Page 150 of The Secret of Secrets

Director Judd stopped pacing and stood dead still. “Ambassador Nagel,” he replied with as much calm as he could muster. “While I have no idea what you’re talking about, I suggest you give me fifteen min—”

“I sent you a video link,” she said, her voice like stone. “You’ll get it at the office. And once you see it, you’re going to do something for me.”

“Am I really?” he challenged.

“Call me when you’ve watched the video. I think you’ll find my demands reasonable.”

“Your demands…And if I can’t meet them?”

“You’re the director of the CIA. There’s little you can’t do.”

You’d be wise not to forget that. “And if I choose not to?”

“Then this video will become public,” she said flatly. “It contains detailed information about your project, and the content is exceptionally disturbing. You’ll want to hurry. This is a public link, and someone will stumble across it eventually, probably within the next few hours.”

Heide Nagel was in way over her depth. “Heide, you do know my people can simply delete—”

“I’ve downloaded the file and made copies. Plenty of them. They’re in safe hands.”

“Have you lost your mind?!” Judd demanded. “I understand your anger, but why would you ever threaten—”

“Because, Greg,” Nagel exploded, “I’ve been collateral damage long enough! I’ve been nothing but a loyal colleague, and I deserve some fucking loyalty coming my way for a change. So get off your ass and do the right thing, goddammit!”

Judd had never heard Nagel lose her cool, and frankly, it scared him. Heide Nagel was formidable. And unhinged people make incredibly poor decisions.

“I’ll call you within the hour,” Nagel snapped. “And if I disappear, believe me, you’ll be seeing this video on every news feed on earth.”

“Ambassador, I would suggest—”

She had already hung up.

Nagel rarely drank, especially midday, but the tumbler of Becherovka she had just poured from her office bar felt warranted. Her hands were still a bit unsteady as she slid in behind her computer and downloaded a copy of the video to her desktop. Just for safety, she downloaded a second copy, renamed it innocuously as “Recipes,” and buried it deep in her hierarchy of folders.

Next she searched her desk drawers and found a lone USB stick—an old PowerPoint for a speech she’d given to the International Women’s Association of Prague. After deleting the presentation, she copied Gessner’s confession video onto the USB and placed the stick inside a letter-sized diplomatic pouch that bore the embassy seal.

She zipped the pouch shut and inserted the plastic security ring into the zipper, clamping it down until it locked permanently in place. Then she addressed the pouch’s routing fields, conveying the pouch directly to…herself. In accordance with Article 27.3 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, anyone else who opened this pouch was committing a punishable crime.

As Nagel began searching her office for a safe place to store the sealed pouch, she realized there was no truly safe place in this office. She wanted to believe that Director Judd would make the right call, but if he decided to cross her, this office would be the first place he would target.

“Scott!” she shouted, carrying the pouch toward the door.

Her sentry was waiting outside and entered immediately.

“I need to entrust this to you,” she said.

“Of course, ma’am,” he said, eyeing her hands. “The pouch or the cocktail?”

She looked down. Ugh. “The pouch, Scott.” She handed it to him. “Keep it safe. Mention it to no one. And I mean no one. Can I trust you with that?”

“Of course, ma’am.” He slid the pouch into the breast pocket of his uniform and gave her a concerned look. “Is everything okay, ma’am?”

“Everything is fine, thank you. Mr. Harris’s death has left me somewhat…” Her voice trailed off. “Is there any news from forensics?”

“Not yet, ma’am.”

“Would you please contact Ms. Daněk and ask her to come back here at once.”

“Of course, ma’am.” The Marine hesitated. “Although…I should warn you that Ms. Daněk was extremely upset when we found Mr. Harris’s body. It seems they were close.”