Page 77 of Edge of Danger

“Good question.” Ian frowned at her, obviously thinking hard. “We think Yusef has already launched his attack. And that airplane looked ready to go, to me. Whatever your…the PHP…is planning seems imminent. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I got the impression your father was trying to delay us. Like he planned to keep us at the compound for a day or two.”

“To keep us out of the way while the PHP’s attack goes down?” she asked in dismay.

“Or while they finish preparing for it,” he added.

“So we’re talking hours or days and not weeks until the PHP strikes?”

“Yes, that would be my guess,” he answered grimly.

Piper flinched involuntarily but had to agree with him. She picked up Ian’s train of thought. “There’s a built-in delay to thebiological attack while the virus incubates and spreads. Could El Noor be planning another attack, one launched by the PHP to coincide with when the virus starts to go active?”

Ian grimaced. “It’s diabolical.”

“It would maximize the effectiveness of the biological attack,” she replied. Both of them glanced at the still image of the Caucasian street thug frozen on the computer screen.

“El Noor’s men seem to prize efficiency. It’s probably safe to extrapolate that their boss is the same,” Ian said grimly.

They stared at one another in shared dismay. This was not good. Not good at all.

“I gotta call this in,” he announced.

While he made the call, her mind raced. Now what? Where was El Noor pointing his two-pronged attack? What American city was in the crosshairs?

Partway through his report, Ian stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. She winced. Reporting on her connection to the PHP, no doubt. Oh, well. It had been a great career while it lasted.

He stepped back into the room, pocketing his phone.

“Am I officially fired, yet?” she asked in resignation.

“Not that I’m aware of. Why would you ask that?”

She blinked up at Ian. “You told them about my connection to the PHP, didn’t you?”

“Nah,” he shrugged. “It’ll work its way through channels quickly enough. Your boss will tell my boss when the time is right. And at the moment, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

She stared at him hard, trying to suss out if he was telling her the truth or not. Or was he just smoothing things over for now so she would spill her guts to him? His expression didn’t give away a thing.

She asked in resignation, “Did HQ have any information for us?”

“Did you know your old man has a private pilot’s license?” Ian asked abruptly.

“What? No way.”

“Got it a few months ago.”

“You’re kidding,” she blurted.

“And the new guy. The one with the beard. Name’s Matt Bradley. Turns out he’s ex-Army. Chopper pilot.”

“The helicopter the PHP bought,” she exclaimed.

“Why does an anti-technology cult need both a fixed-wing plane and a helicopter?” Ian mused.

“More to the point, what kind of terrorist attacks can be launched from airborne platforms?” she added. “Do you suppose the virus hasn’t been released yet, and they’re planning to use the aircraft to, I don’t know, spray it over a city?”

“Possible. But why would Abahdi go to all the trouble of developing a virus with a lot of spread vectors if all they had to do was spray it on folks? And furthermore, I didn’t see crop dusting gear in the shop or in the plane.”

She frowned. “Look. I know you don’t want to believe me. But I can’t accept that my father and brother would knowingly release a lethal virus on thousands of fellow Americans. They may dislike the government and modern technology, but they consider themselves to be patriots.”

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