The Third Option

chapter 9

Death was coming. It had been, of course, since the day he was born on his parents' farm outside Stoneville, South Dakota, in 1920, but now it was upon him. Death had its bony fingers wrapped around his small, frail body and wasn't about to let go. It was the natural progression of things. A beginning and an end. Surprisingly, this didn't bother him. He had lived a long life. Much longer than most. He had seen and heard things that very few others had. The sacrifices he had made for his country would be remembered by few, and again this didn't bother him. His life had been lived in the shadows, and as the Information Age exploded, he had grown increasingly comfortable with his relative anonymity.

Thomas Stansfield was a private man, as was fitting for the person who ran the world's most famous, and infamous, intelligence agency. He had chosen to die at home surrounded by his daughters and grandchildren. The doctors had tried to talk him into surgery and radiation therapy, but Stansfield declined. The best they could give him at his age was another year or two, and that was if he survived having three-quarters of his liver removed. There was a good chance that he would never recover from the surgery. His wife, Sara, had passed away four years ago, and Thomas missed her dearly. Her death, more than anything, probably contributed to his decision not to fight. What was the sense? He had lived seventy-nine good years and was for the most part alone. The other big reason not to fight was his daughters. He did not want them to have to put their lives on hold for two years to watch him gradually wither away: If he were younger, things might be different, but he was tired. He wanted to die in privacy, with his mind and dignity intact.

A hospital bed had been moved into the study on the first floor of his home. The modest three-thousand-square-foot colonial sat on two wooded acres overlooking the Potomac River. In the spring, they could sit in the backyard and watch the water rush over Stublefield Falls, but now, in the fall, it was barely a trickle. Stansfield sat in his favorite leather chair, and looked admiringly out the window at the fall colors. How appropriate it was to die this time of the year, he thought. At least, Robert Frost would think so.

Sally, his eldest daughter, was in town from San Diego taking care of him. His other daughter, Sue, was to arrive on Wednesday from Sacramento. Their plan was to stay with him to the end. The five grandkids had been out two weekends before to spend some time with Grandpa before he was too far gone to enjoy it. The oldest was seventeen, and the youngest was five. The weekend had been painful but necessary. There had been a lot of tears.

Today Sally had helped him get dressed for a visitor. He was wearing a pair of tan slacks, a light blue button-down, and a gray cardigan. His white hair was parted to the side and combed back. Iowa was slugging it out with Penn State on the TV; but Stansfield wasn't paying attention to the game. He was worried about a phone call he had received. He wanted to put everything in order before he passed. The grandkids were taken care of. Trusts had been set up for college and grad school if they chose, but nothing else. There would be no sports cars or boats, no toys to make them weak. The house would easily fetch a million, not bad considering he had bought the land for two thousand dollars back in 1952. And there were other investments, of course. A person would have had to be a fool not to have capitalized on some of the information that had come across Thomas Stansfield's desk over the years. The daughters would get the bulk of the estate, and he didn't worry for a moment about whether the money would be used wisely.

What did worry Thomas Stansfield was the CIA. Things were not in order, and they were beginning to show signs of being worse than he had thought. No one outside Stansfield's family had been allowed to look behind the curtain he had pulled across his life. There was one exception, and that was Irene Kennedy. Stansfield thought of her as his third daughter. She was, he believed, the most talented and crucially important person working for the CIA. This made her a big target for a lot of people, and Stansfield was worried that when he was gone, his enemies would do their best to destroy her.

SALLY ESCORTED DR. Kennedy into the study and then closed the door on her way out. Irene approached Stansfield's chair and kissed him on the forehead. This was a new thing for them, since the cancer had been discovered. At the time, they had quietly mused over death's habit of bringing one's true feelings to the surface. Kennedy took the chair across from her boss and asked him how he felt.

"Pretty good, but let's not worry about me. There's nothing we can do about that." Stansfield studied her for a moment and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kennedy wasn't exactly sure where to start, and after a brief hesitation, she said, "The operation we were running in Germany last night..."

"Yes."

"Things didn't go exactly as planned."

"How bad?"

"Mitch hasn't reported in yet, and the BKA has put out a continentwide bulletin on three individuals they believe are responsible for the death of Count Hagenmiller."

"This was expected."

"Yes, it was, but some other things have transpired." Kennedy went on to describe the fire and the strange piece of information they had intercepted from the BKA  -  that it appeared Rapp left the mansion after the Hoffmans and had to steal a car to get away.

When she was done, Stansfield said, "It sounds to me as if something didn't go according to plan. My guess is that Mitch told the Hoffmans to make a break for it and he'd lay down a diversion."

