The Survivor

CHAPTER 26

Senator Carl Ferris and his entourage all rose to their feet when Taj entered the outer office. The American politician strode toward the smaller man, enveloping his hand and smiling broadly.

“Good to see you, Ahmed. It’s been a long time.”

“Too long, sir. I’m honored that you took time out of your schedule to meet with me personally.”

“Deciding which chair Sunny Wicka’s ass is in while she drones on about our new aid package isn’t much of a priority for me.”

The program to be announced at next week’s state dinner was yet another example of the bribes that the Americans believed would keep Pakistan docile.

Not that Taj objected to the influx of Western money. He would see to it that only a tiny portion of that billion dollars ever found its way into the hands of Pakistan’s poor. The rest would be diverted to the military and the terrorist groups the Americans were so frightened by.

“Please join me in my office, Senator.”

Ferris waved at his people to stay where they were and followed the ISI director inside.

“Tea?” Taj offered.

“I’m on a tight schedule, Ahmed.”

“Of course. I understand completely.”

Ferris had gained a visible amount of weight and was trying unsuccessfully to hide it with a creatively tailored suit. Undoubtedly it was the product of stress. The information given to the politician by Akhtar Durrani would have made for an explosive hearing — endless hours of Ferris hitting Irene Kennedy with specific dates, names, and places, while she stammered and equivocated. A bold first step toward his party’s presidential nomination.

Unfortunately, Durrani was dead and Kennedy had discovered Ferris’s relationship with the former ISI deputy director. She was keeping the information quiet for now, but the public release of evidence linking the prominent senator to Pakistani intelligence had the potential to devastate his political career.

“Let me say—” Taj started, but Ferris spoke over him.

“Kennedy told me that Durrani kidnapped her man Joe Rickman and was torturing him for information. That they’re both dead now.”

“Irene Kennedy is a professional liar.”

“And you’re not?”

“I was appointed to this position specifically because I’m not, sir.”

Ferris frowned, but there was no skepticism in his expression. Like everyone else, he saw Taj as weak. A pawn to be used and, if necessary, sacrificed.

“So you’re saying it’s not true?”

“That would be too simple, Senator. Kennedy mixes truth with lies to keep her enemies off balance.”

“Is that scotch?” Ferris said, pointing to a crystal service. Taj had his people bring it in specifically for this meeting.

“It is.”

Ferris poured himself a glass uninvited. “What’s your truth, Ahmed?”

“Durrani was little more than a thug. He was not capable of creating a plan this complex. I can assure you that it was entirely Joe Rickman’s doing. He had become disillusioned with the CIA in a similar way that you have. He saw it as a corrupt and destructive organization that no longer answered to elected officials like yourself. Unfortunately, he was far more clumsy in his actions than you would have been.”

It was untrue to the point of being transparent. Rickman had been a brilliant strategist. He’d spent years devising a plan that had a very real chance of dismantling America’s intelligence apparatus. This partisan half-wit would be no more capable of comprehending Rickman’s complex machinations than Durrani was.

Of course, the senator didn’t see it that way and accepted the blatant flattery without a second thought. “How were they killed? Kennedy didn’t say what happened to Rickman and the reports said your man had a heart attack.”

“They were shot by one of Durrani’s men with the help of an anonymous American.”

“An American? Are you sure?”

“Yes. We have recordings of his voice. It’s impossible to prove because of the poor quality, but we believe it was Mitch Rapp.”

Ferris’s face twisted with hate and he stalked around the room for a few moments, processing what he’d heard. Finally he stopped short. “That bitch! She made me believe that Durrani had been playing me and murdered Rickman. She said she’d release the emails between us and make me out to be either a traitor or some naïve patsy. She threatened to have me arrested. Me!”

“She’s afraid of you, Senator. She understands your power and your patriotism. That you won’t allow her to subvert everything America stands for.”

Despite his lifelong devotion to Allah, this was the first time Taj had been absolutely certain he was seeing God’s hand at work. What other explanation could there be? His impending takeover of Pakistan, the Rickman files, the billion dollars that the Americans were about to transfer into his pocket. And now Allah had delivered this simpleton who had a very real chance at becoming the president of the United States.

Ferris swilled from his glass, nostrils flaring with anger. “What do you want to bet that even President Alexander doesn’t know about this? That she and Rapp assassinated one of your top people and an American citizen with no authority at all?”

“I think it’s very likely,” Taj responded calmly.

Men like Ferris — ones with delicate egos that had swelled to these proportions — became almost comically easy to manipulate. Undoubtedly, he told himself that he acted out of a love for his country’s pathetic Constitution, but that was a lie. The truth was that Irene Kennedy simply hadn’t bowed and scraped sufficiently before him. All this was nothing more than the personal vendetta of a feeble little man.

“I doubt she had any admissible evidence against Rickman,” Taj said. “Much more likely he knew too much about her and Rapp, and she needed to silence him. It’s just the kind of thing that your committee is set up to prevent, no?”

