Angels of Wrath

“Is Khazaal a threat to disrupt the visit to Baghdad?” Corrine asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not even sure where he is at the moment. Probably not here. But I’d stay the hell out of Baghdad on general principle, don’t you think?”

“I haven’t been there.”

“Take my word for it.”

“This is an historic moment,” said Corrine.

Ferguson stopped in the water, trying to knock some water out of his ear. Every moment was historic. The problem was, the really important ones were never obvious until a hundred years later on.

“Maybe Khazaal is running away from Iraq because the heat is on,” suggested Corrine. “Maybe the insurgency is dead.”

“You’re listening to Corrigan too much,” said Ferguson. “He got that idea from Slott. And with all due respect to our esteemed deputy director of operations, he doesn’t know diddly about Iraq or the Middle East. He was an Asia hand. People are much more logical there. As for Corrigan, he thinks he won the war against Saddam by putting McDonald’s ads on Iraqi television.”

“So what’s Khazaal up to then?”

“First I find him, then I psychoanalyze him.”

“The Israelis said he might be going to Syria.”

“Yeah, but we missed him on the border. Maybe they gave us the information too late. Or maybe we’re just slow. Or maybe they’re wrong. What are they holding back?”

“I don’t know. I agree that they are.”

Well, at least she figured that out, thought Ferguson. He kicked back in a circle behind her.

“So you only came here because you wanted to spit at me in person?”

“You work for me, Bob. Not the other way around. You have to show some respect,” said Corrine.

“You have to earn respect.”

“No, I represent the president. I don’t have to earn anything. First of all, when I say I want to talk to you, I want to talk to you. I am supervising Special Demands. Not Parnelles, not Slott, not you. Me. I didn’t want the job. The president stuck me with it. If you disagree with him, fine. Tell him. But until he changes his mind, I’m in charge. I’m not trying to be an asshole,” she added, softening the strident note in her voice. “I don’t want to micromanage you. I just want to do my job. And that means that we have to communicate. To head off problems.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” said Ferguson, more neutral. “You would have told me about the visit to Palestine and the peace plan?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well you shouldn’t have. If I got dropped, it wouldn’t have been secret.”

“That’s true now.”

“I rest my case.”

“Well don’t get dropped.”

Ferguson laughed. “Good advice.”

“I’m trying to balance what you need to know with enough information so you trust me,” said Corrine.

“I could say the same thing about Cairo,” said Ferguson.

“You’re right,” she said.

Ferguson was mildly surprised by the admission. He started swimming parallel to her, matching her pace.

“Do you think Khazaal has enough money to buy an airliner?” asked Corrine. “That was one of the theories on the threat matrix.”

“Ah, that matrix crap is bullshit. They just throw that together for the briefing,” said Ferguson. “We don’t know how much he has. Rankin and Thera found out last night he’s traveling with jewels, so he could have a lot, but buying an airliner, or renting one? It’d be shot down halfway to Baghdad. That’s not it.” Ferguson stopped. “Do you want my opinion?”

“Yes.”

“Our best bet is just to kill the son of a bitch when we see him.”

Profanity aside, Corrine, as a citizen of the U.S. and an admirer of the president and what he stood for, didn’t disagree. But as counsel to the president, as someone whose job called for her to uphold the Constitution and its principles, she had to disagree. Khazaal should be tried in an Iraqi court. Only after he was convicted should he be stomped to death.

“The president has specifically directed his apprehension, not his assassination,” she said.

“He didn’t have his fingers crossed behind his back?”

“They were in clear view on his desk at all times.”

“I’m not being a smart aleck. I don’t know if I can take him alive,” said Ferguson. “Especially in Syria. It’s pretty easy to get away with things in Lebanon, but Syria: the police don’t like Westerners, Americans especially, and the upper ranks of the intelligence service are pretty competent. Some of the lower-ranking guys can get bought off but not dependably. Once we’re out of the desert, things can get very complicated…” He shook his head. “If I start something, he may make me finish it.”

“If you have a high probability of success, go for it.”

“That’s kind of mealymouthed.”

“If you have to protect yourself, do it. Then it’ll be different.”

“Why?”

Corrine resisted trotting out the textbook distinctions between justifiable homicide and murder, knowing that Ferguson was getting at a much larger question, an issue that, frankly, she herself could not completely decide. If an individual was allowed to defend him- or herself against an attack, wasn’t a nation? And given that the answer had to be yes, how far could it go? Would pulling a gun on a robber in a dark alley be more acceptable than pulling it in your own home? What if you left the window open and invited the robber in to rob you?

“The law says it’s different,” she said. “I didn’t draw the distinction, but I can uphold it.”

“If I come up with a plan that’s so bad it puts me in danger, I get to kill him. That doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

“How do you know?”

“I know your record. I know what you did in Chechnya and over the Pacific,” Corrine added. “I was there. You wouldn’t come up with a crappy plan.”

“Everybody has a bad day,” said Ferg. “Listen, since we’re up close and personal here, why did you yank us off Seven Angels without even talking to me and explaining the situation?”

“I didn’t take you off. That operation ended.”

“No, it didn’t,” said Ferg. “Thatch got himself blown up, but that wasn’t the end of the operation.”

“The FBI made arrests. Come on, Ferguson. You don’t think those crazies were a legitimate threat, do you?”

“They might have led to people who are. I had a few more leads to check out in Tel Aviv. There were phone calls made from a dentist’s office there that haven’t been explained. And even if I didn’t have anything else to look into, even if they are just whackos, you talk about courtesy: you should have called me yourself and told me, not had Corrigan do it.”

“Fair enough,” said Corrine. “My mistake.”

Two instances of acting decent within five minutes of each other, thought Ferguson; maybe there was hope for her.

Nah.

“Nice suit,” he told her. “I have to go. I’m not sure what our next move is, but I should know by tonight. I’ll call. Better yet, if you’re still in town, I’ll tell you in person.”

“I have to take a tour this evening and one tomorrow morning. I’m here as a liaison to the Commerce