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admitted. “But not so bad.”
    Marsh shifted uneasily. “How bad?”
    “I’d advise you never to have kids,” Adam said without emotion. “If you still can. And enjoy the next few years of your life.”
    Marsh stared at Zoe as she shrugged. He’d never expected to outlive his egotistical father nor his supercilious brothers anyway.
    “I can shield it better now,” Adam said, taking a package from a suitcase he’d brought along with him. “As I would any device of this sort.”
    Marsh watched for a moment and then realized they were almost done. He met the dead eyes of their driver. “These cells Ramses spoke of. Are they ready? The chase will soon start and I want no delays.”
    A dry smile flickered back. “And neither do we. All five cells are now active, including the two sleepers that the Americans cannot possibly know of.” The man checked his watch. “It is now 6.45 a.m. All will be ready for seven.”
    “Fantastic.” Marsh felt his libido rising again and thought he might as well take advantage of that fact whilst he still could. Knowing Zoe as he recently did, they’d finish quickly anyway. “And the money transfer protocols?”
    “Adam will concentrate on finishing a program that will bounce our location around the world on an endless cycle. They will never track the transaction.”
    Marsh didn’t notice Adam’s expression of surprise.
    He was too concentrated on Zoe, and she on him. He took five more minutes to watch Adam arm the bomb and listen to the instructions on how to disarm the damn thing, and then made sure the man took the relevant photographs of the working device. The photographs were crucial in persuading the White House of the authenticity of the device and in engineering the chase that would divert attentions and divide the forces arrayed against him. Happy at last he addressed Adam.
    “The yellow one. That’s the disarm wire?”
    “Umm, yes sir, it is.”
    Marsh turned a genuine smile upon the driver. “So we’re ready?”
    “We are ready.”
    “Then move out.”
    Marsh held out a hand and led Zoe into the bedroom, tugging at her jeans and panties as they went, and trying to stifle a giggle. A flood of passion and excitement almost overwhelmed him as he realized all his dreams of power and importance were about to be realized. If only his family could see him now.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    As Drake stood upright the full weight of what was transpiring bore down upon him. Urgency coursed through his veins, frayed his nerve-endings, and one look at his team-mates told him they felt the same—even Kenzie. He’d really thought the ex-Mossad agent would have made her move by now but then, in truth, because of the bond between soldiers, he didn’t even have to ask her why she hadn’t. The same innocents she fought for were at stake here, the same civilians. Anyone with even half a heart would not let this stand, and Drake suspected there might be a lot more to Kenzie than half a heart, however deeply buried it may be.
    Seven-forty-five, the wall clock read and the whole team were on the move. The police station was filled with an uneasy chaotic calm, cops in charge but clearly on edge. News reports flashed across TV screens, but none that were relevant to them. Moore paced and paced, waiting for news from undercover agents or surveillance teams or roving cars. Hayden squared off with the rest of the team.
    “Mano and I will handle Ramses. We need two more groups, one to evaluate the nuke information as it happens, and one to chase down these cells. Keep everything quiet, but take no prisoners. Today, my friends, is not a day for fucking around. Get what you need and get it fast and hard. A lie could cost us dearly.”
    Moore picked up on what she was saying and looked over. “Today,” he said, “there will be no quarter.”
    Dahl nodded grimly as he cracked knuckles like he might a man’s skull. Drake tried to relax. Even Alicia marched around like a caged panther.
    Then,