Patriot games - Tom Clancy [201]
"Not a thing for the past two weeks," Murray admitted. "You?"
"We have a possible link-let me be precise, we suspect that there might be a possible link."
The FBI man grinned. "Yeah, I know what that's like. Who is it?"
"Geoffrey Watkins." That got a reaction.
"The foreign-service guy? Damn! Anybody else on the list that I know?"
"The chap you were just talking to. Ashley's people discovered that he's not entirely faithful to his wife."
"Boys or girls?" Murray took a cue from the way Owens had said that. "You mean that he doesn't know, Jimmy?"
"He doesn't know that the itinerary has been leaked, possibly to the wrong people. Watkins is among them, but so is our DPG friend."
"Oh, that's real good! The plans may be leaked, and you can't tell the head of the security detail because he may be the one-"
"It's most unlikely, but we must allow for the possibility."
"Call the trip off, Jimmy. If you have to break his leg, call it the hell off."
"We can't. He won't. I spoke with His Highness day before yesterday and told him the problem. He refuses to allow his life to be managed that way."
"Why are you telling me this?" Murray rolled his eyes.
"I must tell someone, Dan. If I can't tell my chaps, then " Owens waved his hands.
"You want us to call the trip off for you, is that it?" Murray demanded. He knew that Owens couldn't answer that one. "Let's spell this one out nice and clear. You want our people to be alert to the chance that an attack is a serious possibility, and that one of the good guys might be a bad guy."
"Correct."
"This isn't going to make our folks real happy."
"I'm not terribly keen on it myself, Dan," Owens replied.
"Well, it gives Bill Shaw something else to think about." Another thought struck him. "Jimmy, that's one expensive piece of live bait you have dangling on the hook."
"He knows that. It's our job to keep the sharks away, isn't it?"
Murray shook his head. The ideal solution would be to find a way to cancel the trip, thereby handing the problem back to Owens and Ashley. That meant involving the State Department. The boys at Foggy Bottom would spike that idea, Murray knew. You couldn't un-invite a future chief of state because the FBI and Secret Service didn't think they could guarantee his safety-the reputation of American law- enforcement would be laid open to ridicule, they'd say, knowing that his protection wasn't the responsibility of the people at State.
"What do you have on Watkins?" he asked after a moment. Owens outlined his "evidence."
"That's all?"
"We're still digging, but so far there is nothing more substantive. It could all be coincidence, of course "
"No, it sounds to me like you're right." Murray didn't believe in coincidences either. "But there's nothing that I could take to a grand jury at home. Have you thought about flushing the game?"
"You mean running through a change in the schedule? Yes, we have. But then what? We could do that, see if Watkins goes to the shop, and arrest both men there-if we can confirm that what is happening is what we think it to be. Unfortunately, that means throwing away the only link we've ever had with the ULA, Dan. At the moment, we're watching Cooley as closely as we dare. He is still traveling. If we can find out whom he is contacting, then perhaps we can wrap up the entire operation. What you suggest is an option, but not the best one. We do have time, you know. We have several months before we need to do something so drastic as that."
Murray nodded, not so much in agreement as in understanding. The possibility of finding and destroying O'Donnell's bunch had to be tantalizing to Scotland Yard. Bagging Cooley now would quash that. It wasn't something that they'd simply toss off. He knew that the Bureau would think much the same way.
"Jack, I want you to come along with me," Marty Cantor said. "No questions."
"What?" Ryan asked, and got an accusing look. "All right, all right." He took the files he was working on and locked them in his file cabinet, then grabbed his jacket. Cantor led