Locked On

46

The oval table in the conference room on the ninth floor of Hendley Associates was ringed with stern-faced men that Thursday morning. Sam Driscoll’s and John Clark’s seats were empty, but Domingo, Dominic, and Jack faced Gerry Hendley and Sam Granger. Rick Bell, Campus chief of analysis, begged off the meeting because he was focusing his energies on analyzing CIA and FBI traffic regarding the Clark investigation.

Gerry assented to Bell’s request, as it was in everyone’s best interest that they got some sort of heads-up in the event black trucks full of FBI tactical officers were on their way to the front door of their building.

For the past two days, Hendley Associates had been open for business, but the operators and much of the intelligence-analysis staff had been instructed to stay home. Instead the company functioned as a perfectly aboveboard trading and arbitrage shop, in case any of the intelligence the government was using in its sealed indictment on Clark also included information tipping off investigators about the real reasons behind Hendley Associates.

When no one came knocking on Tuesday or on Wednesday, Hendley, Bell, and Granger made the decision to bring their men in to work on Thursday. They had a very active and important investigation under way, with Sam Driscoll already out in the field, and plans to send the other operatives to Dubai to set up covert surveillance on Rehan’s property there.

The first question of the morning was whether or not they could continue on with their investigation, or if they wanted to just pull up stakes, lie low for a while, and somehow try to support Clark.

Dominic Caruso took a long sip of coffee and said, “We need to be here, in the States, and ready to move to support Clark. Do we even know where he is?”

Granger said, “The Gulfstream dropped him off just outside of Berlin. They will be back at BWI this evening, and can fly you out to Dubai, via Amsterdam, tomorrow night.”

Ryan said, “Look, I understand the Dubai surveillance is important. But in light of recent events … Shit. We can’t just leave John alone on this.”

Domingo shook his head. “He doesn’t need us. He doesn’t want us around. He’s going to try and wiggle out of this mess on his own while we work our op. Don’t lose sight of what we’re working on, Jack. This is damn important.”

“I know.”

“Look, John may be a bit long in the tooth, but he’s also the most BTDT operator on the planet.”

“BTDT?”

“Been there, done that. Trust me, John Clark can handle himself. And if he needs support in the field he will contact us. Look. You know I’d die for that man, but I also do what he tells me, especially at a time like this. I’m staying out of his way, going on with my job, and you are, too. Okay, ’mano?”

Jack didn’t like it. He couldn’t understand how Ding could be so relaxed after everything that had happened. Still, he understood that Chavez had earned the right to call the shots on something involving John Clark. The two had been partners for twenty years, and Chavez was Clark’s son-in-law, as well.

“Okay, Ding.”

“Good. Now, we’ve got today and tomorrow to get ready for our operation in Dubai, so that’s what we’ll do. Cool?”

Caruso and Ryan were struggling with what they took as something of an abandonment of their mentor, but they could not argue with Chavez’s logic. Clark could always send for them. Even in Dubai.

It would be hard for the men to concentrate on the Rehan op, especially not knowing what might be still to come on the DOJ’s Clark investigation, but they had a job to do, so they got to it.

The Oval Office of the President of the United States was not the actual command center for the FBI’s operation to capture John Terrence Kelley, aka John Clark, but one could be forgiven for having that impression. Throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday, Ed Kealty saw a steady stream of repeat visits from Benton Thayer, Charles Alden, Mike Brannigan, Wes McMullen, and others focused on bringing in Clark.

But by Wednesday afternoon the FBI had decided their elusive bird had flown the coop. Kealty ordered Brannigan, Alden, and Thayer all into his office at the same time. By the President’s way of thinking, he needed to turn up the heat on his own people. To that end, he subjected the group sitting on the couches to a ten-minute tongue-lashing that ended with a question delivered in a tenor just short of a scream.

“How the hell does one man slip away like that?”

Charles Alden said, “With respect, sir. That is what he does.”

Kealty replied, “Ryan could be helping him run. Alden, go back to CIA and dig deeper. If you can find a tighter connection to Ryan and Clark, then we can implicate Ryan in Clark’s flight.”

Alden said, “I am told that some of what Jack Ryan did, and much of what John Clark did, was never committed to paper.”

“Bullshit,” Kealty said. “You’re being lied to by your own people. Make examples of a couple of the key people, and the others will open up.”

“Tried that already, sir. These guys, the old guard, would rather hit the bricks than talk about John Clark.”

“Fucking spooks,” Ed Kealty said, waving away Alden’s comment as he looked at Brannigan for a long moment. Finally the President pointed at his AG. “Listen to me, Mike. I want John Clark on the Ten Most Wanted list by the end of the day.”

“Mr. President, there are a lot of concerns about that. Someone else, some terrorist or murderer or other dangerous man, will have to come off the list, and that is problematic as far as—”

“John Clark is a murdering dangerous man. I want him on there.”

