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Earlier in his career, Rapp would have never felt an ounce of compassion for this woman, but with age he had begun to realize that most of the players in this drama did not intend to do harm. They simply downplayed or ignored the threat. Some were naïve and merely thought the terrorists would go away if we understood them better. Others, like Lonsdale, thought the letter of the law was the most important thing. That we as a nation must never lower ourselves to their level. In Rapp’s world, where he saw up close the mayhem that these groups caused, the first sentiment was simply naïve and the second, while honorable, was not very practical.
Rapp looked at her cheerless, bloodshot eyes and wondered if the murder of her fellow senators would cause her to see things differently now. “Senator Lonsdale,” Rapp said in a polite voice, “thank you for coming.”
Lonsdale looked nervously around the room, and said, “Where are they?”
“Excuse me?” Rapp said not understanding what she was talking about.
“The men you captured,” she said, looking him in the eye for the first time. “I spoke with the president. He told me you have four men in custody.”
Rapp wondered if any of these politicians knew how to keep their mouths shut. “Senator, maybe after we handle the video conference with al-Haq, I can…”
“I want to see them now!” Lonsdale said forcefully.
The force of her demand took Rapp aback. “I can assure you, they are being taken care of, ma’am.”
Lonsdale clenched her fists and stepped to within a foot of Rapp. Looking up with her bloodshot eyes, she said, “I do not care about their welfare, Mr. Rapp. I want to see them right now.”
Rapp was suddenly very curious to see how this would play out. “Fine…follow me.”
After a couple steps he turned and told the Secret Service agents that they could stay put. It was bad enough he was bringing Lonsdale up. The last thing they needed was more men with badges. Lonsdale followed him up the spiral staircase in silence. When they reached the door to the conference room, Rapp knocked and said to Lonsdale, “Give me a second.”
Rapp opened the door a crack and saw Aabad sitting at the far end of the heavy wooden table, cradling his right ha
nd across his chest. Nash was sitting on the edge of the table, looming over Aabad. When Nash saw Rapp, he got up and walked over to the door. Rapp stepped in and shut the door.
“I’d told him he’d better give me something good before you get back up here or that other arm would get torn out of its socket. Now he’s going on and on about these SWAT uniforms. He’s admitted that there’s nine other guys still out there.”
“Nine,” Rapp said, surprised by the number.
“Yeah, he says they are going to use these SWAT uniforms to get into and attack a federal facility.”
There was a loud knock on the door. “That’s Lonsdale. She wants to see him. Let’s make this quick, and then we’ll get this new info out.” Rapp opened the door.
Lonsdale entered the room and looked down the length of the table at the small man who appeared to be grimacing in pain. “Who is he?” she asked in a cold voice.
“Aabad bin Baaz. Saudi national,” Rapp said as he closed the door. He decided to leave out the part about the dual citizenship.
“I demand to see my attorney,” Aabad said in a pleading voice.
“Is he responsible for the explosions?” Lonsdale asked.
“He’s part of the cell.”
Lonsdale approached the prisoner and asked, “Do you know who I am?”
“No,” Aabad said with wide hopeful eyes.
“I’m Senator Barbara Lonsdale.”
“I am an American citizen,” he said earnestly.
Lonsdale ignored him. “Do you know where I was supposed to have lunch today?”
“No,” he said with a confused face.
“The Monocle. I sent my chief of staff there instead.”
Aabad looked nervously back and forth between Lonsdale and Rapp and Nash. “I know my rights. I demand to see my attorney.”
