“Yeah,” Rapp responded, diverting toward a wooden walkway to the east. Dim lanterns set into the ground came on as they walked, illuminating the path. They turned off it after about a hundred and fifty yards, taking a similar walkway to a small building tucked away in the trees. The woodstove in the living area was lit, illuminating a modern interior through the two-story glass fa?ade. Claudia slid the door back and Rapp laid Anna on a sofa that had been pulled out into a bed. The compact kitchen looked like it had been recently stocked and there was an ice bucket bristling with beers on the counter.
“We’ve got clothes for both of you in the loft as well as a couple of secure laptops connected to the compound’s network,” Coleman said. “Let me know if there’s anything I forgot and I’ll get it over to you tomorrow when the staff gets up.”
Claudia walked over and hugged the former SEAL. “It’s good to see you, Scott.”
“You, too. I’m sorry about the circumstances.”
“Why don’t you get settled in,” Rapp said, grabbing a couple of beers from the bucket and heading toward the open door. “Scott and I have a few things to talk about.”
They stepped outside and Rapp scanned the sky, searching the stars for movement that might indicate an aircraft. Coleman seemed to read his mind.
“The Ugandans have created a fifty-mile no-fly zone around the place. We have solid radar coverage and pretty sophisticated surface-to-air capability. The terrain, combined with the perimeter wall, would stop a Panzer division. Cameras and sensors out in the forest are state-of-the-art.”
“Personnel?”
“A contingent of fifteen top-notch operators and we can theoretically get air support from the Ugandans inside of thirty minutes. We also just finished mounting miniguns with overlapping fields of fire on the walls. They’re controlled remotely with some really slick new software. You should check it out when you get a chance.”
“Escape routes?”
“Four by land and we have three choppers.”
Rapp handed him one of the beers and took a pull from his own. A little over a month ago, Nicholas Ward had financed a wildly successful operation against a paramilitary cult terrorizing western Uganda. He also provided a lot of jobs, financed NGOs, and built hospitals and schools. Not to mention quietly funneling millions into the Swiss bank accounts of key government officials. While Ward could be a bit of a Boy Scout, he understood how the world worked. You didn’t make a trillion dollars over the course of sixty-one years without knowing how shit got done.
“So, you feel good about security?”
“Who’s the enemy?”
“What if I said Anthony Cook?”
Coleman smiled and shook his head slowly. “Look, Mitch, this may be the most well-protected private installation on the planet, but against stealth bombers? No.”
“Is Ward here?” Rapp said, changing the subject. “I’ve been seeing him all over the news.”
“No, he’s in the States. His sudden resurrection has been kind of complicated. The press is selling a lot of papers by pitting him against the Cooks, and the SEC is threatening to come after him for securities fraud.”
“Is he pissed?”
Coleman drained some of his beer and shook his head. “Nah. He knows he’d be dead if it weren’t for you. And having a trillion bucks makes you kind of above the law. Having said that, I think he’s interested in defusing the situation if he can. No one wants a fight with the White House.”
“Unless you can’t avoid it,” Rapp said. “Do you think the Cooks can get to the government here?”
“Irene says no. The Ugandan president is smart enough to know they’ll use him and then hang him out to dry. Nick, on the other hand, is a straight-up guy with a genuine interest in the country.”
“How sure of that is she?”
Coleman pointed with the neck of his bottle. “You should ask her yourself. She’s staying two bungalows down.”
“She’s here? Now?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Depends on who you ask. Nick thinks he’s in the process of hiring her and she thinks she’s on vacation. Not sure which one of them will come out on top.”
CHAPTER 13
RAPP woke the moment the sun penetrated the bungalow’s glass front. Claudia had pushed him to the far right of the bed in order to make space for Anna, who had crawled in sometime after midnight. Normally he wouldn’t have been particularly tolerant of spending the night teetering on the edge of the mattress, but he was willing to make an exception in this case. If curling up next to her mother could help Anna recover from what had happened, a fall or two onto the wood floor would be a small price to pay.