All Necessary Force (47 page)

Kurt relayed what he knew, including the fact that Pike and Jennifer had found the leader’s cell phone, and that the owners of all the numbers within it were either dead or captured. The information caused everyone to visibly relax.

President Warren said, “Okay, that’s great news. What’s the damage to the Taskforce? Where do we go from here?”

Kurt said, “No damage that I can see. It’s contained. No need to throw Pike to the wolves.”

Secretary Brookings’ jaw dropped. “What? How can you say that? It’s a debacle. We’ve got three Taskforce members in the hospital, and Pike broke just about every privacy law on the books. Not to mention the murder of U.S. citizens. It’s going to get out. We need to burn him.”

When Brookings’ words sank in, Kurt snapped forward against the table, leaning over it until he was close enough for the secretary to feel the spittle off of his words. “Murder? You sanctimonious little fuck…” He backed off, realizing he wasn’t going to win by rage. “Pike broke some laws, that’s true, but if he hadn’t, the entire Eastern seaboard would be roasting hot dogs in their fireplaces. He stopped the damn attack. There’s no reason to crucify him. Nobody knows about the Taskforce involvement. Nobody can connect the dots.”

Brookings said, “Are you out of your mind? We commandeered the presidential helicopter to save two Taskforce members. You don’t think that’s going to make the news? You just told us about a fucking eight-year-old kid who saw the final action at the nuclear plant. You think he’s going to remain quiet?”

Kurt turned cold. “What are you saying? You want me to smoke the kid?”

Brookings looked like he’d been punched in the gut. Before it could turn more contentious, President Warren held up his hands. “Stop it. This isn’t helping.”

He looked at Kurt. “Tony has a point. How are we going to prevent Taskforce disclosure, given what’s occurred? I don’t want to burn Pike any more than you do, but we need something.”

Kurt said, “You sent Marine One with CAT guys, didn’t you?”

President Warren’s eyebrow’s furrowed, seeing where he was going. “Yeah, there was no way the doctor would go without protection, and the counterassault team was all that was available.”

“Well, there you go. Those guys are trained for this very thing. I mean, they’re trained for a counterassault against a direct threat to your life, but it’s not a stretch to say they went out to capture some terrorists that may have been hell-bent on killing you. And they’re Secret Service. You control them. You can write the story. Like Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, only for a good reason.”

Kurt watched the president consider, and knew he was close. “Nobody knows anyone was injured out there. We can write the press release any way we want. Give the credit to the CAT guys and the Secret Service. They took down the terrorists.”

Kurt saw Brookings look from the president to him, and knew he realized he was losing the argument. They both understood that the Secret Service story would look like the president himself had directly averted disaster with his own team, and would be something very appealing.

Brookings said, “Sir, there’s no way you can contain this. It isn’t 1962. We live in a world of transparency, with Internet bloggers and instant news. There’ll be a History Channel special on these attacks in four months, and it’ll be down to the minute. They’ll know everything there is to know, and broadcast it every hour for a month.”

Kurt snarled, “Bullshit. I’ve seen the History Channel crap. Watch the one on the capture of Saddam Hussein and you’re left believing it was a fourth infantry division operation all the way. We
can
contain this.”

Brookings spat back, “This isn’t a war zone,
Colonel
, it’s America. You don’t get to control the news here. Shit, we couldn’t keep anything secret when we killed bin Laden. The entire operation was on the news in hours, and this will be no different. The truth of the matter is that Pike needs to be put down. He’s a fucking menace. He’s done whatever he thinks is right regardless of what we say. He’s exactly why I didn’t want to start this organization. Exactly the reason why it will go wrong. One man who thinks he knows better than anyone else. We need to make an example of him to other Taskforce operators—”

The tirade sank into Kurt’s head and he lost control. He leapt out of his chair, crossing the table and snatching Brookings up by his hair, using his momentum to slam Brookings into the wall. He locked up Brookings’ elbow and leaned into his ear.