Kennedy nodded. "That's what I thought at first, but Mitch hasn't checked in, and I just recently received a message- from the Hoffmans. They"  -  Kennedy shook her head  -  "said the target was achieved, but an asset was lost in the process."

"Mitch."

With a sad, slow nod, Kennedy said, "Yes."

"What about this third individual the BKA has on tape?"

"We haven't been able to get any further information on that."

Stansfield sat back, a little surprised. He would have thought Irene fully capable of verifying the report through several channels. "Why?"

"There's another problem that has arisen. When I arrived at the CTC this morning, Tom Lee informed me that Secretary Midleton was looking for me."

This caused the frail Stansfield to sit up a bit in his chair. The secretary of state had no business calling his director of counterterrorism without going through him first. "What did Mr. Midleton want?"

"It appears he and the count shared the same passion: fine art."

Stansfield looked out the window, making the connection. He knew that the arrogant secretary of state was very proud of his private art collection. Stansfield remembered a profile that had been done by the New Yorker discussing the renaissance man's fifty-million-dollar collection. "Why would he call you?"

"The message said that he knows we had the count under observation and that any information we can give the German authorities would be greatly appreciated."

"How would he know we had the count under surveillance?"

Kennedy shrugged at the obvious. "It would appear we have a leak."

"Or a mole."

"Yes."

"Any ideas?"

"Not at the moment, but Tom Lee was as disturbed by it as me. He said he was going to look into it."

"Can you trust Mr. Lee?" asked an always cautious Stansfield.

"I think so, but I will, of course, do some checking on my own."

"Good. Have you told the president about Mitch?"

"No. I'd like to know exactly what's going on first."

"I agree. I assume you haven't used our contacts at the BKA because you don't want to draw any more attention to the CTC."

"Yes. I'm trying to collect as much passive information as possible. The NSA is keeping us busy with intercepts. So far, our plan is working. Most of the people in the CTC think Saddam had Hagenmiller killed. A couple even think the Israelis may have done it. The Hagenmillers were Nazis during World War Two, and they were selling very sensitive equipment to one of Israel's most dangerous enemies. There was plenty of motive. I think some of my more streetwise people might suspect that we had a hand in it, but they're not saying anything, nor Will they." Kennedy frowned. "If people find out that we had him under surveillance, it won't look good."

"I agree. I will take care of Secretary Midleton. How are you going to find out about Mitch?"

"The Hoffinans are due back in the States this evening. I'm going to fly to Denver and debrief them personally."

"Who are you bringing?"

"No one. I've dealt with them before. I can handle it myself."

Stansfield gave her a look of admonishment. Kennedy had very limited field experience.

Kennedy read her boss's expression and said defensively, "This is my mess, and I'll be the one to clean it up. Besides, the fewer people we get involved, the better."

Stansfield shook his head. "The last thing you need right now is to leave town and draw attention to yourself. Besides, contract agents like the Hoffinans tend to get a little jumpy when an operation goes badly. I will send some people to take care of it."

Kennedy conceded the point. "What would you like me: to do?"

Stansfield thought about it for a moment. "Hope that the Hoffinans are wrong and Mitch is alive." Stansfield saw by Kennedy's expression that his words didn't have their intended effect. "Don't worry about Mitch. This is what he's best at. He'll find his way back to us all by himself." The director of Central Intelligence inched forward in his chair, and his gray eyes peered into Kennedy's. "I want you to find out where Secretary Midleton is getting his information, and I want you to do it as quickly and quietly as possible."

RAYS OF SUNLIGHT floated through the kitchen window of Liz and Michael O'Rourke's Georgetown brownstone. Liz O'Rourke pecked away at her laptop. A glass of cranapple juice sat on her left, and on her right was a structurally unsound stack of documents and files that looked as if they might plummet to the floor any minute. Her yellow Lab, Duke, was lying in front of the patio door, napping in the warm sunlight. The former newspaper reporter was at peace. Everything about the setting was perfect except the absence of coffee. And considering the fact that she was five months pregnant, it was a happy trade.

Liz was working on her first book. It was titled America's Most Corrupt Politicians. Since her husband of less than a year was a U.S. congressman, she was using her maiden name, Scarlatti, not that Michael would have objected to using O'Rourke. She just thought it was the prudent thing to do. With the help of a friend who was a literary agent, she had inked a deal with a New York publisher based on a ten-page book proposal. The side job, as she referred to it, made quitting the newspaper an easy decision. Her husband came from some fairly big money. Liz didn't need to work, but she wanted to. At thirty-one, she knew if she stopped cold turkey, she'd go nuts.

