Free Breaking Point by Tom Clancy

any way, shape, or form, not even by Clinton definition. I wanted to, but he turned me down."
    It caught Toni flat-footed. "What?"
    "Yes, I know I made it seem as if we had, but--it didn't happen. I wanted to, believe it, and I tried my best, but he wouldn't go for it."
    Toni waved at the table. This was astounding. "You want to sit down?" As it always did when she got flustered, her Bronx accent came back: Ya wanna siddown?
    Was she telling the truth? Had Alex put her up to this?
    Cooper read her mind: "In case you are wondering, no, Alex didn't tell me to talk to you; I haven't spoken to him since he left the country. I heard what happened between you two. I was going to let it pass. When he wouldn't do me, I was, well, a bit put out, so I decided to sting you a little by letting on that he had. I suppose I wanted you to take him to task, make him squirm a bit. But despite his rejection, I did like Alex, and it isn't really fair to make him suffer because he was doing right by you."
    "Alex didn't deny it when I brought it up," Toni said.
    "I don't understand why not. It had been a long day. We had supper in a pub. He had one beer too many, and I offered to give him a massage. But that was as far as it got. He was half-asleep facedown on the massage table when I stripped and tried to get him to have it off with me. I was ready--and it was obvious he was ready, too--but instead of his willie, he waved you in my face."
    She paused, took a deep breath, and went on. "I was furious. And I resented you for having him, so that's why I did what I did. I'm sorry. That's it."
    She turned and started for the door.
    Toni had trouble finding her voice, barely made it before the woman got the door open. "Angela?"
    "Yes?"
    "Thank you for telling me. It couldn't have been easy."
    Cooper smiled, more genuine this time. "I'd rather be having a bloody root canal. You're lucky to have a man like that interested in you. Maybe you can patch things up."
    When she was gone, Toni sat at the table, staring at the wall. Why hadn't he just told her? He knew she thought he'd slept with Cooper; all he had to do was deny it, she would have believed him. At least she thought she would have believed him. Why hadn't he spoken up?
    She replayed their last meeting, trying to remember exactly how it had gone. Had he ever actually said he'd been with Cooper?
    No...
    Well, shit! What the hell was wrong with him! Why had he let her think he'd done it!
    Abruptly, Toni felt the emotions well, and tears spill. Dammit, Alex!
    She was angry all over again, but this time for an entirely different reason. What on Earth could he have been thinking ?

    Chapter 8.
    Wednesday, June 8th
    Gakona, Alaska
    "Is that where we're going?" Ventura had to raise his voice for Morrison to hear him. Normally, a plane like the Cessna Stationair was not that noisy while cruising, but this one had a slightly warped door edge on the passenger side that added a loud almost-whistle.
    "That's the place," Morrison said.
    Ventura looked down from what he guessed was about eight thousand feet. Most of what he saw looked like virgin evergreen forest. In the distance was a snowcapped mountain range with a few very tall peaks. The HAARP site itself was cut out of the forest--it was as if somebody had cleared a large area in woods in the rough shape of a skeleton key. Several buildings and a parking lot in a ragged circular area were connected by a straight road to the array itself--which looked as if somebody had planted seeds that grew up to be giant 1950s-style television antennas. Beyond that was a second rectangular array, as large as the first. Behind the control buildings and just coming into view was a long, straight paved strip a couple of thousand feet long.
    The pilot banked the plane slightly, then throttled back as he straightened the Cessna out.
    "We've got our own landing strip now," Morrison said. "Better security. It wasn't a problem when they built the place--anybody could just walk