The Paris Protection by Bryan Devore Page B

the power to release a shock wave of death and suffering on America. If they succeeded, it would be one of the most brutal blows in history to the failed experiment in democracy known as the United States of America. The Civil War, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Pearl Harbor, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the terrorist attacks on 9/11—these were the most iconic tragedies in American history. And now Maximilian and his men were about to add themselves to that infamous list of men who, individually or anonymously as a group, had struck a devastating blow to the pride and strength of America.
    He moved his thumb to the small red button embedded in the center of the device. Then he turned to Kazim, still kneeling beside him.
    “Are you ready to claim your revenge?” Maximilian asked.
    Kazim looked at him with the intent expression of an attack dog waiting eagerly to be unleashed. “I am ready to send her to the hell she deserves.”
    Maximilian grinned and nodded. Then he looked forward again and pressed the button.

18
     
     
     
     
    SPECIAL AGENT PEREZ MOVED DOWN the steel-and-concrete stairs into the third sublevel of the hotel. With him were Agents Franklin and Silver. Agent Perez had gotten to know both men well during their time together in Beltsville and during their postings on PPD. They even played together on the same intramural softball team with other agents back in Washington. Now they were moving together to sweep the basement and check the positioning of the EK-1 that had registered the vibration one minute earlier. Perez wanted to report their findings back to SAIC Alexander as soon as possible.
    Reaching the concrete floor of sublevel 3, he directed Franklin and Silver to sweep the northeast corner while he examined the EK-1. The fourth-generation seismometer was a cutting-edge device developed to detect slight movements and vibrations in the air and through solid matter. Three feet tall, it consisted of a metal cube the size of a small hatbox, with little holes drilled into the surface, mounted on a tripod.
    As Franklin and Silver walked along the wall, Perez examined the device for anything suspicious. Its foundation was well set, and all the safeguards the advance team’s technicians had put in place on and around the device were undisturbed. Barring an unlikely technical error from the device, the readings detected must be accurate.
    Without warning, the north end of the east wall exploded inward. Shards of stone and concrete flew into the large basement, followed by a billowing cloud of dust. The deafening bang had set off a high-pitched ringing in Perez’s inner ears. The blast had thrown him off his feet and back to the base of the stone stairs. The EK-1 was fallen and buried under loose rubble.
    Blinking, he tried to focus, tried to see the room. In the brief moment of the explosion, he had registered seeing both Franklin and Silver blown back like rag dolls. They had been much closer to the wall than he, and the blast had undoubtedly killed them.
    Then, through the cloud of dirt and concrete, he saw men come spilling out of the darkness. They were scrambling over the rubble, yelling to each other, their guns and equipment clattering with the sounds of a fast-moving army. Everything was moving so fast, his training now took over. He acted on instincts conditioned uniquely for protecting the president. As shocking as it was, he understood this threat. His training had developed a muscle memory that created a counterintuitive movement—one focused on saving someone else’s life instead of his own. He had spent countless hours preparing himself for this moment in his career as an agent. As the man leading this army saw him and raised a gun toward him, Perez reacted in the way that his training had conditioned him. His life was over—this he knew—but the only thing that mattered was protecting the president. So, leaning against the stone stairway, he raised his left wrist to his