Two hours later, they parted company. Nichols had two burner numbers written on his legal pad alongside a list of facts to verify and questions to answer. The burners belonged to Hayward and Sam. The questions were damned good ones. The answers would make for extremely interesting reading.
Nichols left them with no guarantees, but Sam read people well enough to know he was hooked. There was a little bit of interpretation inherent in every observation, and Nichols’s slant seemed to be toward telling a good story. He would squint if he had to, Sam thought, but he was going to look at the facts in a favorable light. He liked seeing his byline on the front page. It was going to work out.
Unless, of course, Hayward was lying. This wasn’t a possibility she could discard. Hayward needed the big, clamorous diversion even more than she did. He was an even more motivated storyteller than she was. If Hayward was spinning a yarn, Sam prayed it proved convincing enough for Nichols.
Sam had the sense that Hayward would eventually need more leverage. The disk drive full of chemical formulas would take him only so far. The Agency would play him for it, maybe even agree to exchange Katrin and Joao for it, maybe even agree to spare his life as part of the bargain. But as soon as they had the information, all bets would be off. She’d have wagered a sizable chunk of her sizable net worth that they planned to burn the whole thing to the ground. Hayward, the scientist, the girl, they would all be smoked. The stakes were too high. The story was too sensational and the blowback would be legendary. It would last years, maybe even decades. The Agency would never be the same, which made a scorched-earth solution seem more than reasonable.
Unless, of course, Hayward could come up with more leverage.
Enter Sam Jameson, Homeland pariah, Sam thought. The CIA already had her in their sights, for a reason that still wasn’t clear to her. They’d broken into her house, manipulated her security system, flexed muscle by showing her how vulnerable Brock was, even tucked away on some airbase in the godforsaken Middle East. Perhaps they’d be interested in finishing things.
Perhaps Hayward could make them an offer. Her life for his.
Thinking about this possibility made her want to part ways with Hayward as soon as possible, but that move would bring its own risks. She could have no influence over Hayward’s actions if she had no knowledge of them. So she decided to keep him close . . . for the time being.