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Kennedy wondered if that was what Rapp was up to. Punishing everyone for going public with this.
“Let’s get Brooks in here,” Juarez said. “She knows what the hell is going on.”
“Are you sure about that?” Kennedy asked.
“Hell yes. She told me herself that Mitch told her to say nothing. He said he would show up in a few days and take care of everything, and in the meantime she was to keep her mouth shut.”
“I know that’s what he told her, but that doesn’t mean she knows what he’s up to.”
“How about simply telling us what in the hell really happened in Cyprus?” Juarez asked.
“How about telling me anything?” McMahon jumped in. “She shows up at Andrews yesterday in a white rental van, from where, we have no idea. We were expecting them to land on a plane. My people ran down the plates on the van. It was rented by some LLC out of Baltimore that exists on paper only. We checked the gate logs at the base. She showed up five minutes before the handoff. We called Customs and Immigration. They show no record of Brooks or Rapp entering the country yesterday. I don’t suppose either of you would like to tell me what aliases they were traveling under?”
Kennedy and Juarez didn’t bother looking at each other. They both shook their heads in response to the agent’s question.
McMahon looked down at the ground and grabbed the back of his neck with his right hand. After a moment he said, “Now I might not care how in the hell they got this guy from Cyprus to the States without clearing him through customs, but I know a whole lot of other people who are going to care. People at Justice are already asking questions, and I’m sure when this guy gets a lawyer he is going to want to review the chain of custody. Add to that the press and you guys are going to get a whole lot of unwanted attention. My office tells me they’re already receiving calls. They’re going to be all over you by this afternoon.”
That was it, Kennedy thought to herself. This was exactly what Mitch was worried about. Their tactics and methods being exposed. So the question she had for herself was, What was Rapp really up to? Was he destroying evidence or collecting evidence? Or both?
“I say we get her in here.” Juarez said in an impatient voice.
“Brooks,” Kennedy replied.
“Yes.”
“I think you two are being a bit hard on her.”
Juarez’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “Hard on her? I’ve had the kid gloves on until now. I’m half tempted to get the Office of Security in here. Have them turn on the hot lights and polygraph her ass.”
Kennedy placed her glasses on top of a leather briefing folder. She used both hands to square them up perfectly in the center of the smooth, brown surface. Kennedy had thought Juarez would threaten to do this, but she wondered how much of it was bluster. The move carried with it certain risks. The Office of Security would start a paper trail that just might get the Inspector General’s Office involved, and then they were only one step away from the Department of Justice and the FBI.
“I think she’s been put in a very difficult position.”
“What’s so difficult about being debriefed by your boss?”
“I think everyone needs to take a step back and look at this from a different angle.”
“What angle could that possibly be?” Juarez asked sarcastically.
Kennedy shot him a look and said, “Mitch’s angle.”
“Irene,” Juarez’s jaw was clenched, “I have a lot of respect for Mitch, and he has pulled some pretty goofy shit over the years, but this one takes the prize.”
“You were as upset as I’ve ever seen you yesterday,” McMahon said. “Why the hell are you all of a sudden defending him?”
Kennedy leaned back in her chair and glanced out the window before answering. “I was distracted yesterday. I think I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I did not advise the president as closely as I should have on this.”
“How so?”
“Going public…” Kennedy shook her head, “this fast…bad idea.”
“Mitch told you this was the guy. One hundred percent. The smart thing for you to do was turn him over.”
“We could have waited…should have waited a week or two, or maybe we should have just let Mitch take care of the problem for us.”
