Agent of Influence: A Thriller by Russell Hamilton Page B

the obligatory pull to show any scared riders that they were securely locked in place.
    Dan St evens refused to give up. “I’m not lying, honey. I have to throw up.” Solomon was beginning to sympathize with the angry woman. The man sounded like a spoiled child.
                  “Shut up Dan! Jesus Christ. If you would not drink so damn much…” The movement of the coaster stopped the beginning of another argument. “It’s about time. If you throw up just lean the other way,” she said in as callous a manner as she could.
    The roller coaster picked up momentum and moved out of the station and into the golden Las Vegas day. It exited on the side of the hotel and circled around to the backside before making a final pause at the base of a huge hill.  The gears of the track took hold, slowly pulling the coaster towards the top of the hotel and the Las Vegas skyline. Solomon never had any reason to ride the coaster before, and as approached the top he found the view quite impressive. Approaching the precipice, it appeared they were at eye level with all the tallest hotels around them. He quickly returned to the business at hand, digging into his pocket for his phone. Solomon listened as Dan Stevens softly whimpered to himself.
                  A chorus of hands went up in the air together as the roller coaster began climbing over the top of the hill. The first screams from the passengers quickly followed suit. Solomon found himself involuntarily gripping the handrail as the coaster crested the hill and hurtled downwards at breakneck speed. The force of the long fall pushed him into the back of his seat. He felt like his stomach was trying to escape out of his throat when the coaster finally hit bottom and began ascending again. Gathering himself after the initial shock, he looked below. They had now made its way to the other side of the hotel, and he could see the main entrance to the MGM Grand Hotel on the other side of Las Vegas Boulevard. The coaster maintained a steady pace as it raced across a few small hills.
    They were now at the front of the hotel, and Solomon could see the gawking bystanders below stopping to watch them as they made a sharp turn around the model of the Statue of Liberty. He flipped open his phone. His man inside would be watching everything on the hotel security monitor but he wanted to make sure it would be timed perfectly. The man had strict orders not to act until he received the proper instructions.
                  The roller coaster was now near its original starting point.  Solomon gripped the phone a little harder than necessary as they went around a sharp left-hand curve. The coaster picked up a new head of steam as it approached the first loop of the ride. Solomon held his finger calmly over the proper button. He slowly counted the seconds as the coaster picked up speed, racing downward towards the loop. Now . He pressed the button as they headed into the loop. The single ring of the phone sent Augustine into action, and he flipped the appropriate switch. For a brief moment nothing happened, and Solomon glanced at his phone as the giant centipede entered the loop. He relaxed as he heard the loud “click” from the seats in front of him and the bolts holding the U-shaped bars slid back into their housing.
                  The Stevens’ both had firm grips on their U-shaped handlebars when they heard the noise of the supports coming off. They exchanged a quizzical look that instantly turned to fear as they reached the apex of the loop and the bars slid forward, pulling their arms away from their bodies. They both let out hysterical screams, their bodies pulled out of their seats by gravity’s now sinister force. They fell several stories before crashing into the sidewalk below. The roller coaster lurched to a stop as soon as it came out of the loop. Solomon strained to peer below him. The two broken bodies lay lifeless on the concrete