Black Skies (31 page)

“Weinberg!” Lily hollered into the cavernous entrance hall to the house. “Your sister is dead.
I
killed her. I wanted you to know that before you die.” She shoved Lena’s body over the railing. The corpse flipped over and fell on the antlers of a mounted deer, hanging with her arms out and the sword sticking out of her chest, with an expression of wide-eyed horror.

“Lena!” It was a nearly animalistic wail. Weinberg ran into the hall, screaming, and stood in front of his sister’s body, looking up at her. He turned around, with a handgun aimed at Morgan.

Morgan shot a single bullet, which caught Weinberg square in the center of the forehead. He tipped forward and fell on the floor with a
thud.

“You’ve got two choices,” Morgan yelled out to Weinberg’s gunmen. “You can stay where you are, following the orders of a dead man, so I can pin you down in this house until you burn to death. Or you can toss your guns and come out with your hands up.”

The automatics came sliding from the door into the hall, then the five men, single-file, with their hands up. Lily jogged down the stairs and took one of their rifles. They marched out of the house, where the spreading conflagration would soon consume the bodies of the two Weinbergs, into the cool night air.

M
organ walked up the stairs to the temporary Zeta offices on Charles Street. He opened the outer door with a key, which seemed quaint and antiquated, and walked past the empty reception and through the unfurnished, undecorated halls to Bloch’s office. He knocked.

The door opened, and there was Bloch, as unruffled as usual. Although, Morgan observed, not quite: her movements showed a certain stiffness from the wound that still hadn’t healed. Bloch winced as she motioned for him to sit down. Morgan knew she must be in a lot more pain than she showed.

She took her seat. “How are you, Morgan?”

He exhaled. “Well. My daughter’s safely at home. And I went to see Bishop in the hospital. He tells me he’ll be out by the end of the week.”

“And up and about in no time,” said Bloch.

“So why am I here?” asked Morgan. “Am I getting chewed out?”

Bloch chuckled. “Nothing like that. I’d just like to let you know a couple of things. First, Elizabeth Randall has proven a capable and valuable agent. We have invited her to stay with us as a permanent addition to the team, and she has accepted.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Morgan. “I’ll be glad to have her watching my back, and I think she’ll be better off having someone sensible watching hers.”

Bloch raised an eyebrow at the adjective, but said nothing. “Then there is the matter of your daughter.”

“Oh,” said Morgan, casting a sidelong glance at nothing in particular.

“Yes,” said Bloch. “She knows not only about our existence, but also the location of our headquarters.”

“Look, I’m sorry, I—”

“That’s not what this is about,” Bloch broke in. “I’m not here to talk about you, Morgan. I’m here to talk about
her.
”

“Wait,
what?
”

“She has proven resourceful in a crisis. She has demonstrated valuable skills in the field. And, as I understand it, she herself is interested.”

“Absolutely not,” said Morgan. “I won’t allow it. Jenny would kill me.”

“I am not asking
you,
Morgan. The offer will be extended to her, and if she accepts, she will begin training. I am merely
informing
you so that you don’t break down my door later and tell me I didn’t warn you.”

Morgan slumped in his chair. “I don’t even have the energy to fight you on this,” he said. “Or her. I suppose I brought this on myself by starting to teach her in the first place.”

“She’s a talented young woman,” said Bloch. “She deserves her chance to do what she wants to. And what I suspect is what she will do best.”

“That girl can do whatever she wants,” he said.

“And it surprises you that she chose to follow in her father’s footsteps?”

Morgan chuckled, then sighed. “What now, Bloch?”

“Now, we rebuild,” she said. “Bigger and better. Zeta’s far from over, Morgan, and it will take more than Gunther Weinberg to stop us.”

Morgan laughed. “I don’t know how many more of them
I
can survive,” he said.

“I know you, Morgan. And for you, the answer will always be ‘as many as it takes.’ ”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my agent, Doug Grad of the Doug Grad Literary Agency in New York, for all his hard work, dedication, and guidance over the past three years. His knowledge of the industry has been a huge help and he is a pleasure to work with.

I would also like to thank my local publicist, Skye Wentworth of Skye Wentworth Public Relations in Newbury, Massachusetts, who has encouraged me to follow my dream and has worked hard to get many radio and newspaper interviews as well as book-signing events.

I also want to thank my good friend and bestselling author John Gilstrap, who has been a mentor to me since we met three years ago. He has provided me with invaluable advice.

A very special thank-you to my editor at Kensington Publishing, Michaela Hamilton. Michaela has had faith in me, guided me, and fought for me and helped me to write the best book I possibly could. She is not only my editor, but a true friend.

Special thanks, too, to Caio Camargo, whose input has been essential in the writing of the Dan Morgan thrillers.

Coming soon from e-Pinnacle

A Dan Morgan Thriller—e-Book Exclusive!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L
EO
J. M
ALONEY
was born in Massachusetts, where he spent his childhood, and graduated from Northeastern University. He spent over thirty years in black ops, accepting highly secretive missions that would put him in the most dangerous hot spots in the world. Since leaving that career, he has had the opportunity to try his hand at acting in independent films and television commercials. He has ten movies to his credit, both as an actor and behind the camera as a producer, technical adviser, and assistant director. He lives in the Boston area. Visit him at
www.leojmaloney.com
.

E-PINNACLE BOOKS are published by

 

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New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2014 Leo J. Maloney

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

 

PINNACLE and the P logo are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

 

First electronic edition: September 2014

ISBN: 978-0-7860-3610-3

 

ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-3611-0

ISBN-10: 0-7860-3611-7