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
‘So are we ready to go?’ Grace asked.
‘Once I’ve dealt with Ali’s phone,’ Dempsey replied. ‘They’ll catch on to it eventually, so best we lose it now.’
He took the handset from his pocket and was about to take it apart. He stopped just as he began to remove the thick battery.
‘Your fiancé.’ The thought struck Dempsey out of nowhere. ‘Don’t you want to call him? To warn him?’
Grace looked taken aback by the change of subject.
‘Warn him of what?’
‘Eden, if they don’t know you’re with me already, they will soon. And once they know that, they’ll go after anyone close to you. For leverage. So your fiancé, he needs to run. He needs to hide. Before they come for him.’
Grace hesitated for a moment.
‘I don’t need to call him.’
‘You have to. You can’t just leave him a target.’
‘He won’t be a target. It’s fine. I keep my private life private. No one knows he exists, not in the Service or in the White House.’
Dempsey couldn’t understand her reaction.
‘How can you be so sure?’ he asked. ‘That there isn’t anyone who knows about your relationship?’
‘There’s not, OK. Can we just leave it at that?’
‘This is his life, Eden. It’s a hell of a risk to take. Think about it. Is there anyone you could have mentioned him to? Anyone who might have seen you wearing an engagement ring? Even in a picture?’
‘I’ve never worn an engagement ring,’ she snapped. ‘I’m not the one who has the damned thing.’
‘What? What does that—’
‘Jesus, you won’t quit. Look, the reason I’m so sure that no one knows about the man I’m engaged to is that she’s not a man. I’m gay, Dempsey. And since no one at work has any idea of that, there’s no way any of them can connect me to Natasha.’
The revelation was unexpected, leaving Dempsey unsure of what to say. An uncertainty which caused an awkward silence to fall between them.
‘Look, I know you didn’t mean to force that.’ Grace relented after a few moments. ‘I just don’t like discussing my personal life with anyone who isn’t in it. But take it from me, as far as anyone who could come after us is concerned, Natasha doesn’t exist. And I want to keep it that way, OK?’
‘OK.’ Dempsey nodded his head in understanding. If there was one desire he could appreciate, it was for privacy. ‘And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed.’
‘It was just attention to detail,’ Grace replied. ‘And if that keeps us alive, you won’t hear me complain.’
She smiled. A peace offering, Dempsey realised.
‘Now don’t we have a plane to catch?’
FIFTY-SIX
Elizabeth Kirk moved the phone from her ear as the line went dead.
The conversation had been brief and precise. In less than five minutes she had agreed the steps that could bring down a presidency.
If Dempsey’s plan worked, he could have the evidence of Knowles’ war crimes in little more than a day. Evidence that would bring down Knowles’ administration more surely than any other scandal in the history of the White House.