118

After the NSC call, Marcus and Roseboro walked back to the stadium.

“What are you thinking?” the director asked. “What am I missing?”

Scanning the horizon, Marcus noticed the line of commercial jetliners and private planes stretching out over Lake Michigan, on approach to land at O’Hare.

“Why hasn’t the president declared a no-fly zone over the city?”

“He says that would be an overreaction.”

“The governor did it in Miami.”

“That was just over the stadium itself. And that was Miami. This is Chicago.”

“So?”

“So O’Hare is the one of the busiest airports in the world—900,000 flights a year, an average of 2,500 flights a day, one takeoff or landing every thirty to forty seconds. And then there’s Midway.”

“And?”

“And the president doesn’t want to shut them down.”

“Then that’s the biggest risk I see right now.”

“We don’t have any threat reporting of an airborne attack,” Roseboro said. “Besides, there’s the Patriot battery right over there. That should suffice.”

“Carl, come on. Let’s say the worst happens, and there’s another 9/11 scenario,” Marcus pressed. “Are you really going to order a missile attack on an unarmed jumbo jet on live global television?”

Roseboro was quiet.

“No, you’re not,” Marcus said. “And even if you did, you’d only authorize the launch at the last possible moment, when you were absolutely certain the plane was heading for the stadium, and then it would be too late. That’s too big a gamble. You have to tell the president to shut down all air travel in and out of Chicago tomorrow, except of course for Air Force One and the pope’s plane. Personally, I’d shut it down today as well.”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“Then put up a CAP,” Marcus insisted, speaking of a combat air patrol of armed fighter jets over the city.

“That’s out of the question.”

“You’re not even going to request it?”

“I did request it,” Roseboro said. “The president said no, the Patriot battery is enough.”

“You asked me what you’re missing. That’s it, Carl. And if things go badly tomorrow, you’ll never forgive yourself.”

✭

Annie called around dinnertime.

“Hey, I’ve been trying to reach you for hours,” Marcus said. “Everything okay?”

“Of course. Didn’t you get my message?” Annie asked.

“No, where’d you leave it?”

“I kept trying you on your Agency phone, but it was always busy. So I left a message on your personal phone.”

“That explains it,” Marcus said. “I left it in the hotel this morning.”

“Then you don’t know that I’m here,” Annie said.

“Where?”

“In Chicago—I just landed.”

“Seriously?”

“Martha sent me. With you guys out in the field, she wanted one of her own in the command post to keep tabs on everything for her and serve as a direct liaison to Roseboro and the others.”

“That’s great. But brace yourself.”

“For what?”

“The mood around here is pretty grim.”

“No breakthroughs since I’ve been in the air?”

“Hardly. We know one of the cells is here. We suspect both are. And there may be more. We know the attack is coming tomorrow, and we have absolutely no idea how to stop it.”