“I still don’t have a clear picture of what happened,” Kennedy pointed out.
“There didn’t seem to be any reason to kill her.”
“Really? Because I can think of quite a few.”
Claudia commandeered his beer and took a nervous sip.
“You’re probably right. But if I’d killed her, I wouldn’t have been able to hire her to take out Anthony Cook.”
Kennedy’s face went blank. It was something he’d only seen a handful of times in their long relationship. Basically, she was so pissed that she couldn’t conjure up a cover expression and just went with nothing.
“You did what?”
“It seemed fair. And the vice president is a little soft, but not too bad for a politician.”
She fell silent for a long time. Probably a good minute with no sound at all other than the breeze coming through the louvers and the hum of the pool motor.
“Do you have a way of contacting them?”
“Sure. They’ve dropped their normal secrecy protocols.”
“Then you have the ability to call them off.”
“I suppose. But I’m not going to.”
Kennedy spun her glass on the granite countertop, staring into it. “I’m furious, too, Mitch. And not just about the Cooks’ behavior toward you. I blame them for what happened to Mike. They lit a fuse and when he discovered he couldn’t put it out, he was forced to try to minimize the damage. Sometimes there’s no way to win. The only thing you can do is manage your losses.”
“Then we’re in agreement,” Rapp said. “We sit back and let Legion do what they do.”
“No. We’re not in agreement. As bad as Cook is for the country, his death could be worse. America’s too fragile right now. Too divided. If he were to die, the conspiracy theories that he rode into the White House would explode. I’m not exaggerating when I say I think we could be dragged into another civil war. But even if we aren’t, the unrest would cause our allies to turn away from us and look for leadership in places like China. I believe in America, just like you do. I think we’re a little lost right now but given time, we’ll find our way back.”
“Nice speech, Irene, but a little too lofty for my current mood. I’m not living my life on the run because people will throw a fit on Facebook if something happens to him. I want him dead. And the sooner the better.”
“What if I can guarantee your safety?”
“You’re a magician, Irene. You’ve proved that more times than I can count. But some things can’t be fixed.”
“But what if I can fix it? Would you let me?”
He didn’t answer, instead taking a pull from his beer.
“I’m not asking this for the Cooks, Mitch. Or even for America. This is for me. I’m asking you for a personal favor.”
“Are you really going to play that card?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Fine. If you can fix this and convince me it’s fixed, then I’ll call off Legion.”
Kennedy gave him a grateful nod. “Thank you.”
“How,” Claudia said, breaking her silence. “How are you going to do it?”
Kennedy lifted her glass to her mouth. “I have absolutely no idea.”
CHAPTER 44
SOUTHWESTERN UGANDA IRENE Kennedy started up a set of earthen steps that climbed the compound’s defensive wall. When she reached the top, she gazed silently over the forest rolling out in front of her. Mitch, Claudia, and Anna had left less than an hour ago. They’d literally headed off into the sunset with nothing but a machete and the packs on their backs. No ticker-tape parade. No eternal gratitude from the country he’d sacrificed so much for. Not even her well wishes for whatever his future held.
She felt shame at that last one, but she’d been angry. Enough so that she’d let it overwhelm her judgment. Not a common occurrence in her life and because of that a difficult one to analyze. Maybe some things weren’t meant to be studied. They were just meant to be felt.
There was no question that her old friend had started the timer on a bomb that could destroy everything in its considerable range. A successful attempt on the president—even if it didn’t look like an assassination—had the potential to send America spinning out of control. Even worse would be an unsuccessful attempt. Cook could use it to reinforce his narrative of an America beset by enemies that only he can vanquish. It would be another massive step toward gathering the power necessary to collapse America’s democracy. History was full of men like him and the sad lesson was that they often succeeded.