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The room got very quiet. The three cabinet members looked to the president as if this was the moment where he should step in, but the president wasn’t biting. The vice president for his part stayed quiet.
Secretary of State Berg cleared her throat and said, “Irene, there’s a right way to handle this and a wrong way.”
Isn’t there always, Kennedy thought to herself.
“The right way is to let the FBI handle the investigation.”
“And the wrong way?”
“The wrong way,” interjected the attorney general, “is to have CIA black-ops people poking around a potential crime scene.”
Kennedy noted that Stokes had used the word potential and momentarily thought of explaining to the nation’s top lawyer that if it weren’t for Coleman and Wicker none of this evidence would have been discovered, but she knew it would be a waste of breath. Their minds were already made up. They were afraid of a vengeful Mitch Rapp, or more to the point, they were afraid of what he would do in the name of the U.S. government. The embarrassment he could bring to them and their organizations was immense.
“I can assure you,” Attorney General Stokes continued, “if a crime was committed, we will make sure the perpetrators are brought to justice. It might take some time, but we will do it. In the meantime you need to explain to Rapp that he is in no way involved in this investigation, and if he decides to get involved, he’s going to find himself in some serious legal trouble.”
If the situation wasn’t so serious, Kennedy would have found the attorney general’s warning laughable. She turned to the president to see if he was actually buying into this nonsense. She found him looking at his watch and trying to avoid eye contact. She remembered Haik’s warning, and turned back to the attorney general. “I’m sure Mitch will be sufficiently intimidated by your threat of legal trouble. Maybe you’d like to deliver the message yourself.”
Stokes did not like the comment and turned to Berg and Ross for support. The director of National Intelligence spoke first. “The last thing we need is an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency acting as a judge, jury, and executioner.”
“I would actually say the last thing we need is someone getting away with trying to assassinate an employee of the CIA.”
“If someone tried to kill Rapp, we’ll find them, and they’ll be punished.”
Kennedy nodded in a way that said she wasn’t buying any of it, and then asked, “How do you plan to stop Mitch from pursuing this on his own?”
“As his boss I expect you to control him,” Ross said flatly.
“And if he quits?”
Ross turned to Secretary of State Berg. She hesitated briefly and then said, “We’ve revoked Mr. Rapp’s passport. He’s forbidden to leave the country.”
Now this truly was funny. The trivial precaution caused Kennedy to laugh out loud. Three stone-faced cabinet members stared back at her. “And you think that’s going to stop him?” asked Kennedy. “Mitch Rapp…a man we trained as a deep cover operative? A man who speaks five languages, has I don’t even know how many aliases, and has at one time or another crept in and out of virtually every country in Europe and the Middle East? You think revoking his passport is going to stop him?”
They ignored the question and Stokes said, “For his own good we’re placing him under protective custody.”
Kennedy shook her head and replied in a sarcastic tone, “That’s kind of you to offer, but we’ll pass.”
“Irene, it’s for the good of the country,” said Ross.
“That’s debatable, but in the meantime, he’s safe and in no need of further protection.”
“Irene,” said Stokes, “if I need to, I’ll get a court order.”
“On what grounds, Marty?” Kennedy’s temper flared for the first time. “You think you’re the only person in this town who has a judge in his back pocket?” She let him think about the implied threat for a second and then added, “Trust me…you’ll lose on this one, and it won’t be pretty.”
Ross held his hand up, signaling for them both to stop. “Let’s all take a deep breath and calm down. I’m sure the CIA is more than capable of keeping an eye on Mitch until he’s recovered. In the meantime, Irene, we’re going to have to grant access to the FBI so they can interview him.”
Kennedy hesitated and then said, “Have Special Agent McMahon call me, and I’ll set it up.”
“I would also like to talk to him,” said Ross.
“I doubt he’s up for visitors at the moment, but…”
“When he’s ready,” the president said, directing his comment at Ross and not Kennedy.
There was a brief pause and the president’s national security advisor took the opportunity to end the meeting. He stood and said, “The president is on a tight schedule this morning, so if you’ll excuse us.” Haik pointed at Ross and asked, “Do you have fifteen minutes?”
“Of course.”
