Without remorse - Tom Clancy [314]
Ritter sipped his orange juice, though the acid in it didn't exactly do his stomach any good either. This was treason of the worst sort. Hicks had known what he did would hurt fellow citizens, one of whom he knew by name. Ritter had already made his mind up on the matter, but Roger had to have his time to rattle on.
'We went through Randolph together, we were in the same Bomb Group,' MacKenzie was saying. Ritter decided to let him get it all out, even though it would take a little time. 'We've done deals together ...' the man finished, looking down at his untouched breakfast.
'I can't fault you for taking him into your office, Roger, but the boy's guilty of espionage.'
'What do you want to do?'
'It's a criminal offense, Roger,' Ritter pointed out.
'I'm going to be leaving soon. They want me on the reelection team, running the whole Northeast.'
'This early?'
'Jeff Hicks will be running the campaign in Massachusetts, Bob. I'll be working directly with him.' MacKenzie looked across the table, speaking in barely connected bursts. 'Bob, an espionage investigation in our office - it could ruin things. If what we did - if your operation became public -I mean, the way it happened and what went wrong -'
'I'm sorry about that, Roger, but this little bastard betrayed his country.'
'I could pull his security clearance, kick him out -'
'Not good enough,' Ritter said coldly. 'People may die because of him. He is not going to walk away from it.'
'We could order you to -'
'To obstruct justice, Roger?' Ritter observed. 'Because that's what it is. That's a felony.'
'Your tap was illegal.'
'National-security investigation - there's a war going on, remember? - slightly different rules, and besides, all that has to happen is let him hear it and he'll split open.' Ritter was sure of that.
'And run the risk of bringing down the President? Now? At this time? Do you think that'll do the country any good? What about our relations with the Russians? This is a crucial time, Bob.' But then, it always is, isn't It? Ritter wanted to add, but didn't.
'Well, I'm coming to you for guidance,' Ritter said, and then he got it, after a fashion.
'We can't afford an investigation that leads to a public trial. That is politically unacceptable.' MacKenzie hoped that would be enough.
Ritter nodded and stood. The drive back to his office at Langley was not all that comfortable. Though it was satisfying to have a free hand, Ritter was now faced with something that, however desirable, he did not want to become a habit. The first order of business was to pull the wiretap. In one big hurry.
After everything that had happened, it was the newspaper that broke things loose. The four-column head, below the fold, announced a drug-related triple murder in sleepy Somerset County. Ryan devoured the story, never getting to the sports page that usually occupied fifteen minutes of his morning routine.
It's got to be him, the lieutenant thought. Who else would leave 'a large quantity' of drugs behind, along with three bodies? He left the house forty minutes early that morning, surprising his wife.
'Mrs O''Toole?' Sandy had just finished her first set of morning rounds, and was checking off some forms when the phone rang.
'Yes?'
'This is James Greer. You've spoken to my secretary, Barbara, I believe.'
'Yes, I have. Can I help you?'
'I hate to bother you, but we're trying to track John down. He's not at home.'
'Yes, I think he's in town, but I don't know where exactly.'
'If you hear from him, could you please ask him to call me? He has my number. Please forgive me for asking this,' the man said politely.
'I'll be glad to.' And what's that about? she wondered.
It was getting to her. The police were after John, and she'd told him, and he hadn't seemed to care. Now somebody else was trying to get hold of him. Why? Then she saw a copy of the morning paper sitting on the table in the lounge area. The brother of one of her patients was reading something or other, but right there on the lower-right side of the front page was the