Divide and conquer - Tom Clancy [39]
"Bob, it's Paul," said Hood.
"What's up?"
"Plenty," Herbert said.
"First of all. Matt traced the call that came from the Hay-Adams."
"And?"
"The call originated on Fenwick's cell phone."
"Bingo!" Hood said.
"Maybe, maybe not," Herbert replied.
"Explain," Hood said.
"I got a call a few minutes ago, one I didn't expect to get," Herbert said.
"From?"
"Penwick," Herbert replied.
"He was open and sounded surprised by what I had to say. He told me he didn't speak to the president last night. He said his briefcase was stolen, which is why he didn't get the calls I left on his cell phone.
He only got the one I left at his office."
"I'm not ready to buy that," Hood replied.
"The president did receive a call, and it was routed through the hotel."
True," Herbert said.
"But do you remember Marta Streeb?"
"The woman who had the affair with Senator Lancaster?" Hood asked.
"Right."
"What about her?"
"Her calls were run through a phone bank at Union Station so they couldn't be traced," Herbert said.
"I remember," Hood said.
"But the president isn't having an affair."
"Are you sure?" Herbert asked.
"His wife said he was acting strange. That could be guilt-"
"It could be, but let's rule out the national security issues first,"
Hood snapped.
"Sure," Herbert replied. Hood took a moment to calm down. His anger surprised him. Hood had never had an affair, but for some reason, Herbert's comment made him feel guilty about Sharon.
"What else did Fenwick have to say?" Hood asked.
"That he doesn't know a damn thing about any UN initiative," Herbert said.
"He didn't get any calls about it and didn't read about it in the paper.
He told me he was sent to New York to help the Iranians with the situation involving the Harpooner and possible Azerbaijani terrorists in the Caspian. And there could be some truth to that," Herbert pointed out.
"If the CIA was compromised over there, the Iranians might need to turn to someone else for help. Someone that could get them signal intelligence capacity ASAP."
"Were the Iranians working with the CIA on this?"
"I'm trying to find that out," Herbert said.
"You know those Company guys. They don't like to share. But think about it. Op-Center's worked with other governments, some of them hostile. We'd get in bed with Teheran if all we were going to do was snuggle a little." That was true. Hood had to admit.
"And Fenwick was at the mission," Herbert continued.
"That much is pretty clear."
"It's about the only thing that is," Hood replied.
"Bob, you said that Fenwick was sent to New York. Did he say who sent him?"
"Yes," Herbert replied, "and I don't think you're going to like this.
Fenwick says the president was the one who sent him."
"Triple-0?" Hood asked. Triple-0 was oral orders only. They were given when an official didn't want to leave a paper trail to or from a potentially explosive situation.
"Triple-0," Herbert told him.
"Jesus," Hood said.
"Look-someone else would have to have been in this Iranian loop."
"Sure," Herbert agreed.
"The veep, probably. The chief of staff-"
"Call Vice President Cotten's office," Hood said.
"Find out what he has to say. I'll be there as soon as possible."
"I'll call out for pizza," Herbert told him. Hood hung up and concentrated on getting himself through the maddening rush-hour traffic.
At the moment, it was a welcome diversion.
Gobustan, Azerbaijan Tuesday, 1:22 a.m.
The other men had gone to sleep on threadbare bedrolls they had bought secondhand in Baku. But Maurice Charles was still awake, still sitting at the wooden table in the shepherd's shack. Though he never had trouble sleeping before a mission, he did have trouble waiting for other people to do things. Things on which the mission depended.
Until then, he would not-could not-rest. When the phone finally beeped, he felt a nearly electric shock. This was it. The last unfinished business