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
Cunningham did not like what he detected in Meyer’s tone. Anxiety. He was not used to hearing that from the assistant director of the Secret Service.
‘It’s Tom Quilty, sir.’
The name was familiar, but Cunningham could not place it. That bothered him. It made his reply seem impatient.
‘Who?’
‘Tom Quilty, sir. The CIA analyst.’
Still nothing.
‘I need a little more than that, Jack.’
‘Sorry. Yeah. He was one of the five possible sources. For what Dale Victor said about the president.’
Knowles sat more upright at the reference to himself. This was not something that Cunningham had discussed in his presence. That was about to change.
‘OK. OK.’ Cunningham finally had the name. With his uncertainly gone, he was back in control. ‘What about him?’
‘We . . . we think we’ve confirmed him as the source. As the original source.’
Knowles sat forward in his chair.
‘You mean this Quilty guy, he’s the one who briefed Elizabeth Kirk three years ago?’
Both Cunningham and Meyer turned at the president’s question.
‘That’s what we believe, Mr President,’ Meyer replied.
‘And why do you think you suddenly know this?’ Cunningham asked, bringing Meyer’s attention back to him. The deputy assistant was impressed at Knowles’ quick uptake. But this was his ballgame.
‘Seems he had a visitor. Last night.’
‘Who?’
‘An agent Joe Dempsey. One of Elizabeth Kirk’s team over at the ISB.’
‘Do you have any idea what the meeting was about?’
Cunningham was sure that he already knew the answer. He just needed to hear someone else say it.
‘No way of knowing for sure, sir. But I think it’s safe to take an educated guess on this one.’
‘But Elizabeth Kirk never believed that information was true,’ Cunningham said.
‘She didn’t, no,’ Meyer replied. ‘At least not back then. But with Dale Victor dead only days after hinting at it? Maybe she’s had a . . . re-evaluation.’
‘Enough to revisit her source.’ Cunningham nodded as he spoke. He was quickly coming to the same conclusion Meyer had reached. And it was a problem. ‘Why am I only hearing about this now? If the agent was there last night?’
‘It took us this long to identify him,’ Meyer replied. ‘He could have been anyone, sir. Until my guys ran the facial recognition. Now we know who this guy is. And he’s definitely one of Kirk’s.’
‘He’s a whole lot more than that.’
Once again, the president’s interruption made both Meyer and Cunningham turn towards him. But this time there was something different in his voice. Cunningham could not place what it was. He was in no mood to wait and find out.
‘What? What does that mean?’
‘It means that Joe Dempsey is not just “one of Elizabeth Kirk’s agents”.’
Knowles’ voice was flat. Whatever emotion Cunningham had detected moments before, it was gone.
‘Joe Dempsey is Kirk’s first agent. And her best. If Kirk sent Dempsey to Quilty, she did so because she thought Quilty was in some sort of danger. Which means Jack’s right. She’s re-evaluated what he told her three years ago. She thinks it might be true.’