Дэвид Балдаччи - The Escape

“So you became part of the investigation,” said Puller.

“And from there I teamed with you, which she loved because she was convinced that your brother would seek you out. And the sooner they nailed him the better.”

“But why was I so important to them?” asked Robert.

“First, she loathes you. I think you represent for her every promotion she didn’t get. Every superior she didn’t impress. Every opportunity that went to someone else. She thinks she’s smarter than you. And she will do anything to prove it. You were the golden child wherever you went. And when your career carried you to her part of the world, you made a very dangerous enemy. When they needed to get you out of the way before you transferred to ISR, she was more than happy to do it. And that was the second point. They had Daughtrey in hand. He needed to get the job, not you. And we now know he was blackmailed.”

“Any idea what they’re up to now?” asked Puller. “Reynolds said we hadn’t seen anything yet. When she said what they were planning would be memorable, I took the woman at her word.”

“That’s the rub. Not a clue. I was hoping to learn more about it last night. But she outmaneuvered me. I underestimated the woman, and I guess I overestimated my own cleverness.”

Robert said, “Do you think they’ll go forward with whatever they’re planning?”

“We can’t assume that they won’t,” said Knox. “In fact this might accelerate their hand.”

“But Reynolds can’t operate in the open anymore, not after last night,” said Puller.

“We haven’t talked to the police,” said Knox. “They’ll eventually ID Schindler’s remains through DNA. But I have no idea whose apartment that was, or who was firing the shots through the window.”

“And I can’t talk to the police, for obvious reasons,” added Robert.

“But we can, Knox,” said Puller.

“It would be our word against hers. We don’t have proof. And if they bring Reynolds in she’ll tell them about Robert being with us. Then our choice is either to lie or tell the truth, neither of which is a good option if we don’t want to go to prison. And knowing her she’ll come up with some quite plausible tale that we orchestrated her kidnapping and had a hand in killing a prominent member of the NSC.”

“This is ridiculous,” snapped Puller. But then he drew a long, calming breath. “If that’s the case then we need to focus everything we have on finding out what they’re really planning.”

“Reynolds has to be intimately involved in whatever it is, because they’ve taken such great steps to protect her,” pointed out Robert.

“That’s true,” said Knox. “But is it in her official capacity with DTRA, or in her capacity as a spy?”

Puller and Robert looked at her blankly for a few moments. Obviously none of them had the answer to that question.

Knox said, “They only had two motel rooms available. This one and the one next door. I thought you and your brother could have this one, and I’ll take the other one.”

“I’m going to grab my duffel from the car,” said Robert.

After he left, Knox turned to Puller. “She beat me, Puller.”

“She kicked my butt too. Again. I’m starting to get a real inferiority complex.”

“She took it to one more level. I wasn’t anticipating that.”

“Then we have to take it to a level she’s not anticipating.”

“But my cover is blown, Puller. We have no way in.”

“The three of us will get this done.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Without a doubt,” said Robert, who had come back in and overheard this part of the conversation.

He put his duffel down and sat on the edge of the bed. “They gave us some real intelligence without meaning to do so, of course. They thought we’d be dead by now, so my seeing her meeting with Malcolm Aust didn’t trouble Reynolds too much.”

“Do you think you know why they were meeting?” asked Knox.

“Aust is smart, sophisticated, and rich. But I’m sure Reynolds seduced him. I saw them in the restaurant. It was sexual on his part. It was totally business on hers.”

“But what is her business interest in Aust?” asked Knox.

Robert hunched forward. “For want of a better term, Aust is the secret keeper.”

“Secret keeper? I thought he hunted WMDs?” said Puller.

“That’s part of it. But only part. He’s an investigator, an overseer, and an inspector. A confidant. Depending on the situation he will adopt a different role.”

“Why would his role vary depending on the situation?” asked Knox. “Like Puller said, his job is to ferret out illegal WMDs.”

“Oh, it’s actually far more complex than that,” said Robert matter-of-factly “Take Israel, for instance. Their official stance is they have no WMDs. But they’re our staunch ally and thus we would never call for an inspection into what they have or don’t have. But for strategic purposes we need to know privately what their capabilities are. In steps Aust. Now, Pakistan has nukes. We worry about some of them going rogue because of lax security. The same with Russia. Neither of those countries are true allies of ours, but to call for an inspection of their arsenal is very tricky politically and diplomatically. If an inspection were done with, say, Pakistan, it might turn up locations of WMDs and their security status. If that information were leaked, it could lead terrorists right to the stockpiles, the very thing such an inspection was trying to avoid. Again, Aust is sort of a trusted-by-both-sides intermediary who keeps the system honest, or at least reasonable. And look at Syria. Assad has chemical weapon stockpiles. Under an international agreement he agreed to destroy them. No one with even a grain of intelligence believes that he destroyed all of the stockpiles, for what sane dictator, pardon the seeming oxymoron, would do such a thing? But Aust was sent in to verify what was done. I’m sure he is very good at his job. I’m sure he knows how much Assad destroyed. I’m also sure he knows of other caches.”

“But wouldn’t he report that?” said Puller.

“He would make an official report, absolutely. That one would be dribbled out to the global media according to the timetable of the powers that be. But there would also be an unofficial report, with limited dissemination, that would tell a different story.”

“So the public is kept in the dark,” said Puller. “How does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense if you want future leverage with someone like Assad or Kim Jong Un or a host of leaders of that ilk. You always hold something back to play later when you need it. Proof that someone like Assad lied and did not destroy all of his WMDs can be very powerful when used later on. It’s all in the timing. We still hope for a resolution in Syria that does not involve all-out war. Such intel can pave the way for that.”

“But why would Syria allow Aust to know of other caches? They would realize that this would be used later against them.”

“That speaks to how good someone like Aust is. He knows places such as Syria like the back of his hand. He has moles everywhere. He can sniff out WMDs. That’s why he does what he does. And countries like Syria know this. It’s a game that they all play. If the chit is played later against Syria they will respond accordingly. But it buys them time. And it also buys us time to deal with countries like that in a diplomatic, measured way, instead of declaring war and sending boots on the ground. After Iraq and Afghanistan we don’t have the stomach or the money for that anymore. But we still have a significant role to play in international affairs. The world expects America to lead. And this is one way we can without committing lives and treasure in vast quantities. It’s all about what we know and when we use what we know.”