Cold Shot: A Novel
Page 38
“Just the star,” Jon confirmed. Cooke couldn’t sign off on this one. Not until Avila was dead or rotting in a Venezuelan jail and maybe not even then, depending on who replaced him.
The star, singular. Just one, then. He looked up at Stryker. She was trying not to cry, and failing. “You knew him, didn’t you?”
“We were there,” Kyra said with a shaky nod.
“Who was he?”
“She,” Jonathan corrected him. “Marisa Mills.” Kyra’s face broke out in a sad smile and tears finally started to roll.
“At least you two made it out,” Stanton said. “At least I only have to draw one.”
“There will always be more,” Jon said.
“I wish you were wrong.” Stanton reached down, picked up the ruler and the pencil, and leaned over the Book.
Acknowledgments
Any list of supporters must begin with my wife, Janna, whose willingness to be a single mother for months at a time makes writing a book possible; whose faith in my writing exceeds my own; and who keeps my head on straight. I love you.
As always, the professionals at Simon & Schuster—Lauren Spiegel, Miya Kumangai, Shida Carr, Norma Hoffman, and many others who work so hard to make every book the best it can be, and far better than I could make them by myself. I live in fear of the day that I have to work with a different team because this one has set a high bar that any other will be hard pressed to meet.
Jason Yarn and Ken Freimann, who help filter the ideas that are working from the ones that are failing. Brutal honesty can be bitter medicine but this patient appreciates the results of the unsparing diagnoses these gentlemen deliver.
The CIA Publications Review Board, which makes a potentially difficult process as painless as possible. Despite accusations to the contrary, I’ve never found them to be difficult or bent on unfair censorship.
Finally, Rachel Hanig-Grunspan, one of the great friends of my life. You accepted a hard decision that helped me but hurt you far more than I ever intended. I hope someday to find a way to make it up to you.
Photo by Janna Henshaw
MARK HENSHAW is the author of Red Cell and a decorated active CIA analyst with more than eleven years of service. He is the recipient of the Director of National Intelligence Galileo Award for innovation in intelligence analysis. A former member of the Agency’s Red Cell think tank, Henshaw lives with his family in Leesburg, Virginia.
www.MarkHenshaw.com
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Red Cell
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Touchstone
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the agency or any other US Government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government authentication of information or agency endorsement of the author's views. This material has been reviewed by the agency to prevent the disclosure of classified information.
Copyright © 2014 by Mark Henshaw
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First Touchstone hardcover edition May 2014
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Interior design by Robert E. Ettlin
Jacket design by Ervin Serrano
Jacket photographs: ocean and sky © Kuzma/Shutterstock;
ship © Natali Glado/Shutterstock;
helicopters © RGB Ventures LLC dba SuperStock/Alamy
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Henshaw, Mark. 1970–
Cold shot / Mark Henshaw.—First Touchstone hardcover edition.
pages cm.
“A Touchstone book.”
1. United States. Central Intelligence Agency—Fiction.
2. International relations—Fiction. 3. Suspense fiction. I. Title.
PS3608.E586C65 2014
813’.6—dc23
2014004929
ISBN 978-1-4767-4557-2
ISBN 978-1-4767-4565-7 (ebook)
Contents
* * *
Dedication
Epigraph
Coldshot
Twelve Years Later
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Acknowledgments
About the Author