Contents ( 84)
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- Acknowledgements
‘Let’s aim for best-case scenario, shall we, boys? I’d like to walk away from this just as much as the rest of you.’
Braddock took a few moments more to consider what had been said. Not long. He had reached a decision.
‘OK. You go in, Grace. Go in, identify yourself and tell him that you need to bring him downtown at the request of Assistant Director Meyer.’
‘And if he asks why?’
‘Plead ignorance. You don’t know anything about anything. You’re as junior as it gets and you’re running an errand.’
‘What if he refuses?’
‘He won’t refuse. He’s an ISB Agent on US soil; you’re Secret Service. He’ll go with you.’
‘Even if he suspects something?’
‘If he suspects something he’ll be on his guard. But he’ll still come with you. He can’t say no. We’ll just have to be better than him.’
‘He won’t go easy. Not if he suspects.’
‘Damn right he won’t. But like I said before: this ain’t our first time.’
‘Where do I bring him, then?’
Braddock looked around, surveying the area. Assessing the location for likely witnesses and security cameras. His sweeping gaze stopped at the gated entrance to The Stratford’s underground parking facility.
Grace followed Braddock’s eyeline and spotted what he had just seen.
A camera, hidden in the dark on the inner side of the gate. From its angle of direction, its footage would be restricted to whatever was happening at the very front of the gate and nothing more.
‘There,’ Braddock said, indicating the parking entrance. We’ll all gather there. Bring him to us, and, as soon as you hear us shout, you hit the floor.’
‘Shout?’
‘Play-acting for the camera. It’ll look like we’re demanding that Dempsey drops his weapon. A weapon you’ll later confirm had been trained on you as you both left the building. We’ll seem to be doing our damnedest to make him disarm and surrender, making it a justified kill when he doesn’t.’
Grace nodded her head.
‘Almost as good as an accident.’
‘You’ve got to work with what you’re given in this job,’ Braddock replied. He gave her a final measured look. ‘You ready for this?’
Grace took a deep breath and nodded again.
‘Then let’s get this done.’
FORTY-THREE
‘It was expected. He’s been unwell for some time. He wanted it kept . . . private.’
Nicolas Dupart sat across from Kelvin Cunningham in the deputy assistant’s office. A place in which Cunningham was rarely to be found. Unusual as it was for him to take meetings in here instead of the Oval Office, Cunningham was glad for the privacy.
The news was more than unwelcome.
‘Is there . . . is there anything I can do? Anything I can help with?’
‘Everything was prepared for,’ Dupart replied. ‘The transition will be seamless.’
‘Maybe professionally, Nick. But Theseus was your father. What about you? What about your family? Is there anything you need? Personally, I mean?’
Cunningham regretted the question as soon as he asked it. Dupart seemed no different now than from their meeting that morning. A time when, Cunningham now realised, Theseus Dupart would have been taking his last breath.