An Enemy Within by Roy David Read Free Book Online Page B

him?’
    ‘Because, before much longer, he’s going to be the biggest thing since buttered bagels.’
    ‘Really?’ She could not help but notice the sudden look of fierce determination in Kowolski’s eyes.
    ‘Really,’ he said emphatically. ‘There won’t be anyone back home who won’t know the name of one Lieutenant Matt McDermott.’
    *  *  *
    Carl Whittingham, a senior aide at the Defense Department, leant against the huge sandstone pillar outside Abu Ghraib palace, watching Kowolski approach. They had attended the same university and that intimacy had added an extra layer to their working relationship.
    ‘I got two minutes, Gene. The boss is due out soon. What gives?’
    ‘Just an idea I’ve been running through my head. But I don’t want it to look as though it’s come from me, so if you’re game…’
    Whittingham was not slow on the uptake, immediately realising there could be something in it for him, the chance of a Brownie point or two. ‘Fire away.’
    ‘We’ve got this kid, right here in Baghdad, a young lieutenant. First assignment, he goes out and bags fifteen Hajiis, a haul of AK-47s, RPGs, the lot. Now imagine this. We bring him home, turn on the lights, he meets the President, front page of Time Magazine , every goddam magazine, television… you name it. What’s that going to do to the President’s popularity?’
    ‘Sends it skywards.’
    ‘And, boy don’t he need it right now. I mean, the Columbia space shuttle tragedy, all this shit here. This lieutenant fits the bill, too – Joshua William College, West Point.’
    ‘Joshua William?’ Whittingham whistled softly. ‘Wow.’
    Kowolski extracted a sheet of paper from his briefcase. ‘It’s all in here,’ he said, handing it over. ‘And it’s your idea, Carl. One hundred per cent, okay?’
    ‘Sure. Thanks, buddy. I’ll have to wait for the right moment to float it.’
    ‘Right. Attaboy.’ Kowolski gave him a slap on the back, then watched him saunter off with a noticeable spring in his step.
    *  *  *
    Later, Alex said she’d accept the job. Despite initially trying to argue herself out of the commitment, deep down she hoped it made sense. Keeping busy might help her forget her troubles and, of course, she needed the money. But it had been a close-run thing.
    Because she was afraid of what she might be letting herself in for.

 
     
     
     
     
    5
    Their car snaked through heavy traffic, heading east of the city for the al-Jumhuriya Bridge over the Tigris. Kowolski let out a sigh of relief. The day had gone as well as planned.
    ‘I would have put you up in the Al Rashid Hotel in the Green Zone but our boys threw the press out when they took it over a couple of weeks ago. So you’re in the Palestine with the rest of the world’s media.’
    Kowolski was saying something Alex already knew. Greg Spencer, an Australian writer pal who was based at the El Rashid, called her at the time grumbling about the move.
    Alex studied the set-square haircut of the driver’s fat neck in front of her. Army precision down to the last hair. ‘Is it safe now at the Palestine?’
    ‘Sure, we’ve set up a buffer zone between the Palestine and the Sheraton.’
    ‘I didn’t mean from the opposition.’
    He shot her a glance. Feisty, jeez . Was she spoiling for a fight? ‘That was an unfortunate event – deeply regrettable.’
    ‘Yeah, the tank commander didn’t know this eighteen-storey building, standing out like a sore thumb against the landscape, was home to the world’s press. You telling me he didn’t have the co-ordinates and that someone looking at them through binoculars from a fifteenth floor could have simply been a journalist?’
    ‘They thought he was a forward obs man for the enemy. The military said shots came from the direction of the hotel.’
    ‘And a hundred journalists at the hotel flatly refuted that,’ she said, studying his deepening frown. ‘You saying that the attack on the al-Jazeera Baghdad office