Luke smiled. You should have been there.

Behind him, they were climbing out.

Ed, you remember the President, dont you?

Of course.

Ed pushed the door to the building open. He had very little leverage and had to use his body weight to do it. They entered the main foyer. Ashwal was there with a wheelchair. He was a dark man, balding, with glasses. Years had passed since Luke had seen him. Strapped upright in the wheelchair was a dead woman with a blonde bob haircut. She wore a white spring sweater and slacks. Her skin was gray and slack, but otherwise she might just be sleeping.

Ashwal, Luke said.

The man stared at him. Luke.

Luke gestured at Susan with both hands. Ashwal, this is Susan Hopkins, the President of the United States. Shes injured. I need you to diagnose her injuries and treat her with whatever you have on hand here. We cant bring her to the hospital. People are trying to kill her.

Ashwal stared at Susan. Something slowly dawned behind his eyes.

Im not a doctor anymore.

You are tonight.

Ashwal nodded, his face severe. Okay.

Susan was staring at the corpse.

Is that supposed to me? she said.

Yes.

What are you going to do with her?

Luke shrugged. Im going to kill her.

Chapter 53

2:30 a.m.

Streets of Washington, DC

They must be looking for this car. The easiest thing to do was help them find it.

Luke was in the Suburban, alone now. He had Brennas M1 Garand rifle with him in the front seat. It was loaded with an eight-shot magazine of the high-powered .30-06 armor-busting incendiaries. Ten more mags were on the floor in front of the seat.

In the back seat, the corpse sat where Susan had been. The seatbelt kept the body upright. Its head bobbed and moved with the movement of the car.

Luke rolled slowly through the empty streets near the National Mall and the Capitol. He was right on the edge of the radiation containment zone. Somewhere around here, the DC cops should have the streets blocked off.

There it was, flashing lights, down a side street to his right. He passed the intersection, then pulled over to the curb. There were no cars or people anywhere.

Cops were good. They were a start. But what Luke needed were bad guys. The cops didnt know anything about what was going on. This car would be meaningless to them. He sat for a minute, thinking about it. Could he have lost them so thoroughly back there on the highway that they had no idea where he was? He didnt think so.

He still had his cell phone with him. He knew it was stupid to keep it, but he was hoping against hope that hed get a call or a text from Becca. He brought the phone out and stared at its eerie glow in the darkness.

Oh, hell, he said. He speed-dialed her number.