‘Us?’ Ethan uttered as he shot a glance at Hannah.
‘Like I said, we’re all on the same team, right?’
Ethan regarded her for a moment longer, and then he turned and walked away down the corridor toward the hospital exit.
LI
The wind whipping across Lake Michigan had swept away some of the cloying summer heat and churned the surface of the water into charging armies of white rollers, the green waves glittering in the sunlight breaking between turbulent clouds scudding above as Ethan walked.
The rendezvous had been agreed, strictly off the record despite his official status as a Defense Intelligence Agency operative and asset. Ethan had driven east across the border to Marquette Park, near the Aquatorium, then parked up in a deserted lot on the south shores of the lake and walked east along the golden sands of the beach.
He didn’t have to walk far before he saw Jarvis waiting for him, sitting on a low bench against the bluffs and watching the rollers coming in off the lake. He strolled up to the bench and sat down, not looking at the old man.
‘Any news?’ Jarvis asked.
Ethan shook his head, and Jarvis thought for a moment before speaking.
‘I’m sure she’ll pull through,’ he said. ‘She’s a tough girl and she won’t go without a fight.’
Ethan’s jaw cracked with the briefest ghost of a smile that was snatched away by the brisk wind.
‘What’s the score?’
Ethan asked the question out straight, not in the mood to beat about the bush. Jarvis took a breath before replying.
‘Hannah Ford and Michael Vaughn were wanted by the Hong Kong police for homicide. We couldn’t let Mitchell go because he’s being questioned here and is too valuable an asset to release, and the Chinese needed something in order to play ball. We sent the Chinese operatives you captured in DC back home, in return for Hannah and Michael’s charges to be dropped.’
‘Neat and tidy, as always,’ Ethan murmured without passion. ‘Where was Nicola’s back up when she took on Tariq and his bodyguard?’
‘The traffic slowed down law enforcement as well as federal and DIA agents,’ Jarvis said. ‘Nicola wasn’t supposed to go bashing their door down on her own, she was just the first on the scene after two police officers were gunned down by Tariq.’
‘You know what she’s like.’
‘I know what you’re both like,’ Jarvis shot back. ‘and I wouldn’t have either of you any other way, but sooner or later something like this was going to happen Ethan. It’s not a game.’
‘Don’t patronize me,’ Ethan growled. ‘What about LeMay?’
Jarvis took a deep breath before he replied.
‘LeMay was injured by Hannah Ford in the White House, after Lopez was shot. It turns out she punched the Director and broke his nose. While the Director was having his nose re — set that evening under general anesthetic, we took the opportunity to implant him with one of the devices we retrieved from the Chinese.’
Ethan slowly turned his head to look at Jarvis.
‘But Hannah was implanted,’ he said. ‘You could have stopped her from doing something so stupid if…’
Ethan broke off as he saw the way that Jarvis was looking at him, the sly grin on his face and the knowing gleam in his eye.
‘I’ll be damned,’ Ethan said finally. ‘You made her do it.’
‘We needed a broken nose for the Director,’ Jarvis said by way of an explanation, ‘and to be honest it didn’t take much conditioning or signaling to give Hannah Ford sufficient motivation to knock LeMay on his ass. She was the one who found Nicola.’
Ethan stared out across the lake for a moment.
‘You risked both of their lives.’
Jarvis looked across at him. ‘You’re going to argue the toss about this now?’
‘No. I’ve got used to the dirty little games you all play, and the lives that get lost while you’re playing them.’
‘That’s hardly fair,’ Jarvis pointed out. ‘We’re all on the same side.’
‘That’s what Hannah keeps saying, but it’s becoming tough to know,’ Ethan replied.
Ethan watched Jarvis for a long moment, and the old man relented.
‘Hannah was on her way to the White House to deliver her final blow when we picked up the emergency calls from the scene of Lopez’s shooting,’ Jarvis said. ‘I diverted Hannah straight there when I realized who had been hit. Lopez’s survival was more important to me, to us, than implanting LeMay.’
Ethan looked back out over the ocean. ‘And Mitchell?’
‘Uncertain,’ Jarvis replied. ‘He is definitely working for Majestic Twelve, but we’re not sure in what capacity now. I’m beginning to wonder whether MJ–12’s support for a terrorist group’s plan to murder the president was a step too far even for him.’
‘I wouldn’t have been able to stop Abrahem Nassir if Mitchell hadn’t been there already,’ Ethan said. ‘LeMay must have assigned him to the former President’s staff, which means…’
‘That LeMay must have known Abrahem’s true target before we did,’ Jarvis finished the sentence for Ethan. ‘MJ–12 must have known all about Abrahem Nassir’s plan for revenge and been helping him from behind the scenes for some time.’
Ethan rubbed his temple wearily, the bruises where Abrahem had head — butted him still sore and swollen.
‘Surely a powerful organization such as MJ–12 would not want to see a terrorist attack on American soil succeed? What good would that do them?’
‘That depends,’ Jarvis said. ‘The group may have military or defense contractors among its number who would stand to make great profits were another major war to be launched overseas. Justification for those wars is required to convince Congress of the need for conflict, to convince the American people that another war is worth fighting for our country’s security.’
‘I think that there are enough terrorists and enemies out there for a war to always be a possibility.’
‘But not a certainty,’ Jarvis replied. ‘Businesses can’t be built on uncertainties. Look at Iraq — we invaded on lies about non — existent weapons of mass destruction and American companies made billions off the back of a war financed by the tax payer. Yet nobody wants to go to war with China, Russia or North Korea, countries with definite chemical, biological and nuclear weapons capabilities that could harm us, despite the fact that Russia just annexed Crimea and is now making noises about Eastern Europe and the Baltic states “belonging to Russia”. War isn’t about territory or defense any more, Ethan, it’s about making money and the big defense contractors don’t want that revenue to dry up any time soon.’
Ethan folded his arms.
‘So that’s who we’re up against now?’ he asked. ‘Big business people?’
Jarvis nodded.
‘It’s through them that we’ll hurt the members of Majestic Twelve, and now we literally have eyes on one of their members. Director LeMay was implanted while under general anesthetic to fix a broken nose he thoroughly deserved. Whatever he is told or tells them, we will have on the record. This was a big score, Ethan, a huge step on the road to dismantling Majestic Twelve.’
‘At what price?’ Ethan uttered. ‘You take one cabal down, another will fill the power vacuum to take its place. If arms companies have such a hold over Washington then we’ll never be able to operate without one intelligence figure or another trying to trip us up. It’s going to be a never — ending mission and like you just said, sooner or later we’re all going to wind up dead trying to complete it.’