Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [128]
It was obvious to Jack that the prince had given this a lot of thought. The full scope of Khalid’s proposal suddenly struck Jack, and he asked, “Are you safe here in Geneva, Prince Khalid?”
“In all honesty, I don’t know. For now, I am well protected by people I trust, and I have the resources to build a small army of my own. Still, I must confess that the price tag on my head would be a major temptation for even the most loyal of my followers.”
“Would you wish to have asylum in America, Prince Khalid?”
“At this point, I’m not sure. If it’s an offer, I’ll give it serious consideration.”
“It is an offer, but I’ll wait to hear from you on that. Where would you like to take things from here?”
“I’d like to do some hard thinking about what has been said here. My initial reaction is favorable, but, of course, the truth can only be found in the details. I imagine you have further research to do on me before we commit to anything as well. I will leave you with an intermediary contact who will know how to reach me if you have further questions—and I’m sure you will have some. How about you, Mr. McCarty? What are your thoughts before we part ways?”
“Well, my first task will be to call the president and report on our meeting. Personally, I have been impressed with your forthright approach and the clarity of your vision, Prince Khalid, and I intend to tell that to the president. The decision will be in his hands, but he is my brother and I’d like to think he’d at least listen to me. I expect we will be in contact with you soon, and I hope you’ll think favorably about working with us, as I hope we can with you.”
“That would be my hope. Going forward, Mr. McCarty, I’d appreciate if you would just call me Khalid.”
“Certainly, Khalid, and I hope you will call me Jack.” Jack was touched by the gesture. One more barrier broken down, and while he didn’t know all that much about Saudi royal etiquette, he accepted it as a sign of growing trust.
They shook hands, and Prince Khalid escorted him to the door, where he rejoined his two CIA bodyguards.
Once back at the CIA limo, Jack asked his two body guards to move to the front seat so that that he could make a private call.
“Clayton, this is Jack. Hope I didn’t wake you, but you were pretty adamant that I should call you the minute my meeting was over.”
“Jack, I’m so glad to hear your voice. First of all, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry. The meeting went great, and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back to the embassy. I assume you’re still at your VP residence?”
“Yes I am. Maggie and all of us came back here for the night, but we’ll be moving into the White House today. I’ll be meeting soon with Pete Canton to go over the oil rationing and climate-change plan he’s working on, and we’ll be meeting later in the Situation Room to go over the latest on Safe Harbors. I’m leaving for the Oval Office shortly, but can you call and fill me in before you meet with Wang Peng?”
“Will do. Oh, one other thing,” Jack asked.
“What’s that, Jack?”
“This has been one hell of a ride so far. Thanks for taking me along.” Jack hung up and took a deep breath; his roller coaster ride was just beginning.
47
The White House
11 October 2017
Clayton McCarty breathed a sigh of relief after hanging up from his call with Jack. He’d had a restless night worrying about him, but the opportunities opened up by a relationship with Prince Khalid were now replacing his concerns.
He left Number One Observatory Circle for the last time and was driven to the White House for his first full day of work in the Oval Office. Yesterday he had worked in the Situation Room and his VP’s office following the swearing-in ceremony, so this was really his first opportunity to do a solo exploration of the nooks and crannies of the marvelous office and the history it represented. He enjoyed his first look into the small room President Burkmeister had called Shangri-la and decided he would adopt both the name and