Irvine sniggered an uncertain laugh. ‘You can’t be serious!’
‘NSA wants you in a protection programme. So do I.’ Graham looked at Sally. ‘You’re going out of Andrews in two hours on a military flight, courtesy of the CIA. Until then you’re staying here. We’re returning your rental car, picking up all your stuff and bringing it here; you can change your shirt.’ He went back to Irvine. ‘Your guys will have cleared out all the technical stuff from Owen Place by now; your personal things are being brought here, too.’
‘I don’t want to go into a protection programme!’ protested Irvine. ‘Fatwas only apply to Muslims. It’s sharia law, doesn’t apply to me. Who’s going to get to me inside Fort Meade, for Christ’s sake!’
‘You work at Fort Meade, you don’t live there, and even if you did, you still wouldn’t be safe,’ insisted Graham.
‘Killing you would re-establish the jihad,’ said Sally quietly. ‘And to the jihadist it wouldn’t matter whether you’re a Muslim or not. That’s what they do, manipulate the Koran.’
‘No!’ yelled Irvine.
‘It’s not a choice,’ insisted Graham. ‘We’re keeping you alive.’
* * *
Sally changed her shirt when her luggage arrived. Irvine stayed as he was. They stacked everything in his soon-to-be-abandoned office to make enough room in hers for them to wait for their transport to arrive.
‘It’s not going to be permanent,’ said Irvine. ‘Could be over in just a few months.’
‘Sure.’
‘We could keep in touch: there’ll be channels.’
‘You know we can’t, Jack.’
‘When it’s all over, I mean.’
‘It hasn’t begun yet.’
‘If it hadn’t happened, this threat, would you—?’
‘I don’t want you to finish that question,’ stopped Sally.
‘It was hypothetical.’
‘That’s how it stays, hypothetical.’
‘I want to tell you—’
‘I don’t want you to finish that either.’
‘I don’t believe I have to.’
Two escorts arrived at the door to take her down with her luggage, waiting outside after they collected it. Sally said, ‘None of the usual good-byes fit, do they?’
‘No, I don’t suppose they do.’
‘Just good-bye then.’
‘Yes, just good-bye.’
They remained looking at each other for several moments, not touching. Abruptly Sally turned away towards the waiting escorts. She said, ‘Let’s go.’
Conrad Graham was waiting in the expansive Langley entrance hall. Two unmarked 4x4s were drawn up directly outside, and several more plainclothes escorts waited around them.
Graham said, ‘Another ending might have been better.’ He hadn’t bothered with peppermint candy.
Sally shrugged. ‘You’re probably right.’
‘You really did do a hell of a job.’
‘I need a favour,’ ignored Sally.
‘You got it.’
‘Let me know who leaked to The Washington Post.’
‘Like I said, you got it.’
Sally didn’t think he would, but there was always the outside chance.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I am grateful to Simon Taplin and Jeff Kightly for technical guidance in the writing of this book. Any errors result from my misunderstanding of that guidance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRIAN FREEMANTLE is the author of more than thirty books, which have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. He has been foreign editor and chief foreign correspondent for the (UK) Daily Mail and foreign correspondent for the (UK) Daily Sketch, among others. He lives in England. You can sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY BRIAN FREEMANTLE
Red Star Rising
Red Star Burning
Red Star Falling
Triple Cross
Kings of Many Castles
Watchmen
Dead Men Living
Bomb Grade
Charlie’s Apprentice
Comrade Charlie
The Run Around
See Charlie Run
The Blind Run
Madrigal for Charlie Muffin
Charlie Muffin’s Uncle Sam
The Inscrutable Charlie Muffin
Here Comes Charlie M
Charlie M
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraphs
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Author’s Note
About the Author
Also by Brian Freemantle
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
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Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio
Cover photographs: man walking up some steps © Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel Images; Capitol building © Bill Dickinson/Getty Images
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978- 1-250-06623-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7381-0 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466873810
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First Edition: November 2015
The Cloud Collector Page 34