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
Still, Knowles pressed what was – for now – his only advantage.
‘You need to remember who you’re speaking to, Kelvin.’
‘Who I’m speaking to?’ Cunningham’s volume had lowered again. His disrespect had not. ‘I’ll tell you who I’m speaking to. A fucking puppet. A pretend fucking president who’s here to do whatever the fuck I tell him. That’s who I’m speaking to. And you better not forget that.’
If Cunningham could see the hate in Knowles’ eyes . . .
If he had noticed the president’s large, powerful fists, driven into the leather top of the Resolute desk . . .
If he had observed either, they did not seem to concern him.
Cunningham believed that he held the power. Knowles knew that. And he believed there was nothing that Knowles could do to change that. Cunningham was about to discover he was wrong.
‘Did you send her to help Dempsey?’
Knowles said nothing.
‘DID YOU SEND HER TO HELP DEMPSEY?’
Cunningham screamed the question into Knowles’ face. It left spittle running down the president’s cheek. And it was more than Knowles could tolerate. With a speed unexpected for a man of his size, he swept his right hand up from the table and struck Cunningham full in the face with an open hand.
The sheer power of the blow sent Cunningham to the floor, stunned.
An instant later and Knowles was moving. Around the desk. Towards the prone Cunningham.
And directly into the sights of Jack Meyer’s drawn pistol.
‘You need to calm down, Mr President.’
Knowles stepped back, his eyes never leaving Cunningham as the deputy assistant climbed to his feet.
‘Get back behind that desk and take your seat,’ Cunningham ordered. He brushed down his now dishevelled suit and straightened his tie.
At first Knowles didn’t move. Not until Meyer reiterated the instruction by gesturing with his pistol. Even then Knowles thought twice, but he knew enough to recognise his own limitations.
And so he did as Cunningham had instructed.
‘I think it’s time you told me some truths,’ Cunningham said coldly. ‘Why would you want to save Dempsey? You understand what you have to lose if this all unravels?’
‘You know I do,’ Knowles replied. ‘If I didn’t, I’d have done much worse already.’
‘One call, John. One call to the Blackspear compound outside of Tootkai and the threat becomes real. Is that what you want?’
‘Go fuck yourself, Kelvin.’
‘Go fuck myself? Go fuck myself? Jesus, John. When did you grow these balls? Twelve years you’ve been quaking about Tootkai. Enough to do whatever you’re told, just to keep it quiet. And now I can go fuck myself?’
‘Nothing happened in Tootkai. And you know it.’
‘If I say it happened, it fucking happened . . .’
Cunningham trailed off. It seemed that all was becoming ever clearer to him as he spoke. He took a few seconds to gather his thoughts.
‘That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? You think Dempsey can find out the truth. You knew you couldn’t send anyone directly, not without us finding out. So you somehow orchestrated this whole thing. All to prompt Dempsey to go to Afghanistan. So he can exonerate you.’