Extreme Denial Read Online Free PDF Page A

Decker rubbed his aching forehead. “Didn’t it occur to you that you might blow up the wrong people?”
    “I’m absolutely positive that Renata’s group has found the terrorists.”
    “Didn’t it also occur to you that you might blow up a lot of innocent people with them?”
    “I warned Renata not to take chances. If there was the slightest doubt that someone else would be in the blast area, she was to wait.”
    “She?” Decker wanted to shake McKittrick. “Where’s your common sense? Most people wouldn’t be capable of detonating the explosion. Why would she ?”
    “Because I asked her.”
    “What?”
    “She loves me.”
    “I must be asleep. This must be a nightmare,” Decker said. “In a little while, I’ll wake up. None of this will have happened.”
    “She’d do anything for me.”
    “Including murder?”
    “It isn’t murder to kill terrorists.”
    “What the hell do you call it?”
    “An execution.”
    “You’re amazing,” Decker said. “Last night, you called it ‘extreme denial.’ Call it whatever you want. It’s still killing, and when someone agrees to do it, you’ve got to ask yourself what makes them capable of doing it. And in this case, I don’t think it’s love.”
    “I can’t believe she’s doing this only for the money.”
    “Where was the plastic explosive supposed to come from?”
    “Me.”
    Decker felt as if he’d been slapped. “You supplied it?”
    “I’d been given Semtex at the start of the operation—so Renata’s group could try to infiltrate the terrorist group by offering them Semtex as a sign of good faith.”
    “ You supplied the...?” With greater horror, Decker stared toward the sirens wailing on the television, toward the smoke, flames, and wreckage, toward the bodies. “ You’re responsible for ...?”
    “No! It was a mistake! Somehow the satchel went off at the wrong time! Somehow the club was filled with Americans! Somehow the... I... Renata must have... mistake.” McKittrick ran out of words, his broad mouth open, his lips moving, no sounds coming out.
    “You weren’t given enough Semtex to cause that much damage,” Decker said flatly.
    McKittrick blinked at him, uncomprehending.
    “You had only a sample,” Decker said. “Enough to tempt the terrorists and make them think they’d get more. Renata had to have access to a lot more of it in order to destroy that entire building.’’
    “What are you saying?”
    “Use your common sense! You didn’t recruit a group of students to help you find the terrorists! You idiot, you recruited the terrorists themselves?”
    McKittrick’s eyes went blank with shock. He shook his head fiercely. “No. That’s impossible.”
    “They’ve been staring you in the face! It’s a wonder they kept themselves from laughing in your face. Classic entrapment. All the time you’ve been screwing Renata, she’s been asking you questions, and you’ve been telling her our plans, everything we’ve been doing to try to catch them.” McKittrick’s face became more ashen.
    “I’m right, aren’t I?” Decker asked. “You’ve been telling her everything .”
    “Jesus.”
    “Last night, when you warned them you might be reassigned, they decided the game was over. It was time for them to go back to work. Did you suggest implementing the plan and moving against the terrorists, or did Renata?”
    “She ...” McKittrick swallowed. “She did.”
    “To help you in your career.”
    “Yes.”
    “Because she loved you.”
    “Yes.”
    “Was the plan her idea in the first place?”
    “Yes.”
    “And now she used the sample of Semtex you gave her. I’ll bet they’ve got photographs and tape recordings that document your participation. She put the sample with some of her own, and she blew up a tour group of Americans. You wanted to promote your career? Well, buddy, your career is over.”
    10
    “What a mess.” In the international real estate consulting firm, Decker listened to his superior’s