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Back Angels of Vengeance Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

Another person might have been tempted to go rooting around in the laptop’s directory to hunt for particular documents. Caitlin stood well away from the keyboard and resisted any such urges, however. She’d once turned off Bret’s Xbox while it was doing something not entirely dissimilar to the Siemens phone, dumping its system software and updating from a remote server. Or something.

In the end, it was all about one machine butt-raping another. And she had learned from the unfortunate Xbox episode, if not from her instructors at Tech Services, to keep her fucking hands to herself while the machines got their awesome on.

After seven-and-a-half excruciating minutes, the phone vibrated again. The data had been extracted and uploaded to the satellite. It was already unpacking itself into a dedicated directory on a dark server in Vancouver, where the same systems operator would be scanning it to check for exactly the sort of malevolent digital magic he had just wielded to extract the files. It was safe to disconnect.

Caitlin unhooked her cell and waited until the suicide agents left behind by the phone had shut down McCutcheon’s computer, after obliterating all trace of their passage through its silicon hallways. The Toshiba winked off shortly afterwards.

The room seemed preternaturally still and quiet.

And then the door opened.

51

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

The drive to Madison Park was too far, even with a government car and driver. Jed called Marilyn and told her he’d be staying in the townhouse for the night. She had a couple of friends over and was already three sheets into the wind, so at least he wasn’t in trouble there. Neither of the kids, Melanie and Roger, could tear themselves away from their games consoles to say goodnight. Jed didn’t much care by that point. He just wanted a shower, something to eat, and sleep. If he could sleep.

It was a calculated gamble, turning somebody like Caitlin Monroe loose on Blackstone. He had no doubt that within a couple of days the impasse would be ancient history. But whether Monroe would deliver to him the information he needed to quietly remove the Governor of Texas, or whether they were hours away from some violent, nightmarish blood swarm, he couldn’t say. And not having control was killing him.

He couldn’t control the fact that Blackstone had sent special operators to Florida and stumbled across an apparent piece of villainy by Roberto down there. Just as he couldn’t control the fact that a certain ‘Colonel Murdoch’ had now loomed into the President’s consideration.