Page 104 of Her Unflinching Warrior (Omega Sky)
“Now boys and girls, I’m not made like most people. I can’t be reasoned with, and it will just make me giggle when I use my fun little app, so I suggest y’all start digging in your couch cushions because in the next forty-eight hours I will destroy four hundred and seven of the ninety thousand dams here in America. Who knows, maybe it will be a dam near you. Now, wouldn’t that be fun?”
He smiled big into the camera.
“Friends, I want you to think of this as the world’s biggest GoFundMe, and to make it really interesting, your names will be shown next to the amount you donate. This will be displayed in real-time as you donate. Nothing like a little bit of peer pressure.”
Jenny giggled.
“Since there are four hundred and seven dams, I’m looking to raise twenty million a dam. That’s a tad bit over eight billion dollars. That’s not a bad investment. Oh, and for those of you who worry about little ‘ole me, you don’t have to. I have a way to get the funds converted to an actual safe, untraceable crypto-currency so I can enjoy my well-earned money.”
He trailed his fingers over the top of Jenny’s breasts and pulled out his phone.
“Now remember when I said I had the ability to unleash four hundred and eight, and then changed the number to four hundred and seven? I do hope that at least a minuscule number of you noticed,” he said with a sigh. “Anyway, that’s because I’m going to let the waters loose right now on the lucky residents of….drumroll please.”
He handed Jenny the type of envelope that you would see at the Academy Awards. She opened it.
“Now tell our lucky guests who today’s winner is.”
She smiled up into the camera, then looked down at the card and read, “Warren County and Alle...Alleg…” Jenny looked up at Kendall helplessly.
“Oh for fuck’s sake. I told you she was only good for one thing. Anyway, the fortunate people near Allegheny National Forest in Warren County, Pennsylvania will be getting a tad wet in just a few hours as I…oops, I can’t tell you how I’m going to unleash the water from the Kinzua Dam, just know that I will. It’s always so much more horrifying to leave it to your imaginations. I wish you all the luck in the world getting out of the way of the floodwaters…”
He gave a jaunty wave, then looked at Jenny.
“For God’s sake, woman, wave goodbye to our viewers.”
“Oh, sorry, Miles.” She started to wave.
“Women. Useless, I say. Useless.” Kendall gave a disgusted sigh.
He held up his phone and waggled it, then grinned right before the video ended.
* * *
The silence was deafening evenwhen Jada flipped the Zoom screen so everyone was looking at one another.
“Who called him a comic book villain?” Dare Stanton asked.
“That’d be my woman,” Gideon answered, referring to Jada.
“Ten and a half hours?” Clint said.
“Ten hours and fifteen minutes, now,” was Gideon’s answer. He was still in shock. It was like he was looking at everything from a forty-thousand-foot level. Normally he would be working out the problem and coming up with plans A, B, C, and D.
He heard a noise behind him, but he didn’t turn around. He couldn’t. He was still watching himself and Jada as they looked at Mike’s computer.
Jada stood up and turned to him. “This is not because of you,” she said fiercely.
“Fuck no, it isn’t,” Kostya said from his place on the screen where he was sitting beside Lark.
Gideon didn’t respond.
“Chief, you listen to me. You are dealing with a psychopath who is blackmailing the entire United States of America!” Kostya roared. “He was a psychopath before you met him, he turned into a murderer in prison and now he’s intent on turning life into a Hollywood movie at the expense of millions of lives.” Kostya paused. “Look at me, Gideon,” he said softly. Gideon came back to himself and his entire focus turned to his best friend’s face.
“Do you know why he’s been baiting you? Torturing you?”
Gideon shook his head. He didn’t. He really didn’t.
“It’s because you were a snot-nosed kid, and you took him down. You beat his ass and sent him to prison. You fuckingbeathim. You had the guts to do what you needed to do for your family, and then you had the smarts and the braveryto take that fucker down. That’s why he’s been gunning for you. And Gideon, because of you, we have an advantage.”