“You fucking miserable piece of shit. Pike saved your life last year. Your
life
. Does that mean nothing to you? He just averted a national tragedy, using skills that
we
gave him, and authority that
we
blessed. He’s a man doing what is best for the country. Because
we
asked him to.”

President Warren said, “Kurt! Stop. Right now.”

Kurt looked at the president, then at Brookings’ trembling face. He raised his voice so that everyone could hear. “Okay, sir. You want to burn Pike, so be it. But I want Mr. Secretary here to know that if Pike goes down, I’m going to put him in the hospital. You can arrest me later.”

He cranked Brookings’ arm, eliciting a squeal. “You get that, Mr. Sanctimonious? Pike goes to jail, for whatever reason, and I’m hunting you down. Make sure your fucking health insurance is up to date.”

He released Brookings, panting a little from the adrenaline rush. The secretary sank onto the floor, rubbing his arm, looking for sympathy. President Warren ignored him. “I get the point. Calm down.”

Kurt returned to his chair.

President Warren said, “Look, we can make the substation hit work. I agree with that, but what about the kid? There’s no way we can cloak that.”

Kurt said, “I know. Jennifer said she’d convinced him not to say anything, but he’s been through a traumatic event. He’s going to talk. The question is whether anyone will believe him. And if they do, if it will reach the media.”

President Warrant waited, then said, “So? That’s it?”

“It’s a risk, but some things are worth the risk. Pike is one of them.”

81

I

woke up a little disoriented, confused for a second about where I was. The drive from the nuclear plant was a splintered dream, Jennifer spending her time weaving across lanes as she talked on the phone and tended to me. I was now in a bed, swathed in bandages, and it clicked that Jennifer had managed to get me inside the Taskforce, to the little medical department we kept for injuries that couldn’t go to a hospital.

I heard the door open, hoping it was Jennifer, but seeing Kurt instead. Then I remembered that Jennifer wasn’t allowed in here.
Great. Probably won’t see her until the arraignment.

“How’re you feeling?”

“I’ll live.”

Kurt smiled. “You’re a hard man to kill, I’ll give you that. Broken clavicle seems to be the worst of it.”

I didn’t return the smile. “So what’s my status?”

“Don’t know yet. The politicians are monitoring the press. I got the president to hold off on anything hasty. If something pops, they’ll decide whether to throw you under the bus.”

I nodded. “That’s fine. I’m ready for whatever. I only ask two things.”

“What’s that?”

“Number one, you let Jennifer go. There’s no reason for two folks to go to jail. I’m enough. Can you make that happen?”

Kurt paused a second, considering, then said, “Yeah, I can get that done. What’s number two?”

“The president comes in here before I go to jail and gives me a fucking thank-you.”

“Uhh… I don’t know about that one. You might have to settle for me.”

I laughed, then grimaced at the pain in my shoulder. “I know. A man can hope, though.”

Kurt said, “It’s not as bad as you think. We’ve got a pretty good plan in place.” He told me the cover story involving the Secret Service CAT team and the “misfire” at the nuclear plant, which was good, then the fact that nobody could predict the actions of the boy, which was bad.

“It’s holding up so far, though, so maybe it’ll be okay.”

Before I could answer, Holly entered the room with a bunch of balloons and flowers, like I was twelve and just had my tonsils out. She was followed by a nurse, who went straight to the machines monitoring my status.

“What the hell is this shit?” I said. “Are you kidding me?”

Holly said, “Cut the crap. It’s a girl thing. We’re just happy you’re alive.”

She put the balloons next to the bed, a DVD on my lap, turned to Kurt, and said, “Sir, I’ve got something a little urgent to show you. Sorry to interrupt.”

Kurt said, “No problem. We were just bullshitting anyway. Pike, I think you’ll be good. You mentioned a thank-you, and you’re on to something. The president’s a good man. He’ll remember what you did. I’ll make sure of it.”

I rolled my eyes, letting him know what I thought of that little bit of hope. He smiled and left the room, followed by Holly. She paused at the door for a second, waiting until Kurt was in the hallway, then turned to me and stage-whispered, “You owe me more than dinner now.”

