AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m serious. Two of my men are probably talking to your secretary as we speak. They expect you to come out of your office and take them down to the safety deposit room. If you do not, they will call me and I will turn everything I have over to the FBI. I will also tell them that we have spoken and that you were extremely unhelpful. In addition to that there are some other very nasty things I could employ, but we don’t want to get into that over the phone. I’ll send someone to talk to you about it in person.”
“But there are procedures: signature cards, passwords, the key.”
“We have the key, and one of my men can forge the client’s signature. All you have to do is provide the password.”
“I will need to inventory the contents of the box.”
“Go right ahead. In fact…I’m sure there’s some cash in there. Keep half of it for your troubles. The rest of it, though, my men are taking with them. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes,” the banker said without any hesitation. “We have a deal.”
“Good. Now go straight out to your reception area and greet my men. Act lik
e you have met them before. The big one you may call Kevin and the shorter one Charlie. Take them straight downstairs and do whatever they ask of you. If all goes well, they will be out of your way in ten minutes or less. Any questions?”
“No.”
“Good. Thank you for being so cooperative.” Rapp placed the handset back in the cradle and said to Dumond, “Continue to monitor all of his calls and e-mails. If he doesn’t do exactly as we asked, crash his entire system and tell Wicker and Hacket to get out of there.”
Rapp walked over and grabbed his jacket.
“Where are you going?” Dumond asked.
“I need to run down a lead.”
“What do you want me to tell them at Langley if they start asking about you?”
“You never saw me.”
“You got it.”
“And find out who the Russian is.”
“I’m working on it.”
29
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA
Brooks heard the director’s voice on the intercom and her heart began to race. This was it. Her whole career would be decided in the next ten minutes. Sheila, with the overdone makeup and the infatuation with Mitch Rapp, told her she could go in. Brooks stood. Her blond hair was in a tight ponytail, and she was wearing a black pantsuit. She’d seen Kennedy on TV before wearing virtually the same outfit. Brooks had intentionally decided to wear it today. She was looking for any advantage she could get. She tugged on the front of her white blouse, adjusted the collar, and grabbed the door handle. Brooks took one last deep breath and opened the door.
The door swung in and the first thing Brooks saw were two stone-faced men sitting on a couch directly across the room. It was Juarez and McMahon. Director Kennedy stepped into view and extended her hand.
“Cindy.”
“Director Kennedy.” Brooks took her hand. “It’s a real honor to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
Kennedy smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this mess straightened out. Please,” she gestured toward one of the armchairs opposite the couch, “take a seat.”
Brooks took the chair on the right and glanced nervously at her boss and the agent from the FBI. Neither man looked away. Between the two of them they had to have had sixty plus years of hard experience. McMahon was the Special Agent in Charge of the investigation into the motorcade attack. The FBI wouldn’t give that job to just any agent. They would bring in their best.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Kennedy asked as she took a seat in the chair next to Brooks.
“No, thank you.” Brooks crossed her legs and clasped her hands over her right knee.
“Gentlemen?”
Juarez and McMahon didn’t take their eyes off Brooks. They simply shook their heads.
