by Steve Berry
“Bet they’re wondering what’s going on.”
Davis smiled. “These people don’t like surprises, or one another for that matter.”
She watched on the screen as the president of the United States burst into the room and moved out of view to the head of the table. The camera had apparently been installed behind where he sat so only the participants would be recorded.
Everyone sat.
“It’s good to see you’re okay,” one of the participants said to Daniels.
“It’s good to be okay.”
“Mr. President, we had little notice of this meeting so nothing has been prepared. We weren’t even told of the subject matter.”
“Head of Central Intelligence,” Davis told her. “The president owes me five dollars. I bet he’d be the first to probe. He said NSA.”
“You people love to tell me how good you are,” Daniels said. “That this country would be in dire jeopardy if we didn’t spend billions of dollars every year on what you do. You also like to hide behind that secrecy you so righteously demand. I don’t have the luxury of working in secret. I have to do what I do with a cadre of reporters camped out less than a hundred feet away from where I work. Hell, I don’t even know where half of your offices are located, much less what you do.”
“Do they know we’re watching?” she asked.
Davis shook his head. “Pinhole camera. The Secret Service installed it a few years ago. Nobody knows but senior staff.”
“This monstrosity of government called homeland security,” the president said, “is absurd. I have yet to find anyone who knows how much it costs, how many are employed, how many programs there are and, most important, how much duplication there is. Best I can tell there are nearly 1300 separate organizations working homeland security or foreign intelligence. That’s on top of nearly 2000 private contractors. Nearly 900,000 hold a top secret clearance. How could anything possibly be kept secret with that many eyes and ears?”
No one said a word.
“Everyone said they were going to streamline things after 9/11. You folks swore you were finally going to start working together. What you did was create 300 new intelligence organizations. You produce over 50,000 intelligence reports each year. Who reads them all?”
No answer.
“That’s right. No one does. So what good are they?”
“He’s going right for their throats,” she said to Davis.
“It’s all they understand.”
“I want to know who hired Jonathan Wyatt and had him in New York yesterday,” the president asked, breaking the room’s silence.
“I did.”
“Is that her?” Cassiopeia asked.
Davis nodded. “Andrea Carbonell. Head of NIA.”
She’d noticed the woman’s entrance, her swarthy complexion, dark hair, and Latino influences similar to her own. “What’s her story?”
“Daughter of Cuban immigrants. Born here. She worked her way up through the ranks until finally snagging the head of NIA. Her service record is actually exemplary, except for her ties to the Commonwealth.”
Carbonell sat straight, hands folded on the table, eyes intent on the president. Her features remained expressionless, even in the face of an angry commander in chief.
“Why did you have Wyatt in New York?” Daniels asked her.
“I required outside assistance to counter pressure I was receiving from CIA and NSA.”
“Explain yourself.”
“A few hours ago someone tried to kill me.”
The room fell into a hush.
Carbonell cleared her throat. “I wasn’t planning on bringing it up in this meeting, but an automated weapon was waiting for me in my residence.”
Daniels hesitated only a moment. “And the importance of that? Besides the fact that you could be dead.”
“Wyatt was in New York to help me decipher the recent actions of some of my colleagues. We were meeting to discuss the situation. But a CIA deputy director and another deputy from NSA interrupted that meeting and took Wyatt. I would like to know the purpose of that action.”
She was good, Cassiopeia thought. Carbonell had yet to answer a question, but she’d managed to shift attention away from herself. Her inquiry clearly interested some of the others around the table, who stared at CIA, and another man whom Davis identified as the NSA director.
“Mr. President,” CIA said. “This woman has been conspiring with the Commonwealth. She may well have been involved in the attempt on your life.”
“Do you have proof of that?” Carbonell calmly asked.
“I don’t need proof,” Daniels said to her. “I just need to be convinced. So tell me, did you have any involvement with the attempt on my life?”
“I did not.”
“Then how did Wyatt get himself right smack in the middle of things? He was there, in the Grand Hyatt. We know that. He directed agents straight to Cotton Malone. He involved Malone in the whole thing.”
“He has a personal vendetta against Malone,” Carbonell said. “He set Malone up, involving him in the attempt on your life, unbeknownst to me. I fired him just before CIA and NSA took him away.”
“Wyatt just shot up Monticello,” Daniels said. “He stole a rare artifact. A cipher wheel. Did you arrange for that to happen?”
“The shooting or the stealing?”
“You choose. And, by the way, I’ve never liked a smart-ass.”
“As I said, Mr. President, I fired Wyatt yesterday. He no longer works for me. I think the CIA or NSA is in a better position to answer the question of what happened after I terminated him.”
“So, do any of you have any knowledge of the plot to kill me?” the president asked.
The table stirred at the pointed question.
“We were unaware there was a plot,” one of them said.
“You’re damn right there was,” Daniels said. “I asked a question. Ms. Carbonell, how about you answer first.”
“I knew nothing of any assassination plot.”
“Liar,” CIA said.
