BooksBarbecue
Back Balance of Power
Chapters (53)
  1. BALANCE OF POWER
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. About The Creators
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY

She shook her head. She pushed past him and jumped onto the asphalt. She stood watching the choppers for a moment. "Get your people out of here or into safe areas," she said. "Arm them."

Aideen slid out around the men. "Hold on," she said. "Are you telling him to shoot at Spanish soldiers?"

"I don't know!" she snapped. She started running toward the car. "These are probably Amadori's men. If any of the familia members are captured or killed, it accomplishes what we're afraid of. By shutting down pockets of dissent, he's strengthened in the eyes of the people."

Aideen jogged after her. She was trying to imagine some other scenario. But there were no riots in San Sebastián and the police were handling the inquiry into the explosion in the bay. There were only small homes and fields between this spot and the mountains: the Ramirez factory was the only target large enough to merit four helicopters.

This is a civilized nation preparing to make war on itself, she told herself. Though it was difficult to accept that fact, it was becoming more and more real by the moment.

Juan stepped from the van. He was followed by Ferdinand.

"Where are you going?" Juan shouted after the women.

"To call my superior!" María shouted back. "I'll let you know if I find out anything."

"Tell your people that we will not fight back unless we're attacked!" Juan yelled as he and Ferdinand started running toward the factory. The helicopters were less than a quarter mile away. "Tell them that we have no quarrel with the honest soldiers or people of-"

His words were drowned out by the rattling drone of the rotors as the choppers bore down on the factory. An instant later the crisp chatter of the airborne Modelo L-1-003 guns was added to the din and both Juan and Ferdinand fell to the ground.

TWENTY-TWO

Tuesday, 5:43 a.m.

Madrid, Spain

Darrell McCaskey couldn't sleep.

After bringing Aideen to the airfield, he'd returned with Luis to Interpol's Madrid office. The small complex occupied a single floor of the district police station. The turn-of-the-century brick building was located just off the broad Gran Vía on Calle de Hortaleza. The ride back to the city had been a quiet one as McCaskey reflected on his months with María.

Suddenly exhausted when they returned, McCaskey had lain down on a soft sofa in the small dining room. But while he'd gladly shut his heavy eyelids, his heavy heart had refused to shut down. María's anger had disturbed him, though it was not unexpected. Worse than that, though, was simply seeing the woman again. It reminded McCaskey of the biggest mistake of his life: letting her go two years before.

The sad thing was, he'd known it then.