The next issue that had been resolved was the CIA’s employment of Osama bin Laden’s daughter. Only eight persons knew Khalila’s true identity: the three of them in the Oval Office, plus Bryant, McFarland, Harrison, and the two linguists who had translated the video clip of Khalila greeting her brother in Kuwait. Everyone aside from the president had signed nondisclosure agreements preventing the release of Khalila’s true identity.
“To follow up on Khalila,” the president said, “keep her file sealed, and take measures to ensure her identity isn’t revealed to anyone else aside from your new DDO, once he or she is selected. Regarding Khalila’s disposition, I leave that to you. As long as you trust her, keep her in the family. The last thing we need is for her to end up on the outside — or even worse, the other side — where she might reveal CIA secrets or that the agency was idiotic enough to employ Osama’s daughter. That’s a mess that neither we, nor our successors, will want to deal with.”
“I understand,” Christine replied. “For now, she’s continuing with the agency with the same measured trust Rolow exhibited. In my opinion, his instincts regarding her were correct. Khalila is an extremely valuable asset, as long as she can be trusted.”
“I concur,” the president replied.
The conversation then moved to the final, unresolved matter — what to do about Brenda Verbeck. The way ahead was obvious to Christine, but Hardison had opposed her recommendation. Technically, the matter was out of her swim lane — it was a domestic law enforcement issue — but the president had requested her input, given that she was the only one with firsthand knowledge of what Verbeck had done.
“I’ve come to a decision,” the president said. “The only direct link to the murders Verbeck ordered was Rolow, and Khalila eliminated that lead. Without Rolow and Mixell, whom Rolow hired, the FBI has been unable to obtain any evidence that Verbeck is connected to the Pentagon deaths aside from her verbal admission to you, Christine.
“If the matter goes to trial, there’s a high probability Verbeck will be acquitted. Additionally, I prefer to not drag my administration into a public scandal months before the election. Given the above, an acceptable solution has been devised. Verbeck has tendered her resignation as secretary of the Navy, citing personal reasons, and I’ve accepted.”
Christine’s hands clenched the end of her chair armrests. “You’ve got to be kidding. She orders the executions of two men and gets away with it?”
“I share your distaste for the solution,” the president replied. “But if we press charges against Verbeck, the only thing we will accomplish is damaging my reelection chances. I might add, your jobs are tied to mine. If I lose, both of you will be replaced by the new president.”
“I don’t give a damn about my job,” Christine replied, “if losing it is what it takes to put Verbeck behind bars.”
The president smiled. “That’s what I’ve always liked about you. A woman of conviction and moral clarity, regardless of the consequences. However, the odds of Verbeck’s conviction are too low to suffer the consequences of her indictment.”
Christine fumed as she considered the president’s decision. She knew he was right, though. If Verbeck went to trial, it’d be Christine’s word against Verbeck’s, and without corroborating evidence, a good defense team would likely get Verbeck acquitted. It was an age-old paradigm: the rich and powerful get away with murder.
The president wrapped things up, addressing Christine. “You’ve done great work since you took over as CIA director, handling several difficult issues, including the recent Mixell incident. I must say, however — trouble seems to follow you.”
Christine nodded. “It appears so.”
“By the way,” the president said, “great job on the Osama bin Laden issue, verifying he was indeed killed during the Abbottabad raid.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m glad we were able to put that issue to bed.”
EPILOGUE
“That was a close one.”
“Yeah, too close.”
The two men were sitting beside each other at a metal table in a ten-by-ten-foot room with a smooth concrete floor and no windows, surrounded by roughly hewn granite walls. It was cold in the complex, and it had an antiseptic new facility smell.
“Fortunately,” the first man said, “the issue was contained. We’ll need to do a better job on operational security going forward.”
“The boss is already working on it.”
The man on the left checked his watch. “It’s almost time.”
His eyes went to the blue folder before him on the table, then to the bookcase of thick three-inch binders, containing the notes from the many years of daily conversations.
He opened and perused the contents of the folder, looking up as a tall, elderly Arab with a long gray beard and wearing a white dishdasha was escorted into the room by a security guard. The man ambled toward the table, his slippered feet shuffling across the smooth concrete floor. The guard left, and the interrogation room door automatically locked when it closed.
The Arab sat down in a chair opposite the two men.
“How are your new accommodations?” one of the men asked.
“Adequate,” the Arab replied. “We moved suddenly. Has someone discovered your deception?”
“Not at all,” the man replied. “This lovely facility became available, so we decided to move.”
“Why were you moving drugs into the facility as we left?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
The Arab smiled. “What shall we discuss today?”
One of the men pulled a picture from the blue folder and pushed it toward the Arab. “Do you recognize this woman? She goes by Khalila, but we were wondering if you could identify her for us.”
The elderly man examined the photograph, then looked up. “It has been many years, but of course I recognize her. She’s one of Najwa’s daughters.”
Both men scribbled a note about Najwa, Osama bin Laden’s first wife, confirming what they already knew.
“Do you know why she’d be working for the CIA?”
The Arab’s eyes widened slightly, then his gaze dropped to the picture again. When he looked up, his dark eyes had the expression of someone who knew far more than he was letting on.
“I doubt she is truly working for the Americans. But if she is and you’d like to know why, you’ll have to ask her.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I hope you enjoyed reading The Bin Laden Plot!
As I mentioned in the author’s note of the previous novel, Book 6 (Deep Strike) was a mini-reboot to the Trident Deception series, moving Christine from the White House to Langley and pulling Harrison from the Navy so he could play a larger role in the series. Book 6 was also the beginning of a secondary plot involving Mixell and his childhood friends Jake and Christine. As detailed at the end of Deep Strike, there was a debt to be paid, which Mixell took out on Angie.
I telegraphed her demise in a previous author’s note, mentioning that Angie stood between Jake and Christine, which needed to be resolved, and that I’m a thriller writer — I don’t write divorce court scenes. If you were upset upon Angie’s death, that’s a good thing. It means that even though she appeared in only a few chapters, you connected with the character, which is what I was hoping for.
The next novel completes the Mixell/Christine/Jake storyline with a twist. Hopefully you’ll enjoy that novel as well.