a nasty surprise.”
“One that won’t go away.”
“No.”
“I want Dennis Berndt kept out of the loop this time.”
The President flinched. “You can’t think that he had anything to do with this,” “No, I don’t. But I want the need-to-know list kept to an absolute minimum. At least for now.”
“Okay,” the President agreed. At the door he turned back. “I can think of a lot easier jobs.”
McGarvey smiled. “Me too, Mr. President.”
“A penny for your thoughts,” Kathleen said behind him.
He didn’t turn. “I was thinking about Liz and the baby. I was a real shit to her.”
“Yes, you were. But she doesn’t think that you love her any less.”
“I don’t.”
“She desperately wants to make you proud of her,” Kathleen said. “I think she’d even throw Todd out a window if that’s what you wanted.”
“I want her to be happy—”
“Then tell her that, my darling. And tell Otto and Louise. They’re a part of this family now too.”
He heard her get up and come across the room. She put her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Like it or not your family is back in your life and it’s growing. Not only that, there isn’t a thing you can do about it. Too bad for you that we all love you.”
McGarvey finally turned around and took her in his arms and held her close. He was battered, but he wasn’t old, and even having a grandchild would not change that. He hoped in a way it would be a girl so that he would not only have Katy and Liz, but he’d have a miniature version of them running around too.
It was good about Otto and Louise because he had spent way too much time worrying about his friend’s well being. Let someone else take over that duty.
And they had beat bin Laden. This time.
For the rest, he had work to do figuring out what had happened to the Russian bomb from Tajikistan, and how the bomb he’d disarmed aboard the pilot boat had gotten there. The legend on the matte black aluminum tag attached to the bomb’s outer panel had been perfectly legible, even with his failing eyesight.
PANT EX CORP.
U.S.A.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Hagberg is an ex-Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Caribbean, and the Arctic, and has spoken at CIA functions. He also writes as Sean Flannery, and has published more than twenty novels of suspense, including the USA Today best selling High Flight and Kilo Option. He makes his home in Florida.
