'Are you upset that she's getting her life together?'
Liz was Harleigh's therapist, so Hood was not surprised that she knew this.
'No,' he answered truthfully.
'You said you were kowtowing. To Sharon?'
Hood nodded. 'To her, to the CIOC, to Scotland Yard, and when you leave I'll probably feel like I was kowtowing to you.'
'Then tell me to go.'
Hood hesitated.
'The only way to stop backsliding is to dig down with your heels.' She stood. 'Do it, Paul.'
'Okay. We're done,' he said.
'Not good enough. That isn't an end. It's neutral.'
'I don't see the difference,' he confessed.
'I'm still here. I'm still talking, aren't I?'
Hood grinned. 'Get out,' he said sharply. 'Now,' he added.
Liz smiled. 'One more thing?' she asked.
Hood could not tell whether or not this was a trap. 'One,' he said firmly.
'Everyone is disoriented and retrenching,' Liz said. 'Sharon, the intelligence community, the nation. You're being pushed, but it isn't personal it's partly fear, partly a sense of renewal.'
The intercom beeped. It was Bugs Benet's line.
Liz turned to go. 'Don't be afraid to push back,' she said.
'Aggression externalized is preferable to aggression internalized.'
'Isn't that how wars start?' Hood asked as the intercom beeped again.
'No,' Liz said. 'Was the American Revolution about tea? Was the Civil War about slavery?'
'In part '
'Bingo. War is never about one thing,' Liz said. 'It's about one thing that was never addressed and became two things, then three, and finally exploded and consumed everything.'
She was right. 'Thanks, Liz,' Hood said as he picked up the phone.
'Anytime,' she said.
Hood nodded gratefully as he took the call. 'What is it, Bugs?'
'Chief, the White House just called,' Bugs said. 'The president wants to see you in two hours.'
'Did he say why?'
'No,' Bugs said.
Being asked to see the president was not unprecedented. However, if Hood had any doubt about the wisdom of Liz's advice, it evaporated when he asked who else was going to be there.
'Senator Debenport,' Bugs replied.
