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Kennedy looked to the president. “The bankers were actually quite cooperative. Several of them told me in the future they would prefer to handle things this way rather than waging these public battles in the courts.” Kennedy turned to Attorney General Stokes. “Battles that take a lot of time, resources, and money. By the time we get the information we’re after, the money has all been moved and the information is so old it is all but useless.”
Stokes was about to offer a lame protest, but Kennedy cut him off. “The information I was given today is generating other results. My cyber people have begun looking into other Swiss accounts used by Saeed Ahmed Abdullah. In just eight hours’ time we have identified over one hundred million dollars that he has given to al-Qaeda and other terrorist accounts in the past year alone.”
“One hundred million dollars,” was all Attorney General Stokes could think to say.
“Beatrice,” Kennedy said to Secretary of State Berg, “the next time you talk to the Swiss foreign minister tell him that I will pass on his complaint to Mitch Rapp. Tell him that Mitch would be more than happy to fly to Bern and sit down with any Swiss official and listen to them explain why they feel it is so important to protect the confidentiality of terrorists like Waheed and his father.”
“And, Mark,” Kennedy said to Ross, “when you had breakfast with Prince Muhammad bin Rashid the other day, did you happen to mention that Mitch Rapp was still alive?”
Ross started shaking his head before he had time to think about the question.
“You didn’t say anything about him convalescing at a CIA safe house?” Kennedy acted like she had some proof, but in truth she was operating off of a hunch.
“I didn’t talk to him about anything like that.”
“Well, when you speak with him again, ask him if he knew his closest friend took out a twenty-million-dollar bounty on my top counterterrorism official. And while you’re at it, ask him how he feels about Saeed Ahmed Abdullah giving over a hundred million dollars to terrorist organizations in the last year.”
“Are you trying to say he’s involved in this?”
Kennedy shook her head and stood. “Not yet, but trust me, the man is rotten. He is no ally of ours.” Kennedy picked up her folder. “The next time you talk to him, tell him that I have a feeling he had a hand in this somehow, and that if I can prove it, he can expect a visit from Mitch Rapp.” Kennedy started for the door.
“Wait a second.” Ross shot up out of his chair. “We’re not finished here.”
Kennedy paused and looked over her shoulder with utter confidence. “Yes, we are. I’m exhausted. While the three of you were busy trying to appease questionable allies, I flew halfway around the world and accomplished in one morning what a hundred lawyers from the Justice Department and another hundred State Department officials have been trying to do for the past two years. I’m going home, and I’m going to bed.”
“Stop,” Ross said. “You need to bring him in.”
“Sorry…can’t do it. He’s out of my control.”
“That’s a lie! You don’t want to bring him in.”
Kennedy stopped with her hand on the doorknob. She turned slowly and said, “Mark, Mitch Rapp has done more to secure this country against terrorism than everyone in this room combined, and if you ask the president he will tell you the same thing. Maybe you should start helping him or at a bare minimum get out of his way.”
“The man is reckless, Irene. He needs to be brought under control.”
“Good luck…but while you’re a
t it you might want to think about whether or not you want to be on Mitch Rapp’s bad side.”
“Is that a threat?”
Kennedy shrugged. “It’s a fact. They killed his wife. There’s no controlling him. He’s going to kill anyone who had anything to do with this and if he finds out that you’re siding with the Saudis while we have clear evidence that Saeed paid twenty million dollars to have him killed…well…let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be on your security detail.”
Kennedy opened the door and left.
70
N o one moved. Ross stood like a statue in front of the couch and just in front of the president. His cheeks were red and his fists balled up tight. He blinked several times, as he struggled with whether or not to take Irene’s threat seriously.
“She just threatened me! She can’t do that.”
Everyone in the room had a law degree. Such was the state of politics. Attorney General Stokes, however, was the only one who had seen the inside of a courtroom. He shook his head and said, “She gave you an opinion as to what Rapp might do. It wasn’t a threat.”
That was not the answer or support that Ross expected from his friend. He turned to the president and said, “I can’t work with her anymore. Something has to be done.”
“Sit down, Mark.” President Hayes crossed his legs and looked at his newest Cabinet member. The onset of his illness had given Hayes cause to become more reflective. Gone was his yearning desire to drive and shape the debate. It had been replaced by a tactic that he found far more productive. He would sit back and listen. Let the monumental egos of his advisors battle it out. Over the last forty-eight hours he had come to the conclusion that Ross was in fact the wrong man for the job, but replacing him was pretty much a nonstarter. A man like Ross would not go quietly. He would leak to the press like a sieve. He would make it his personal mission to destroy Kennedy. She didn’t deserve that, and Hayes didn’t want her distracted. Her job was too important. It was time to rein in the egos and remind them who they worked for.
Hayes cleared his throat and said, “I’d like to be very clear on something. If it wasn’t for Mitch Rapp, I believe this city would have been destroyed by a nuclear explosion six months ago. That means pretty much everybody in this room would have been killed.” Hayes took a moment to make eye contact with each person. “The lengths to which he went to stop that terrorist attack…” Hayes shook his head and his voice trailed off. “You don’t even want to know what he had to do, but let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. We owe the man our lives, and that is no small thing.”
