The Keepers of the Library Read Online Free PDF Page B

bottle and agreed.
    “To be honest, I thought you’d have seen it on TV or the Net the last couple of days or heard about it from someone in the hospital. I’m glad it’s coming from me.”
    “You know I hate the news, and why would anyone have told me?”
    “Because you’re Will Piper?”
    He saw her point.
    “It started two weeks ago. Five postcards, all postmarked on the same day. It’s the same pattern as seventeen years ago, a printed name and address on the front with no return address. On the back there’s a hand-drawn picture of a coffin and a date. And like before, each recipient dies on the date.”
    “Only five?”
    “It’s fifteen now.”
    “Nevada postmarks?”
    “New York City.”
    “Let me guess. Different causes of death, different MOs, maybe not even homicides at all,” Will said automatically.
    “Right.”
    “And no linkers or patterns.”
    “It’s a little different from 2009. All the recipients are Chinese.”
    “What?” he said in amazement.
    “The first ten lived mostly in Chinatown in New York. The five newest ones are in San Francisco.”
    “Who’s working it?”
    “New York, San Francisco. We’ve got good people assigned. Problem is, it’s got my name all over it because of past history. The Director called me in on the first day and told he was cutting through six layers and putting me directly in charge. I’m briefing him personally morning and night. He wanted me in New York, but because of your illness he let me work it from Miami.”
    “Other than the curiosity factor which, believe me, I’m not discounting, why the hysteria? It’s obvious it’s a Shackleton-type situation. Some jackass from Area 51 is leaking names again.”
    “It’s because of the China angle. The Chinese government and their Ministry of State Security is all over it. Even though the postcard victims are mostly American citizens the Chinese government is highly agitated. They also think it’s coming from Area 51. They think it’s an act of provocation. China’s the second largest economy in the world. We’re declining, they’re closing fast. They’re convinced we’re screwing with them, playing psych-out games. They’ve let it be known through diplomatic channels that unless we find the leaker they’re not going to roll over our debt payments. They call a few hundred billion in notes, and bad things are going to happen here.”
    Will signaled he wanted to switch places, to lie down. He sprawled out and said, “It’s so damned juvenile. The world may end in a year, and we’re playing these stupid games right to the last day.”
    She nodded wearily. “What can I say? It’s official US policy to maintain the status quo.”
    “While NASA and every astronomer in the worldkeeps looking for the big one with our name on it,” he said. His eyes drooped.
    She sat beside him and stroked his hair. “You look tired, honey.”
    “I’ll do it,” he said.
    “Do what?”
    “I’ll go back to Virginia with you. Until I’m better. Okay?”
    “I love you,” she said.
    His lip quivered ever so slightly. “Right back at you.”
    “And I forgive you.”
    He had a mental shot of Meagan in her little bikini and wished he could remember how much forgiveness he needed.
    R oger Kenney rode Elevator One six floors up to ground level and left the chilled air of the Truman Building for the sandy heat of the Nevada desert. It was only a short walk to Rear Admiral Duncan Sage’s office in the Admin Building but he sweated out the armpits of his fatigues by the time he was back in air-conditioning.
    Admiral Sage kept him waiting, which was nothing new. Kenney always suspected the waiting game was a display of theater and power on Sage’s part, a brittle show of dominance. It wasn’t as if the base commander at Area 51 was the busiest officer in the US military these past several years. He wasn’t the only landlocked admiral in the US Navy, but he was certainly the only one stuck on an ancient dry