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
Nicolas Dupart said nothing as he closed the door behind him.
For a moment, Knowles didn’t know what to think. The wordless, confident arrival of the senior advisor was unexpected. He immediately shifted his attention to Cunningham. The deputy assistant did not seem surprised to see Dupart.
No. He seemed horrified.
‘Nick. What—’
‘Don’t even speak,’ Dupart interrupted. ‘Not until you’re spoken to.’
Cunningham said nothing. Knowles watched with shocked fascination as he slumped down into one of the two office sofas.
‘You can’t be in here.’ In his surprise, Knowles had almost forgotten Meyer. He remembered him now, as the assistant director rose to his feet. ‘You don’t have the clearance to be in here.’
‘Engage your brain before speaking, Mr Meyer.’ Dupart’s gaze was piercing, but his voice remained emotion-free. ‘And then don’t speak again.’
Dupart turned back towards Cunningham. Knowles followed his gaze. Cunningham’s entire demeanour had changed. He looked completely defeated.
‘You know why I’m in here, Kelvin?’ Dupart asked. ‘You know why I’ve been calling you?’
Cunningham said nothing.
Meyer looked furious. ‘Just who the hell do you think—’
Dupart held up a hand. It stopped Meyer mid-sentence.
‘Read the room, Mr Meyer. And then realise who it is you work for. Who it is that Kelvin works for.’
Knowles watched Meyer’s expression change. Now he understood.
Dupart turned back to Cunningham.
‘You’ve been ignoring my calls, Kelvin.’
Again, Cunningham said nothing.
‘You remember what I said, don’t you? You clean up this mess, or I’ll have it cleaned up for you.’
Cunningham looked up, his expression desperate.
‘I am cleaning it. I’m waiting for the call. As soon as I got it I was—’
‘I’ve already had the call, Kelvin.’ Dupart’s voice remained as flat as always. ‘Your operation in Tootkai has failed. Everyone you sent? Dead. Agent Dempsey and Agent Grace? Alive. And now protected by Dempsey’s team. You’ve been outmanoeuvred at every turn. You’re done.’
‘Dead?’ The question came from Meyer. His voice was breaking. ‘All of them? Even . . .’
‘No. Your idiot son’s alive. For now.’
Meyer paused to take in the answer. At first he heard only Romeo’s safety. A second later and he noted the threat.
‘What . . . what do you mean, “for now”?’
‘I mean that whether he lives or dies depends on you, Mr Meyer. At the moment, Dempsey and his team have evidence implicating Kelvin Cunningham, you and a faction of the US Secret Service in the bombing of Flight PA16, in the blackmail of a US president and in a succession of murders and attempted murders over the course of the last week. Right now any prosecution will be limited to those facts. And while that’s a setback, it isn’t fatal.’
‘What does that have to do with Romeo?’
‘As much as it has to do with you,’ Dupart explained. ‘You see, Kelvin here knows the true scale of this operation. His arrest and his prosecution is guaranteed. And I can’t risk him disclosing what he knows.’