'That's the second time we've been talking about Iran today,' Hood said.
'But not for the same--' Herbert said, then stopped.
'Not for the same reason?' Hood asked.
'Aw, no,' Herbert said after a moment.
'No.'
'Hold on,' Rodgers said.
'What am I missing?'
'You're thinking the game of telephone could go from the Harpooner to Teheran to Jack Fenwick to the NSA to the CIA,' Herbert said.
'It's possible,' Hood said.
'That would put Fenwick in bed with them on something involving the Harpooner,' Herbert said.
'Something he would not want the president to know about,' Hood pointed out. Herbert was shaking his head.
'I don't want this to be happening,' he said.
'I don't want us working with the sonofabitch who killed my wife.'
'Bob, I need you to calm down,' Hood said. Herbert was glaring at Hood's desk.
'If the Harpooner is up to something in Baku, we might still be able to get him,' Hood said.
'But only if we stay focused.' Herbert did not respond.
'Bob?'
'I hear you,' Herbert said.
'I'm focused.' Hood looked at Rodgers. A minute ago. Hood wanted to lash out. Now that one of his friends was hurting, the desire had subsided. All he wanted to do was help Herbert. Why did he never feel that way about Sharon when she was angry?
'Mike,' Hood said, 'we really need to pin down what Fenwick's been up to and who, if anyone, he's been working with.'
'I'll get that information,' Rodgers said.
'But I can tell you this much. I found two e-mails in my computer files from six months ago. They were written by Jack Fenwick and Burt Gable.'
'What were the memos about?' Hood asked.
'They were responding to a Pentagon white paper,' Rodgers said.
'The paper was about me minimal threat of possible Russian military alliances with neighbors who were not part of the former Soviet Union. Fenwick and Gable took issue with that.'
'The head of the National Security Agency and the president's chief of staff both took issue to the report, independently,' Hood said.
'Correct,' said Rodgers.
'The memos were sent to all the members of congress and various military leaders.'
'I wonder if the two men met philosophically online,' Hood said.
'What was the time code on the memos?'
'A few hours apart,' Rodgers said.
'They didn't appear to be part of a concerted effort. But they both shared an aggressive disapproval of the report.'
'I guess it doesn't matter whether Fenwick and Gable issued those memos independent of one another or whether they found out they had something in common when they read them,' Hood said.
'The question is whether they did something about it. Whether they got together and did some plotting.'
'What makes you think they might have?' asked Herbert, easing back into the conversation.
'Gable's name came up today in my talk with the president,' Hood said.
'He and Fenwick's assistant Don Roedner were responsible for keeping the CIOC in the loop about that UN initiative.'
'And didn't,' Herbert said.
'No, they didn't.' Hood tapped the desk slowly.
'We've got two issues here,' he said a moment later.
'Fenwick's activities in New York and the Harpooner's activities in Baku.'
'Assuming they are separate,' Herbert said.
'The two operations do have Iran in common. The Harpooner has worked for Teheran before.' Hood nodded.
'What if he's working for them again?'
