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 so, gentlemen, you all have homes to go to, businesses to run and an early meeting tomorrow morning. So I suggest we call this night to a close.’
The guests rose as one. Six of the richest men in the United States. The one per cent of the one per cent. Visibly relieved to end the evening as wealthy and as influential as they had begun it.
‘Special Agent Hodge will see you out. I have something to which I need to attend.’
Six billionaires. Dismissed as casually as the undocumented Mexican immigrant who tended Cunningham’s manicured Washington lawn.
Dismissed by the poor black boy from Georgia.
That’s what real power is.
‘Who’s this?’
‘Jack, sir.’
The voice at the end of the line was deep and familiar. It conjured images of the man Cunningham trusted beyond any other.
‘News?’
‘Sir. The baggage handler. He’s not dead.’
Cunningham felt the urge to shout. He pushed it down. Panic helped no one.
‘Explain how that’s possible.’
‘I’m not clear on the exact details as yet.’
‘So Romeo’s screwed this up.’ Cunningham took a deep breath. ‘I warned you not to ask too much of him.’
‘I didn’t. And I can assure you, this was not Romeo’s fault. In any case, it is not as bad as it sounds.’
The response irritated Cunningham. How could Jack Meyer – the assistant director of the US Secret Service – possibly know if his son were to blame for this failure if they didn’t have all the details yet? Such a knee-jerk response was unacceptable. It betrayed Meyer’s blind spot.
But for now, Cunningham would put that aside. Jack Meyer’s second statement took priority.
‘What do you mean, “not as bad as it sounds”?’ Cunningham asked.
‘I mean that the baggage handler confessed. Romeo was present in the room when he was being questioned by the Brits, and he reports that the handler confessed to intentionally planting the bomb on the plane.’
‘Your son was in the police interview?’
‘Yes, sir. I—’
‘And you don’t see the problem there, Jack?’ Cunningham could no longer suppress his irritation.
‘Sir, I—’
‘Jack, Romeo met with the baggage handler. Personally. He didn’t use a middleman.’
‘Sir, yes he did.’
‘Against your direct instructions.’
‘Sir—’
‘We chose to overlook that, Jack. Because he’s your son. But now you’re telling me that he was in the damn police interview with the man?’
‘Sir, he—’
‘He nothing, Jack. There is nothing you can say that makes this right. You’re gonna tell me the baggage handler didn’t name him, right? That’s what you’re gonna say? Is it?’
‘Yes, sir. Yes, it is.’
‘And you think that makes it OK? What the hell kind of an idiot takes a risk like that? What kind of an over-entitled, braindead moron risks the guy saying “there’s the bastard that made me do it, sitting right there”? Who the hell does that, Jack?’
‘I . . . I can see that. What can I say, sir? He made a mistake. He—’