Pak smiled, showing off the perfect teeth again. “That is what I needed to hear. Together then.” He saluted the president, who gave a crisp one in return.
Tucker hit a button on the console in front of him and the screen went black once more.
The president let out an audible breath and sat back against the leather of his seat. He was sweating though the room was cool. He wicked a drop of moisture off his forehead. What they were proposing to do was quite clearly illegal and thus an impeachable offense. And unlike the other presidents impeached before him, he had no doubt the Senate would convict him.
“Into the breach rode the five hundred,” the president said in barely a whisper, but both Potter and Tucker heard it and nodded in agreement.
The president leaned forward and looked squarely at Tucker.
“There is no margin of error. None. And if there is the least hint of this coming out—”
“Sir, that will not happen. This is the first time we’ve ever had an asset placed that high over there. There was an attempt on the leadership last year, as you know. While he was traveling on the street in the capital. But it was botched. A traffic police officer intervened and the whole plan fell apart. But that was from low-level external sources and had nothing to do with us. Our strike will be quick and clean. And it will succeed.”
“And you have your team in place?’
“Being assembled. Then they’ll be vetted.”
The president looked sharply at him. “Vetted? Who the hell are you planning to use?”
“Will Robie and Jessica Reel.”
Potter sputtered, “Robie and Reel?’
“They are the absolute best we have,” said Tucker. “Look what they did with Ahmadi.”
Potter eyed Tucker closely. He knew every detail of that mission. So he knew that neither Reel nor Robie were intended to survive it.
The president said slowly, “But with Reel’s background. What you allege she did. The possibility of her going—”
Tucker broke in. Normally, this would be unheard of. You let the president speak. But tonight Tucker seemed to be operating on a plane that did not recognize the obvious. He seemed to see and hear only what he wanted to.
“They are the best, sir, and the best is what we need here. As I said, with your permission, they will be vetted to ensure that their performance will be the best ever. However, if they fail the vetting I have another team, up to the task of performing the mission, but the clear preference is not the B squad.”
Potter said, “But, still, why not simply deploy them? Then this vetting process becomes unnecessary.”
Tucker looked at the president. “We really need to do it this way, sir, for a number of reasons. Reasons which I’m sure you can readily see.”
Tucker had prepared for this moment for weeks. He had studied the president’s history, his time as commander in chief, and even gotten his hands on an old psychological profile of the man done while he was running for Congress many years ago. The president was smart, accomplished, but not that smart, and not that accomplished. That meant he had a chip on his shoulder. Thus he was reluctant to acknowledge that he was not always the smartest, most informed person in the room. Some would see that attribute as a strength. Tucker knew it to be a serious vulnerability ripe for exploitation.
And he was exploiting it right now.
The president nodded. “Yes, yes, I can see that.”
Tucker’s face remained impassive, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.
The president leaned forward. “I respect Robie and Reel. But again, there is no margin of error here, Evan. So you vet the hell out of them and make damn sure they are absolutely ready for this. Or you use the B Team. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” said Tucker.
The Target
Coming in April 2014
About the Author
David Baldacci is one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with over 110 million copies in print. Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at www.DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at www.WishYouWellFoundation.org, and to look into its program to spread books across America at www.FeedingBodyandMind.com.