"Impossible!" Loren snapped. "No one man can achieve that much power on top of the backs of so many."
"The protests have already started," Sally said somberly. "Rioting is just around the corner. You'll understand when I tell you his latest planned catastrophe. At the moment, little stands between him and a total oil monopoly."
"It's unthinkable."
Sally smiled grimly. "It's a cliche to say nothing can stand in his way or that he will not hesitate to use any
means to achieve his goals, even mass murder, but it's all too true."
"The Emerald Dolphin and the Golden Marlin."
Sally stared at Loren, confused. "You know about his involvement with those tragedies?"
"Since you're telling me what you know, I feel safe in telling you that the FBI, working closely with NUMA, has proven the disasters were not accidents, but caused by agents of Cerberus called the Vipers. From what we gathered, the burning of the cruise ship and the sinking of the underwater cruise boat were meant to be blamed on Dr. Elmore Egan's magnetohydrodynamic engines. Zale wanted to halt their production because of a revolutionary oil Egan had formulated that virtually eliminates friction. If sold on the market, it would put a huge dent in oil sales and make the difference between profit and loss for the refinery corporations."
"I had no idea government investigators were aware of Zale's secret circle of mercenary killers," said Sally in astonishment.
"So long as Zale doesn't know."
Sally spread her hands dejectedly. "He knows."
Loren looked skeptical. "How? The investigation is being conducted in the strictest secrecy."
"Curtis Merlin Zale has paid out more than five billion dollars to buy everyone in Washington that he can profit from. Over a hundred senators and representatives are in his pocket, along with officials in every department of government, including the Justice Department."
"Can you name names?" asked Loren intently.
Sally's expression turned almost fiendish. She pulled a computer disc from her purse. "It's all here. Two hundred and eleven names. I can't tell you how much they've been paid or when. But I came across a sealed file sent to me by mistake that was meant for Sandra Delage, the cartel's inside administrator. After making copies, I resealed the file and sent it to Sandra. Luckily, she did not suspect that I was having second thoughts about my involvement with Cerberus and Zale's mad scheme and she did not act the least suspicious."
"Can you tell me a few of the names?"
"Let's just say leaders of both houses and three top White House officials."
"Congressman Leonard Sturgis?"
"He's on the list."
"I was afraid of that," said Loren angrily. "And the president?"
Sally shook her head. "To my knowledge, he wants nothing to do with Zale. The president is not perfect, but he sees enough in the oil tycoon to know he's as rotten as a ninety-day-old truckload of fruit."
Loren and Sally talked until nearly three o'clock in the morning. Loren was horrified when Sally reported Zale's scheme to blow up a supertanker in San Francisco harbor. The disc was inserted in Loren's home computer and the contents printed out until there was a stack of papers the size of a small book manuscript. The women then hid the disk and the printed copies in a safe Loren had built in her garage floor beneath a storage cabinet.
"You can stay here for the night, but we've got to find you a safe hideout while the investigation is under way. Once Zale discovers you're going to blow the whistle on his insidious operation, he'll make every effort to silence you."
"Silence, a nice word for murder."
"They've already tried to torture Kelly Egan, Dr. Egan's daughter, for the oil formula."
"Did they succeed?"
"No, she was rescued before Zale's Viper pals could find out anything."
"I'd like to meet her."
"You can. She was staying with me, but after Zale found us together over dinner the other night, I had to hide her elsewhere, too."
"I came away with only an overnight bag. I have just a few cosmetics, jewelry and a couple of changes of clean underwear."