Читать книгу The Face of Freedom - Benjamin Vance - Страница 22

Charles Able received a phone call from Roland Franks. Franks hadn’t exhausted all his Intel sources or methods, but he needed to inform the president of what he suspected so the President would be forearmed. The President seemed to be a bit testy, and said he’d already been briefed.

“Mr. President I just wanted to inform you of the explosion in Coeur d’Alene, and that I believe one of my agents was in the home. I recommend you stay abreast of the situation, because eventually there are going to be lots of questions about this explosion and the incidents surrounding it.”

“Roland, are you sure you’re not jealous the DHS has this situation under control? Like I said, Steve Northfield briefed me this morning right after it happened. He and I are both aware of the situation. He says one of your agents had gone rogue. What do you think?”

“Mr. President, my agent did not go rogue. He’d finished the assignment and was waiting on another.”

“Don’t you mean ‘she’ Roland? I hear she was a plant with one of the militia groups and actually ended up helping the terrorist escape. I think she may have ‘gone over’. The explosion was probably due to a miscalculation with high explosives. They may have even been constructing a ‘dirty’ nuclear bomb. You miscalculated on this one Roland.”

“Mr. President, please keep your radar up on this one. It isn’t going to be simple. If I find anything new on my end, I’ll inform you.”

“You turn it over to Steven Northfield, Roland. I put his agency in charge. It’s really important you stay in the chain of command on this one and keep your eyes and ears open. Thanks for your info. Say hello to the wife.” The President hung up.

Roland Franks could not believe his ears. He murmured, “The wife ... the wife?” Charles Able was definitely a part of this debacle, or he’d been told perfect lies. He hung his head, rubbed his temples and allowed himself a WTF moment. After he pulled himself together, he called his National Security Branch Chief, Tom Mitchell. It was time to cover his ass.