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Harrison Coulter was a political figure she’d never had much of an opinion of. A handsome man, he always appeared kind and capable. To hear his reassurance that Will and his team were as good as they seemed, and trusted by him, meant a lot.
“Any questions for President Coulter?” Will asked.
She shook her head, her investigative instincts paralyzed by feelings of surprise and inadequacy.
Will escorted her gently into the bathroom and kicked on the fan. “Sorry about this. I’ll come get you in a few minutes.”
She nodded mutely. He must have seen something on her face. “Hey, it’s okay. I just didn’t know how else to convince you that you could trust me.”
He stepped out and shut the door behind him, leaving her alone in the overwhelmingly beige bathroom. Definitely hearing directly from the president helped quell her doubts. Mostly though, it only affirmed what her heart was already telling her. She could trust Will. She didn’t need President Coulter to tell her that. But it didn’t hurt either.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Will stepped backinto view of the secure satellite video connection and straightened his shoulder.
“Thank you for that, sir. I need Ms. Byers to cooperate and trust us. This was the best way I could think to do that.” It was a bit unusual, but so was the entire mission.
“I really don’t think–” Ross began.
Coulter interrupted. “Not a problem, Gilbert. She’s already up to her eyeballs in this, anyway. She’s probably right to question you.”
Will smirked. “Probably. This whole situation is a bit unorthodox, sir.”
“Unprecedented, perhaps. But we’re all making the best decisions we can with the information we have.”
“Speaking of information, let’s compare.”
Will took a few notes as President Coulter shared the information he was receiving from the Directors of the FBI and National Intelligence.
“I’m being told that the shooter was Ban Gil-Dong. He’s a known North Korean sympathizer working out of Russia.”
Will nodded. He’d come across Gil-Dong on a mission in Venezuela a decade ago. But it didn’t make sense to him. “Historically, he prefers chemical agents, sir.”
Coulter nodded. “Correct. The joint task force believes that is why his shot was slightly off target.”
“Sir, if I may? I have an alternate theory.” Will didn’t want to step on any toes, but he’d been considering this theory since the shooting happened and everything was lining up.
“By all means.”
Will paused to determine the best way to offer his theory. In the end, he chose one word. “Darkshade.”
Coulter furrowed his brow. “I’m not familiar with that codename.”
Will wasn’t surprised. “Darkshade has never been confirmed to be linked to any assassination, but is suspected of a half dozen over the last decade. I know the CIA has a file, but it’s essentially blank. He’s never operated on US soil as far as I know. There are no photos, no videos, no background on him. We don’t know anything about him other than he exists.”
Ross scoffed. “We don’t even know that, Gilbert. What makes you think it’s him?”
“It’s the only thing I can think of. All of these other names you’ve received? We know what they look like. They’re already wanted by our government and dozens of others. Their main objective would be to hit n’ git.” He shook his head. “Our guy though? He’s determined to tie up this loose end, which tells me he has something to hide.”
Coulter was nodding. “That does make sense. How do you recommend we proceed?”
Will hesitated. “You still believe there is someone inside the FBI?”
The president nodded. “With what you’re telling me about the suspect, I have to wonder why they aren’t being pursued as a lead anyway. I’ll press the issue a bit and see what pops, but I’m afraid this is going to come down to you, your team, and Miss Byers over there.”
Will nodded. “Then let me take the night to formulate our next move, and I’ll send it for your approval, sir.”
After they disconnected, Will sat back on the bed, massaging the temples of his skull to relieve the pressure building there.