She was wearing a pair of gray sweats and a small blue t New York Yankees T-shirt that barely covered her belly button. The little baby-T drove Michael nuts. He loved it when she wore it around the house, but if she so much as It stepped out to get the newspaper in it, he gave her a concerned fatherly look. Liz was just finishing a paragraph when she heard the jingle of Duke's dog tags. Peeking over the top of the laptop, she saw her husband's best friend staring at the front door. The sound of keys in the lock caused him to yelp and jump to his feet. Down the hall he went. The dog was named after John Wayne, and now there was talk of another. She feared that the next one would be called Vince after the legendary Packers coach. Liz's big of problem with this was that her father was named Vince, and a she really didn't think he'd take well to sharing his name with the family dog.

The clock on the kitchen wall read 12:32. With a raised eyebrow, Liz noted that her husband was only thirty-two minutes late. He was getting better. While she counted how vas many pages she had written, she listened to the boys express their love and mutual admiration for each other. If it wasn't for the fact that Michael was very good at showering her with affection, too, she would be really jealous.

A moment later, her thirty-three-year-old husband appeared in the kitchen with the grin of a five-year-old on his face. O'Rourke had been a U.S. Marine and captain of his hockey team at the University of Minnesota. Despite his stem appearance, he was a real softy. He slid around the back of Liz's chair and brushed her hair over to one side. He kissed her cheek just once and then moved on to her neck while his hands found her exposed and bulging belly. Duke came down the hall to watch and wait his turn. Liz reached back and ran her hands through Michael's hair, kissing him on the cheek and moaning in his ear. His hands slid up, and he gently cupped his wife's breasts.

"Lunch or sex?" he whispered in her ear.

"Both."

"Which one first?" He kissed her neck some more.

"I don't care... mm... you decide."

Michael did not expect Liz's sex drive to increase with her pregnancy, but it was nonetheless a pleasant surprise. "If we don't leave now, my bet is we won't leave for the rest the day."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"We don't have any food."

"Is that my fault?" Liz said a little defensively.

"Noooooo." Michael smiled as he drew out the word.

"Not you, Princess." He had taken to calling her by royal moniker when he wanted to tease her. That's what Big Vince liked to call his daughter. "We only live six blocks from a grocery store, and you quit your job a month ago.

Liz withdrew her arms. "How many grocery stores you pass on your way to and from work every day?"

"Nope. I'm not going to let you do it." He stood and walked around to one of the other chairs. Shaking his head and grinning, he said, "We already talked about this. You said you'd do it. You said it would give you an excuse to get out from behind that computer."

"But I'm pregnant." Liz put on her best pouty look.

"Nice try... I'm not falling for it. Come on. Let's go down to Einstein's. I'm dying for a tuna melt and a big cup of java."

"What about the sex?"

"Later. I need a little sustenance. You've been wearing me out lately."

"Poor baby."

Duke edged his snout under his owner's hand, and Michael started petting him." Are you going to take off our son's T-shirt and put on some adult clothes so we can get going? I'm really hungry."

"Son's T-shirt." Liz nodded while she thought of a retort. "That's a really funny one, Michael. Have you been working on it all morning?"

"Nope." He grinned. "I thought of it right here on the spot. Completely impromptu."

"Well, none of the neighbors seemed to mind it when I took Duke for a walk around the block earlier."

"You took Duke for a walk in that T-shirt?" The smile was gone.

Liz stared at him for a while and then smiled. "No, I didn't, but if you keep giving me shit about it, I might."

Michael nodded. "You win. But I don't think it's a good idea for you to keep raiding the baby shower presents. If someone sees you wearing the kid's clothes, they'll really drink you've lost it."

Liz smiled. "Another funny one. Let me check my e-mail, and then we'll go."

She hit the AOL icon, and the computer started the dial-up. After a series of squeals and whistles, the laptop beeped and the computer announced, "You've got mail." Liz clicked on the mailbox icon, and a second later the electronic message appeared on her screen.

Dear Liz,

I hope all is well. I need you and Michael to do me a favor; and please don't ask any questions. Call Bella at the cottage, and tell her you really need to talk to her.

Whatever you do, don't mention my involvement or name over the phone. Something has gone wrong, and I need her to stay with you for a few days. When she gets to your house, you can tell her that I'm safe, that I apologize, and I will explain everything when I get home. Under no circumstance are you to let her go back to the cottage or her apartment. Tell Michael to exercise caution and call Scott C. if he needs help.

Sincerely, Syracuse

P. S. I know all about Seamus, Michael, and Scott C.

She could barely believe what she was reading. Bella was Annabella Rielly, her best friend, and Syracuse had to be Anna's boyfriend, Mitch Rapp. She feared she might know who Scott C. was, and if she was right, just how in the hell did Mitch Rapp know about that dreaded chapter in her family's history? Liz looked up from the screen in disbelief, her perfect Saturday afternoon ruined.

"Honey, I think you'd better take a look at this."