“So it’s over now?”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell.”
Walsh switched the tape recorder off, signaling the end of the official debriefing. Jack rose, gathered the papers spread out across the table.
“One more thing,” said Walsh. “The crap hit the fan so fast, we never came up with a name for this operation. Any thoughts?”
Jack nodded. “Call it Operation Hell Gate.”
“Why?”
“The police never recovered the body of Griffin Lynch. A detective told me it was because of the unnatural turbulence under that railroad bridge.”
Walsh blinked. “Excuse me?”
“There’s a nexus beneath the bridge, a spot where the Harlem and East rivers merge with Long Island Sound to create riptides and deadly whirlpools powerful enough to swallow even the strongest swimmer. One urban legend says a World War Two Air Force bomber ditched under the bridge and vanished without a trace.”
“Your point?”
Jack shrugged. “Arete’s gang, the Afghanis, Griffin and Shamus Lynch, they were like those waters under the bridge, all had their own directions. It took Frank Hensley to bring the factions together into something devastatingly deadly. To bring them to one place.”
“Hell Gate?” Walsh chewed on it for a minute. “Okay…good name.” He pushed back from the table and unfolded his large frame to its full height. “Jack, I have to be straight with you. Nobody in Washington’s gonna buy the connection to 999. that Frank Hensley was a mole planted by Iraqi special ops.”
“Why not?”
“Most likely reason. it’ll make them look bad.”
Jack swallowed his frustration.
“Either way,” said Walsh, “the threat’s been neutralized.” He checked his watch then extended his hand. “Thanks, Jack.”
Still distracted, Jack shook. “Sure. If you need any more information—”
“No, son. You misunderstood me.” Walsh smiled. “Thanks, Jack.”
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Hope Innelli and Josh Behar of HarperCollins for their vision, guidance, and support. Thanks also to Virginia King of 20th Century Fox for her continued encouragement.
Very special acknowledgment to the groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning “24” creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and to their talented writing team. And especially to Keifer Sutherland for bringing the memorable character of Jack Bauer to life.
Thanks to my literary agent, John Talbot, for his ongoing support. And a very personal thank you to my wife, Alice Alfonsi. A guy couldn’t ask for a better partner — in writing or in life.
About the Author
MARC CERASINI’s writing credits include The Complete Idiot’s Guide to U.S. Special Ops Forces and Heroes: U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Winners and several projects for Tom Clancy, including creating the bible for the Clancy Power Play series, writing the YA action/adventure thriller The Ultimate Escape for Clancy’s NetForce series, and writing a major essay on Clancy’s contribution to the technothriller genre for the national bestseller The Tom Clancy Companion. Among the movie tie-in novelizations Marc has written are Wolverine: Weapon X, based on the popular X-Men series; the USA Today bestseller AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, based on the motion picture from 20th Century Fox; as well as five original novels based on the Toho Studios classic “Godzilla,” and co-authored (with J.D. Lees) a nonfiction look at the film series, The Official Godzilla Compendium. Marc’s other credits include the book 24: The House Special Subcommittee Investigation of CTU, which he co-authored with his wife, Alice Alfonsi.