As long as the kids were out of the picture and no longer potential casualties, he figured he could go along with almost anything else Jaffe had up his sleeve. Harper nodded his head and said, “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Excellent. I’ve got three large rolls of Visqueen in the office at the end of the hall. I want you to go get them. It’s going to get pretty bloody in there.”

“Excuse me?” replied the young marine.

“Visqueen,” repeated Jaffe. “Rolls of plastic sheeting.”

“I know what Visqueen is. What are we going to need it for?”

“I just told you. Right after you told me we were good. Did I misunderstand something?”

“No,” said Harper.

“No, sir,” corrected Jaffe.

Harper wanted to deck this deranged piece of shit, but he choked the impulse back and responded, “No, sir.”

“Good, because I’d hate to think you were going soft on me, Harper. I asked for marines on this assignment because marines are tough. Marines have got guts! And we’re gonna need all the guts we have to face down these two shitbags in the other room.”

“I understand,” said Harper, “but plastic sheeting? Are we really going to need it?”

“It’s not for us. It’s for the two foreign intelligence agents who are assisting us. They requested it.”

“Rashid and Hassan? What are they going to do with it?”

“They’re probably going to use it to keep blood off the walls and off the carpeting.”

Harper had figured things were going to really get ugly at some point, but the ugly he had anticipated was from psychological stress applied to their captives. They were in New York City, for Christ’s sake, not some third-world torture chamber.

Jaffe could read the young marine’s mind just by looking at him. “What’d you think this was going to be, son? We call them a few names, withhold everything but high-sugar foods, keep them up for days on end until they eventually crack, tell us what we want to know and then we go home to sleep in our warm beds with crystal clear consciences? Is that how you saw it going down? Because if you did, you’re not the man-wait, scratch that-you’re not the marine I thought you were.”

“Sir, I respect your command, but I’m going to ask you not to impugn my integrity as a United States marine.”

“Fuck that,” said Jaffe, getting into the taller man’s face. “Duty, honor, courage. Fuck all of that. That’s why guys like Humpty and Dumpty in the other room are beating us in the war on terror.”

The man was nuts. Harper was sure of it. And because he was nuts, Harper also knew that he couldn’t be reasoned with.

“You don’t believe me?” said Jaffe.

“No, sir. I believe whatever you say,” replied Harper.

“Bullshit, marine. It’s written all over your face. You think I’m a few cans shy of a six-pack, don’t you?”

“No, sir I didn’t say-”

“Quit lying to me, son. I can smell it from a mile away. You think I’m nuts? That’s fine by me. I probably am to have taken this job and stayed with it as long as I have, but I’ll tell you one thing. If we don’t start executing this war on terror in the correct fashion, we’re going to be overrun.

“We’re fighting for our civilization’s very survival here. They might not talk about it that way in the newspapers or on the evening news, but that is exactly what’s happening. Your country is depending on you. It’s depending on us. You and me. And that’s why what we’re doing here matters. It matters big-time. Because if we don’t stop these guys from going nuclear, thousands if not hundreds of thousands-maybe millions of innocent people are going to die. So keep that in mind the next time you want to question how I’m running this interrogation. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Harper flatly.

“Good. Now go get the Visqueen.”

THE WHITE HOUSE

I know you’re distraught over Amanda’s surgery, but you can’t be serious. Tell me you’re not serious,” pleaded Charles Anderson.

“I couldn’t be more so, Chuck,” replied the president.

The chief of staff threw his hands up in defeat. “Of course you are! You’ve declared war on Islam, and then you fired the Secretary of Homeland Security. A trip to New York with the terrorists still at large would be the icing on the cake. It’ll be a public relations trifecta. Should I get Geoff in here to draft a release?”

“First of all, I didn’t declare war on Islam. We’ve already been through that. Secondly, I didn’t fire Driehaus;he resigned.”

“No, you didn’t fire him, but you didn’t prevent him from resigning either.”

“Semantics. What difference does it make?”

“It makes a lot of difference to you, to this presidency. I’d also make the case that to have him step down in the middle of all this erodes public confidence in our government.”

“That certainly wasn’t the case when the FEMA director bowed out in the aftermath of Katrina.”

“The key word there, Mr. President, is aftermath. Besides, the FEMA chief was inept and everyone knew it. I think letting Driehaus go in the middle of a horrific national crisis is a very bad idea.”

“The hell it is, Chuck. DHS isn’t working, and we all know it. I’m not going to let Alan Driehaus bully this office. He calls himself a patriot? Well, let me tell you something. A patriot doesn’t pull petty political gamesmanship in the middle of a crisis. You put your personal problems aside and you put the welfare of your country above all else. He couldn’t do that, so he’s out.”

Anderson thought about it. “Maybe there is a way we can use his resignation to our advantage. Anyone with half a brain will read between the lines and believe he resigned because he mishandled the terrorist threat. That could work for us.”

“No way,” said Rutledge. “We’re not going to throw Driehaus to the wolves just to divert attention away from what happened.”

“Why not? You think the American people wanted accountability after 9/11? They’re going to be packing the streets demanding a lot more than accountability this time. They’re going to want blood, and plenty of it.”

“And why shouldn’t they? Their government has failed to protect them, again.”

“So why shouldn’t Driehaus be the first one to the guillotine? With each one we throw them, the bloodlust will ebb.”

“Or it’ll surge. Blood is a funny thing, Chuck-especially in politics. Once people get a taste of it, they often want more and more and more. So we’re not throwing anyone under the bus yet. I’m going to personally call for full and open hearings when the dust has settled. I want total transparency. The American people are going to agree to nothing less. It’s the only thing that is going to help restore the sacred trust because I’ll tell you what, today that trust has been utterly shattered. Now let’s get working on my visit to New York. I want us to be under way ASAP.”

“With all due respect, sir-”

“She’s my daughter, for Christ’s sake, Chuck. This is what fathers do.”

“Fathers maybe, but not presidents, sir.”

Rutledge wasn’t going to be swayed. “ASAP.”

“Fine,” said Anderson, the resignation in his voice thick with sarcasm. “Should we use Air Force One or do you want me to see if the tooth fairy is flying up that way? I think we may actually have her cell phone number.”

“Watch it, Chuck. Not only does my daughter need me, the American people need to see their president in New York City.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I agree with you, but all of this should and will be put together in due time. Right now we can’t even get the National Guard into Manhattan. The terrorists have the entire island locked down, including the air space. How are we supposed to accomplish what even our military can’t do at this point?”

“That’s not my problem. It’s yours. Talk to the Secret Service.”

“I don’t need to talk to the Secret Service. I already know what they’ll say. In fact, wait a second.” Opening the door, Anderson stuck his head into the hall and said, “Carolyn, can you come here a moment, please?”