NED MAHONEY AND I TRUDGED OUT OF CIA HEADQUARTERS AROUND two o’clock that morning. I felt like we were leaving a cocoon, which we kind of were, but not a warm and cozy one. The president had come on the line at midnight, ten hours after the bombing of Cho’s motorcade. In the morning, he’d make an emotional national address, condemning the attack and calling on America to remember the victims for everything they’d stood for against murderers exactly like these.
“I think I liked it better when I was out of the loop,” I said. It was hard not to feel overwhelmed. My intention was to be back at Branaff as soon as possible, but there were a lot of other places I felt like I could and probably should be.
Surveillance was about to make a quantum leap in DC. Government affidavits were being written through the night, and several new Title III warrants were expected to go through as early as the following afternoon. That meant listening teams in all kinds of places they hadn’t been before—more mosques, more online networks, more phone lines, all of it. The personnel demands alone were going to be unprecedented.
“Where are you going to be?” I asked Ned.
“Quantico. Unless Hostage and Rescue has to move,” he said. “But I’ll be putting in some surveillance time, too. Your phone going to be on?”
“Only at lunch and study hall,” I deadpanned.
“I’ll call you if there’s anything to tell,” he said.
“Okay. I’ll do the same.”
We hadn’t talked about it specifically, but Ned and I seemed to have fallen into an agreement. I’d have his back on this, and he’d have mine. Before we got to the parking lot, he stopped and put a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s good to be on the same side,” he said. “I know I pissed you off for a while there, but it won’t happen again. That’s a promise.”
“Is this where we cut open our thumbs and shake?” I said. “Triple-dog swear, or whatever?”
Ned didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll pass,” he said. “I don’t know where that thumb’s been.” He grinned at me before he turned and started across the lawn toward his car. “But I will return your calls from now on.”