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“This was not started by the Iraqis or anyone else. This was initiated by someone here in Washington. Someone who doesn’t want to see Irene become the next director of the CIA and someone who quite possibly would like to see your administration toppled, Mr. President.”
“Do you have some information that you have yet to share with me?”
“No, I don’t, Mr. President. Everything I know I have already told you. I have come to some conclusions over the last twenty-four hours that I think point to some big problems.”
“Please explain.”
“This was not a personal vendetta carried out against Mitchell by the Jansens or someone who hired them to kill him. If that was the case, they would have simply shot him while they were alone in the cabin and been done with him. Instead, they waited until Mitchell took care of the count, and then they made their move. The only conclusion that can be reached is that they wanted Mitchell’s body found next to the count holding in his hand the gun that fired the bullet that killed the count.”
“But we still had deniability,” replied the president. “There is nothing that can officially link Mitch to the CIA or my administration. If Mitch’s identity was discovered, Irene was prepared to spread the false rumors that Mitch was a gun for hire. That he’d been hired by the Iraqis to assassinate the count because Hagenmiller was screwing them over on their deal.”
“That’s all fine unless someone else is leaking Mitchell’s real story. Let me ask you this, Mr. President. How many people do you think knew about the operation to take out the count?”
“I would hope very few.”
“The four people in this room are the only people who were supposed to know the entire scope of the operation. There were roughly a dozen others who were involved in support roles but had no idea of the complete operation. Someone outside this room also knew what we had planned in Germany.” Stansfield paused and took a moment to look at each of the other three. “I know all of you well enough to doubt that you would have been so careless as to talk to someone outside of this group. That means someone else knows about the Orion Team, and I don’t mean the deceased Peter Cameron. He was used to get to the Jansens in Germany, but I doubt he was the one who found out what we were up to.”
“Then who could it be?” asked the president. “You said yourself that the four of us were the only ones who knew exactly what was going to happen.”
“Yes, we were the only ones who knew exactly what was going to happen, but there were others who knew the count was a repeat offender. Furthermore, there are people in this town who know about the Orion Team. They don’t know what it is called, but they were in on the decision to found it. Senator Clark was smart eno
ugh to put two and two together and come to us with his suspicions. There are others who know me well enough to know that I would trust only two individuals to run such a team, Irene or Max Salmen. They also know that you, Mr. President, have decided to take the battle to the terrorists on every front, and beyond that, you throw Mitchell’s notoriety over the last year into the picture, and I’m afraid we were caught going to the well one too many times. It should not be shocking to any of us that someone with a limited amount of information was able to figure out what we were up to in Germany.”
“But how could they move that fast?” asked Rapp. “I only learned of the operation seventy-two hours in advance.”
“That’s what worries me the most. Whoever this person or group is, they have the ability to move very quickly and very quietly.”
Rapp looked to Kennedy and watched her stare at Stansfield with her calculating eyes. After a long moment of silence, she said, “It’s someone at Langley, isn’t it?”
Stansfield nodded slowly. “Yes, I’m afraid so. There could be others outside the Agency, in fact I’m convinced there are, but all things point to a leak somewhere within Langley, and unfortunately I don’t have the slightest clue to who it could be.”
“Hold on a minute.” The president did not like any of this. “What is the motive? Why would someone at Langley want to do this? I thought the one thing we were unified on in this town was the battle against terrorism.”
“This has nothing to do with the battle against terrorism,” said Stansfield. “It has to do with the battle over knowledge. The battle over who will succeed me as director of the CIA.”
“Who will succeed you as director is my decision and no one else’s.”
“Let me paint a more clear picture for you, Mr. President. I have made a lot of enemies in this town because I have never allowed the brass at the Pentagon or the politicians on the Hill to influence my decisions as director. When they have come to me asking for information, I have always directed them to you or your predecessors. They don’t like this. They want someone who will give them access to the Agency’s secrets. They know that Irene will do as I have done, and they don’t like that. They want someone they can control.”
The president looked completely miffed. He wondered if Stansfield was being overly paranoid but was quickly reminded of the events of the last week. There was a foe out there, the only question was who. But still, he didn’t want to buy into the scope or the purpose of the thing. “I’m sorry, Thomas, if I sound somewhat skeptical, but I find it a little hard to believe that someone would go to all of this trouble to try to block Irene’s nomination.”
Stansfield’s body was withering away, but his mind was not. Like a grand master in chess, he still had the ability to calculate the ripple effect that could result from one move. “What if I told you the ultimate goal of this person or persons was to topple your administration?”
Hayes was silent for a while. Stansfield had his rapt attention. “How?”
“By exposing first Mitchell and then the full story of the Orion Team. By ultimately linking you to the assassination of Count Hagenmiller.”
“You can’t be serious. I thought we had the issue of deniability covered.”
“We did, sir. That was before we found out there was a leak.”
The president let out a moan as he shook his head. He felt things slipping away as he looked at Stansfield’s frail body. “Thomas, please tell me you have a plan for dealing with this?”
Stansfield could sense the president’s fear. The important thing now that he’d gotten him to recognize the problem was to calm him. “Sir, there is no shortage of people in Washington who would love to destroy me. The only thing that has kept them from doing so is the knowledge that I know their secrets. Those secrets will be passed on to Irene, and I will instruct her and Mitchell how to use them if the need should arise.” Stansfield turned toward Rapp. “We need you.” The director placed his hand on the newly created personnel file. “This will give you the freedom to live a relatively normal life. You will no longer have to lie to people about where you work. It is my greatest hope that you will take this job. Yes, you have already given enough, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am that you have made the sacrifices you have. When you are confronted with your dark past, Mitchell, you must take comfort in the fact that in the end, you saved far more lives than you took. You are still needed, and I’m not embarrassed in the slightest to ask for your further sacrifice. A man of your talents should not waste them in the corporate arena. You can still make a difference. And the place to make it is in the Counterterrorism Center. I need you there. I need you to watch Irene’s back, and I need you to help find the mole.” Stansfield paused and looked in admiration at the strong face of Rapp. “If you need some time to think about it, I understand, but please don’t take too long.” Stansfield smiled. “I’d like to go to my grave with the comfort that you are standing guard.”
Rapp couldn’t help but grin. It was the first time he’d ever seen the old spy smile. Reaching out, he grabbed Stansfield’s chilled hand. Rapp didn’t need any time to think it over. There was no way he could say no to Stansfield. He had far too much respect for the man even to consider turning down the offer. “Thomas, thank you for this.” Rapp held up the file. “I will gladly accept your offer.”
“Good.”