Carbonell kept her composure. “I only know that Wyatt lured Cotton Malone to the Grand Hyatt, hoping Malone would stop the attempt. Then Wyatt directed agents toward Malone. He apparently was hoping one of them would shoot him. He reported this to me after it happened. I realized immediately that things were way out of control. So I severed all connection with him.”
“You should have arrested him,” one of the others around the table said.
“As I’ve already said, he was in the custody of CIA and NSA after I did what I did. Seems they are the ones who need to explain why he was not arrested.”
“She’s good,” Cassiopeia said.
“And she’s holding back,” Davis said.
Cassiopeia’s eyes seemed to communicate exactly what she was thinking.
“I know,” Davis said. “I’m doing the same thing. But can we keep things close a little while longer.”
“To what end?”
“Hell if I know.”
“Where’s Wyatt now?” Daniels asked the room.
“He attacked the two men we sent to interrogate him,” CIA said. “And escaped.”
“Were you planning on reporting any of this?” the president asked.
No reply.
“Who sent the police after Cotton Malone in Richmond, Virginia?”
“We did,” CIA said. “We ascertained that Malone emailed to himself a classified document. He then accessed it from a hotel in Richmond. We asked the locals to pick him up for questioning.”
“Don’t bother him again,” Daniels ordered. “Ms. Carbonell, are you in communication with the Commonwealth?”
She shook her head. “My contact to them was found dead last evening in Central Park, as was another of my agents in a nearby hotel. Two more were seriously injured. They were apparently shot by a Commonwealth operative they were attempting to apprehend.”
“You have four people down?” CIA asked her.
&nb
sp; “I agree. It’s tragic. We contained the situation quickly and kept a lid on it. We’re searching for that Commonwealth operative now. He will be found.”
“Why did CIA and NSA want to speak to Wyatt?” Daniels asked.
“We, too,” CIA said, “were curious as to Wyatt’s involvement with what happened in New York.”
“Why?”
The president’s curt inquiry triggered more silence.
“It’s simply a question,” Daniels said. “How did you know Wyatt was even in New York?”
More silence.
Then, from NSA, “We’ve been watching NIA and Ms. Carbonell.”
“Why?”
“He’s screwing with them,” Davis said. “He does that to me all the time. Just one why after another, forcing you down a path that he’s already walked. He’s just waiting for you to catch up.”
“She’s interfering with our prosecution of the Commonwealth,” NSA said. “That group is well known to us all and is a danger to our national security. The decision was made to eliminate it. NIA and Ms. Carbonell disagree with that decision. We wondered why. Too much loyalty there under the circumstances. We knew she’d employed Wyatt, we just didn’t know all that was about to happen. If we had, we would taken preventive measures.”
“That’s comforting to know,” Daniels said, his sarcasm clear.
“When we learned Malone was the man in the video,” CIA said, “we realized something strange was up.”
“Okay, let me see if I have this straight,” Daniels said. “Somebody, identity unknown, tries to blow me up. A contract player, Jonathan Wyatt, is involved. At least three intelligence agencies knew that Wyatt was in New York doing something. Two of you were already investigating NIA and its director. What Wyatt was doing in New York, none of you is willing to admit. But two of you are curious enough to take Wyatt into custody, yet he escapes. And most important, four agents are down.”
No one said a word.
“You folks are about as useful as tits on a boar hog. How about this, which one of you sent men into the Garver Institute last night and murdered one of its employees?”
No reply.
“No one going to claim that one? I wouldn’t think so.”
“Carbonell probably did it herself,” Cassiopeia said.
Davis nodded. “Makes the most sense.”
“I want each of you to know that we’re investigating this, independent of you. If Wyatt lured Malone to New York, that meant he knew what was about to happen. If he knew, others knew. Hence, a plot.”
“We need to find Wyatt,” one of the men said.
“FBI director,” Davis noted. “The only one around that table we can actually trust. A straight shooter.”
“I’d say that should be tops on your list,” Daniels said. “What about those two automated weapons from the hotel rooms? What have you learned?”
“Sophisticated engineering,” the FBI director said. “Well made. Malone disabled the one with shots from the other that shorted out its electronics. They were both radio-controlled. No way, though, to ascertain from where, though a radius of about three miles was the receiver’s range.”
“That’s a lot of real estate in New York City,” Daniels said. “What, about 30,000 hotel rooms to choose from?”
“Something like that.”
“Since Wyatt seems the only one at the moment who knew anything in advance,” Daniels said, “he’s the best lead. At least he sent Malone in there. That’s better than the rest of you can claim.”
“Is Cotton Malone conducting your inquiry?” NSA asked.
“Does it matter?”
“No, sir. I was simply curious.”
“Like I said. None of you bother Malone. That’s a direct order. He’s working for me. The people who murdered Dr. Gary Voccio last night also tried to kill Malone and, interestingly, Wyatt, too. That means Wyatt may not be my enemy. I intend to find out who ordered that strike.”
No one spoke.
