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For her part, Kennedy remained at her desk. It would be seen by the politician as the same power play he himself used daily, but the truth was simpler. She was repulsed by the man and preferred to maintain physical distance whenever possible.
Kennedy didn’t immediately speak, letting the politician sweat for almost a minute. He had undoubtedly gone over this meeting in his head a thousand times by now, crafting an exhaustive script of the lies and spin he was so well known for.
“I’d like you to tell us about your relationship with Pakistani intelligence,” Kennedy said finally.
“I don’t have one!” he protested. “This is ridiculous.”
“Then you’re telling me the emails we found on your maid’s computer were hers? That she was corresponding with Akhtar Durrani, the deputy director of the ISI’s external wing?”
“No, of course not. But I’ve never met the man. I swear. He started a dialogue with me and made a number of accusations about illegal CIA activity.”
“And you lapped them up,” Rapp said. “Figured they’d sound great on TV.”
“Absolutely not! But there were too many allegations to ignore.” Ferris finally conjured enough courage to look directly at Rapp. “Money diverted into Swiss bank accounts, people murdered . . .”
Rapp leaned forward over the table. “You sit there on Capitol Hill and tell us to set up a coalition government in Afghanistan. You completely ignore our warnings and force us to bring in every scumbag terrorist, warlord, and drug dealer in the region. If it stays together, you’ll take the credit. But if it blows up in everybody’s face like we’ve been telling you, you’ll act shocked and hold hearings to deflect the blame.”
“The CIA must work within the law!” Ferris almost shouted. “You answer to the government. The elected representatives of the American people.”
“My ass,” Rapp said. “You’re like a four-year-old. When you’re scared, you cling to my leg, crying and demanding that I protect you by whatever means necessary. But when I succeed, you start to feel safe again. Then you want to show everyone how brave and independent you are.”
“This is a country of laws!” Ferris exclaimed, obviously unable to come up with anything more original or to the point.
“Why didn’t you come to me with these suspicions?” Kennedy asked, hoping to regain control of the meeting. Rapp looked like he was about to explode and that wouldn’t be constructive. Not yet.
“What?” Ferris said, having trouble tracking for a moment. “Why? Because some of your people were implicated. I was concerned that you might lack objectivity.”
“I see. In that case, can I assume you discussed this with the president?”
He looked down at the table. “My inquiry hadn’t progressed to the point that it would be worth the president’s time.”
She nodded. “I see. And what do you know about Akhtar Durrani, Senator?”
“He was a respected member of the Pakistani intelligence community and has served with distinction at the ISI for—”
“So you’re not aware, for instance, that he was the man responsible for hiding Osama bin Laden from us?”
Ferris fell silent and just stared at her with a stunned expression. Obviously, the mental script he’d prepared didn’t include a response to that particular piece of information. “I . . . I don’t believe you.”
Rapp slid a file across the table with enough force that Ferris was barely quick enough to stop it from slamming into his stomach. He opened it and paged through, hands shaking visibly. “Why have you kept this secret? Why haven’t you told—”
“Because we were going to hold it over his head, you moron,” Rapp said.
“But—”
“I have to admit that the tone of your emails isn’t particularly skeptical,” Kennedy said. “In fact, you seem to be strongly siding with Durrani. I wonder what the American people would think of your close relationship with one of al Qaeda’s strongest supporters?”
Ferris closed the folder but remained silent. For the first time in his long career, he seemed to have run out of things to say.
“It’s my understanding that you’re going to be part of an upcoming congressional fact-finding mission to Pakistan.”
“In preparation for the state dinner,” Ferris muttered.
He was referring to a reception hosted by the Pakistani president in honor of a new billion-dollar humanitarian aid package to his country. Ferris, along with Secretary of State Sunny Wicka, would be two of the American dignitaries attending.
Normally, the senator would consider this kind of preparatory trip beneath him and it seemed likely that he had been planning to use it as an opportunity to meet personally with Durrani. Now that the man was dead, Kennedy couldn’t figure out why Ferris hadn’t canceled. She’d considered ordering him not to go, but then decided she could learn more by giving him a bit of rope.
“Who are you scheduled to meet with, Senator?”
