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Hayes cocked his head a bit to the side and said, “I have a feeling that Mitch would say it’s you who don’t see the big picture.”
Jones exhaled in frustration. “I’m not going to sit here and debate the big picture with some assassin from the CIA.” Jones turned to Kennedy and said, “No offense, Irene, but I’m paid to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and minimize the president’s exposure. You don’t have to have a doctorate in political science to figure out what’s going to happen when this story breaks. We are going to get eaten alive by the press, and then the committees on the Hill will begin to call for hearings”—she turned her attention to Hayes—“and they will make damn sure they drag you through the mud right up to your reelection.”
To everyone’s surprise Kennedy said, “I agree with Valerie.”
Looking smug with her newfound support, Jones said, “Even his own boss agrees with me.”
Kennedy held up a finger and added, “I do, but with one exception. You’ll never be able to keep a lid on this. The press already knows something’s up. By the end of today, they’ll have a pretty good handle on this story, and we’ll probably see our first installment in the morning papers.”
“But we can handle that,” Jones jumped in. “I already have our people working on the press release. The servicemen were lost in a joint training exercise with the Philippine army.” Jones looked to General Flood. “This type of thing happens all the time, right?”
Before the general could answer, the president said, “The Philippine ambassador has already called twice this morning, and I assure you it wasn’t to talk about the weather.”
Jones batted away the concern with her hand. “They need our aid to prop up their economy. All we need to do is throw them some more money, and they’ll play ball.”
Kennedy slowly shook her head. “Too many people know about this, sir. There’s no way you’re going to be able to keep a lid on it.”
The president was leaning back now, tapping his forefinger against his upper lip.
Before he could say anything, Jones jumped back into the debate. “Give me one week. That’s all I’m asking for. One week and I’ll have the press looking into something else, I promise.”
Hayes looked to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and said, “General, you’re unusually quiet this morning. Is there anything you’d care to add?”
General Flood was an imposing man and even more so in his uniform. A few inches over six feet tall and pushing three hundred pounds he looked more like a retired football player than a man who still liked to jump out of planes a couple of times a year. It was evident from his face that he was trying to choose his words carefully. Keeping his eyes on the president he finally said, “Sir, I couldn’t disagree with Miss Jones more emphatically.”
The president was looking at Flood, but from the corner of his eye he could see his chief of staff begin to squirm. Ignoring her he said, “Please elaborate.”
“We have announced that we are at war with terrorism. We have proof that at a bare minimum a Philippine general is taking bribes from a known terrorist organization that has taken a family of Americans hostage. We have proof that a State Department official, who was told in no uncertain terms that this rescue operation was to be kept secret, decided on her own volition to break federal law and discuss this information with an overseas State Department official. We have a U.S. ambassador, who took it upon himself to brief the head of a foreign country that U.S. Special Forces were about to conduct a covert operation on that country’s soil. Any reasonable person would conclude that these actions clearly led to the deaths of two U.S. Navy SEALs. You have said it yourself, Mr. President, we are at war. This is serious business, and in my mind the ambassador and the undersecretary are traitors and their actions cannot go unpunished.”
“I agree that they should be punished,” Jones said quickly before anyone else could speak. “I say we ship them off to the worst posting we can think of. I say we not only make them take a cut in pay, but we make them pay restitution to the families of the two dead soldiers. I say—”
“Dead sailors,” the general corrected her. Looking back to the president he added, “I happen to agree with Mitch. If it were up to me, I would have these two marched in front of a firing squad and shot, but I realize in today’s world that will never happen. I do, however, think they need to spend some hard time in jail and they need to be publicly humiliated. They need be made an example of.”
Jones, desperate to turn the tide of this conversation, weighed in once more. “General, I’m not saying I disagree with you, but again I don’t think you’re looking at how this scandal will affect this administration.”
“With all due respect, Miss Jones, I’m more concerned with the welfare of this republic than any single administration. The two should go hand in hand, but as you’ve so passionately pointed out this morning, that’s not always the case.”
Jones glared at the general and said, “That was a cheap shot.”
“No, it was a direct shot, but if I wasn’t blunt enough for you, let me spell this entire clusterfuck out for you in clear English.” The general leaned toward the chief of staff and said, “This was a big operation. A lot of military and intelligence personnel knew about it beforehand, and since it went south a lot more people know about it today.” Flood stuck out one of his beefy fingers with conviction and said, “I can guarantee you, if you try to whitewash this thing, someone in uniform, or over at Langley, is going to be so offended they will talk to a reporter off the record and they will set off a chain reaction that will do exactly what you’re hoping to avoid. And that’s if Mitch doesn’t break the story first.”
“You worry about your people, general,” Jones shot back, “and I’ll handle Rapp.”
The sheer lunacy of the comment caused Flood to roar with laughter. “You’re going to tell Mitch Rapp what to do? Let me know when and where, and I’ll pay top dollar to witness that fight.”
Before Jones could speak again, the president came forward in his chair and rested his forearms on his desk. “I’ve made a decision.” He was talking to everyone, but was looking at Jones. “We’re going to confront this thing head-on, and it’s not up for debate. If we try to bury it … it’ll only come back and bite us in the ass. I want the Justice Department to prepare warrants for the arrest of Assistant Secretary Petry and Ambassador Cox.”
Jones began shaking her head. “Robert—”
Before she could continue the president cut her off and said, “Valerie, cancel my dinner plans for this evening and inform the congressional leadership that I’d like to meet with them.”
Jones had a pained expression on her face. The president’s demeanor suggested that any further protests would be unwise. She’d lost this one for now, but there was always later. When she had him alone she would try to get him to rethink his decision before he jumped off the cliff.
With strained pleasantness Jones asked, “What would you like me to tell them?”
“Tell them I need to brief them on an issue of national security.”
“I’ll get to work on it right away.” Before leaving she turned to Kennedy. “You’ll keep me informed of any decisions you reach with the DOJ and the FBI?”
