“Bill, a few minutes before you arrived I received a call from the Attorney General. For the last eighteen months Stephen Preston has been the deputy information analyst for Homeland. His clearance is above Top Secret. He’s respected and well placed, and if anyone would be in a position to discover a scandal of the kind you’ve described it would be him. Likewise if anyone was able to crack MindReader and the DMS and learn of an ongoing campaign of blackmail it would be him. Agreed?”

Collins said nothing.

“So, if someone like Stephen Preston came to you with information of this kind it’s understandable, perhaps even imperative, that you would give serious credence to him. I can see that; Linden can see that. The Attorney General must have seen that, because he backed your play in this matter.”

Collins said nothing.

“Forty minutes ago a security guard found Stephen Preston at his desk, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.”

“What?”

“He had a note on his desk. While not exactly a suicide note, it was nonetheless a very long and rambling letter about the corruption of the American system and the need for it to be wiped away so that it can be replaced by a system created by God and dedicated to His will. That sort of thing. Six pages of it. Superficially the handwriting appears to be his, but the FBI will run their tests. The entire office is now a crime scene, and I’ve asked the Attorney General to work with the Bureau to make sure that the forensics are done without bias and with no stone unturned.”

“Good… God…” Collins looked stricken and Brierly pulled up a chair for him. The Vice President sat down with a thump. “I… I… don’t understand. He had records; he had proof…”

“Bill, there are probably very few people better suited to fabricate that exact kind of proof. Our biggest concern now is to determine if Preston acted alone or if this is part of some larger conspiracy. I am debating going public with this once we have the facts so that there is absolutely no stink of cover-up.”

“I… don’t know what to say. Mr. President, I-”

The President smiled for the first time. “Bill, I don’t like what you did. People were hurt, trust was broken, and tensions now exist between the NSA and DMS-two crucial groups that need to be able to trust one another and work together without reservation. And I’ll be straight with you… I’m going to look very closely at you. You’re going to be vetted all over again and if I find anything-anything-out of place I’m going to drop you into a hole and bury you with it.”

Collins shook his head. “I believed-”

“I know. I’m trusting you, Bill, but I have to be sure.”

“But Church…”

“Bill, if Mr. Church was really the enemy here he would destroy you. Don’t think I’m exaggerating.” He snapped his fingers, a sound that was as loud as a dry branch breaking. “Just like that.”

“He… MindReader…”

“Does Church know things about me, Bill? Things that I would prefer not be made public? Sure he does. Has he tried to use them as leverage? No. Not once. I won’t speculate on what happened during the previous administration. If Church had secrets then, and if he ever tried to use them, then I don’t know about it.” The President’s eyes were intense, his smile gone. “Does Church and his damned computer have too much power? Probably, and if I ever-ever-get a whiff that he has abused that power, lost control of it, or used it in ways that do not serve the mutually agreed best interests of this country I won’t bother with the NSA-I’ll send the National Guard against him and every one of his facilities.”

Collins sagged back in his chair.

“But I know the man. I know him very well, and I truly believe, Bill, that Church and his group are one of the strongest and most correctly used weapons in our arsenal. I’ve seldom met anyone in whom I place as much personal trust as I place in Mr. Church.”

“You don’t even know his real name!”

The President’s smile returned.

“Yes,” he said, “I do.”

TWENTY MINUTES LATER Vice President Bill Collins was in the back of his limousine, the soundproof window in place.

“How’d it go?” asked Sunderland on the other end of the line.

“He goddamn near tore my balls off.”

“What happened?”

“He bought it. Hook, line, and sinker.”

Sunderland’s exhale was so long that it sounded like a hot air balloon deflating.

“J.P.,” said Collins, “I don’t want to know how you stage-managed the suicide. We’re never going to discuss this topic again.”

“We don’t need to. You’re out of it.”

“I’m out of it,” Collins agreed. “Now you have to watch your own ass.”

Sunderland made a rude noise.

“I wish we’d never tried this, J.P.”

“Little late to cry over it now… and we might still spin something useful out of it.”

“You might… I’m out of it.”

Before Sunderland could reply, Collins closed his phone. He folded his arms tightly against his chest and crossed his legs and wondered if he had just jabbed a tiger with a stick. In his mind Sunderland was not the tiger. Nor was the President.

The tiger was Church.

Chapter Forty-Eight

The Deck

Saturday, August 28, 9:46 P.M.

Time Remaining on the Extinction Clock: 86 hours, 14 minutes E.S.T.

“We’ve located the facility,” said Otto as he tucked the Irish linen under Cyrus’s chin.

“Where?”

“In the Bahamas, those arrogant brats. They bought an island. Dogfish Cay. Thirty-eight acres, volcanic but with a solid bedrock base. Very lush, with several buildings and a lagoon that looks like it might have been dredged to take small cargo ships. My guess is that most of the facility is built down into the bedrock.”

“My young gods,” Cyrus said with a smile. “They learned well.”

Otto grunted and arranged the platter on his lap tray. “It gives them easy access to the states, they can hide small shipments among the tourists and pleasure craft, but they’re outside of U.S. waters.”

“Which is why we couldn’t find them. I was sure they would build in one of the Carolinas. They bought property there under half a dozen names.” He paused and picked up his knife and fork. “Mmm, now that I see the whole picture I can see where the land purchases were misdirection. Good for them.”

“What do you want to do now?”

“Now I’ll eat. What is it? Not more dodo-?”

“No, it’s Alsatian. Grilled with onions and peppers.”

“Do I like dog, Otto?”

“You requested it specially.”

“Whatever could I have been thinking?” he said as he cut a piece of meat, speared a plump slice of green pepper, and ate it. He chewed thoughtfully. “Mm. This is a bit of a disappointment.”

“What do you want to do about the Dragon Factory?”

Cyrus cut another piece of meat and stabbed it with his fork, then waggled it at Otto. “Infiltrate it, of course. Send two teams in a look-and-follow pattern. The New York boys will do for the first-in. What’s the weather like on Dogfish Cay?”

“Eighty-six degrees with light and variable winds out of the southwest. Cloud cover coming in over the next few hours.”

“Are the teams ready?”

“They were in the chase planes.”

“Then go tonight.”

“Very good.”

“And Otto…?”

“Sir?”

“Have them kill either Hecate or Paris. One or the other, but not both.”

Otto stared at him in surprise. “Are we having one of our episodes, Mr. Cyrus?”

Cyrus smiled. “No, we’re not, and don’t be a smart-ass. God! Look at you-you’re white as a ghost.”

“Kill one of the Twins…?”

“Sentimentality creeping in on you in your dotage, Otto?”

“Hardly. I just don’t understand why you want one of your children murdered. What does it do for us?”

“If we do it right, Otto, if we make it look like a government hit-which is easy enough considering where we get our equipment-then it will drive the remaining Twin closer to me. A family brought together in shared grief. Us against the world, that sort of thing. Instead of stealing the secrets of the Dragon Factory he-or, more likely, she-will beg us to take them.” His eyes glittered like black glass. “And then our real work can finally begin.”