What the hell is she talking about?

I looked at the balloons next to the bed, thinking she’d lost her mind if she believed I was going to owe her something for bringing me that crap. I picked up the DVD and turned it over.

The Princess Bride.

The nurse spoke, and I realized what the payback was for.

“Still trying to piss off the boss, huh?”

Jennifer was smiling, and looked very, very good. I smiled back. “How’d you get in here?”

“Holly and I are best friends now. She helped me break in, along with telling me some stories about you that probably should be kept hidden.”

“Really. Breaking the rules. What’s that about?”

She came around the bed and took my hand. “Well, someone told me that the rules only applied if you let them. I thought I’d check out that theory.”

“Sounds like a genius. How’s it working for you?”

She gave me a crooked grin that cut straight to my core. “Pretty good so far. I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m the only one in danger now.” I told her about my conversation with Kurt, then noticed the baseball cap she was wearing. It had Romans 3:8 stitched on the back, the Bible quote we used as an inside joke.

“Where’d you get the hat?”

She turned her head left and right, showing it off. “You like it? Turbo gave it to me.”

“Turbo? Are you kidding me? After all of his crying about Assessment?”

She blushed slightly. “Nope. I went to see how Decoy and Retro were doing, and a bunch of guys were already there. Word’s spread about stopping the attack. You guys suck at keeping secrets, by the way. Anyway, Decoy thanked me for saving his life—which isn’t true, of course, but they all seemed to believe it—and Turbo gave me the hat. Probably just because he was afraid you were going to kick his ass again, but it’s still pretty cool, huh?”

“Very cool. If they gave it to you, they meant it. Don’t blame me for your mistakes. How’s Retro doing anyway?”

“He looks terrible, but they say he’s going to be fine.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, I saw Knuckles! He’s doing much better, and asked about you. Well, about us and our situation with the president. They all think it’s a crock.”

“Glad to hear he’s coming around. Maybe I’ll visit his sorry ass as
well.” I paused, then said, “What is our situation? You still planning on leaving? Going back to being a professor of anthro-psychology or whatever the hell it is?”

She cocked her head, apparently considering how to respond. “Let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s figure out if I’m going to be mailing you a file inside your birthday cake in prison.”

She leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “I’ve got to get out of here before Kurt comes back. They said you’re healthy enough to leave here today. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

82

F

ive days later, I glanced reflexively at the “cleared list” for Delta Airlines. I had a confirmed seat on the same flight tomorrow, but Kurt had called this morning and said the president had decided I was free to go. Not wanting to see if he would change his mind, I’d hauled ass straight to Reagan National Airport to try my hand at a standby flight. Well,
hauled ass
was a relative term, since I needed to use a cane, and my left arm was strapped to my chest to prevent movement.

I’d left the Taskforce medical facility the same day I talked to Kurt and Jennifer, and had gone to the same hotel as Jennifer. Since then, other than visiting Knuckles, Decoy, and Retro in the hospital, I’d simply sat around, watching breaking news stories, praying some junior Woodward and Bernstein wasn’t looking for a scoop, but so far the Secret Service story, along with the “misfire” at the nuclear plant, seemed to be holding up.

One thing that was definitely working in my favor was that the entire nation was fixated on the attacks. It had, naturally, become the center of attention, and the successful resolution had pretty much guaranteed the president’s reelection. Originally elected on a platform of national security, President Warren had been getting hammered lately because of the economy, and it was looking like a pretty good bet that he’d be a one-term president. Now the campaign had become dominated by national security, with the president looking like a savior, and there was little chance that would change so close to the election, which is what Kurt had meant in my hospital room. Without saying a word, I knew President Warren understood who he had to
thank. And it also meant at least another four years of Taskforce operations, if something else didn’t come along to shine a light on the president’s little secret.

For her part, Jennifer had left without giving me an answer to where she stood both with the Taskforce and with our company. I’d broached the subject again as she packed to go back to South Carolina, afraid that she’d already made up her mind and just didn’t want to voice it out loud because it would be a double kick to my balls if I went to jail.