The airmen forced their wrists together while the lieutenant handcuffed each of them.
“Get off me!” Cyndi squirmed and kicked, trying to break free.
“Stop resisting!” Norris ordered.
Lance worked a foot loose, kicked out, and caught one of the men in the jaw.
Airmen wrestled his leg back down and lay across his shins to prevent more strikes.
Norris fastened thick iron leg shackles—linked together by heavy chain—to their ankles to prevent Cyndi and Lance from doing any more damage to his team.
The chains clanked and rattled as the security forces hauled Cyndi and Lance up to their feet.
With Cyndi safely restrained, General McNeil marched up to her. “Put these traitors in solitary confinement in the stockade,” he barked. “I don’t want anyone talking to them or visiting them without my authorization.”
“Yes, sir. Take them away,” Norris said, waving toward the door.
“You have to believe us,” Lance pleaded. “We didn’t have anything to do with this.” He pointed a threatening finger at Norris. “The only reason you’re not a pile of radioactive ash right now is because of us.”
“General McNeil admitted he was the mastermind just before you arrived,” Cyndi implored.
“Stafford has a documented history of paranoia,” McNeil said in his defense. He picked up the file. “It’s all in here.” He tossed it back on the desk. “What’s more, Captain Stafford did that.” He pointed out the window.
Fire trucks were still dousing the flames in the parade field.
“You said so yourself, didn’t you, Stafford?” McNeil said accusingly.
“I had no other choice,” Cyndi pleaded. “Major Pierce was going to kill us!”
“It’s not my job to decide who’s telling the truth,” Norris said. “You’ll have a trial in six months. The judge will sort everything out.”
“Six months!” Fear radiated from Lance’s eyes. “McNeil could have us knocked off before then. He’s already killed everyone else who could implicate him.”
“I’m sorry, there’s nothing else I can do,” Norris said with true compassion in his voice. “I have my orders.” He pointed at the door. “Take them away.”
This can’t be happening, Cyndi thought. Panic swamped her senses. Her heart beat in her chest like a jackhammer.
Everything she’d worked so hard for, all her achievements, were being stolen from her.
So what if her dad had been demanding and her mother could be challenging to get along with? So what if she only had her mom left? So what if she was never going to be a fighter pilot? Life wasn’t perfect. She could learn to deal with it. These issues paled in comparison to what was happening. Cyndi Stafford was about to receive a death sentence for something she didn’t do. And she was powerless to stop it.
“Please! You can’t do this!” Cyndi screamed as the airmen grabbed her arms.
Chapter Fifty-Six
“Wait.”
All eyes turned to Lola Crawford.
She stayed fixated on Cyndi. She saw the desperation in her eyes. “Hold on, Captain.” Crawford gestured toward the parade field. “Did you say Major Pierce?”
“Yes,” Cyndi replied. “He’s a lunatic. He came out to Alpha One to kill us. He said General McNeil sent him.”
“He’s a lunatic all right.” Crawford shivered at recalling their earlier encounter. “Pierce scared the hell out of me, and all he wanted me to do was get the general for him.”
“See, they did know each other,” Lance pointed out.
“Norris, I ordered you to
