I want to share something with you, the cop said. I know exactly what youre going through. I have a younger brother. Maybe fifteen years ago, he gets involved in something, like you did. It was a mistake, like you made a mistake, and he got in over his head. Turns out hes smuggling guns to the Irish Republican Army out of a bar up in the Bronx. I tell him Mikey, youre stupid. Youre not Irish. Youre American. But by then, everybodys on to him. Hes wanted by the American government. Hes wanted by the English government. And if his buddies in the IRA find him, theyre going to drop him in the river. They have to. What else are they gonna do, let him talk?

A couple of cops in the observation room laughed. Luke glanced at them.

This guy and his younger brothers, one of the cops said. My brother the rapist. My brother the arsonist. My brother the terrorist. You want to know the truth? He has three sisters, and theyre all older than he is.

Inside the interrogation room, Ali Nassar said, I think Im in a bad position.

The cop nodded. Id say youre in a very bad position. But I can help you. You just have to tell me whats going on.

Nassar seemed to have come to a decision. He shook his head. Red Box is not an agency. Its a program, an operation. Operation Red Box. I didnt know what it was for. I knew what they wanted me to do, and that was it. They wanted me to buy some drones from China. They told me to pay some jihadis, men who wanted to commit suicide for God. I made the payments from an offshore account they themselves set up for me. It wasnt my account. I didnt hire these men. I didnt even know what they were going to do until two days ago.

You keep saying they, they, they, the cop said. Can you be a little more specific? Who are they?

Ali Nassar sighed. The Central Intelligence Agency. Thats who hired me. A man I know from your CIA.

An almost silent gasp went through the room, and Luke felt a sharp jolt in his midsection. It felt like his body was impaled by a spike. He looked around at the men in the room with him. Everyonecops, Homeland agentseveryone seemed puzzled. There was a low level buzz of muted conversation. The CIA hired Nassar to help attack the White House? The CIA?

Lukes entire world spun beneath him. It felt true; Luke could always tell if someone was lying, and Nassar wasnt. Either the CIA hired him, or he genuinely believed that they did. Luke, reeling, wondered if it could be true. If so, he would have to look at everyone around him differently. Who would he be able to trust?