Commander-In-Chief by Tom Clancy, Mark Greaney Read Free Book Online Page A

office, so I’ll have to make my report tomorrow.”
    In a hopeful tone, Ysabel asked, “You’re going to ask for more time here in Rome before you have to go?”
    Jack nodded. “Told him we’ll need another week. We’re not quite finished here; plus, I have a lot of analytical prep work to do before I need to be on the ground in Luxembourg. Might as well do it here, since the apartment is paid up until the end of the month.” He affected an air of nonchalance, picking up the folded newspaper again and looking it over as he crossed his legs.
    Ysabel frowned, but for only an instant, because Jack slowly looked up at her and grinned. “Kidding. All that’s true, but I’m going to stay another week so you and I can spend some more timetogether. This working-vacation thing has been awesome. You think we could license it?”
    She stood up and came around to his side of the table, sat in his lap and kissed him, but only after punching him on the arm first. He’d gotten used to her playful attitude, to the point he was slowly starting to adopt his own version of it.
    Ysabel’s eyes widened suddenly. “I’ve got an idea! To celebrate, I am going to make you a fantastic dinner tonight.”
    Ryan did not adopt her same sense of excitement. With an air of suspicion, he asked, “What’s on the menu?”
    “A dish my grandmother taught me.
Kookoo sabzi.
”
    “I really hope that’s not Farsi for ‘Grandma’s vegetarian mush.’”
    She punched him playfully on the arm again. “Of course not! It’s an herb-and-vegetable quiche.”
    “Oh, boy.”
    Ysabel sighed and climbed off Jack’s lap. “It’s delicious, you’re gonna love it. I’ll go by the Persian market on the way home and get everything I need.”
    Jack looked up at her without speaking, but he faked a look of enthusiasm.
    Clearly, she saw right through it. “Why don’t you pick up some steaks at the butcher? Get a cut you would eat at home. You can grill while I make stew. We will have the
kookoo sabzi
as a side dish. An Iranian-and-American meal.”
    Jack almost leapt up from his chair, his enthusiasm real this time. “The world in harmony, right there on our plates. I like it. I’ll meet you back at the apartment in a half-hour.”
    They kissed again and Ysabel left the café, turning south. Jack headed east, a spring in his step because he was already thinking about dining on juicy steaks and drinking great wine on the balcony of his apartment, all with such a beautiful and amazing woman.
    As he walked through central Rome’s late-afternoon swarm of pedestrians, cars, trucks, and scooters, he thought about his situation, and some of the spring left his step because he was reminded how temporary this all was. He and Iranian national Ysabel Kashani had spent the past two weeks here in one of the most romantic cities in the world, and he’d loved every minute of it, but it wasn’t going to last much longer.
    He didn’t know what kind of a future he had with Ysabel, it was too early to say, because they had known each other for just over a month. They met on an operation in Asia and a relationship had developed quickly, and despite his reticence about getting into anything serious at this stage of his life, Jack had to admit he found himself falling for this girl.
    And he knew this could be problematic for a few reasons, not the least of which was that they lived in different hemispheres.
    Jack quickly scanned his six o’clock as he reached the left bank of the Tiber River and began walking south toward the nearest bridge to the east. He didn’t see anyone tailing him. Even though he wasn’t expecting anyone to be following him on this op, he didn’t need Clark reminding him to keep his personal and operational security at the forefront of his thoughts; OPSEC and PERSEC came naturally to him now. His countersurveillance tactics had become ingrained in his past several years working with The Campus. Everywhere he went, even back in the States,