Ferris responded by letting out a long string of expletives.

“To change the subject somewhat, Senator, what are your own lawyers saying?”

Ferris had the potential to become a very useful tool but not if he was under Kennedy’s thumb. Recently implemented campaign financing rules were easily subverted and the ISI would be able to quietly funnel as much anonymous money to America’s politicians as it pleased.

The cycle of corruption was delicious. Taj used American aid to buy American politicians, who then approved more aid in order to increase the amount of money the ISI had to fill their campaign coffers.

“The lawyers say I’m on solid ground,” Ferris said. “As far as they’re concerned, a foreign official lodged a confidential complaint about — illegal activity by the CIA and I investigated it. The fact that I didn’t bring it to the attention of the Intelligence Committee is a procedural issue more than a legal one. I can play it off as being concerned that Senator Lonsdale is in Kennedy’s pocket.”

“Then your problems are solved.”

Ferris looked at him like he was a slow child. “Wake up, Ahmed. It’s not that simple. Winning a criminal case keeps me out of jail but fighting it ends my career. I need an army of political consultants to start shaping my message. With the right people, I can come out of this looking like a hero. Those people aren’t cheap, though.”

“But this shouldn’t be difficult,” Taj said, feigning naïveté. “You are a hero, Senator. You’re protecting your country’s freedom.”

Ferris laughed. “Truth has nothing to do with American politics, Ahmed. Voters are idiots who do what they’re told. I just have to make sure it’s me — and not that bitch Kennedy — who’s doing the telling.”

“Of course, I would be happy to contribute to your effort.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that, Ahmed. Five million ought to get us off to a good start.”

“U.S. dollars?” Taj said, eyes widening.

In fact, the amount was insignificant. Beyond the money flowing in from the U.S. government, the American people provided hundreds of millions annually by purchasing his Afghan-grown heroin.

“Like I said, people like these don’t work cheap.”

Taj nodded submissively. “You’re a good friend to my country and have done nothing but support our efforts to eradicate the terrorist threat. I’ll have my people begin preparations immediately.”

“That’s good, Ahmed. Tell them to work quick, okay? I don’t trust Irene Kennedy any farther than I can throw her. We need to slap her down and we need to do it hard and fast.”

“Of course. But in the meantime, I think there’s more I can do to help you. Information you might find useful.”

The man’s eyebrows rose. “What kind of information?”

“What if I told you that Rickman is releasing videos damaging to the CIA?”

Ferris waved a hand dismissively. “We all saw the video of him being tortured and talking about Agency assets, Ahmed. It was on YouTube, for God’s sake.”

“There have been subsequent videos that Kennedy is keeping from your government.”

“You said Rickman was dead.”

“He is. But he knew that his life was in jeopardy. He feared that Mitch Rapp would discover that his kidnapping was fake and begin looking for him. Somehow he set up his scheme to survive him.”

“What’s in these videos?” Ferris said, starting to sound interested.

“We’re only aware of one so far. It resulted in Mitch Rapp killing a number of Russian agents in Istanbul. We anticipate further releases in the future.”

A broad smile spread across Ferris’s face. “Can we prove it?”

“Perhaps soon. It seems like a story your new image consultants would be interested in, no? Kennedy losing control of Rickman as he flooded Afghan warlords and drug dealers with American money. Sloppy security that allowed him to learn far more than he should have. And you trying desperately to stop it while she blackmails you with lies.”

Ferris didn’t seem to be listening anymore. His eyes stared blankly past Taj, undoubtedly seeing himself crushing Irene Kennedy and then rising meteorically to the Oval Office.

Taj glanced at his watch. “I know you have another commitment in half an hour, Senator, and I fear that traffic will be difficult at this time of day.”

That snapped the man out of his trance. He put down his drink and extended a liver-spotted hand. “Good talk, Ahmed. And I look forward to hearing from your people about those contributions.”

Taj nodded. “Perhaps we can find time to speak privately when you return with Secretary Wicka’s delegation.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

Taj walked Ferris to his office door, standing by respectfully as the politician barked at his handlers and headed for the exit. Only when he’d disappeared down the hallway did Taj return to his desk.

It was impossible to believe that the culmination of years of planning was only a week away. The assassination of President Chutani at his banquet for the Americans would be a trivial matter. Shaping the aftermath, though, would be more delicate.

The people of Pakistan and the Middle East would have to be made to believe that the United States was responsible. The story was admittedly clumsy. Why would the Americans kill such a steadfast ally? Like in U.S. politics, though, truth was unimportant. People believed what they wanted to believe, and the hatred of America was incredibly powerful in his country.

Following the president’s death, Taj would waste no time. Using Shirani’s army and his own influence with the Taliban, he would take control.

Pakistan, now a failing patchwork of competing factions, would become a monolith. And the world would tremble.