Page 240 of Dark Angel
“I need laptop.”
Greystone pulled his laptop over. “What next?”
“I need access to Internet,” Bulgrov said. “Get into their system, shut this down.”
Greystone opened a search window, accessed the Internet outside ALPHA.net, and slid it over to him.
Bulgrov worked slowly, his fingers tapping across the keyboard. “One minute.” The room fell silent, all eyes on the Russian.
Can he be trusted?Gabriel’s chest tightened.Hell, no.
The seconds ticked by. Gabriel stood behind him. Everything was in Russian.
“Minka, eyes on this,” Gabriel said.
“No,” Bulgrov pushed back. “She is not authorized. I am almost done.”
Another minute before Bulgrov finished typing and pushed the laptop away. “It is done.”
Silence while everyone looked at each other.
“Why aren’t the lights back on full power?” Gabriel asked.
“It takes few minutes,” Bulgrov explained. “Millions of homes in darkness. I am not magician. Program takes ten minutes. Everything will be good. You will see.”
His hands shook as he reached for the small water bottle. “Please open for me.”
Sydney twisted the lid off, slid over the plastic bottle.
“Thank you.” The Ambassador started coughing, covered his mouth with his hand, then drank down most of the cold liquid. “Better.”
“Okay,” Greystone said. “I need the name of the group and their intent.”
“They want world domination, but it doesn’t matter. I stop it. You can relax. It is good now.”
“He’s lying,” Gabriel said.
Bulgrov’s lips split into a menacing smile as he shifted his attention down the table to Halston. “Minka, I did like working with you. You were hard worker. So respectful. My top choice to bring to America. What a chance I would give you. An orphan who grew up with nothing, coming to America.” Bulgrov swayed in the chair, squeezed his eyes together, then rubbed his forehead. “Where was I? Oh, yes, Minka. Loyal, dependable, hard-working.” He peered over at her. “I didn’t believe Natasha that you are American spy. Not my Minka! Tell me it is lie. Not my Minka.”
Bulgrov began foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolled back in his head.
“What’s happening to him?” Sydney shouted.
“Dammit,” Halston said. “He took a poison pill.”
“Shove his fingers down his throat,” Gabriel said.
“Make him throw it up,” Greystone shouted.
“It’s too late.” Halston went to him, knelt by his side. “Mr. Ambassador.” She took his hand. “You were a great boss. You were respectful, treated me kindly. I liked working for you. We both had jobs to do… and we did that to the best of our abilities. I wish it didn’t have to end this way.”
Bulgrov opened his eyes, a lopsided smile lifted his lips, then stillness. His eyes glazed over, his head slumped, then he fell forward onto the conference room table.
“Should I get the nurse?” Sydney asked.
“He’s gone,” Halston said as she stood.
“What the hell just happened?” Greystone said. “He gets surgery, then he kills himself?”
