Four hours later, with the help of Rawlins, Mahoney, Carstensen, and a dozen others assigned to the investigation, I believed I knew who and what was behind the plot to overthrow the U.S. government by assassination.
“Who does that?” FBI director Derek Sanford said, shaking his head after I’d explained my theory to him in the conference room. “Is there no end, no bottom?”
“We can’t prove it beyond a doubt yet, sir,” Carstensen said. “We’ve still got a lot of legwork to do before we know the details. In the meantime, I wish we were still under martial law. It would make things easier.”
Sanford paused, then said, “I can offer you extraordinary powers for now. Mirandize when you have to. Otherwise, do what you need to do.”
I heard his cell phone buzz. The FBI director glanced at the screen, said, “Larkin petitioned the full Supreme Court over the validity of Talbot’s claim to the Oval Office.”
“He’s still flying around?” Mahoney said.
“At his home in Kansas awaiting the court’s decision,” Sanford said. “Whatever. That’s outside our purview. Go make real arrests. When you’ve got the lot of them in custody, I want the perp walk to end all perp walks.”
“What about their homes? Offices?” Mahoney said.
“Search warrants will be executed within the hour. Once that has happened, I’ll contact my Russian counterparts and Interpol. They’ll handle everything outside our jurisdiction. And when it’s appropriate, I’ll personally notify the Secret Service of our intentions.”
After Sanford left the conference room, Carstensen pointed to me and then Mahoney. “You two are coming with me.”
“By car?” Ned asked.
“Helicopter,” she said, heading to the door.
“SWAT?” I asked.
Carstensen paused to check her watch. “What time did you say it started?”
“Seven p.m.”
“I’ll put a full SWAT team on standby,” she said, opening the door. “I’m hoping that given the setting and occasion, our targets will be easy to locate and subdue.”