“I thought you had to give that recording back to Gray,” said Alex as he hit the stop button. “And Finn said they had a device there that could tell if it had been duplicated, and it hadn’t.”

“Before I gave the phone with the recording on it to Gray I just held this recorder up to it and copied it. Sometimes people forget all about the low-tech ways.”

He hit the play button and as they listened they came to the part that Stone had particularly wanted the president to hear. When it was over, Brennan stared at them, his face flushed.

“He was going to kill me. Carter Gray was going to kill me so he could start an all-out war with the Muslims!”

“Yes, sir,” said Stone. “He was.”

“And you were the one who saved me,” he said to Stone. “That was your voice on there convincing him not to do it. After the woman was killed. Who was she?”

“She was my daughter, Beth.”

Alex quickly explained to the president how Roger Simpson and his wife had come to adopt Stone’s daughter.

Brennan sat back in his chair, his mind obviously whirling. “They killed your wife and took your daughter. The man who had your wife murdered and tried to have you killed took your daughter and raised her as his own? And Gray, what he did to you. What he almost did to me. It’s . . . it’s beyond horrible, John. I’m rarely at a loss for words but I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s something else I need to tell you, sir.”

Knox and Alex both took deep breaths and then held them, their bodies tense as boards.

“What’s that?”

“Carter Gray and Roger Simpson were both murdered, Mr. President.”

“Yes, I know that—” He broke off and locked gazes with Stone.

“I see,” he said. “I see.” He sat back and looked over at the fireplace.

Nearly a minute went by and no one broke the silence.

Finally, Stone said, “Thank you for your time, sir. I plan to turn myself in to the authorities. But I wanted you to hear the story from me first. After thirty years of lies I thought it was finally time for the truth.”

As Stone and the other two rose to leave, Brennan looked up at him.