Wes spoke up: “I worry about how this is going to look to—”

“I don’t give a good goddamn how it looks! I want this man caught! If he is a fugitive from justice, and if he has left the country, then we need to turn up the heat in any and all possible ways.”

Brannigan asked, as respectfully as possible, “Who shall I remove, sir? Which one of the top ten will come off to put Clark on?”

“Your problem, Mike. Not mine.”

Benton Thayer said, “Mike, sometimes there is a number eleven, isn’t there? Like when they don’t want to take anyone off but feel someone else needs to go on?”

The attorney general admitted, reluctantly, that Thayer was correct.

The meeting broke up minutes later, but DDO Charles Alden asked Kealty directly if he could stay behind to talk to him for just a moment. He also asked that Thayer remain in the Oval Office.

This was a breach of protocol for a meeting with the chief executive. Wes McMullen, the President’s chief of staff, should have been approached by Alden if he wanted more time with the President. Wes was standing right there, he had been ignored, and he was determined to nip this in the bud.

“Guys, the President has a one-thirty Rose Garden stand-up with a—”

“Wes,” Kealty said. “It’s okay. Just give us a few minutes.”

McMullen was as suspicious as he was frustrated, but he did as his boss told him and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Kealty sat on the couch with Alden and Thayer facing him. By looking at both men, he recognized immediately that his campaign manager did not know what was about to be discussed.

“What is it, Charles?”

Alden drummed his fingers on his knees while he carefully chose his words. “Mr. President, some information has come into my possession that makes me believe there is credible evidence that this Clark character was involved in the capture of the Emir.”

Thayer and Kealty both sat there with their mouths slightly open. Softly Kealty said, “What the hell are you talking about? What evidence, and why am I just hearing about this?”

“To insulate you, Mr. President. I think it’s best that I don’t say anything else.”

But Kealty shook his head. “Justice says the Emir was likely dumped on us by a foreign intelligence agency. Do we believe now that Clark is spying for another country?”

Alden shook his head. “That is not Clark. I’ve read every scrap of paper that’s ever been written about the son of a bitch. Not in a million years would he work for a foreign power.”

Thayer leaned in closer. “Then what the fuck is he?”

“He is … he must be … working for someone here. Someone waving the flag. But not CIA. Definitely not CIA.”

“What are you not saying?”

“The FBI did not get any wind of what Clark was working on from CIA. But within the FBI itself … There are faint rumors about an off-the-books organization stocked with certain analytical and operational capabilities. Like a private spy shop. FBI has suspicions that some in their house know about it, but getting any concrete evidence is like nailing Jell-O to the wall.”

Edward Kealty literally gasped. “You are talking about a shadow government? Some sort of sub rosa American enterprise?”

“Nothing else makes a damn bit of sense,” Alden said.

Benton Thayer was slower than the other two; he had no experience with either the military or intelligence communities, and hadn’t thought much about how they were organized. But he did understand one aspect. “The Emir will know if Clark captured him. We get the Emir to ID him, and then Clark is fucking toast. And if Clark goes down, then Jack Ryan goes down with him.”

Kealty was still gobsmacked by this new information. But he retained the presence of mind to say, “The Emir is under lock and key, with DOJ restrictions on the intel he can provide.”

Thayer just shook his head. “You are the President of the United States. Just tell Brannigan to loosen the reins on the PCI. We can get everything we need.”

Kealty, the consummate political animal, thought of a new angle to his problem. “But the Emir is the most unsympathetic witness we could possibly have on our side in this. So what if he IDs Clark? Then Clark comes off looking like a hero for capturing the man. Think about it! Does it bother us that there may be some sort of off-the-books spy shop out there? Fuck, yes! But is the tenth district of Ohio, or the third district of Florida, or any one of the other battleground states, going to support the trial of the guy who caught the Emir? I don’t see it.”

Alden shrugged. “We don’t care if Clark goes to prison for this. But if we can implicate Ryan … If Clark is involved, maybe Ryan is involved, as well. Think about it. Who else would Clark work for on something as shady as an off-the-books intelligence house?”

Kealty said, “We will need Clark in hand to answer that question. We can offer him limited immunity, or even total immunity, to dump this on Jack Ryan.”

Alden nodded. “I like it.”

But Kealty then said, “But without Clark, we are dead in the water.”

Alden looked to Thayer now. “May I have one minute alone with the President?”

Thayer just nodded without checking with Kealty himself. He felt incredibly out of his depth, and he had a suspicion something was about to happen that he would not want to be involved in. So he rose from the couch and headed straight out of the office, closing the door behind him.

“Chuck?” Ed Kealty leaned forward, almost whispered.

“Mr. President. Just between you and me … I can get John Clark.”

“We need him alive.”

“I understand.”

Kealty started to speak, his mouth opened to utter the word how, but he stopped himself. Instead he just said, “Just between you and me, Chuck … do it.”

Alden rose, and the two men shook hands with hard looks between them.

Nothing else was said before the deputy director of the CIA left the Oval Office.