A Necessary Kill Read Online Free PDF Page A

council.
    Cunningham nodded slowly, taking the comments on board. Secretly, he was happy that his gamble had paid off and that someone independent to his cause had agreed with his most recent move.
    “General Green, I appreciate your concerns and your advice,” he said, looking across the group. “But I will not send any of our armed forces overseas at this time. GlobaTech Industries has the full backing of the White House, and I personally have every confidence it can provide the necessary assistance needed by the affected nations while using its not-insignificant security forces to maintain peace.”
    Green went to say something but stopped himself. The president had spoken, and everyone knew that was the end of the matter. He sat back in his chair and nodded. “Yes, Mr. President.”
    “Thank you.” He paused, looking at the man sitting to the left of Secretary Phillips. “General Matthews, I’d like you to stay for a few minutes to discuss some intelligence reports.”
    Matthews nodded. “Of course, Mr. President.”
    “The rest of you, thank you for your time. We’re done here.”
    Heskith remained seated but the others stood, thanked the president for his time, and made their way out of the room. Only when the door was closed did anyone speak.
    General Matthews leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk. “Mr. President, I—”
    “Tom, let me stop you there,” said Heskith. “Now isn’t the time for excuses or apologies or anything else, do you understand? The president has given you one task, and that’s all we’re interested in.”
    Matthews went to reply but refrained. He knew Heskith spoke for the president, and despite feeling undermined, he accepted the fact he was out of favor right now, which was likely the reason President Cunningham wanted to keep any direct communication to a minimum.
    “Of course,” he replied. “Mr. President, for the last forty-eight hours my team has been using the Cerberus network to locate and track Adrian Hell. A unit intercepted him in Bangor, Maine, less than an hour ago…”
    Cunningham sat up straight in his chair, suddenly a lot more interested in the words coming out of the CIA director’s mouth. He exchanged a glance with Heskith. “You have him?”
    Matthews shifted uncomfortably in his seat, sliding a finger between the collar of his shirt and throat—a subconscious effort to get more oxygen. “Ah… not exactly, sir, no. He managed to escape, but we’re confident we’ll relocate him any time now. There’s only so far he could’ve—”
    Cunningham held up his hand for silence before resting his head in it and massaging the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. He took a couple of deep breaths trying to summon a hidden reserve of patience. “So, let me see if I understand this… After that clusterfuck in Prague a few days ago, I—against my better judgment, I might add—gave you full control of the Cerberus satellite with the sole purpose of finding one man and killing him. You found him and sent a team to take him out. Not only did he manage to escape, you’re now telling me you can’t find him again? Is that about right?”
    Matthews sighed and nodded. “At the moment, that’s where we’re at, sir.”
    Cunningham looked at Heskith, who silently raised an eyebrow. He took another sip of water before turning back to Matthews. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen… Get a unit over to his last known location. Remove any traces of the CIA’s involvement in whatever the hell happened that led to him escaping. Then find him again. The next time we speak, Tom, you’re going to tell me Adrian Hell is dead. Are we clear?”
    Matthews nodded again.
    “Good. You don’t need me to tell you how close we are to the next phase, Tom. Adrian Hell is the only thing that could potentially stop it from happening, and I can’t allow that.”
    “Of course, Mr. President.”
    Cunningham nodded. “Okay, we’re