After Rapp rescued Chism from the mountains near his research facility, Nash had received a personal call from the president asking for a copy of whatever information the Agency had on Nicholas Ward. It hadn’t been a particularly suspicious request. Ward was unquestionably the most influential private citizen in the world and one of his most critical people had nearly been lost to terrorists. What was unusual, though, was that Cook didn’t want Irene Kennedy to know.

It hadn’t been easy, but with the help of a team of the president’s loyalists at the NSA, he’d managed to download the files anonymously and hand them over. At the time, he’d told himself that the secrecy was just politics. The Cooks neither liked nor trusted Kennedy and didn’t want her to get the wrong idea that they were trying to use her organization to dig up dirt on Ward. Or, hell, maybe they were trying to get something on the man and knew she’d see through them. It was impossible to say. And, frankly, who cared? Anthony Cook was the president of the United States and he could have whatever fucking file he wanted delivered to him in any fucking way he wanted.

After Ward’s kidnapping, though, it had become ever more difficult for Nash to keep his head buried in the sand. The file he’d delivered contained detailed information on the compound, its security, and the hangar that was to be used in case of trouble. Still, he’d managed to keep looking away. It was one thing to get caught up in the Cooks’ orbit, but it was another to face head-on that you may have played a role in the deaths of the best friends you’d ever had.

“Mike?” Cook prompted. Apparently, his reprieve was over.

Nash raised his head and looked directly at the man. The time for games was over. “Tell me what the hell’s going on.”

Cook let out a long breath and sank a bit deeper into the sofa. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“The file I gave you. You somehow got it to Gideon Auma. So he could get rid of Ward and Chism for you.”

“Not exactly. I gave it to the Saudis. And it appears that they gave it to Auma.”

Nash shook his head incredulously. Did Cook really think he’d believe the Saudis would make a move like this without his blessing? Or was he just hedging? Not wanting to say anything out loud until he understood Nash’s loyalties?

“Why?”