Any Means Necessary (a Luke Stone Thriller-Book #1)

Chapter Twenty Three

10:50 a.m.

Beneath the White House

They rode an elevator deep into the bowels of the earth. Ten people were on board: the President, the Vice President, the President's young chief of staff, Ed and Luke, and five Secret Service agents. One of the agents carried a black leather satchel, secured to his wrist with a metal clasp. Somewhere above them, an alarm was going off.

"How sure of this are you?" the President said.

Luke's face was rug burned. The back and side of his neck was sore. He could feel a welt rising on his jaw. His mouth was bleeding.

"I'm not sure of anything, sir."

"If you're wrong, you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Sir, I think you may not appreciate the full extent of that trouble."

The elevator doors opened. They exited into to a cavernous lighted chamber, disappearing into the distance. Two black limousines were lined up just outside the elevator. Luke found himself in the second car, with Ed, the Vice President, and two Secret Service agents.

Ed's face was a mess. His right eye was swollen half shut. The lid was cut and bleeding.

The car sped through the tunnel, yellow lights zooming overhead.

"I, for one, hope that you're wrong," Susan Hopkins said.

"So do I," Luke said. "More than anything."

At the far end of the tunnel, they took another elevator to the surface. They came out at a helipad. A big gray Sikorsky was on the pad, its rotors already turning. They climbed aboard and the helicopter took off.

As they rose, Luke saw that they were rising from a wooded area about half a mile from the White House. They hovered at a distance. The President stared at the building. Luke did, too.

"If something were going to happen, it would be happening right around now," the President said. "Isn't that right?"

Luke glanced at his watch. "It's 10:53."

"A dirty bomb tends to be small," Ed said. "We might not see anything from this distance."

"It may be a drone attack," Luke said. "If so, we might—"

Suddenly, his words were cut off as the Oval Office exploded.

A flash of red and yellow light appeared behind the tall windows. The glass shattered. The walls seemed to bulge, then blew outward onto the lawn.

Another, larger explosion destroyed the West Wing.

As they watched, the roof caved in.

A series of explosions walked down the Colonnade toward the main Residence in the center. Everyone watched the flames consume one of the enduring symbols of the United States. A huge explosion, the largest one yet, ripped through the Residence. A huge chunk of masonry flew upwards, spinning end over end. Luke watched its arc as it disintegrated in the air.

Suddenly the helicopter shuddered. It dropped sickeningly before the pilots caught it, and it started its ascent again.

"It's a shockwave," Luke said. "We're okay."

The helicopter turned and headed west. They all flew in silence, exchanging dazed looks. Luke looked at Ed's damaged face. He looked like a boxer who had just lost a fight. There was nothing left to say.

Behind them, the White House burned.