“I don’t necessarily expect you to believe this, not after what you’ve been through, but I didn’t know until it had already been initiated. By then, it was too late to stop it. Apparently, this traitor has been the one responsible for the news coverage of our covert operations. We thought this would draw him out, plug the leak. No one at the agency had any idea he would try to sell it to the Russians and trigger . . . all of this. On its face, it wasn’t a bad plan, but the execution of it, well . . .” Matt trailed off.

“Just please to all the gods tell me one thing—I assume you know who this motherfucker is,” Zack said, slipping into profanity once again.

“As a matter of fact, we do. But as of right now, he’s in the wind. We think he may have fled the country to Europe—specifically, Poland. He was apparently having an affair with one of the DC political reporters, which is how the intelligence kept showing up in the press. I can assure you one thing—there is a very special group of individuals, a group you’d be familiar with, who are on his trail. And no matter how long it takes, we’re bringing justice to him.”

Zack noted the order of the words in the phrasing. Justice to him, not the other way around. They’re going to kill him overseas. Good. He was disgusted, livid, and conflicted. He understood the why. But the fact that it had gone so horribly wrong, that no one considered this consequence, infuriated him.

“And he used Harper’s son precisely because he was Harper’s son. Unbelievable. When you find him, send him Brandon Harper’s regards,” Zack ordered rather than requested.

“We will. I assure you,” Matt replied. “Also, I hope you understand that I’ve compromised myself and the agency by telling you the truth. But that leads me to my second item, the real reason I’m here, personally.”

“And what’s that?” Zack asked, although he suspected he already knew that piece of the puzzle as well.