THE SILHOUETTE OF A MAN in the doorway cast a long shadow into the bedroom. He advanced to the bedside of Ed Delong and put his hand on his shoulder. "Director Delong, wake up." He shook him with more vigor. "Wake up sir."
Delong moved barely conscious. "What?"
"Sir, you have a message."
He opened his eyes.
"Sir, you have another POISN call."
Delong rolled over to face the man. "Watson. What is it?"
"It's Mike Johansson," said Watson, Delong's personal assistant.
"What the hell time is it?"
"It's three o'clock, sir. He says it's urgent."
"Damn well better be." He rolled over on his back and reached for the phone in Watson's hand. "It's three in the morning, Mike. What's this all about?"
Johansson responded without hesitation. "Sorry, Ed. I wouldn't call if it wasn't serious."
"Okay, I'm awake now. What's so damn important?”
"After we talked earlier I went home, like you ordered. I kept thinking about Rashid. Then I remembered I got several personal phone calls yesterday while working, and shut my phone down. So I checked my messages and discovered Rashid had sent me a text about four o'clock in the afternoon."
With the mention of Rashid's name, Delong winced.
"It's a short message, Ed. I'll read it to you." A second passed while the director fidgeted. "It says, WMD RA-115-01."
Delong frowned. "That's it? That's all?"
"Yes, and it's more than enough."
Delong searched his mind for an interpretation. "Save me a little time, Mike. What's it mean?"
"WMD. Weapon of Mass Destruction. RA-115-01. That’s the designation for a Russian nuclear bomb in a suitcase."
Delong bolted upright in bed. "Holy shit!"
THE WEST WING of the White House is the most secure patch of ground in the United States. Even well-known members of Congress and the administration undergo vetting by the Secret Service before entering.
Delong and Leo Adornetto were the first to be seated in the reception area next to the office of the President's Chief of Staff Edmond Pruitt. Pruitt, a craggy faced man with a prominent belly he hid with an out of fashion double-breasted suit coat, had entered the building minutes earlier. He asked Margret Madden, National Security Adviser to the President, to join him in his office. "It’s six in the morning. What the hell is this all about, Maggie?" Pruitt asked.
Ms. Madden, who needed no make-up and wore a leather belted cowl neck dress, shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "Something to do with national security and an undercover operation out west."
Pruitt continued, "We have enough damn politics around here without bringing in some cloak-and-dagger mystery. In addition to the men outside my office, I understand the Attorney General is sending his deputy, Aaron Perlman, over and Admiral Smithy of the NSA is coming, too. All this and I'm not included in the loop."
Madden stifled a smile. "What about President Steward, is he alerted?"
"Yes, of course. Secret Service took care of that."
By 6:15 Aaron Perlman and Admiral Smithy joined Delong and Adornetto. Pruitt led the procession down the hall to the Oval Office. Irked by the fact no one had briefed him on the purpose of this meeting, Pruitt waited until everyone had taken a seat before he unloaded. "I'd like to know who called this meeting. There is such a thing as protocol. All matters of importance to the President go through me." Before anyone answered, President Graham Steward entered the room and everyone stood.
The President headed for his desk and gestured for all to sit. "Good mornin'. Nice to see you all workin' overtime on a beautiful Saturday," he said with his down-home accent. Steward, a lean man with square shoulders and silver hair, stood behind his desk wearing a plaid polo shirt, and golf pants. "We have more than enough for a foursome here." He opened his arms to the group. "Of course if you play with me you can't have an average score of less than ninety-two." This comment caused a ripple of well-mannered laughter. "So, my fellow Americans, what's all the fuss about?"
The room remained silent until Aaron Perlman spoke. "I received a call from FBI Director Delong early this morning. I think when you hear what he has to say, you’ll understand why we are here." All eyes focused on Delong, who stood.
The President assumed a false seriousness. "What is it Ed? Did you find a member of Congress stealing from his postage fund?" Another wave of nervous laughter.
"No Mr. President." His grim face caused Graham Steward to take on a serious expression. "I know this meeting doesn't follow standard procedures, but I think you'll agree this matter is of the highest priority."
Chief of Staff Pruitt interrupted. "That's right, it violates the chain-of-command. Now get to the point."
Delong never took his eyes off the President. "I have reason to believe we are in imminent danger of a nuclear attack by a militant jihadist."
The President leaned forward and planted his hands on his desk. Framed by the light from the windows behind him, he said, "Please say that again. I want to be sure I heard you correctly."
