Black Flagged Apex

Chapter 52





9:44 PM

White House Situation Room

Washington, D.C.



The president leaned across his desk and nearly screamed at Frederick Shelby.

"You exceeded your authority, and you know it!"

"Mr. President, Sanderson's liaison to the task force helped the suicide bomber. This has been confirmed by the video feed and the testimony of an air force major. Special Agent Frank Mendoza stopped the attack, and Callie Stewart stepped in to make sure the bomb detonated. I was opposed to bringing Sanderson's people into this on any level. The details of his involvement in Europe and Russia are sketchy at best and unverified. I suspect that he's been playing us all along."

"I don't care if the video shows Sanderson himself lighting the damn fuse. You were well aware of the special circumstances surrounding our relationship with Sanderson. We still have a Black Hawk helicopter sitting in front of his goddamn compound! You don't go around me on things like that!"

Frederick Shelby considered the president's words and the tone in which they were delivered. He was clearly more concerned about the possibility of a scandal than the lives of the agents and counterterrorism professionals lost in the terrorist bombing. He knew that the president wasn't a callous, unfeeling man. He'd seen evidence to the contrary on numerous occasions. Still, Shelby had to remind himself that the president was a politician, and politics relied on reputation and image more than actually doing the right thing, or anything, for that matter.

The director didn't have that option. He had to produce quantifiable results in a timely manner or find another job. He looked up at the president and chose his words carefully. The president was more than just a simple politician. He had beat out every other politician for the grand prize. Shelby had to be cautious here. He was talking to a first-term president, who faced an uphill battle for reelection. A little contrition would go a long way right now.

"I have to apologize, Mr. President. The heinous act clouded my judgment. I lost thirteen agents in that blast, and there's a good chance that a few more might not survive the night. The investigation has been torpedoed, and I want to kill the son-of-a-bitch responsible. I didn't intend to put you in an untenable situation."

"I'm sorry to hear about your agents. I know you assigned the most talented agents to that task force. The results achieved so far reflect this. This is a heinous act, Frederick, and I've assured General Sanderson that if I find him to be responsible, we will sever all ties with him."

"You've spoken with him?"

"He contacted my chief of staff within an hour of the bombing, demanding to know why his agents had been arrested in Brooklyn. We didn't have an answer for him. When we finally figured out what you had done, I called him personally. I didn't apologize or make excuses. I told him we had reason to believe one of his people was involved and that his unconditional pardon didn't cover him beyond the day of the failed helicopter raid. Surprisingly, he agreed and said that he understood our actions. He disavowed any involvement with True America," the president said.

"Of course he did."

"He never made a threat or suggest that he would renege on our deal. I didn't get the impression that he was lying."

"He's a slippery character, Mr. President. I wouldn't trust anything he says. I have video evidence and a witness from the blast site that put Callie Stewart's hands on the detonator. This is a difficult fact to ignore."

"I don't intend to ignore it, but for now we need to move the investigation forward. We can build a stronger case against Sanderson along the way. Where do we stand?"

"In a pile of rubble, mostly. Our headquarters' technical division is collecting data from the mobile computers and the Newark field office. The NCTC team processed and analyzed field data collected. This information was stored in the NCTC servers. They formed conclusions and shaped the investigation with this data and parsed it back out to the mobile teams as requested. Unfortunately, it was a fairly compartmentalized operation. Most of the data was lost in the blast, along with the agents who could explain any new leads or theories in development."

"Nobody survived?" The president shook his head with a look of sorrow.

"Ryan Sharpe, the task force leader survived, but he's severely injured and remains unconscious. He was partly inside his office when the bomb detonated and got lucky. Only one of the other agents survived, but she's in worse shape than Sharpe. Video shows Special Agent Eric Hesterman purposely shielding Special Agent Dana O'Reilly from the blast. She was spared any lethal fragmentation, but suffered from massive internal injuries due to the pressure effects of the bomb. Hesterman was nearly vaporized."

The president swallowed hard and exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry…I can see why you put the hammer down on Sanderson. Can any of the surviving NCTC analysts help?"

"Special Agent Kathryn Moriarty is on her way back to D.C. with a dozen agents. She'll direct all efforts to rebuild the task force from the ground up. That will be one of her first priorities. Most of the analytical work was done by the FBI, but there was considerable collaboration with permanent NCTC personnel. We can piece the investigation back together, but it will take time," Shelby said.

"Time is running out. Do we have any more active field operations planned?"

"No. We're still collecting evidence from Hacker Valley and the Fort Meade site. I do have something to suggest, but it falls under the Sanderson category," Shelby said.

"As long as it doesn't involve another raid in Argentina, I'm open to suggestions."

Shelby wasn't sure if that was meant as a zinger or it was just the president's way of saying that Sanderson himself was off limits. Either way, he didn't appreciate the comment.

"At least three, but possibly four of Sanderson's operatives landed at the Wilkes Barre/Scranton International Airport early this evening. Both of the Petroviches and Jeffrey Munoz are confirmed to have arrived, along with an unidentified Hispanic man," Shelby said.

Jacob Remy interjected for the first time during the meeting. "They were directly involved in Sanderson's 2005 fiasco regarding the Black Flag program files."

"I remember the names now. That seems like an odd place for Sanderson's inner core to surface," the president said.

"I agree, which is why I'd like to deploy a significantly large investigative team to figure out why they chose Pennsylvania for their corporate getaway."

"How significant?" Remy asked.

"I'd deploy every agent on the east coast if I could, but given the circumstances, I'll settle for Task Force Scorpion's mobile team. Forty agents. Tactical and investigative. I'd be happy to take whatever assets the Philadelphia field office could spare," Shelby said.

"You mean they're not already en route?" the president said.

"The task force or agents from Philadelphia?" Shelby asked.

"I figured as much. Get whatever you need up to Scranton. I want to know what they are doing up there. I don't want things to get messy with Sanderson, but if he's responsible for the bombing or in any way connected to True America's plot…he's a dead man."