Sidney Sheldon (29 page)

K
ELLY AND DIANE
were finishing getting dressed when Grace Seidel knocked at their door. “Breakfast is ready whenever you are.”

“Coming,” Kelly called out.

Diane said, “I hope our little stunt worked. Let’s see if Grace has a morning newspaper.”

They stepped out of their room. To the right was the recreation area. A few people were gathered around the television set. As Kelly and Diane started to pass it, to go to the dining room, a television anchorman was saying:

And according to reports, there were no survivors. Tanner Kingsley and former senator Pauline Van Luven were on the plane, along with a pilot, copilot, and a steward
.

The two women froze. They looked at each other, turned, and walked up to the television set. On the screen were pictures of the exterior of KIG.

Kingsley International Group constitutes the largest think tank in the world, with offices in thirty countries. The weather bureau has reported an unexpected electrical storm in the South Pacific area where Tanner Kingsley’s private plane was flying. Pauline Van Luven was the former head of the Senate Select Committee on the Environment.

Diane and Kelly were listening, fascinated.

…And in another piece of the puzzle, there’s a mystery here that the police are trying to solve. The press was invited to a dinner party, to visit Prima, a new weather control computer that KIG developed, but yesterday there was an explosion at KIG and Prima was completely destroyed. The fire department found the body of Andrew Kingsley in the wreckage and believe he was the only victim.

Diane said, “Tanner Kingsley is dead.”

“Say that again. Slowly.”

“Tanner Kingsley is dead.”

Kelly breathed a deep sigh of relief. She looked at Diane and smiled. “Life is sure going to be dull after this.”

“I hope so,” Diane replied. “How would you like to sleep at the Waldorf-Astoria Towers tonight?”

Kelly grinned. “I wouldn’t mind.”

When they said their good-byes to Grace Seidel, she hugged Kelly and said, “Anytime.”

She never mentioned the money that she had been offered.

I
N THE PRESIDENTIAL
suite in the Waldorf Towers, a waiter was setting a table for dinner. He turned to Diane. “Did you say you wanted it set for four?”

“That’s right.”

Kelly looked at her and said nothing.

Diane knew what she was thinking. As they were sitting down at the table, Diane said, “Kelly, I don’t think we did this alone. I think
we had a little help.” She raised her glass of champagne and said to the empty chair next to her, “Thank you, Richard, darling. I love you.”

As she lifted the glass to her lips, Kelly said, “Wait a minute.”

Diane turned to her.

Kelly picked up her glass of champagne and looked at the empty chair next to her. “Mark, I love you so much. Thank you.”

They drank their toasts.

Kelly smiled and said, “That felt good. Well, what’s next?”

“I’m going to the FBI in Washington and tell them what I know.”

Kelly corrected her. “
We’re
going to Washington and tell them what
we
know.”

Diane nodded. “Right.” She said thoughtfully, “I think we did a good job. Our husbands would be proud of us.”

“Yeah,” Kelly said. “We’ve solved this. And look at the odds against us. You know what we should do now?”

“What?”

“Start our own detective agency.”

Diane laughed. “You’re kidding.”

Kelly gave her a long, slow smile. “Am I?”

A
FTER DINNER, THEY
watched television, and every channel was carrying the story of Tanner Kingsley’s death. As Kelly watched, she said thoughtfully, “You know, when you cut off a snake’s head, the rest of the snake dies.”

“What does that mean?”

“Let’s find out.” Kelly walked over to the telephone. “I want to place a call to Paris.”

Five minutes later, she heard the voice of Nicole Paradis. “Kelly! Kelly! Kelly! I’m so glad you called.”

Kelly’s heart sank. She knew what she was going to hear next. They had killed Angel.

“I didn’t know how to reach you.”

“You’ve heard the news?”

“The whole world has heard the news. Jérôme Malo and Alphonse Girouard packed their things and left in a hurry.”

“And Philippe and his family?”

