Locked On

41

The press conference was hastily called for the end of the workday at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, just off the mall in D.C. There weren’t many journalists around the DOJ building at that late hour, but when the news services learned the attorney general himself would be making an announcement, reporters shot over from the nearby Capitol building and assembled in a conference room not far from AG Michael Brannigan’s office.

At five thirty-five, more than a half-hour late, Brannigan and a pair of his senior staff shuffled into the room. The journalists waited with growing interest in what he had to say.

The first indication that something remarkable was going on was when the attorney general stood at the lectern without speaking for a moment. He looked off to his subordinates a couple of times. Reporters following his eyes saw men on mobile phones in the corner, speaking softly and hurriedly into them. After several seconds of this, of Brannigan watching his men, obviously hoping for something from them, one of the assistant AGs looked up at his boss and shook his head no.

Brannigan nodded, showed no outward disappointment, and finally addressed the reporters in attendance. “Thank you for coming. This afternoon I am announcing that a federal arrest warrant has been issued for one John A. Clark, an American and former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Clark is wanted for questioning for a series of cold-case murders spanning several decades, as well as implication in ongoing criminal activity.”

The journalists jotted down the name and looked at one another. Brannigan’s office had been making threats about going after CIA officers for actions in the field, but nothing much had happened. Was this the beginning, here at the end of Kealty’s first term, of the pogrom against the CIA that many had said was long overdue?

None of them knew anything about Clark or any case about a CIA spook named Clark, so there were not even any questions as the AG paused.

Brannigan had been warned about this, and instructed by the White House to let slip the next line. “Mr. Clark, you may know, is a longtime friend, a confidant, and a former bodyguard of President Jack Ryan, both during Mr. Ryan’s tenure in the CIA as well as after. We understand this is a politically charged case, but it is a case we cannot overlook due to the serious allegations against Mr. Clark.”

Now the press began to scramble. Websites were opened on smart phones, questions of clarification were shouted out. A woman from NBC asked when the next update on the case would be given, presumably so she could have time to figure out just what the hell was going on.

Brannigan said, “I expect we’ll have something for you within a few hours. As of this moment Clark is a fugitive from justice, but our dragnet should bring him in shortly.”

Brannigan left the conference room, and the reporters followed him out with their phones to their ears. The TV media would have something on the case by the six-o’clock news. Print had a little more time to get some facts together.

Jack Junior arrived at Melanie’s house at six o’clock. They had planned on a more formal evening in D.C., but both were tired after a long day at work, so they decided to just get together for a quick and casual dinner instead. When Melanie opened the door to her place, she looked beautiful, but she apologized to Ryan, asked for just a couple more minutes to get ready.

Ryan sat on a love seat, looking around the room to occupy himself. He noticed a collection of books and papers stacked on the little desk in the corner next to Melanie’s laptop. Books on Pakistan, on Egypt, printouts full of maps, pictures, and text.

“Still bringing your work home with you, I see?” Jack asked with a smile.

“No. That’s just some research I’m doing on my own.”

“Mary Pat isn’t giving you enough to do?”

Melanie laughed. “That’s not it at all. I just like poking around in open source in my free time. There’s nothing there that is in any way classified. Just out there for anyone.”

“If it’s not classified, can I take a look at it?”

“Why? Are you interested in terrorism?”

“I’m interested in you.”

Melanie laughed, grabbed her coat, and said, “I’m ready when you are.”

Jack cocked his head slightly, wondered what she had cooking over there by her laptop, but he climbed off the couch and followed the beautiful brunette out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Jack and Melanie sat at the bar at Murphy’s, an Irish pub on King Street, not far from her place. They were halfway into their first beer, and a big basket of Old Bay wings had just been delivered, when the bartender switched to a news channel. The two twenty-somethings ignored it for the most part while they chatted, but Ryan glanced up occasionally. He was hoping to see some new poll numbers for his dad that would allow his parents to breathe a little more easily, so he looked over Melanie’s shoulder at the screen from time to time.

Melanie was talking about a cat she had in high school, when Ryan stole a check of the news.

His eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and he said, “Oh, fuck, no!”

Melanie stopped talking. “Excuse me?”

Ryan leapt at the remote to the TV, yanked it off the bar, and turned up the volume. The television showed an image of Ryan’s colleague John Clark. The report then switched to Michael Brannigan’s news conference at DOJ, where Jack caught the AG’s vague description of the charges and the political implications of the case.

Melanie looked at Ryan while he watched this. “You know him?”

“He is a friend of my dad’s.”

“I’m sorry.”

“A legend at CIA.”

“Really?”

Ryan nodded distractedly. “He was on the other end. Operations.”

“Case officer?”

“SAD.”

Melanie nodded. She understood. “Do you think he—”

“Hell, no!” Ryan said, then controlled himself. “No. The guy has a damn Congressional Medal of Honor.”

“Sorry.”

Jack turned his head away from the TV, back to Melanie. “I’m sorry. I’m reacting to what Kealty is doing. Not you.”

“I get it.”

“He’s got a wife. Kids. He’s a grandfather. Jesus … You don’t tear down a man like that without knowing what you are talking about.”

Melanie nodded. “Can your dad protect him? When he gets back in the White House?”

“I hope so. I guess Kealty is doing this to prevent my dad from getting back in the White House.”

“It’s too transparent. It won’t work …” Melanie said, but her voice trailed off at the end.

“Unless?”

“Unless … well, you say this Clark doesn’t have any skeletons in his closet that weren’t put there by his work in the CIA.”

And that was it, exactly. Jack couldn’t say it to Melanie, of course, but he knew a detailed investigation into John Clark just might uncover The Campus. Might that be the goal of this? Might some news have come out about what Clark had been up to for the past year or more? Something about the Paris operation, or even the Emir case?

Shit, Jack thought. This investigation, whether or not they have anything substantive on Clark, could bring about the destruction of The Campus.

The report ended, and he turned to Melanie. “I’m really sorry, but I need to call it a night.”

“I understand,” she said, but Ryan could see in her eyes that she did not. Where was he going to go? What could he possibly do to help John Clark?