Mayes hesitated a moment and said, “We need to get SAD involved in this. We can put twenty-five Ground Branch shooters in the mix with one call.”
Carmichael shook his head. “We can’t involve Ground Branch without involving Hanley. I don’t want anyone breathing a word to Hanley about this. We have enough armed assets without going to SAD.”
“You really think Hanley is a threat to the operation?”
“No, but he’s next in line to run NCS.”
“So?” asked Mayes. “When you take the directorship, he’ll move up here. But you’ll be the damn director, so why do you care?”
“I don’t like the guy, and he doesn’t like me. No Hanley. You have guys watching him. That’s it. Gentry will go to him, and that’s where we’ll get him.”
“So . . . we’re using Hanley as bait.”
“It’s the best way that prick can serve the Agency.” Something occurred to Carmichael. “We need to watch Gentry’s family, too.”
“His only close living relative is his dad. He’s sixty-four, lives in a little town in Florida. But they’ve been estranged since Gentry was a teenager.”
“I don’t care. I want him covered.”
“Agency watchers are already in place. Hard assets would, of course, need to fly down there if Violator shows, but we can move them out of Fort Bragg, and that’s no more than ninety minutes’ flying time.”
Carmichael’s secretary spoke over the intercom, telling him Suzanne Brewer was on the line. He asked her to put the call through, and seconds later the voice of the thirty-nine-year-old targeting officer emanated from the speaker.
Carmichael was customarily succinct. “Any word on the location of Zack Hightower?”
“Yes, sir. We’ll have him in hand in a couple of hours. Do you want us to put him in a safe house?”
“No. I want him brought up here. Put the intimidation of the seventh floor in him. Let’s see if he will play ball.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Carmichael hung up, Mayes said, “You want to stay here till he is brought in?”
“No.”
“Okay. I can schedule the movement to a safe house right now. You can get a little sleep before Hightower is brought in.”
Carmichael looked uneasy a moment, an expression Mayes wasn’t used to seeing. “What is it?”
Carmichael said, “I have to leave the building for a few hours. A meeting with an asset off-site. I need to go alone.”
Mayes stared at his boss for several seconds. Then he got up and closed the door. Standing back at the desk he said, “You’re joking, right?”
“I understand your concern, but it has to be like this. No one is to know but you and DeRenzi. I’m only telling you because you’ll have to cover for me, and DeRenzi because he won’t be able to shadow.”
Mayes remained incredulous. “Gentry’s out there somewhere. You do know that, don’t you?”
“You don’t think I can do low pro anymore?”
“You aren’t safe on the streets. Whoever you need to meet, we can set it up here with secure comms.”
“Has to be in person.”
Mayes said, “Then send me.”
Carmichael just shook his head.
“Look, Denny, if you’ve got a mistress or some shit like that, you need to put a cork in it until this all blows over.”
Carmichael sighed. “If I had a mistress and you didn’t know about it, you’d be a sorry excuse for an assistant director. I’ll be out of pocket three hours, four tops. I won’t have a phone, so you’ll have to come up with something convincing.”
Mayes held the look of disbelief on his face. “Tell me you understand what’s in the balance here.”
Carmichael rolled his eyes. “Is this where you tell me Gentry is a dangerous man?”
“This is about more than Gentry, and you know it. You want the directorship. You’ve earned it. The one thing that can fuck that up is the Gentry story getting out. You won’t just lose the directorship. You’ll lose everything.”
“It’s not going to get out, because we are going to handle this.”
Mayes pressed one more time. “You keeping me out of the loop is not a good idea.”
“Some burdens are my own, Mayes. And that’s just how it’s going to stay.”
—
The U.S. Army UC-35A jet touched down at Joint Base Andrews and taxied into a hangar on the far end of runway 36 Right. Once the hangar doors were closed and the aircraft’s wheels were chocked, the hatch opened and a set of rolling stairs was positioned by the ground crew. Twelve men, all in their thirties and forties, stepped down the stairs of the U.S. Army’s version of the Cessna Citation V. Each man carried a massive black duffel bag over his shoulder and, as soon as they vacated the stairs, they dropped their heavy bags onto the hangar floor.