Page 140 of Broken Wheels

Her frown deepened. “It’s in the files I gave you. Everything is in there. But if memory serves, he’d selected the John Hancock Tower, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, the Navy Pier, and the Sears Tower—oops, the Willis Tower.”

Josh gaped at her. “Those sound like tourist attractions.”

She nodded. “Some of the biggest in Chicago. I think the John Hancock Tower receives between four and six thousand visitors a day in season.” Another shrug. “Let’s just say one helluva lot of people. Maximum coverage, guaranteed. Great way to attract attention, right? It’d make every news channel in the entire US.”

“But the devastation,” Josh gasped.

Kathy chuckled. “Gotta break a few eggs if you want a tasty omelet.”

He glared at her, hoping the camera captured the full force of his rage. “You think this is funny? That thousands more people are going to die, just because Spencer is suffering from some goddamn Messiah complex?”

“We’re not going to let it happen, all right?” Gary reached for his phone.

“And just who do you think is going to believe a word you say after the snow job Spencer has pulled?”

Gary stilled. “Okay, maybe they won’t listen to me, but they will listen to David Carson.” He grimaced. “Once he’s able to tell them.”

Chapter 42

Spencer glared at his monitor, his temper verging on white-hot.

This is turning into a clusterfuck of epic proportions. One that made no sense whatsoever. How? How the hell did everything go to shit so fast?

When he’d learned of the attack on the Santa Ana storage facility, he’d had to smile. Too late. He’d already given the order to terminate Director Carson. Not that Spencer thought Carson could tell the authorities anything—after all, he’d been the one doing all the talking—but it was a good idea to tie up that particular loose end, especially since Carson had served his purpose.

The fact that they’d gone to the facility in the first place? That piece of intel had to have come from Kathy.

He’d planned this meticulously for years. He’d accounted for every variable, made sure that every contingency was covered. Yet, somehow, it was all turning into a steaming pile of crap.

It had to be Malone’s fault.

Then he reconsidered. That was too fatuous an explanation. There was no telling what the man had done, but surely it couldn’t have affected what he’d spent a good portion of his life putting together.

There had to be another explanation.

I’m surrounded by idiots. That’s as good an explanation as any.

His people had been an abject failure, but he’d expected that. They’d all lacked his vision, seeing only what they could get out of what he’d done. Even Kathy.

I wish I could have stopped her from leaving.

She was probably with CrossBow, although his people could neither confirm nor deny that. The information she had was damning, no doubt, but nothing that couldn’t be explained away or paid off. It was fine. Everything was still on track, and in the end, he would come out on top.

He always did, right?

“Sir?”

He glanced up to find the mousy brown-haired woman he’d gotten to take Kathy’s place as his personal assistant. And after the Kathy shit show, he was going to make sure this one saw nothing more than admin. Hell, he couldn’t even recall her name. Spencer had told everyone Kathy had left due to a family emergency. He cursed that he couldn’t even use Kathy’s family as a bargaining chip to get her back. They’d all sided with her father after she accused him of abuse, so she’d cut ties with them.

Hard to threaten someone who no longer had anything to lose.

Her replacement was adequate, but not up to Kathy’s standards. Plus, she was so timid, it made Spencer sick.

“What is it?” he snapped.

Her eyes opened wide. “I’m sorry to bother you, but you have a meeting this morning and?—”

“No. Cancel all my meetings for this week. No, make that for the foreseeable future. There are too many things going on, and my attention needs to be on those, not on the sales pitches they want to float.”

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