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Back Enemy at the Gates Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. EPILOGUE
  55. More from the Authors
  56. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
  57. Novels by Vince Flynn

A lie, but she wasn’t sure whether she should say more. Rapp and Nash had known each other for years. If he wanted to know where his old friend was, he could pick up a phone.

“That Chism guy seems next level. I’m glad that they got him and his people out.”

“Someone had to.”

“Yeah,” Nash said, slipping his file portfolio under his arm. “Cook made a mess of that. Hopefully, trying to put an operation like that together himself was just a rookie mistake. I’d hate for him to turn out to be one of those politicians who thinks getting elected makes them the world expert on every subject under the sun.”

Kennedy just nodded, wondering if either of those explanations fit. Cook was many things, but he wasn’t stupid. Nor was he particularly tolerant of failure. Given those two observations, it was hard not to wonder if he’d really wanted Chism rescued. Certainly, there was no love lost between him and Nicholas Ward. Was it possible that he was that petty? Would he let people die just to burn someone who hadn’t supported his political rise?

She watched Nash leave and then spun her chair to look out the large windows behind her desk. The sprawling campus represented an incredible amount of power. Thinking about what it could become under the wrong leadership was terrifying. It would be so easy to turn the Agency against the very American people it was meant to serve. All that would have to happen is for the definition of “enemy of the state” to drift to “enemy of the administration.”

She thought about how effective East Germany’s Stasi had been at controlling their citizens with capabilities that seemed so quaint now. Hardwired listening stations. Film cameras. Handwritten transcriptions and warehouses full of paper files. This, compared to high-definition video cameras, GPS tracking, and artificial intelligence capable of combing through millions of hours of cell phone conversations and terabytes of email.

The question that had consumed her predecessors—that of what was possible—had become almost irrelevant. Everything was possible now. The challenge was resisting the temptation to use the tools that were right at her fingertips.

Would the next occupant of this office be as prudent? What about the one after that? And after that? No matter how she turned the question over in her mind, she always came to the same answer.

No.

24

NORTH OF MBARARA

UGANDA

RAPP glanced at the glow of his watch and read the time: 8 p.m. The darkness was almost as deep as the boredom.

The airplane hangar sixty miles southeast of Nicholas Ward’s compound was in danger of becoming his permanent home. One he shared with a single Learjet and twelve mercenaries drawn from all around the world. None were from Coleman’s core team, but all were top operators the SEAL had worked with in the past.