"An agent of the Bureau sent a text message before he died last night while working undercover." He handed a copy to the President. "I'll read it so everyone can hear me." He held his copy. "It says, WMD RA 115-01. We know what WMD means. The designation RA115-01 refers to a nuclear device designed by the Soviet Union in the late 1960's. They called them suitcase nukes. Don't let the term ‘suitcase’ mislead you. This is a six kiloton bomb with the ability to kill and maim upwards of a half a million or more people in the right hands and in the right place and time."
The President held a brooding expression. "Would you be so kind as to expand on that statement, Director Delong? You have my attention."
"Yes sir. Working with the NSA and other members of the intelligence community, we intercepted a series of encrypted messages that we decoded. The messages outlined a planned attack on America, but didn't give specific details. The seventh message, the last one, told us of a meeting of the conspirators. We devised a strategy to infiltrate their meeting and learn about their plans. Our man on the inside sent this message a few hours before he died in an explosion we are now investigating. We have reason to believe the explosion was not an accident. A person we call the Lone Wolf is suspected of the crime and is at large."
The President moved from behind his desk. "And the nuclear bomb, where is it now?"
Delong cast his eyes down. "I must assume it is in the hands of the Lone Wolf, but I don't know, sir."
Chief of Staff Pruitt blurted out, "What do you mean you don't know? It's your job to know."
The President put his hand up. "Calm down Edmond. Let's take this one step at a time." He faced Delong. "This Lone Wolf sounds more like the Leader of the Pack. What do you know about this jihadist?"
Delong glanced over to Adornetto who nodded his head in a gesture of support. "At the same time we broke their code, the Albuquerque Field Office in New Mexico was working a murder case that linked with our findings. I can tell you our suspect has operated in the U. S. for about six months. Five months ago he murdered a man and stole his identity. We tracked him down, but he escaped our surveillance about two weeks back. Based on excellent work by a field agent, we learned about a man acting as our suspect's local contact. This contact lives in El Paso. We staked-out his house. He was joined by an international arms dealer, a weapons specialist and our undercover man posing as their interpreter. Two days ago they met with the jihadist. The meeting took place in a house in rural southeastern New Mexico. We have kept it under close watch. Last night an explosion destroyed their meeting location and everyone in the house. I believe that was the work of the Lone Wolf. An extensive search of the area is underway as I speak."
President Steward moved from behind his desk and faced Delong. "So you don't know if the bomb survived the explosion or if it was even present at the site."
"We know the bomb came from a port in Dubai and arrived in Roswell, but we don't know where it is now."
"And you don't know, for a fact, if this terrorist perished in the explosion or if he survived it."
"Not for a fact, sir, but our observers believe the explosion was intentional. The Lone Wolf is a ruthless man who covers his tracks. Someone got out of that house and blew it up. I think he did it."
"Back on the farm, my Daddy use to say if the dogs are chasin' a varmint you don't know if they're chasin' a bear, a bitch in heat or some other critter until you see it treed or go to ground. For your sake, Director Delong, I hope your dogs on are on the right scent."
Leo Adornetto asked, "May I speak, sir?"
"Of course, Leo."
"I've been working with Ed on this investigation from the beginning. He's given you the recent highlights. Admiral Smithy will back me when I say this is a real threat to national security. It's well thought out, carefully planned, and professionally carried out. We have connected enough of the dots to know what we are dealing with. The next step is to learn the identity of the perpetrator and stop him." Admiral Smithy, seated next to Adornetto, nodded his head in agreement.
The President walked to his desk, turned his back on the room, folded his arms, and stared out of the window. After a few minutes he turned and faced the group. "This office got surprised years ago when the Twin Towers came down. I don't intend to let that happen again. Not on my watch." He singled out his National Security Adviser Madden. "Maggie, I want you to get smart on this threat and brief me daily, hourly if necessary. My chief of staff," he pointed to Pruitt, "will give you whatever you need."
The President then addressed everyone. "I don't want this conversation to leave this office. I will hold everyone here accountable for complete secrecy. No leaks. I don't want this coming out in the damn media. The last thing I need is panic in the streets."
His words were met with a nods of agreement.
The President turned to the FBI Director. "As for you, Delong, my Daddy also use to say if it smells like a skunk, it's a skunk." His expression hardened. "You and your boys let this skunk skip out on you. That's not the American way. I hold you personally responsible. You hear me?”