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
And if he was dead? Well, then Kirk would mourn him when the time was right.
But right now it was time to act. To fight fire with fire.
If it was a war Knowles wanted, then it was a war Knowles would get. But it would not be fought on the battlefield of his choosing.
It would be fought in Knowles’ past. In Afghanistan.
If we’re going to beat them, we’re going to beat them there.
Kirk walked back to her desk as she thought through her next steps. Her mind was racing as she analysed scenarios and formed strategies. There were many ways forward. It was her job to pick the correct one.
Kirk picked up her desk phone and hit ‘nine’. Her assistant – Henry – answered immediately.
‘Ma’am.’
‘Henry, find Shui Dai and then get me the rest of Joe Dempsey’s Alpha Team. I want them in my office now.’
‘Ma’am.’
‘And Henry?’
‘Ma’am?’
‘I want you to arrange for a UN plane out of LaGuardia within two hours. Direct it to Montreal. Then I need an Airbus A330 waiting at Montreal, non-stop into Kabul.’
‘Ma’am.’
‘This is need to know, Henry. Understood?’
‘Perfectly, ma’am.’
‘Good. Make it all happen.’
‘One thing before I do, ma’am.’
‘What is it?’
‘I have Father Sam Cooke here to see you.’
It took Kirk just an instant to place the name.
‘The Catholic Chaplin? What the hell for?’
‘He won’t say, ma’am. But he says it’s extremely important. That he’s under the direct order of Agent Dempsey.’
Hope immediately stirred in Kirk’s chest.
‘Send him in.’
FIFTY-THREE
Kelvin Cunningham’s grip tightened on his cell phone. Its hard, metal sides dug into his fingers, hurting him far more than it was damaging the handset.
It was better than feeling nothing.
It was also better than what he was hearing.
‘And where is he now, exactly?’
The question was hissed. Cunningham was doing his best to keep his voice level. Not because of his surroundings; he had raised his voice in the Oval Office many times in the past.
No. It was embarrassment.
He glanced over at Special Agent Hodge, the only other man in the room. Hodge was Cunningham’s personal protection officer. A man to whom he had no need to defer; the power balance was entirely in Cunningham’s favour. But still, he was ashamed to show weakness. To show anything but complete control.
‘He’s in the prison infirmary.’
Romeo Meyer’s voice was matter of fact. Even now, when reporting abject failure, he sounded arrogant. It irked Cunningham.
‘So what are you saying?’ he asked, his voice still low, turning his back to Hodge. ‘Our friends can’t get to him in a hospital bed?’
‘Not when he’s under police guard,’ Romeo replied. ‘Which he is now. They’ve stationed a cop right next to him. We can’t just go through a British cop to get to Mansour. Not without blowing the whole thing up.’
Cunningham did not like the answer. Not because it was correct – which it was, to a degree – but because of who delivered it. The deputy assistant did not want Romeo Meyer to be right about anything. As far as he was concerned, Jack Meyer’s idiot son was responsible for this entire mess.