A knock on the door pulled Kennedy from her trance, and without turning, she said, “Come in.”
The door opened and closed, but whoever had just entered had chosen to stay silent until recognized. Kennedy finally turned and saw a far from jovial Skip Mcmahon standing across from her.
“Skip, I couldn’t say anything to you last night. There were far too many people around.”
Mcmahon, dressed in a suit and tie, stared her down-his hands on his hips and deep dark circles under his eyes.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mcmahon shook his head slowly from side to side.
“You and I have never played these games. We always been straight up with each other.”
“I know; I apologize. It’s just that things happened too fast last night. I wanted to tell you… I asked if I could bring you in on it, and I was told to wait.”
“By who, Thomas?”
“It goes higher than that.”
Mcmahon frowned skeptically.
“How much higher?”
Kennedy turned away, not entirely comfortable with telling Mcmahon.
Mcmahon reached out and grabbed Kennedy’s chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.
“No more games. I want the truth.”
Kennedy reached up and pulled his hand down.
“You have to keep it to yourself.”
“The hell I do,” snapped Mcmahon.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” chided Kennedy while taking a step back.
“We’re friends.”
“Well, friends don’t let friends get ambushed by hanging them out to dry.”
“Skip, this came down from above. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t… and I didn’t have enough time to convince them otherwise.”
“Who authorized those men to go in, and who decided to shut the FBI out of it?” Kennedy sighed and said, “Vice President Baxter.”
“That motherfucker!” Mcmahon wheeled away from Kennedy, his fists balled up in anger.
“That arrogant mother fucker. Where in the hell does he get off…”
Mcmahon stopped short of finishing the sentence and strained to regain some composure. Through clenched teeth, he said, “This is an FBI operation. Not the CIA and not the Pentagon. If I am not briefed fully and truthfully by you people, I will march right over to the…”
Mcmahon was cut off by the intercom on Kennedy’s desk.
“Dr. Kennedy?”
Kennedy walked over to her desk and pressed the button.
“Yes.”
“They are waiting for you in the director’s conference room.”
Kennedy looked at her watch. It was several minutes past seven.
“We’ll be right there.” She looked up at Mcmahon and said, “We have to get going, but I want you to promise me you’ll keep this to yourself until I have a chance to explain further.” Shaking his head, Mcmahon frowned and said, “Nope… I’m gonna go in there and chew some ass.”
Kennedy reached out and grabbed his wrist firmly.
“No you are not. There is a lot more, Skip. And if you want to know what is really going on, you keep quiet until the meeting is over.”
THEY WERE THE last two to enter Director Stansfield’s private conference room. As Kennedy and Mcmahon took their seats, an agitated Director Roach was already letting the others know how the FBI felt about the current situation.
“Horseshit” was the phrase he used to describe the mess the others had created and the lack of professional courtesy they had displayed.
Seated at the head of the table was Director Stansfield. To his left were Vice President Baxter and Dallas King. To the director’s right sat General Flood and Director Roach. Mcmahon and Kennedy took seats next to each other on Director Roach’s side of the table. It was a small meeting and intended to be so.
FBI Director Roach had paused for a brief moment when Kennedy and Mcmahon entered and then continued, saying, “I can see no valid reason for not informing us that you were sending those men into the building.
It absolutely mystifies me.” Roach shook his head.
“Skip and I have already talked about it… we would have agreed with sending them in. I just don’t get it.”
Vice President Baxter leaned forward and stabbed his index finger into the tabletop. Staring at General Flood, he started angrily, “I did not authorize sending any SEALS through that air duct.” Flood looked back at Baxter with barely masked contempt and then turned to Roach. “It’s my fault. I was given the authority to conduct surveillance, and we were presented with a unique opportunity.”
“I still don’t see why you couldn’t pick up the phone and call us,” said Roach.
Flood sat up a little straighter. He wanted to tell the director of the FBI that he was left out of the loop because the vice president had suggested it, but that was not the way things were done in Washington.
“In the flurry of events that took place early this morning, I made a critical mistake of not informing both of you.” General Flood looked to Baxter and then Roach. “I will make sure that it does not happen again.”
Both Roach and Baxter grudgingly accepted the general’s apology with a nod, but Skip Mcmahon was less cordial. With his gruff demeanor, which was in many ways similar to the general’s, Mcmahon placed a big fist on the table and asked bluntly, “What else haven’t you told us?”
Flood and Stansfield kept their poker faces fixed, while Baxter and King shared a look that caused Mcmahon to ask the question again.
“What else? You can’t send me out there to get blindsided again. I need every advantage I can get over Aziz.”
Director Stansfield liked Skip Mcmahon. In many ways he admired him.
This was an unusual situation, however. Mcmahon was under an immense amount of pressure, and he was the person dealing with Aziz-the only person. Aziz had been adamant about that. Stansfield, always thinking a dozen moves ahead, did not like the idea of telling Mcmahon everything.
The older spymaster saw a potential problem. He envisioned Aziz with a gun to a hostage’s head making a demand that Mcmahon could not meet. He saw the dangers of telling Mcmahon too much, of putting Mcmahon in a position where he might be tempted to give Aziz some of that information in exchange for the life of a hostage. Stansfield couldn’t do that. Rapp was far too valuable a card in this game to start waving around for the other players to see.
Stansfield observed Mcmahon as he stared down Baxter and King, sensing that they knew something. Knowing he had to act fast, before one of them opened his mouth, Stansfield decided to kill two birds with one stone.
“There is something I should tell you.” Stansfield reached down next to his chair and grabbed the morning’s copy of The Washington Post.
Standing, to further draw Mcmahon’s attention away from King and Baxter,
Stansfield walked around the table and set the paper in front of
Mcmahon. Stansfield pointed to a front-page headline that read
“CIA Saves Day by Warning Secret Service.”
“How this story ever got to the Post is something that I will deal with later.” Stansfield looked across the table and gave Dallas King a knowing look.
“But, in the meantime, I will bring you up to speed on a highly classified subject. We have in our possession certain intelligence that we deem to be highly accurate. That source did in fact provide us with the information that