“Also, Stephanie Nelle has been missing for several days.”
“Missing where?” CIA asked.
“I don’t know. She’s just gone.”
“Do you plan to release any of this to the public?” someone asked.
“I’m not going to do anything.” Daniels stood. “Not until you folks do what you’re supposed to do and provide me with some meaningful information.”
Daniels came back into the camera’s view as he marched toward the door.
The people around the table rose for his exit.
“Mr. President.”
NSA director.
Daniels stopped at the door.
“Your assessment of our effectiveness is wrong,” NSA said. “For my agency, we intercept nearly two billion emails, phone calls, and other international communications each day. Someone must listen to those. It’s how threats directed toward us are communicated. It’s how we became suspicious of Ms. Carbonell and her ties to the Commonwealth. We provide a vital service.”
“And who sorts though those two billion communications you intercept each day?” Daniels asked.
NSA started to speak, but Daniels held up a hand. “Don’t bother. I know the answer. No one. You sort a mere fraction. And every once in a while you luck onto something, like with NIA, then spout off about your importance. Interesting how, despite all of your money, people, and equipment a group of goat-herding terrorists from the wilds of Afghanistan managed to plow two planes into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. If not for the bravery of some ordinary Americans another plane would have destroyed the White House. You didn’t know a damn thing about any of that coming.”
“With all due respect, sir, I resent your insults.”
“With all due respect, I resent tossing $75 billion dollars a year—that we know of—away on your foolishness. I resent the fact that those planes made it as far as they did. I resent your arrogance. We deserve an intelligence community that works together as a team in every sense of the word. Hell, if World War II had been run this way we would have lost. I wasn’t planning on doing this but, before I leave office, I’m going to shake this rotting tree down to its roots. So get ready, people. Anybody else having something to say?”
No one spoke.
“Find Stephanie Nelle,” Daniels said.
“Before the assassins?” one of them asked.
“Find one and I believe you’ll find the other.”
The president left.
The others lingered a few seconds, then they, too, began to leave.
“Okay,” Davis said. “Our turn.”
FIFTY-FIVE
BATH, NORTH CAROLINA
KNOX READIED HIMSELF TO BE SHOT. THE WEAPON WAS OF modest caliber, and the bullet would surely pass straight through him.
But it was still going to hurt.
Apparently, the traitor had sold him out.
Hale lowered the gun. “Don’t you give me any more trouble, either. You should not have interfered in that challenge.”
He exhaled. “Killing Captain Bolton was not the answer to the problem.”
Hale laid the gun on the table and grabbed his empty glass, refilling it with whiskey. “The answer to our problem came a little while ago. The director of NIA called me.”
He told himself to listen carefully. Carbonell was maneuvering again. But so was Hale.
“NIA has solved the cipher. They know where that no-good scoundrel Andrew Jackson hid the two missing pages. She told me the location.”
“And you believe her?”
“Why not?”
“They stopped our assassination attempt and cultivated a spy within this company.”
Hale nodded. “I know. But at the moment, the NIA director wants something from me. Something only I can provide.”
“Our guest in the lodge.”
Hale sipped his drink and nodded. “Providing this information is NIA’s way of demonstrating good faith. They hired a contract person who is going after the missing
pages. But the man has no intention of turning over what he finds. The director made that clear. She wants him killed. It’s a remote location, which offers a good opportunity to do that. Of course, in return, she says we can have whatever there is to find.”
He listened as Hale explained about Nova Scotia and a man named Jonathan Wyatt. “Carbonell provided me everything she has on Paw Island and Fort Dominion.”
“What’s to stop us from simply going after the two pages and ignoring Wyatt?”
“Nothing, provided Wyatt doesn’t get in your way. From what she said, you’ll have to kill him in order to get him out of the way. He’s not the type to simply step aside.”
Everything about this sounded bad.
Hale pointed toward his desk. “There’s a photo and dossier on Wyatt. He was also the man who stopped the assassination attempt. I’d say you owe him.”
Perhaps he did, but he wasn’t quite sure what.
“Take the file. Use the jet. NIA tells me Wyatt is flying commercially out of Boston, but weather is delaying him. Get there before he does and be ready.”
Apparently things had changed one more time and Carbonell had decided to provide the Commonwealth what it wanted.
Or had she?
“This could be a trap.”
“I am willing to take the chance.”
No, he was willing for someone else to take the chance. But Knox had no choice. He had to go to Canada. If he could be ready before this Wyatt arrived, it should be an easy kill. One more demonstration of his loyalty to the captains, which should buy him more time.
At least the traitor had not compromised him.
“Look, Clifford,” Hale said, conciliation in his voice. “Why provide us this information if she’s lying?”
“Apparently, so we can do her dirty work. The man she sent can’t be trusted, so she wants us to eliminate him.”
Just like with Scott Parrott.
“If that makes her happy, so what? If she’s lying, we still have Stephanie Nelle to do with as we please.”
He caught the message. What do we have to lose? So he knew the right response. “I’ll head north immediately.”
