"Jeanie London - Retrieval (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (London Jeanie)

RETRIEVAL
BY
JEANIE LONDON

PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of Battle. Be our safeguard
against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke Him, we humbly
pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast
into Hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl through the
world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

-Pope Leo XIII


PROLOGUE

SHOTS rang out in simultaneous succession. Not the staccato rounds of
automatic gunfire, but the precision blasts of high-powered sniper rifles.
One, two, three.
Separate shots from rifles trained on individual targets in an area so heavily
populated by Secret Service that no sniper should have penetrated the
perimeter.
Let alone three.
The blasts shocked the otherwise normal sounds of a busy Washington, D.C.,
afternoon. Roman Barrymore reacted instantly, as did the two protection
operatives flanking him. Standard protocol. Assassination attempts were part
of their jobs; evasive maneuvers were carried out by rote.
But the white heat scalding flesh and everything vital in his chest proved the
effort was too little, too late.
The protection operatives on both sides of the limo door collapsed almost in
unison. Secret Service
2 JEANIE LONDON

RETRIEVAL

3

swarmed like bees shocked from a hive, attempting to contain damage that had
already been done. As Roman sank to his knees, he could almost hear the
newscaster's soundbite.
"Breaking news. . . High-ranking government official assassinated on the White
House lawn. . ."
Then his life flashed before his eyes, frame by frame, glutted with a meaning
he only now identified, the significance of choices he'd made over a lifetime
that had brought him to the moment of his death-choices that would either
bring him to salvation or condemn him in the upcoming battle for his soul. . .
Father Leo inside his office at the school, a place as old and revered as the
priest himself, a man who could encourage with a smile or shame with a glance.
"You know you shouldn't fight, Roman."