"I'm sorry if I…"

Flood cut him off with a flip of the wrist.

"No need for apologies. It was exactly what they needed. "The general continued for the bar.

"Who needs a drink? I sure as hell do."

Hood turned over a glass tumbler and grabbed a bottle of twenty-five-year-old Mccall an single-malt scotch. The general poured in three fingers' worth and then added a handful of ice. After swirling the cubes around in the glass, he brought the drink to his lips and took a long pull. He closed his eyes and set the drink down, savoring the taste. After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes and exhaled, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Irene, what would you like?"

Kennedy was not a big drinker, but from past experience she knew that with the general it was not important that you drank your drink; it was just important that you had one in front of you.

"Vodka, please."

Hood knew what Stansfield and Campbell drank and had already begun pouring their drinks.

"Mr. Rapp—" Hood looked up.

"I assume it's all right that I call you by your real name." Rapp nodded.

"What's your poison?"

"Bourbon. Booker's, please."

Flood glanced up from his bar tending duties with a raised eyebrow. Rapp wasn't sure if the general was impressed or thought him crazy. Flood finished with the drinks and brought them over to the group, saying, "As I was saying, Mr. Rapp, you really got their attention in there. Dallas King, Vice President Baxter's chief of staff, came up to me after the meeting and wanted to know who in the hell you were." Flood handed Kennedy her drink.

"Here you go, Irene."

"And…" asked Rapp.

"And"—Flood snorted—"I told him he needed to get a higher security clearance if he wanted to discuss such matters.

I could hardly tell him you were an analyst after your little performance."

Flood finished delivering the drinks and took the chair opposite Rapp at the long end of the coffee table.

Kennedy and Stansfield were seated on one couch, and General Campbell faced them on the other.

Rapp looked to his bosses and said, "I'm sorry if I was out of line, but I've come too far to watch a bunch of hacks screw this up."

The director of the CIA held his glass of scotch with both hands. After a moment, he nodded his head slowly and said, "I would have preferred you to have kept quiet, but you did say some things that needed to be said." Stansfield took a sip and then added, "And in a way that none of us could have."

General Flood nodded in agreement.

"And more importantly, you have made it very clear what's at stake.

Right now Baxter has put all of his chips behind Marge Tutwiler, and thanks to your blunt critique other game plan, her position is fully exposed. If her strategy backfires tomorrow, Baxter will drop her in a heartbeat, and he will have to listen to us."

Rapp sat back.

"So we sit around and wait for this to blow up in Tutwiler's face?"

"Nope." General Flood shook his head.

"I never like to sit around and wait. There are always preparations to be made before one goes into battle." Flood shifted his ample frame and placed his drink on the end table to his right.

"The four of us here"—Flood motioned to Kennedy, Stansfield, Campbell, and himself—"are in agreement that in all likelihood there is only one way this crisis will be resolved. We will have to retake the building by force. Aziz will string Vice President Baxter along until we're in an untenable situation… a situation where we cannot and should not meet his demands When that time comes, we have to be in a position to move, and as I said before, I don't like sending men into battle unless I'm prepared."

Flood paused and took a sip of scotch.

"Now, you people are in the intelligence-gathering business"—Flood gestured to Stansfield, Kennedy, and Rapp—"so I don't have to explain to you that a battle plan without good Intel is iffy at best. So the bottom line is we need real, hard intel, and we need it now."

Leaning back. Flood crossed his legs.

"Someone has to get inside." Looking at Rapp, Flood added, "We need a volunteer.

Someone who is willing to take some risks. Someone who understands Rafique Aziz. Someone with unique talents such as yours, Mr. Rapp." The general's words felt like warm sunshine after a cold swim. Rapp couldn't keep himself from grinning. With confidence, he replied, "I'm your man."

Flood smiled. "I thought so. "Then turning to the director of the CIA, Hood asked, "Thomas?"

Stansfield thought about it for a second and nodded.

"I think it's a good idea, but it might be tough getting approval for it. The FBI won't like it."

"I could give a damn," growled the general.

"This is war, and in war we fight by a different set of rules. Now, I like Brian Roach," said Flood, referring to the director of the FBI,

"but he needs to understand that we cannot afford to play by one set of rules while Aziz plays by another. We need our a-Team on the front line, not the junior varsity, and"—Flood pointed to Rapp—"Mitch here is the A-Team." Flood took a sip of his drink, and then leaning forward, he placed his big hand on Stansfield's shoulder.

"You find a way to get him in, and I'll make sure we get approval."

Stansfield thought a moment and then nodded his head in agreement.

General Flood withdrew his hand and sat back. Looking around the room, he asked, "Now, does anybody have any ideas on how we're going to get him in?"

After a while Stansfield said, "No, but I have a good idea where to start."

THE SUN WAS setting as Vice President Baxter left the Pentagon.

Attorney General Tutwiler had gone back to the Hoover Building with FBI Director Roach and Special Agent Mcmahon. Baxter sat alone with Dallas King in the backseat of the armor-plated limousine. The vice president looked languidly out the window as Dallas King babbled on about what should be covered when Baxter addressed the nation—a move they had decided was both necessary and an opportunity that couldn't be missed.

Baxter would be guaranteed the largest audience in the history of presidential addresses. The only question for King right now was whether they should do a scripted address, with Baxter reading from a Teleprompter, or hold a more natural and impromptu press conference.

Baxter was only half listening to his subordinate. King was rambling on about focus groups and polling data while the vice president's mind kept drifting back to the dark-featured gentleman from the CIA. The terrorism specialist, Baxter reminded himself.

Baxter held his hand up and motioned for King to be silent. The vice president let his well-manicured fingers fall to his knee while he struggled to pin down what exactly it was that was bothering him. After a moment he pursed his lips and said, "Call our contacts over at the National Security Agency and see what you can find out about that Mr.

Kruse fellow."

"I'm already on it," replied King as he typed a note into his palm-top computer.

"Find out what he really does for the CIA." Baxter looked out the window again.

"If he's right, and we have to take the building back by force…"

Baxter shook his head.

King looked up from his computer and said, "We will lose hostages, and the American people will never vote for a trigger-happy presidential candidate that ordered the death of seventy-six Americans."

Baxter added an eye roll to his head shaking.

"This no longer appears to be the opportunity that you originally thought."

King closed his palm-top and placed it in the breast pocket of his suit coat.

"I never said it was going to be easy. With this much on the line, it's never easy. The trick, as always, will be to navigate our way through the minefield."

"There may not be a path through this particular one," Baxter sighed.