“The children are on their way. I have to do some checking. I’ll be back.”
Mary tried to stop the pounding of her heart. How was Angel planning to assassinate her? She looked around the festive ballroom, but there was no clue.
“Don’t leave me.” The words came out before she could stop herself “I want to go with you. I feel safer with you.”
Mike grinned. “Now, that’s a switch. Come on.”
Mary followed him, staying close behind. The orchestra had begun playing, and people were dancing. Those who were not dancing were helping themselves from the silver trays of champagne being offered, or from the buffet tables.
The room looked spectacular. Mary raised her head, and there were the balloons, a thousand of them-red, white, and bluefloating against the pink ceiling. Her nerves were so taut that she was finding it difficult to breathe. Angel could be watching her .this very minute.
“Do you think Angel is here now?- she asked.
“don’t kno*,” Mike said. He saw the expression on her face.
Look, if you want to leave-“
“No. I’m the bait. Without me, he won’t spring the trap.”
He nodded and squeezed her arm. “Rlight.”
Colonel McKinney approached. “We’ve done a thorough search, Mike. We haven’t found a thing. I don’t like it.”
“Plees take another look around.” Mike signaled to four armed, marines standing by, and they moved up next to Mary. “Be right back,” Mike said.
Mary swallowed nervously. “Please.”
Mike and McKinney, accompanied by two guards with sniffer dogs, searched every room in the residence. They found nothing suspicious.
In one of the guest rooms, its door guarded by marines, was Corina Socoli, lying on the bed reading a book. Young and beautiful and talented, the Remanian national treasure. Could she be a plant? Could she be helping Angel?
They returned to the kitchen.
“What about poison?” asked McKinney.
“Not photogenic enough. Angel’s going for the big bang.”
“Mike, there’s no way anyone could get explosives into this place. The place is clean.”
“There’s one way.”
McKinney looked at Mike. “How?”
“I don’t know. But Angel knows.”
They searched the library and the offices again. Nothing. They passed the storage room, where the corporal was shoving out a few balloons that had been left behind. He watched them float to the ceiling.
“Pretty, huh?” the corporal said.
“Yeah,” Mike said. He started to walk on, then stopped. “Corporal, where did these balloons come from?”
“From the U.S. air base in Frankfurt, sir.”
Mike indicated the helium cylinders. “And these?”
“Same place. They were escorted to our warehouse per Colonel McKinney’s instructions, sir.”
Mike said to McKinney, “Let’s check upstairs again.”
They turned to leave. The corporal said, “Oh, Colonel, the person you sent forgot to leave a time slip. Is that going to be handled by military payroll or civilian?”
Colonel McKinney frowned. “What person?”
“The one you authorized to fill the balloons.”
“I never-Who said I authorized it?”
“Eddie Maltz. He said youMcKinney said, “Eddie Maltz?”
Mike turned to the corporal, his voice urgent. “What did this man look like?”
“Oh, it wasn’t a man, sir. It was a woman. To tell you the truth, I thought she looked weird. Fat and ugly. She had a funny accent.
She was pockmarked and had kind of a puffy face.”
Mike said to McKinney, “That sounds a lot like the description of Neusa Mufiez that Harry lantz gave the Committee.”
The revelation hit them both at the same time.
Mike said slowly, “Oh, my Godl Neusa Muez is Angell” He pointed to the cylinders. “She filled the balloons from these?”
“Yes, sir. It was funny. I lit a cigarette, and she screamed at me to put it out. I said. “Helium doesn’t burn,” and she said-“
Mike looked up. “The baloons! The explosives are in the baloons!” The two men stared at the high ceiling covered with the spectacular red, white, and blue balloons.
“She must be using some kind of a remote-control device to explode them.” Mike turned to the corporal. “How long ago did she leave?”
“I guess about an hour ago.”
UNDER the table, unseen, the timing device had six minutes left.
Mike was frantically scanning the room. “She could have put the timer anywhere. It could go off any second. We’ll never find it.”
Mary was approaching. Mike turned to her. “You’ve got to clear the room. Fast! Make an announcement. It will sound better coming from you. Get everybody outside.”
She was looking at him, bewildered. “But why?”
“We found our playmate’s toy,” Mike said grimly. He pointed.
Those balloons. They’re lethal.”
Mary was looking up at them, horror on her face. “Can’t we take them down?”
Mike snapped, “There are hundreds of them. By the time-“
Mary’s throat was so dry she could hardly get the words out.
“Mike … I know a way.” The two men stared at her. “The Ambassador’s Folly. The roof It slides open.”
Mike tried to control his excitement. “How does it work?”
:”There’s a switch that-“
“No,” Mike said. “Nothing electrical. A spark could set them all off. Can it be done manually?”