“I got a lot closer than that.”

“Congratulations. So, what I’m thinking, Harry, is that you’re the sacrificial lamb. Follow?”

“No.”

“I mean, this is so clumsy that the only reason you could have been sent here is to scare the hell out of us and make us put Project Green on hold. Or maybe put it on the fast track. What do you think?”

“I’ve worked with CIA, and what I think is that you people see a conspiracy in everything, except the things that are a conspiracy. That’s why you’ve been fucking up.”

“You may have a point. But let me share my paranoia with you. You were sent here by higher-ups, through Walsh, for the purpose of spooking us into action or for the purpose of the FBI’s getting a search warrant to come looking for you and finding four atomic suitcases that they might believe are here.”

Harry didn’t reply, but he thought about that.

Landsdale continued, “Let’s assume, first, that someone wants to spook us into action. Who could that be? Well, maybe my people. Or, maybe the White House itself wants an excuse to launch Wild Fire.”

Harry thought about that, too, but again didn’t respond.

Landsdale went on, “But it could be the other thing-that you were sent here to disappear so that the FBI could swoop down on this place with probable cause and a search warrant. Actually, the only really incriminating things here at the club are the four nukes and you, and neither the nukes nor you will be here much longer. The ELF transmitter is not illegal, just hard to explain. Right?”

Harry Muller felt as if he’d stepped into one of the upstate psychiatric hospitals, and that he’d arrived ten minutes after the patients took control. And what the hell was an elf transmitter? How do you transmit an elf? And why would you want to…?

Landsdale asked him, “You know about ELF?”

“Yeah. Santa’s helpers.”

Landsdale smiled and stared at Harry. “Maybe you don’t.” He explained, “Extremely Low Frequency. ELF. Does that mean anything to you?”

“No.”

Landsdale started to say something else, but the door opened, and Madox and the other three men entered the room.

Landsdale caught Madox’s eye and nodded toward the door.

Madox said to the others, “Excuse us a moment.”

He and Landsdale left the room, and Madox said to Carl, who was standing near the door, “Keep an eye on Mr. Muller.”

Carl went into the room and shut the door.

Landsdale moved down the corridor, and Madox followed. Landsdale said, “Okay, I spoke to Muller, and he seems honestly clueless about anything, except his assignment. Muller was not briefed by Walsh or anyone, which is standard procedure when sending a low-level surveillance guy on a sensitive assignment.”

Madox replied, “I know that. What are you getting at?”

Landsdale paused, then said, “I have no doubt that whoever sent Harry Muller here fully expected him to be caught. Correct?”

Madox didn’t reply.

Landsdale went on, “I’m fairly sure that the CIA knows what you’re up to, Bain, and so does the Justice Department and the FBI.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“I think it is. And I think-based on my information-that Justice and the FBI are about to shut you down.” Landsdale looked at Madox and continued, “But you have fans and friends in the government. Specifically, the CIA, who want you to go for it. Follow?”

“I don’t think anyone in the government, except the people here, know a damn thing about Project Green, or-”

“Bain, deflate your fucking ego a little. You’re being manipulated and used, and-”

“Bullshit.”

“Not bullshit. Look, you’ve got a great plan. But you’ve been sitting on it too long. The do-gooders in the Justice Department and the FBI have gotten on to you, and they want to do the right thing and bust this conspiracy. The CIA sees it quite differently. The CIA thinks your plan is absolutely fucking terrific, and absolutely brilliant, and taking entirely too fucking long.”

Madox asked Landsdale, “Do you know all of this for certain? Or are you speculating?”

Landsdale considered his reply, then said, “A little of both.” He added, “Look, as the CIA liaison to the White House, I’m not fully in the Langley loop. But I used to work in a Black Ops branch, and I heard about you long before you heard about me.”

Again, Madox didn’t respond.

Landsdale continued, “Every covert branch of the intelligence establishment has its legendary members, men and women who are looked on as bigger than life, almost mythical. I worked with a guy like that, and this guy once briefed me about Wild Fire, and that’s when your name came up, Bain, as a private individual who had the capacity to trigger Wild Fire.”

Madox seemed uneasy with that information, and asked, “Is that how and why I got to make your acquaintance?”

Landsdale did not answer directly but said, “It’s how and why I got posted to the White House.” He added, “Your little conspiracy here has triggered a similar conspiracy among certain individuals in the CIA and also the Pentagon… and maybe in the White House itself. In other words, there are others in Washington, aside from your Executive Board, who are helping. I’m sure you understand that. And understand, also, that if you didn’t exist, then the people in government who want to trigger Wild Fire would need to plant their own nukes in American cities.” He forced a smile and said, “But we like to encourage private, faith-based initiative.”

“What’s your point, Scott?”

“The point, Bain, is that whoever sent Harry Muller here wants to bring this to a quick conclusion. If it was the FBI, then you’re about to be busted. If it was the CIA, then they’re telling you to move fast.” He added, “I have no doubt that both organizations know what the other is up to, and it’s become a race to see whose idea of safeguarding American security is going to win out.”

Madox stared silently, then said, “All I need is about forty-eight hours.”

“I hope you have that much time.” Landsdale added, “I have a contact in the Anti-Terrorist Task Force where Muller works, and my guy tells me that Muller is a Mideast guy, and he doesn’t work in the Domestic Terrorist Section, so it’s unusual that he’d be picked for this job. But he further tells me that a guy named John Corey, former NYPD like Muller, and also in the Mideast Section, was the one originally picked to do this surveillance. Specifically picked. Why? That’s the question. What difference would it make who was sent here as the sacrificial lamb?” He lit a cigarette and continued, “Then, I recalled that the CIA guy who originally told me about Wild Fire was once attached to the ATTF, and while there, he’d gotten into a major pissing match with this guy Corey. Actually, worse than a pissing match-they really wanted to kill each other.”

Madox glanced at his watch.

Landsdale continued, “One of their many problems with each other seemed to be Corey’s present wife, an FBI agent assigned to the Task Force.” He smiled and said, “There’s always a woman involved.”

Madox, too, smiled and said, “Sexual jealousy is the wild card of history. Empires have been destroyed because Jack was fucking Jill, and Jill was also fucking Jim.” He asked, “But what’s your point?”

“Just that I see more than a coincidence here that Corey was supposed to be sitting where Muller is now sitting, waiting to die.”

Madox observed, “Sometimes, Scott, coincidence is just coincidence. And what difference does it make?”

Landsdale hesitated, then responded, “But if it’s not coincidence, then I see the hand of the master here-the guy who originally told me about Wild Fire and who also got me my job in the White House, and who got me introduced to the Custer Hill Club… but that’s not possible because this guy is dead. Or supposed to be dead.” He added, “Died in the World Trade Center.”