After a brief check by the Secret Service, the director"s limousine was allowed admittance through the southwest gate. It pulled up West Executive Drive and stopped. Kennedy stepped from the back of the car clutching her black velvet wrap tightly around her shoulders with one hand and holding up the hem of her full-length evening gown with the other. A uniformed Secret Service officer opened the door for her and she hurried into the welcome warmth of the West Wing.
Kennedy walked through the ground floor past the White House Mess and the Situation Room and then up a flight of stairs and past the Cabinet Room. Outside once again, she walked quickly down the Colonnade. This was the way the President walked to and from work every day. She entered the White House and waiting for her in the tropical Palm Room was Special Agent Jack Warch, the man in charge of President Hayes"s Secret Service detail.
"You look very nice this evening, Irene," the always gallant agent said.
"Thank you, Jack, and so do you."
Warch, like all the agents working the detail this evening, was dressed in formal attire. He offered his arm.
"The President and General Flood are upstairs waiting for you."
Kennedy liked Warch. He was a hardworking professional who adored his family.
"How are Sheila and the kids?" asked Kennedy.
"They"re doing well. And Tommy?" Warch was referring to Kennedy"s seven-year-old son.
"Growing like a weed starting to get a little lippy." She shrugged.
"You know all the stuff that goes along with being seven." Kennedy thought of adding that it might be nice to have a father around, but she didn"t. It was not her style to act like a victim.
They entered the elevator that would take them up to the second floor of the residence. Warch placed his back to the wall and clasped his hands in front.
"How"s my favorite counterterrorism agent?"
Kennedy looked at him sideways wondering if the comment was merely conversational or if Warch knew what Rapp was up to. He knew Rapp fairly well and in truth Warch could be trusted, but he was not in a need to know position.
"He"s fine."
Warch looked uncomfortable for a moment and then said, "His wife cornered me just a few minutes ago. She wanted to know where Mitch is."
"And?" asked Kennedy.
The elevator stopped and the door opened.
"I told her I have no idea."
Kennedy stepped into the hall first.
"Do you have any idea?"
Warch frowned.
"No."
"Good," said Kennedy with a curt nod.
They both walked across the wide hallway that was more like a living room and stopped outside the door to the President"s study.
"Irene," the agent said in a concerned voice, "I think someone needs to have a talk with Anna."
"How so?"
"I just think you should talk to her."
"And tell her about what covert operations the CIA is running?" asked Kennedy in a sarcastic tone.
"No." Warch"s face twisted in disagreement.
"Of course not. But someone needs to tell her to stop asking all these questions."
"She"s a reporter. That"s what she does for a living."
"I know, but it"s her husband, for Christ"s sake, so it"s only going to get worse. I think a little rea.s.surance from you would go a long way."
Kennedy thought about what she might say.
"She"s here tonight?"
"Yep."
On second thought, with Mitch out of town this might be the perfect opportunity for her to set a few things straight with his wife.
There had been a noticeable chill between the two of them and since both would be involved in Rapp"s life for some time, maybe now was a good time for them to talk.
"All right, I"ll try to have a talk with her later."
Warch knocked on the door to the study, waited for a second, and then turned the old bra.s.s k.n.o.b and opened the door. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the commander in chief were sitting by the fireplace playing a game of cards. General Flood had a gla.s.s half-filled with a brown liquid that Kennedy guessed to be k.n.o.b Creek bourbon. As for what the President had in his gla.s.s she had no idea. He was a social drinker with no particular favorite. She"d seen him drink wine, both red and white, beer, vodka, scotch and bourbon, but she"d never seen him exhibit a single sign of inebriation other than a tendency to get a little more vociferous than normal.
Both gentlemen stood and complimented the director of the CIA on how nice she looked. Kennedy reciprocated and took a seat on the couch while the President poured her a vodka on the rocks. Kennedy had learned that it was better to accept the drink and nurse it rather than decline and have to reaffirm that she didn"t want a drink five more times.
The President settled back into his chair and picked up his hand.
Looking over the top of the cards he asked, "Whose turn is it?"
"It"s yours," replied the general.
Hayes started to pluck a card and then decided to put it back.
"So, Irene, what"s on your mind?"
"We have a situation, sir, that I think you need to be aware of."
Kennedy looked briefly at General Flood to see if he"d told the President of their earlier conversation. He gave her no sign that he had.
