Domain Read Online Free PDF Page B

Russia’s collapsed economy and how it will affect the European market.”
    “Pierre, take it easy. A lot can happen in forty-five days.”
    Borgia exhales. “I’m sorry, Mr. President. It’s a great honor just to be considered. Listen, I’d better get going, I have to meet with General Fecondo before this afternoon briefing.”
    Borgia shakes his friend’s hand, then starts for the camouflaged panel door. He turns before leaving. “Mark, any advice?”
    The president sighs. “I don’t know. Heidi did mention something at breakfast. Ever thought about replacing that patch with a glass eye?”
     
    Dominique exits the treatment facility’s lobby, the south Florida summer heat blasting her in the face. A distant bolt of lightning streaks across an ominous afternoon sky. Shifting the leather-bound journal from her right hand to her left, she presses her thumb to the keyless entry, unlocking the driver’s side door of the brand-new, black Pronto Spyder convertible, an early graduation gift from Edie and Iz. She places the journal on the passenger seat, buckles her seat belt, then presses her thumb to the ignition pad, registering the annoying microscopic pinprick.
    The dashboard computer jumps to life, flashing its message:
    A CTIVATING I GNITION S EQUENCE.
    I DENTIFICATION V ERIFIED. A NTITHEFT S YSTEM D EACTIVATED.
    She feels the now-familiar double dunk as the axle locks disengage.
    C HECKING B LOOD- A LCOHOL L EVEL. P LEASE S TAND B Y …
    Dominique lays her head back against the leather seat, watching the first heavy drops of rain pelt the polyethylene terephthalate plastic hood of her roadster. Patience is a requirement of the new safety ignition features, but she knows it is well worth the extra three minutes. Drunk driving has become the leading cause of death in the United States. By the fall of next year, all vehicles will be required to have the blood-alcohol devices installed.
    The ignition activates.
    B LOOD A LCOHOL A T A CCEPTABLE L EVELS. P LEASE D RIVE S AFELY.
    Dominique adjusts the air conditioner, then presses the power button of the Digital DJ CD player. The built-in computer processor reacts either to voice inflection or touch to interpret the driver’s mood, selecting the appropriate music from among hundreds of preprogrammed selections.
    The heavy bass of the Rolling Stones’ latest album, Past Our Prime , begins pumping out of the surround-sound speakers. She backs out of the visitors lot and begins the forty-minute drive home.
     
    It had not been easy convincing Dr. Foletta to relinquish Julius Gabriel’s journal. His initial objection was that the late archaeologist’s work had been sponsored by both Harvard and Cambridge University and that, legally, it would be necessary first to receive written permission from both grant departments before releasing any sort of research documents to her. Dominique countered that she needed access to the journal, not only to do her job properly but to gain Michael Gabriel’s trust. An afternoon of phone calls to department heads at both Harvard and Cambridge confirmed that the journal was more a memoir than a scientific document and that she was free to use it, provided she did not go public with any information. Foletta had finally conceded, producing the two-inch-thick binder by day’s end, releasing it only after she had signed a four-page nondisclosure agreement.
     
    The rain has let up by the time Dominique pulls into the dark parking garage of the Hollywood Beach highrise. She deactivates the car’s engine, staring at a ghostly image appearing on the heads-up display of the windshield. The picture provided by the infrared camera mounted on the front of the roadster’s radiator confirms the garage to be empty.
    Dominique smiles at her own paranoia. She takes the antiquated elevator up to the fifth floor, holding the door open so Mrs. Jenkins and her white miniature poodle can enter.
    The one-bedroom condominium owned by her adoptive parents