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“Well,” Kennedy said as she withdrew her hand from the coffeepot in front of her, “it appears we have a bit of a problem.” She turned sideways so she was facing Brooks. “I’ve known these two men here for some time. I’ve seen them both in various states of anger, but you, young lady, have somehow managed to really get them riled up.” Kennedy tilted her head and smiled.
Brooks, not knowing how else to react, laughed nervously.
“Why do you think that is?”
Brooks regained her composure. “For starters I would like to apologize. Mitch Rapp ordered me not to discuss this operation with anyone until he cleared me to do so.”
“Really.” Juarez ran his thumb and forefinger down his mustache and then leaned forward. “Would you like to show me the org chart where it says that Mitch Rapp is anywhere in your chain of command?”
“Sir, I…” Brooks struggled for a response.
“There is no such chart!” Juarez snapped. “The director and I outrank Mr. Rapp. We are your bosses. He isn’t, and if you don’t get that through your thick head, you are going to find yourself in a whole shitload of trouble.”
Kennedy looked at Juarez, her eyes telling him to back off. She looked back to Brooks. “Cindy, here is the situation. The FBI has in custody a man who is alleged to have been behind the attack on President–elect Alexander’s motorcade. You delivered that man to Andrews Air Force Base yesterday afternoon. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“Do you believe this man is in fact the person we have been looking for?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why?” asked Brooks.
“What evidence do you have?”
“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Director Kennedy, but I gave my word to Mitch that I would not talk about this with anyone until he cleared it.”
Kennedy tried not to take offense. She knew Rapp was the real issue here, not this young rookie. “I understand that Mitch asked you not to talk about what happened on Cyprus, but I’m asking you as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency,” Kennedy put her arms out and looked around the spacious office, “the person who is responsible for this organization, to tell me what happened.”
Brooks looked down and clasped her hands tightly together. She was really in a bind. She couldn’t help but think that even if Rapp did make good on his promise, she would forever be stained by this complete lack of respect. Rapp had told her on the flight home not to worry. Just hang in there for twenty-four to thirty-six hours tops and everything would be fine. She remembered him making her look him in the eye. Those beautiful, yet intimidating, almost black eyes, and he asked her if she trusted him. At the end of it all that was what it came down to. She trusted him.
Brooks looked up at Kennedy and in a very polite voice said, “Director Kennedy, may I ask you one question?”
“Sure,” Kennedy replied after a slight pause.
“Do you trust Mitch?”
At first Kennedy felt blindsided by the question. Almost tricked. But she could tell by the look on Brooks’s face that she was sincere. The debate strategy would have been to throw the question back at Brooks or ask her a different one, but Kennedy didn’t want to. This young operative had just put the discussion into a very interesting light. She smiled at Brooks and said, “Yes, I do. I trust him completely.”
Brooks nodded and brushed an errant strand of blond hair back behind her ear. “Personally, I don’t particularly care for him.”
“Really?”
“He’s not the easiest person to work with.”
“You think so?” Juarez asked sarcastically.
Kennedy ignored him. “Lone wolf.”
“Very much so.”
“I’m afraid a great deal of that is due to his training. When we recruited him, he was very much a team player. Very social. We had to teach him how to operate as an individual…a lone wolf.”
“That’s only part of it. He’s not well.”
“How so?”
