“So nobody in law enforcement or intelligence knew to look for you,” Chapel told Julia. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well, there was one other guy,” she said. “He was definitely in intelligence. The one who told me to dump you.”
Chapel opened his mouth to protest. But then he realized what she’d just said.
“I’m sorry,” Angel said. “Who?”
The second Wilkes landed on the Pentagon helipad he was surrounded by soldiers. Maybe as an honor guard or maybe to take him into custody, he couldn’t say. He noticed there were no marines among them.
They saluted him but refused to answer any questions. They moved him through security and into the building in a hurry, then took him down an elevator to the F Ring, the first layer of underground offices. He’d never been in that section before. Not like he would have a chance to get lost, since the soldiers kept him from moving in any direction but where they wanted him to go.
They took him to a door with no sign on it, not even a room number. He knew what that meant. Anybody who had business through that door would already know where it was. If you didn’t have business there, you were in deep shit.
The door opened and a one-star general peered out at them. He looked at Wilkes and nodded.
Wilkes threw him a salute, of course. Then he stood at attention until he was told to come inside. He knew when to show respect.
The people in the room beyond certainly deserved it. Patrick Norton, the SecDef, was in there. So were a lot of other high-ranking people he didn’t recognize. Other than Norton, he knew only Rupert Hollingshead and Charlotte Holman and Paul Moulton.
The general who had opened the door cleared his throat. “First Lieutenant Wilkes,” he said. “We have some questions for you. You will answer them succinctly. Then we will give you your orders. Once you receive your orders, you will carry them out immediately. You will not ask any questions while you are in this room. You will not address anyone in this room other than myself. Anything you overhear in this room is considered a matter of national security and may never be repeated. Is this understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Wilkes said.
The general nodded. “Earlier today you initiated a manhunt for a field agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Namely one Chapel, James. You provided a photograph of the field agent to local law enforcement agencies. Is this correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Wilkes said.
“This despite standing orders not to provide such agencies with any information regarding active field agents under any circumstances. Can you explain why you violated those standing orders?”
“Sir, it was essential to find Chapel as quickly as possible. I had discovered that he was in collusion with the subject I had been sent to apprehend.”
“Everyone here has been briefed on your mission, Lieutenant. You can be a little less succinct, now,” the general said.
“Thank you, sir. I was ordered to apprehend one DIA analyst code named ‘Angel’ and bring her in for interrogation. It turned out my target wasn’t a human being but an advanced computer system. When I arrived at the target coordinates, I found Captain Chapel already on the scene, tampering with the computer, even though he had been ordered to stay away. While he was there, person or persons unknown attacked me and agents of law enforcement. In the ensuing chaos Chapel fled the scene. I ascertained that he had removed a piece of hardware, a hard drive, from the Angel computer. It is my understanding that this computer was instrumental in the attack on the Port of New Orleans yesterday, and most likely also the attack on my person today. I believed Chapel was colluding with terrorists. I felt the only chance I had to move forward with my mission was to detain Chapel and regain access to the computer hardware. To this end I provided the photograph, but not Chapel’s name or any other pertinent information.”
The general nodded. “After initiating the manhunt, you made a phone call to the office of the secretary of defense. In this call you made a certain implication. Will you repeat it for us now?”
“Yes, sir.” Wilkes looked across the room and made eye contact with Director Hollingshead. “I accused my direct superior of giving aid and comfort to an enemy of the United States.”
The room was so quiet Wilkes could hear the ventilation system ticking over. Every eye in the room was staring right at him, many of them in disbelief.
Well, he’d taken this job to protect his country, not to make friends.
“I did so under the aegis of Presidential Policy Directive 19,” he said, which was the only thing that could save his ass. In the old days, talking like that about a superior officer could get you court-martialed.
“What are the specifics of your accusation?” the general asked.
“There was no way Captain Chapel could know the location of the Angel system unless Director Hollingshead gave him that information. Clearly he’d been sent to remove Angel and take it into hiding. If I’d been a little slower in getting there, he would have succeeded and nobody would have known what he did. And our investigation into the drone hijacking would have become impossible.”
The SecDef put a hand on the table in front of him and gripped its edge like he thought he might collapse. “Rupert,” he said, in a small voice. “Is this true?”
This was where it could get bad. If Hollingshead denied the charge, it would be his word against Wilkes’s, and there was only one way that could play out.
But instead the director stood up, wiped his glasses on a handkerchief, and replied, “It is.”
Norton frowned. “Do you have a good reason why you would do such a thing?”
“No, sir,” Hollingshead replied. His face might have been made of stone. It was clear he had nothing more to say on the matter.
The SecDef gave him a good long while to change his mind. When he didn’t, Norton said, “I think maybe you should go to your office now and wait until we’ve decided what to do next. Don’t you?”
Hollingshead put his glasses back on. “Sir,” he said, and then he walked out of the room without even looking at anybody.
Wilkes had to respect the director. That couldn’t have been easy. It almost made him feel sorry for the old man.
Almost.
When Hollingshead was gone, it was like somebody had flipped a switch. Suddenly everybody was talking at once. Norton quieted them down by raising his voice a few decibels. “This is the last thing we need. We’re dealing with a terrorist attack — maybe two terrorist attacks now, after this thing in New York — and all we’re doing is fighting among ourselves like dogs on a street corner.”
Charlotte Holman raised one hand. “Sir, if I may — that could very well be the point.”
Norton glared at her. “What do you mean?”
“The original attack utilized an air force Predator drone signed out, spuriously of course, by the CIA. Now we have the DIA implicated. The terrorists must be laughing behind their hands. How many agencies can they tie up in knots before they’re done?”
“I notice the NSA still passes the smell test,” Norton replied.
“Do we? We provided the intelligence product that led to Angel.” She shook her head. “You see? If something goes wrong, we can be blamed as well. These people are very good. I think we need to remember that we trust each other. If we don’t, who can we rely on?”
The SecDef nodded. “What’s your recommendation?”
“I’d like to take over this search for Angel. Of course, the NSA doesn’t have any field agents, but our analysts are the very best. If you’d be willing to second someone to me, someone I can put on the ground, my associate Mr. Moulton here can steer them in the right direction. The most important thing is moving forward. If we can secure whatever’s left of this Angel, we still have a chance of finding the terrorists.”