The Last Patriot - Brad Thor [30]
“But, if Mohammed did in fact have a final revelation beyond Sura 9,” said Nichols, “and if, as Jefferson believed, it could abrogate all of the calls to violence in the Koran—”
“Then its impact would be incredible,” replied Harvath, who after a pause asked, “You found all of this in Jefferson’s presidential diary?”
“No,” replied the professor. “The diary was only a jumping-off point. Jefferson had been on the trail of the missing revelation long before he came into the presidency and he kept working on it until well after he had left the White House.
“We’ve had to sort through many other Jeffersonian documents to try to find more information. The problem is that Jefferson died heavily in debt and his estate was broken up and sold. Certain key items have gone missing. That’s why the president dispatched me here to Paris.”
“To locate more of Jefferson’s missing documents?” asked Tracy.
“In particular,” said Nichols, “Jefferson’s first-edition Don Quixote. We believe it contains handwritten notes that can lead us to what we’re looking for.”
“Where is it?”
The professor took a deep breath and then replied, “That’s where things start to get tricky.”
CHAPTER 20
THE WHITE HOUSE
President Jack Rutledge had just finished his morning briefing when his chief of staff, Charles Anderson, stuck his head back inside the Oval Office. “The Saudi crown prince is on the phone for you, sir,” he said.
“Any idea what he wants?” replied the president as he walked behind his desk and sat down.
“He didn’t say. Do you want me to tell him you’re unavailable?”
“No. I’ll take his call.”
When Anderson had left the room, Rutledge picked up the phone. “Good afternoon, Your Highness.”
“Good morning, Mr. President,” said Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz from his residential palace in eastern Riyadh. “Thank you for taking my call.”
“Of course, Your Highness. We are always happy to hear from our friends in Saudi Arabia.”
“I trust you and your daughter, Amanda, are well?”
“We are,” said Rutledge, ever mindful of the Arab custom to make small talk about the health and well being of the conversation’s participants and their respective families before getting down to business. “How are you and your family?”
“Everyone is well, thank you.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Mr. President,” said the crown prince, “may I speak frankly with you?”
“Of course,” replied Rutledge.
“I understand that you may be searching for something that doesn’t belong to you.”
The president waited for the crown prince to elaborate. When he didn’t, Rutledge asked, “Could you be more specific, Your Highness?”
“Mr. President, Islam is one of the world’s three great religions. It brings comfort and solace to a billion-and-a-half people around the world. I am concerned that you may be attempting to shake the faith of those billion-and-a-half people.”
“And just how exactly are we trying to do that?” asked Rutledge.
“I’m not talking about America in general,” corrected the Saudi leader. “I’m talking about you specifically, Mr. President. You and the personal vendetta you seem to have against our peaceful religion.”
The president reminded himself that he was talking to a foreign head of state; one whose country actively promoted and financed the radical Wahhabi ideology embraced by so many of the world’s terrorists, but a head of state nonetheless. “Your Highness, you asked me if we could speak frankly, so let’s do so. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The connection was so clear, it was almost as if the overweight Saudi was standing right next to the president when he said, “There is no lost revelation of Mohammed, Mr. President.”
Rutledge couldn’t believe his ears. How the hell did the Saudis know what he was looking for? “That’s good to know, Your Highness. Thank you.”
“Saudi Arabia has been a very good friend to the United States,” cautioned the crown prince.
Sure they had. The president wanted to thank him for the fifteen hijackers the Saudis sent over on 9/11, the countless Saudi nationals who had overstayed their visas and had