“It’s your fault,” he said. “If you hadn’t talked me into joining the agency, Angie would still be alive.”
Christine was momentarily at a loss for words. Technically, he was correct. But she couldn’t have foreseen last night’s outcome months ago. Enlisting Jake’s assistance had been the right thing to do. At least, that’s what she had told herself. In the deep recess of her mind, though, doubt crept in. Had she talked him into joining the CIA for the right reason?
“I’m done,” he said. “I’m done with the agency, and I’m done with you.”
“You don’t mean that, Jake.”
“I do,” he said. “I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again.”
He closed his eyes and ignored additional attempts at conversation.
After a while, Christine resolved herself to the situation, which was only temporary, she told herself. Jake would stop blaming her; it was only a matter of time.
She went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, then examined herself in the mirror. She wore no makeup and her face looked pale and drawn out, last night’s events seemingly adding years to her appearance.
As she stared at her image in the mirror, she couldn’t shake Harrison’s words, blaming her for Angie’s death. After contemplating his accusation for a while, she reluctantly agreed. If she hadn’t dragged him into the first Mixell case, resulting in Trish’s death, Angie would still be alive.
Harrison was right.
It was all her fault.
78
WASHINGTON, D.C.
It was unusually warm and stuffy in the West Wing basement, with the Situation Room packed with personnel gathered for this afternoon’s meeting. The president sat at the head of the table, joined by Kevin Hardison and Christine O’Connor, a host of other staff and cabinet members, plus the three individuals who would lead this afternoon’s briefs: Secretary of Defense Tom Glass, Secretary of State Marcy Perini, and FBI Director Bill Guisewhite.
Notably absent from today’s meeting was Brenda Verbeck, who was under investigation by the FBI. However, the matter had been withheld from the public and even the rest of the president’s cabinet and staff. Only the president and Hardison, a handful at the CIA, and a small cell at the FBI knew what Verbeck had done.
First up was Director Guisewhite, with an update on the simplest of the three issues on today’s agenda — the gas centrifuges.
“Good afternoon, Mr. President. The investigation into the illegal sale of gas centrifuges by Snyder Industries to Iran is proceeding well. We’ve collected enough information to charge Dan Snyder and two others within Snyder Industries with a violation of U.S. sanctions. The case is ironclad, in my opinion, with the only question being — how many years will Snyder and his accomplices spend behind bars. The CIA deserves significant credit in this matter for discovering the sale of the centrifuges from the UUV communication intercepts, plus locating the equipment aboard the merchant ship en route to Iran.”
“Good work, Bill and Christine,” the president said.
Following Guisewhite’s update, the topic shifted to the impact of the U.S. Navy’s intervention in the Persian Gulf. Secretary of State Perini continued the afternoon’s brief.
“As you’re aware, our engagement with the Russian warships escorting the merchant achieved its primary objective — preventing the centrifuges from being delivered to Iran. There’s been no significant blowback from sinking the merchant, partly because we revealed that the ship was carrying equipment that would have dramatically improved Iran’s ability to manufacture nuclear weapons and that the late identification of the merchant’s cargo and imminent arrival at an Iranian port required quick and drastic action. Another factor in our favor was that the merchant crew safely abandoned the sinking ship; no civilian lives were lost.
“Unfortunately, the secondary goal of preventing conflict with Russia wasn’t completely realized. While we avoided collateral damage to the surface warships, we sank one of Russia’s nuclear-powered submarines. Your firm stance with Russia on this matter — that if a country puts its warships in harm’s way, it has to accept that harm might occur — has proved effective. Additionally, the Russian submarine fired first, justifying Jimmy Carter’s response, counterfiring in self-defense.
“Regarding the incident, Yuri Kalinin has acquiesced. The Russian president remains indebted to America for our support during the military coup that temporarily deposed him, and while he’s posturing angrily in public, he has accepted the outcome privately. Helping matters, their submarine sank in shallow enough waters — above crush depth — and we assisted with the crew’s rescue. To summarize the issue, President Kalinin has assured us that there will be no Russian retaliation.”
After Perini finished her brief, the president turned to Secretary of Defense Glass, who was prepared to discuss the most delicate of the three issues — Iran’s sinking of Stethem.
“The evidence is clear,” Glass began. “Based on ONI’s analysis of the explosion’s acoustic signature and inspection of the damage inflicted, we know an Iranian heavyweight torpedo sunk Stethem. You’ve asked for a payback plan, and we think one of Iran’s new frigates would make an excellent man-made reef in the Persian Gulf.”
The president nodded. “A superb suggestion.”
Glass continued, “The plan is strictly quid pro quo. The frigate will be sunk by one of our heavyweight torpedoes. I was hoping to assign the honor to Captain Wilson and his BLUE crew aboard Michigan, but they’ve returned to their home port and the GOLD crew is now manning the submarine. However, Jimmy Carter is still in the Gulf, and pending your concurrence, orders will be sent to its crew.”
The president canvassed the men and women around the table for their thoughts on the matter, and after no one voiced an objection to the plan, the president announced, “Make it so.”
The meeting wrapped up, and as the president left the Situation Room, Hardison locked eyes with Christine. This had been the first of two meetings scheduled for this afternoon. In a few minutes, a second meeting would begin, between only the president, Hardison, and Christine.
79
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Inside the Oval Office, Christine took a chair facing the president at his desk, while Hardison selected a seat beside her. They had just spent an hour in the Situation Room discussing issues the public was aware of, and the president was now turning to the more delicate, confidential matters: Rolow, Khalila, and Verbeck. Each was a complicated affair with profound implications, especially with a presidential election only months away. Christine and Hardison had spent the last month hammering out plans to deal with each problem, with the president approving the way forward for two of the three issues thus far.
Regarding Khalila’s execution of PJ Rolow, the matter was being swept under the rug. Much explaining would be necessary if the public learned that the CIA’s deputy director for operations had been slain by one of the agency’s own officers. The questions would likely lead to the revelation that Rolow had been killed by Osama bin Laden’s daughter. The president’s enemies would weaponize that information, painting the administration and CIA as incompetent bunglers, allowing al-Qaeda to infiltrate the agency. As far as the public was concerned, Rolow had died of a heart attack. His funeral had been closed-coffin, hiding the true cause of his death.