Kennedy looked back to the President, who had finally decided on a card to get rid of.
"Several hours before dawn in the Philippines we inserted a team into the jungle of Dinagat Island to take care of the situation with General Moro. While en route to their primary objective, the team stumbled across hostile forces that they identified as a column of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas."
Hayes set his cards down. He did not like the way this sounded.
The last thing he needed right now were more U.S. forces killed in the Philippines.
"Please tell me there wasn"t another ambush?"
"No, sir, there wasn"t. The team was not sighted by the opposing force. They allowed the column to pa.s.s, and then went on to complete their primary objective."
Hayes looked a little confused.
"Then what"s the problem?"
"Well"-Kennedy thought about it for a second-"I"d say it"s more of an opportunity, sir, than a problem."
The President looked intrigued.
"Let"s hear it."
"The enemy column was transporting the Anderson family, all five of them."
"You"re serious?" asked a suddenly eager President.
Kennedy found the question a little strange since she was not known for her sense of humor.
"Yes, sir, the team split into two groups of two. One group went on to complete the primary mission while the other trailed the enemy column."
Now on the edge of his seat, Hayes asked, "Do we know where they are?"
Smiling slightly, she answered, "We have eyes-on intelligence, sir.
We know exactly where they are. GPS coordinates and all."
Hayes stood abruptly. A day hadn"t pa.s.sed in the last six months where he hadn"t thought of that poor family.
"I want the National Security Council convened in the Situation Room in one hour." Hayes checked his watch.
"I"ll find an excuse to get over-" The President noticed Kennedy wincing slightly.
"What"s wrong?"
"I don"t think we should go into crisis mode just yet."
Now the President was really confused.
"Why not?"
"Mitch has requested that we keep this very low-key. He"s...o...b..ard the Belleau Wood right now doing a tactical a.s.sessment while our team is on the ground giving him a constant stream of intel on the target."
"What exactly do you mean by low-key?" asked Hayes.
Kennedy hesitated and then asked, "Do you trust Mitch, sir?"
"Of course I do."
"Well, he thinks that the Belleau Wood battle group has all the a.s.sets we need to pull off a successful hostage rescue, and in light of what happened the other night, he thinks it best not to get the entire national security apparatus involved."
Hayes folded his arms across his chest and stared into s.p.a.ce for a moment. It was obvious he was torn between his trust for Rapp and his natural instinct to manage the situation.
"What type of timetable are we looking at?"
"The Philippines are fourteen hours ahead of us, sir. It"s tomorrow morning there." Kennedy adjusted her gla.s.ses.
"The earliest we"d launch a rescue operation is after sundown, which gives us at least eleven hours to prepare. Mitch is proposing that we give him the authority to put a plan together on-site, and then report to us tomorrow morning, our time, before we launch the rescue."
Hayes thought about this for a moment and then turned to General Flood.
"What do you think?"
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs looked at Kennedy.
"What are we up against?"
"Enemy strength is estimated at sixty armed men light machine guns mostly and a few RPGs."
As a soldier who"d been in battle, Flood was not a fan of micro-managing situations from thousands of miles away. He thought about the a.s.sets available and said, "The Belleau Wood has more than enough muscle to handle the job, sir. She has a task unit onboard, along with a platoon of Force Reconnaissance marines, and there"s also an entire battalion of marines...o...b..ard for backup if things get hairy."
Hayes shifted his weight from one leg to the other.
"What"s your recommendation?"
Flood checked his watch.
"I"d say let Mitch put a plan together. We can convene in the Situation Room in the morning and get a briefing before we give it a green light. Until then the best thing we can do is stay out of their way."
The President stood in front of the fireplace considering the advice he"d just been given. He shifted his gaze to Kennedy.
"Irene, I a.s.sume you agree?"
Kennedy"s predecessor had taught her many valuable lessons. One of the better ones was that men of power were best persuaded by their own words.
"You"ve said it yourself before, sir. Mitch has a way of getting things done. I"d say the best person to handle this situation is right where we need him."
Hayes agreed with a curt nod.
"All right. Let"s plan on convening tomorrow morning. In the meantime I expect the two of you will monitor the situation closely."
Both Kennedy and Flood said they would.
"Good." Hayes nodded and then said, "All right, then, if you"ll excuse me, I need to pick up my date."