Free The End Game by Catherine Coulter

hadn’t left a single trace of himself.
    She followed Nicholas back into Mr. Hodges’s bedroom. He was staring at the dead man, then he raised his hand and mimicked shooting.
    â€œI’d say Mr. Hodges was asleep when the shots were fired in the kitchen and Cedarson ran out of the room.”
    â€œYou think he could sleep through the shots, even suppressed?”
    He didn’t, but he wanted to keep her focused. “Perhaps he took a sleeping pill. I don’t think he ever knew he was going to die. So look. The assassin stood right over him and took the two shots. I’d say he’s at least my height, maybe a bit taller. The ME won’t find gunpowder residue on Mr. Hodges, or on the others; the wounds are all clean. The killer came in hard and fast—four shots in the kitchen, two in the hallway, two in here. Mr. Hodges was the target, of course.”
    â€œAll of these men dead simply because one honest, lonely man was a good citizen and told us what he’d heard at the bar. I can’t believe that level of—what would you even call this?”
    Nicholas said, “Insurance. Our assassin is really careful, believes in overkill. Is he someone from COE? Until now, COE hasn’t gone around killing people. And this was professional all the way. What would a professional assassin be doing hooked up to a small-beans anti-oil terrorist group? Why this elaborate killing? It wouldn’t have mattered. There was nothing more Mr. Hodges could have told us.”
    â€œRemember Mr. Zachery believes someone new has been added to COE? Someone more violent? Maybe whoever this is now runs things.”
    â€œSeems to me this level of escalation pretty well nails it. A new violent addition.”
    They heard a siren. “Backup’s nearly here. Nicholas, how did the assassin find Mr. Hodges? How did COE even know he’d spoken to us?”
    Nicholas said, “I think we probably led the killer right here to Mr. Hodges’s house.”
    â€œSomeone followed us? From Federal Plaza?”
    His mobile rang. He glanced down—one o’clock in the morning, and the number on the screen was the main number at 26 Federal Plaza.
    â€œDrummond here.”
    â€œNicholas,” Agent Gray Wharton said, “we have a huge problem.”
    â€œYes, Mike and I are standing in the middle of it. I’m in Bayonne, and we have four bodies, including Mr. Richard Hodges, our tipster.”
    Wharton swore. “He’s dead? Our guys are down, too? Yes, of course they are. Give me a second here, Nicholas.”
    Nicholas heard him draw a deep breath, could practically see him trying to get hold of himself. “Okay, listen, on top of all that, there’s more. I’m sending a file to your phone right now.”
    Nicholas felt the phone vibrate slightly in his hand. “It’s here. Gray, what am I looking at?”
    â€œSomeone launched a major cyber-attack on all of the major oil companies. Everyone’s been hit—Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Occidental, all of them. Their systems are down, and so far we haven’t been able to break the encryptions. Nicholas, it’s bad. It’s very bad. Worsethan the Shamoon virus attack on the Saudis in 2012, and with all the same hallmarks.”
    â€œWho’s behind it? Russia? The Chinese?”
    â€œI’ve been tracking it as best I can, but it’s coming from multiple international sites. I need you. You’ve got to get here as soon as you can.”
    Gray was never an alarmist, which meant this was really bad. “I’m on my way.”
    Mike grabbed his arm. “What is it?”
    â€œMajor cyber-attack on the oil companies. I’ve got to help Gray back at Federal Plaza.” He ran his hands through his hair, standing it on end. “What are the odds?”
    â€œI had no idea COE had the expertise or the willingness to go in this direction.”
    â€œIf it’s them. This sounds