BooksBarbecue
Back Balance of Power
Chapters (53)
  1. BALANCE OF POWER
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. About The Creators
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY

"The police escort was made of handpicked operatives attached to Interpol," Herbert continued for him, "and Interpol will continue to look over their shoulders for as long as they remain in Spain. The laxness of palace security has got us wondering if at least some of the guards weren't in on the plot-which is why we turned to Darrell's friends at Interpol for security, rather than relying on government-appointed police. We've got a lot of background data on the Interpol crew, due to the time agent María Comeja spent working with Darrell here in Washington," Herbert added. "We're very comfortable with how Darrell and Aideen will be looked after from this point forward."

"Thank you. Bob," Hood said. He looked up. His eyes were glistening. "Martha's body is en route to the embassy. It will be flown back as soon as possible. At the moment, we have a service scheduled at the Baptist Evangelical Church in Arlington for Wednesday morning, ten a.m."

Carol Lanning looked away and shut her eyes. Herbert's hands were still folded on his waist and he glanced down at his thumbs. Before Herbert had attended Op-Center's annual sensitivity training seminar, he would have thought nothing about leaning over and putting his arms around the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Now if he wanted to comfort her, all he was supposed to do was ask if she wanted anything.

Hood beat him to it. "Ms. Lanning," he asked, "would you care for some water?"

The woman opened her eyes. "No, thank you. I'll be all right. I want to get on with this."

There was a surprising edge in her voice. Herbert snuck a glance at her. Carol's lips were straight now, her eyes narrow. To him, it didn't look like she wanted water. What Carol Lanning seemed to crave was blood. Herbert knew exactly how she felt. After the Beirut embassy bombing, he would have had no trouble nuking the entire city just to get the bastards who killed his wife. Grief was not a merciful emotion.

Hood looked at his watch. He sat back in his chair. "Darrell will be calling in five minutes." He looked at Plummer. "Ron, what do we do about the mission? Is Aideen qualified to continue?"