the city, let alone his address. He shook his head.
"I had Claudia and Anna placed into protective custody last night." Kennedy turned for the door. "And just so we're clear on this, I did it because I don't think they should die because of your greed and stupidity."
Gould felt the walls closing in around him. He watched Kennedy reach for the buzzer next to the door and he blurted out, "How did you find us?"
Kennedy made a half turn and looked down at Gould. "This is your last chance, Mr. Gould. You either tell me everything I want to know, or I will tell Claudia how you have continued with your little hobby despite promising her you were done. I will tell her about the type of people you've been working with and how you have put her and Anna in harm's way, all for your own selfish gratification. And then you can spend the rest of your life in a cell, agonizing over your stupidity and wondering what your daughter looks like with each passing birthday. So what's it going to be, Mr. Gould, are you ready to talk or do want to continue with these stupid games?"
His head hung in defeat, Gould said, "I'm ready to talk."
"What is my name, and what do I do for a living?"
"You're Dr. Irene Kennedy. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency."
Kennedy nodded and pressed the buzzer. The door opened a second later to reveal Nash. She told him, "I need a pen and a pad of paper. Mr. Gould is about to give us a good deal of information."
Nash looked more than a little surprised that his boss had been able to accomplish what he couldn't, and in only a few minutes. He nodded and turned to get what she'd asked for.
"And you can turn everything back on." Kennedy let the door close and surveyed the strange man sitting across from her. "You might not understand this, but I care about what happens to you."
Gould looked up at her with disbelieving eyes.
"I know that's hard for someone like you to believe, but it's true. Mitch spared your life for reasons that I don't entirely understand, which leaves me to wonder if there isn't a bigger reason that none of us understood, and still don't understand." Kennedy watched for a sign that the man was capable of feeling either guilt or gratitude. She saw neither, but she wasn't displeased, for his expression was one of fear, and Kennedy knew from personal experience that fear could be a great motivator. "You have a role to play here, Mr. Gould. I don't know what it is yet, but I think we're about to find out."
Chapter 29
JOEL Wilson was used to getting his way. So much so that when people didn't bow to his whims, he became such an insufferable bastard that his opponents' only option was to surrender. At least that's the way it usually worked, but every once in a while Wilson ran up against someone who was more than willing to match him toe-to-toe in his little game of threats, wild conjecture, and pure bluster.
It had started off well enough. Wilson had landed at the Kabul International Airport without alerting the CIA, or anyone from the FBI, for that matter, that he and his team had arrived. He then placed a call to the FBI liaison at the embassy and explained to him that they needed to talk. "No," Wilson explained to the man, "you are not in any trouble - at least none that I know of, so I suggest you follow my orders to the tee." Wilson went on to explain that no one, including the ambassador, was to know that he and his people were in the country. The liaison went along with Wilson's requests and within the hour his team was inside the embassy and ready to descend upon the CIA personnel.
That was when things started to get a little bumpy. Wilson, primed for his first confrontation, was extremely disappointed when he discovered that Darren Sickles, the CIA's station chief, was not in the building. Wilson badgered Sickles's secretary for a good ten minutes. The only thing he managed to get out of her was that Sickles was at the Ministry of the Interior on important business. When he asked for Sickles's second in command he was told he was in Jalalabad. When he inquired as to the whereabouts of Mitch Rapp, the woman completely shut down. It