What Quilty told him was true, he realised. And now they were getting rid of anyone that truth had touched.

There was only one more piece of information he needed.

‘The order to kill me. Did it originate with Meyer? Or was the president involved?’

Grace hesitated again. Dempsey guessed why. It was the same reason as before.

He glanced at his watch. This was dragging on for too long. He adjusted his grip on his pistol. A visible message.

‘I need an answer.’

Grace’s eyes moved back to the Glock. Maybe she would have answered without it. Maybe it made the difference. Either way, when she spoke again he was satisfied that she was telling the truth.

‘The order initially came from Meyer.’ She sounded dejected. ‘But yes. The president is aware.’

Dempsey did not reply. It was the answer he had expected. But not the one he wanted.

There was a time when President John Knowles had enjoyed Dempsey’s respect. One of the few politicians who genuinely impressed him. Dempsey had had high hopes for his presidency. Hopes which had only increased after the events in Trafalgar Square and Northern Ireland that had taken place two and a half years ago.

Back then Dempsey had brought down his own agency – the UK’s Department of Domestic Security – and it had been Knowles who had taken the lead in the aftermath. Knowles who had instigated the expansion of the ISB. An intelligence agency built to serve the entire world rather than the interests of one nation, for years the ISB had been underfunded and essentially powerless. But with Knowles’ support and the need for international cooperation clearer than ever after the fall of the DDS, the ISB was finally given the status and the remit for which it had been created. And a budget to headhunt the best operatives from around the world; it was Knowles who had supported Dempsey’s recruitment as its principle agent.

Dempsey had been disappointed, then, by Knowles’ performance in the years since. Yet another president who promised one thing and delivered something very different. Who focused on what was good for big business while much that needed to be done for the people was forgotten. Who used the US military as a political battering ram, risking the lives of young American soldiers in war zones that needed diplomacy instead of bullets.

In other words, just another damned politician.

Knowles had turned out like the rest of them. No better. No worse.

But now, with Grace’s answer, Dempsey had to accept that his conclusion was wrong. Knowles had sent a Secret Service hit squad to kill a man who might expose him. On top of whatever else he might have done, including the murder of Tom Quilty and the bombing of Flight PA16.

Hundreds of deaths. All to cover up his war crimes.

Like the rest of them? No. Knowles was worse. Much, much worse.

‘Look, I’ve answered your questions. Now if it’s all the same to you, how the hell are we gonna deal with what’s about to happen?’