The Spy Devils by Joe Goldberg (top rated books of all time .TXT) 📕

Peter rose slowly from his chair, grasping the back to steady himself and get his balance. He touched the wound above his eye with his fingers. They came back stained with blood.

Bridger winced as he pulled his left arm up with his right and tucked it into his shirt for support. He rubbed his right hand through his wet hair. After a few seconds, he shuffled around the table to face the room. He saw the guards were still close, their guns out and pointed in their direction.

“It’s here.” He picked up an eleven-inch-long travel power strip. It had space for three plugs on each side and four USB ports on the end. An eighteen-inch cord extended from one end. Then, he dropped it. “I need some help.” Bridger looked up at Peter.

Peter looked at Li Chu, who nodded approval. Peter walked around to stand next to Bridger. That gave Bridger time to get a better view of the room.

The couch is six feet away. Two big steps. One chair in the way.

“Pull the cord out of the end of the adaptor,” Bridger instructed Peter. “Grab each side of the power strip and pull in opposite directions.” Peter did as he was told. “Good. Slide it open and separate it into two halves. Drop the lighter half. Shake the other one upside down. Catch what comes out.”

Peter caught a thin metal device that looked like a small television remote. It had a screen, some buttons of various sizes and colors, and a touch biometric pad.

“Here,” he handed it to Li Chu.

Li Chu looked it over, holding it the long way, turning it in his hands cautiously. Front. Back. Sides. He stopped on the side with an alphanumeric pad under a display panel, which ran the silver device’s length. In the lower-left corner was a larger red button with the universal circle and line symbol signifying an on/off switch. Li’s Chu’s thumb hesitated over the red button. He thought, then moved his thumb to the side.

“How does it work?” Li Chu stepped closer, his head twitched from the device to Bridger and back. He handed the passkey to Bridger.

Bridger seared his eyes at Peter with a ‘here it comes, be ready’ expression.

“I like you, Li Chu. We are a lot alike, I think. Perhaps under different circumstances, we could be friends. Do you play golf?” No answer. “Ah well. Say, I want to make certain of one point. You did not kill any of my people or leave a little message for me to find. Correct?”

“What? I told you. No.”

“Thanks for that.” Bridger smiled back.

Bridger shoved the contents of his backpack on the floor with his right hand and moved the passkey device. Li Chu was to his left side. Peter on his right. The three Dragon Fire men were across the table at various distances.

“Once it is powered on, a timer starts to count down. Something called a…bypass authentication code…appears, and we have ten seconds to input it perfectly—no mistakes, none—or it shuts down. Permanently. Then it self-destructs. Then boom!”

“How?” Li Chu looked at the device like it was going to bite him.

“Yeah, how do you know this?” Peter asked.

“Later.” He said to Peter. He looked at Li Chu. “That’s all I know. I didn’t get the manual. You want to do it?” Li Chu stepped back. “Yeah, I figured.”

Bridger turned to Peter, who shook his head. “No way.”

“Cowards.” Bridger leaned his legs against the table to steady himself. “Peter, when I say so, count down the time.” Bridger took a deep breath. “Well, if we want to see this, here we go. Now.”

He pushed the red button. The screen blinked to life and glowed amber. A quick beep from the case startled them. The keypad and display on the case also lit up. On the token, a 12-digit random alphanumeric bypass code appeared.

“Holy shit,” Bridger said.

“Ten. Nine. Eight—” Peter counted.

A digital tone filled the room as Bridger pushed each key.

“Crap. Crap.” Bridger’s hand trembled.

“Seven. Six. Five.”

“Crappy crap.”

“Four. Three. Two.”

He pushed the last three keys as fast as a woodpecker.

“One.”

With the push of the last symbol, each device released the same tone. Silence followed. The case access panel lights glowed green, which was followed by a few soft clicks.

Relief hung in the air as they stood for a few seconds looking at each other. For the moment, curiosity had overcome animosity. Together, they were going to see Hillcrest.

Bridger saw the three Dragon Fire men move toward the table.

Li Chu glanced at the others. He reached his hands to either side of the case. His thumb and forefinger gripped the corner as he slowly lifted the silver top.

The room was silent.

The case contained dark gray impact foam with the center cut out in the shape of a square—nothing else.

“It’s empty.” Li Chu’s eyes went from the case to Bridger, then to Peter.

Peter reached his hands into the case and tried to pull the foam out. It was attached. “How can—what is going on? Where is Hillcrest? What is it?” He couldn’t take his stunned eyes off the empty case.

“Empty!” Bridger broke out in a loud laugh. “That Gilbert is something else.”

He kept his eye on the token as his right hand grabbed Peter hard around the elbow. The display blinked and a digital count down appeared.

Five…four…

Bridger turned and pushed Peter as hard as he could toward the couch. Li Chu and his men hesitated.

Three…two…Bridger wrapped Peter in a bear hug and jumped. The momentum carried them over the couch, landing on the carpet between the couch and coffee table. The Dragon Fire men raised their guns, wildly firing at the diving men.

Li Chu saw the countdown on the passkey and leaped away.

One.

48

Chapel and Chen

Lebedevka Village, Ukraine

When the detonator was triggered inside Hillcrest, it set off a small charge within six ounces of C-4 explosive material lining the metal case. That charge set off the chemical reaction decomposing the C-4. Gases expanding at over twenty-six thousand feet per second