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Annie hit Pause and turned to Dell.

“What strikes me is that Abu Nakba does not actually say that he and his men are coming to Rome—he says they are coming for Rome,” Annie noted. “That is, they are coming against Roman Catholicism, which is effectively his way of saying he is coming to destroy Christendom. I mean, look at the language he’s using. He’s making a direct attack on the essential theology of Christianity—the historicity of the cross, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the divinity of Christ.”

Further, Annie pointed out, the Kairos leader was claiming Jesus would return to earth as a jihadist for Islam and as a forerunner of the Mahdi. “So I don’t get the impression this is about an attack on the physical city of Rome. He’s essentially making a declaration of war on Christianity itself. And that has to make the opportunity to assassinate the pope—and do so on the soil of the ‘Great Satan’—irresistible to Abu Nakba and his disciples.”

The room was quiet.

“What about you, Ryker?” Dell finally asked.

Marcus remained quiet for a long moment, still processing the video and everything his colleagues had just said.

“Well, ma’am, as I told the president, I strongly believe we should postpone the pope’s visit. Clearly, there’s a circumstantial case that Kairos is gunning for the pope. It’s no ‘slam dunk,’ to cite a previous CIA director. After all, the fact that the Kairos cells entered the U.S. even when there was doubt over whether the pope was coming suggests Abu Nakba has multiple targets in mind. I absolutely agree with Annie that Abu Nakba would love to deal a death blow to the pope, one that will be felt by all Americans but especially by a billion Catholics around the globe. But he clearly knows how heavily protected the pope will be. So why take the risk? Why not hit a series of softer targets, sites not guarded at all?”

“Like what?” Dell asked.

“Let’s not forget the attack that Abu Nakba ordered in the Lincoln Park Baptist Church a year and a half ago,” Marcus said. “An unprotected sanctuary. Hundreds of worshipers. And look how many they killed. Look how many they wounded. And but for the grace of God, it could have been much worse. But look at the headlines that generated—not just here but around the world. That church shooting really rattled people. Christians, observant Jews attending synagogues, even devout Muslims attending mosques. Every person of faith in the country suddenly felt vulnerable.”

“So what are you saying?” Dell pressed. “Is Kairos going to target the pope or not?”

“I think we have to consider multiple scenarios,” Marcus replied. “If it were me, would I wait to attack four heavily defended stadiums? No. Why not hit a dozen churches and synagogues in each those four cities—plus Washington—this Sunday, the day before the pope even lands on American soil? What would happen then? The pope would almost certainly cancel his trip. The stadium Masses would be canceled. And nobody would want to go to church or synagogue for months to come. Think about it. During the pandemic, many state governments forced houses of worship to shut their doors for public health reasons. In this scenario, all houses of worship would likely close themselves. And even if they remained open, who would go?”

Again the room fell silent. No one wanted to contemplate such a ghastly scenario, yet they all knew it was plausible.

“That’s what I would do,” Marcus said. “But I’m not Abu Nakba. He isn’t looking for the easy way out. He’s old. He’s frail. He’s on the run. And he wants to pull off something bigger than 9/11, more spectacular than what Osama bin Laden pulled off. That’s why I lean toward thinking that Annie’s right. He wants to assassinate the pope, but he certainly has backup plans if that proves impossible.”

“What would you recommend?” Dell asked.

“Pull the plug on the trip entirely.”

“But if it goes forward?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“But if it does, Ryker, what then?”

“We’d need to go public.”

Dell blinked. “You just told the president to stay quiet.”

“Look, if the pope understands the threat against him and still decides to come, and the president still wants him to come, then that’s above my pay grade. But then the public needs to know what we know. The FBI director—or the president—should hold a press conference. Give the public the facts. Go ahead and reveal that we’ve taken out Ruzami. Take that win. But also release the photos of the twelve Kairos operatives we know are in the country. Raise the national threat level. Put up an 800 number for people to call in leads. And ask every mayor and governor to assign local police and state troopers to protect all houses of worship this weekend. Deploy the National Guard. Then flood these four specific cities with federal agents in a massive manhunt until we roll up these cells and the threat can be neutralized.”

“That’s a pretty big risk,” Dell said. “It could very well create a national panic.”

“And it’s going to overwhelm the system with people calling in false leads and wild rumors,” Callaghan added.

“Marcus is right,” Jenny suddenly said. “We need to go public. It’s honest, and it could save countless lives, including the pope’s.”

Annie was nodding vigorously. “I agree. After all, imagine what happens if we don’t inform the country.”

“Unforgivable,” Marcus said.

“Pardon?” Dell asked.

Marcus was not sure if she really had not heard him or simply had not liked what he had said. Either way, Marcus did not hesitate to repeat himself. “It would be unforgivable, ma’am.”