A hand at the table was raised. The general recognized a man much older than himself, a former Navy admiral, a man so ancient that once upon a time he led a Marine Corps unit through the shit storm at Pusan Reservoir during the start of the Korean War. There was an iconic photograph from the event, which had never been declassified, but which the general had seen. It showed the admiral at nineteen years of age, shirtless in a muddy trench, his eyes wild, his face and upper body painted dark red with the blood of dead communists.

Yes?

You havent mentioned the Secretary of Defense. Normally, he would board the Airborne Command.

The general shrugged. The Secretary of Defense will come here.

Do you anticipate that will cause any problems?

The general picked up the paper in front of him and began to carefully shred it into long narrow strips. We dont anticipate, he said, any problems at all.

Chapter 17

7:40 a.m.

Joint Counter-Terrorism Command Center - Midtown Manhattan

How the hell did Begley know where we were?

Luke stood in the doorway of the small room SRT controlled at the command center. Trudy and Swann were here, along with a few guys from the New York office. They stared at him with big doe eyes. Someone in the room was playing innocent. That, more than anything, made Luke see red.

What? Trudy said.

Begley. He turned up at the Iranians apartment with the police. Nobody called him. He just showed up. How did he do that?

Swann shook his head. He gestured at his machines. This stuff is encrypted. Im on my own network. Theres no way Begleys people could break the code in the short time weve been here.

Trudy?

She put her hands in the air as if he had pulled a gun. No way, Luke. Dont even go there. I despise Begley. You think Im going to rat you out to him?

Ed slipped by him and into the room. I think you want to stay focused, man. No sense chasing rabbits into holes in the ground. I dont believe anybody here sold you down the river.

Luke nodded. Ed had a point. All right. He walked over to Swann and placed the contents of his pockets on Swanns table. I copied the hard drive from his computer. This is his cell phone. I need you to pull the data from it, then destroy the phone and make it disappear. Do that first.

Swann shrugged. Theyll know anyway. Its an iPhone. Theyll trace its location right to us. They probably already have.

Thats fine, Luke said. But lets not be holding it in our hands when they come looking for it. Okay?

Okay, Luke.

Luke glanced at the doorway, half expecting to find Begley standing there. What have you found in the bank account?