“They are returning tomorrow.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Kelly was afraid to ask the next question. “And Angel—?”

“I have Angel in my apartment. They were planning to use her as bait in case you wouldn’t cooperate.”

Kelly felt a sudden glow. “Oh, that’s wonderful!”

“What would you like me to do with her?”

“Put her on the next Air France flight to New York. Let me know when she’ll arrive and I’ll pick her up at the airport. You can call me here at the Waldorf Towers.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you.” Kelly replaced the receiver.

Diane had been listening. “Angel is all right?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

“Isn’t it? I’m thrilled. By the way, what are you going to do with your half of the money?”

Diane looked at her. “What?”

“KIG put up a five-million-dollar reward. I think it’s coming to us.”

“But Kingsley’s dead.”

“I know, but KIG isn’t.”

They laughed.

Kelly asked, “What’s your plan after we go to Washington? Are you going to start painting again?”

Diane was thoughtful for a moment. “No.”

Kelly was watching her. “Really?”

“Well, there
is
a painting that I want to do. It’s a picnic scene in Central Park.” Her voice broke. “Two lovers having a picnic in the rain. Then…we’ll see. What about you? Are you going back to modeling?”

“No, I don’t think—”

Diane was looking at her.

“Well…maybe, because while I’m on the runway, I can imagine Mark watching me, and blowing kisses. Yes, I think he would want me to go back to work.”

Diane smiled. “Good.”

They watched television for another hour, and then Diane said, “I think it’s time for bed.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were undressed and in their queen beds, both reliving their recent adventures.

Kelly yawned. “I’m sleepy, Diane. Let’s turn out the lights.”

T
HE OLD ADAGE
that everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it is no longer valid. Today, two superpowers have the ability to control weather around the world: the United States and Russia. Other countries are working feverishly to catch up.

The search for the mastery of the elements that began with Nikola Tesla in the late 1800s, involving the transmission of electrical energy through space, has become a reality.

The consequences are monumental. Weather can be used as a blessing or as a doomsday weapon.

All the necessary elements are in place.

In 1969, the U.S. Patent Office granted a patent for “a method of increasing the likelihood of precipitation by the artificial introduction of sea water vapor into the atmosphere.”

In 1971, a patent was issued to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation for a system for irradiation of planet surface areas.

In 1971, a patent was issued to the National Science Foundation for a weather modification method.

In the early 1970s, the U.S. Congressional Committee on Oceans and Internal Environment held hearings on our military research into weather and climate modification, and found that the defense department had plans for creating tidal waves through the coordinated use of nuclear weapons.

The danger of a devastating confrontation between the United States and Russia became so great that in 1977 a UN treaty against weather modification for hostile purposes was signed by the United States and Russia.

That treaty did not signify the end of weather experimentation. In 1978, the United States launched an experiment that created a downpour of rain over six counties in northern Wisconsin. The storm generated winds of one hundred seventy-five miles per hour and caused fifty million dollars in damages. Russia, meanwhile, has been working on its own projects.

In 1992, the
Wall Street Journal
reported that a Russian company, Élat Intelligence Technologies, was selling weather control equipment tailored to specific needs, using the slogan “Weather Made to Order.” Their services are available to every country in the world.

As the experiments in both countries continued, weather patterns began to change. As early as the 1980s, strange weather phenomena were being reported.

“A ridge of high pressure has hovered nearly 800 miles off the California coast for the past two months, blocking the usual flow of moist air from the Pacific.”—
Time
magazine, January 1981.

“…the stagnant high-pressure season acted like a barrier, preventing the normal flow of weather patterns from west to east.”—
New York Times,
July 29, 1993.

The weather catastrophes described in the body of this novel have all happened.

Weather is the most powerful force we know. Whoever controls it can disrupt world economies with perpetual rainstorms or tornadoes; wipe out crops in a drought; cause earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis; close world airports; and cause devastation on enemy battlefields.

We could all sleep better if a world leader said, “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”

And it was the truth.