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
‘Then we still need to find out what’s really going on. Why someone has committed mass murder to cover up something that wasn’t even true.’
‘And how will we manage that?’
‘I have a few ideas. Look, cards on the table. I can tell you don’t think Knowles is responsible.’
Grace was not prepared for the sudden disclosure.
‘You . . . how?’
‘It’s my job to read people. To read their intentions. Just like it’s yours. My instincts say that you want me to be wrong about Knowles. But those same instincts, they say you’ll do your job anyway. However this plays out. I trust that you’re going to help me because it’s in your interests to find out the truth one way or the other. Just as much as it’s in mine. Am I right?’
‘Yes. Yes, you’re right. About . . . about everything.’
‘Good. Because believe me, I don’t want to be right. I would much prefer we were up against a bunch of rogue agents than the president of the United States of America. Our odds are a lot shorter that way.’
Grace nodded. She appreciated his honesty.
And now it was her turn. She took a deep breath and looked Dempsey in the eye.
‘What if I told you that I believe President Knowles added me to Braddock’s team so that I could warn you?’
Dempsey lowered his feet and sat forward. Grace could tell that, for once, it was his turn to be surprised.
‘What? Why would you think that?’ Dempsey asked.
‘Because of something he said. Because of something he always used to say.’
Dempsey rose to his feet, his eyes narrowed. When he spoke, it was not the question Grace was expecting.
‘You’ve known him a lot longer than three years, haven’t you?’
‘What?’ Grace’s advantage had lasted just seconds. Now she was on the back foot. ‘How can you know that?’
‘He trusted you on this assignment, Eden. Now whether that was to kill me or to warn me, that’s a hell of a lot of trust. A hell of a lot more trust than he would have in an agent so junior that she can’t have spent more than a few hours in his direct company. Not even one second of which would have been alone.’
Grace said nothing.
‘Then you mentioned “the thing he always used to say”. Not “the thing he always says”. Past tense. Which means he’d say it to you before your access to him was restricted by your official roles. So answer the question, Eden: how long have you known John Knowles?’
Grace stared at Dempsey. She hadn’t intended to give quite so much away. But the man was sharp and it was too late for her to backtrack. She had no choice.
‘I’ve . . . I’ve known him since I was a child.’
Grace could hear how vulnerable she sounded as she spoke, her voice stripped of her usual confidence. What she was about to tell Dempsey, only two other people on the planet knew. One was her fiancée, Natasha. And the other was the president of the United States of America.