remembering how he had pulled her into an empty office, forced his hand under her dress, and tried to pull her panties off. “It bordered on charges being filed and you know it.”
“It’s not healthy to live in the past, Lydia. You’ve got to let it go.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you. In fact, I bet you’d like it if I left the Agency altogether.”
“What I’d like, is if you didn’t run your mouth so much. It’s not like I skated. I got suspended without pay and my wife left me.”
“Brenda left you because you’re an asshole and drinking only made you worse. The Agency should have cut you loose, but you manipulated the crap out of them and blamed all of your bad behavior on being an alcoholic so they sent you to rehab instead. Speaking of which, do you even bother going to AA meetings anymore?”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“Fair enough,” Ryan replied with a shrug. “I can only imagine how much they get in the way of drinking.”
“Can we get to the point? I’ve got a lot of other work to do.”
“ Get to the point? What do I have to do? Draw you a picture? The Jordanians aren’t going to share until we give them something.”
Durkin shrugged and looked at her. “None of the guys they’re asking about work here anymore. The Eclipse program was disassembled. What do you want me to do?”
“Let me see,” she replied. “This is the Central Intelligence Agency. We have assets and liaison relationships around the world. Hmmmmm. Maybe try to find them?”
“You seem to have forgotten that the Eclipse program technically didn’t exist. I can’t now just unilaterally launch an operation to huntdown a group of American citizens who were photographed having lunch on Cyprus.”
“Who were also placed in Egypt and Libya before the turmoil there.”
“I hate to break it to you, Lydia, but visiting any of those countries isn’t a crime.”
Ryan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How about lunching with two high-ranking Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood officials?”
“Also not a crime.”
“This is serious, Phil. This isn’t the kind of thing the Agency should be playing chicken over.”
“I’m not saying it isn’t serious.”
Ryan locked eyes with her former boss. “Maybe you don’t know Nafi Nasiri very well, but I do. Trust me, he doesn’t bluff.”
“I know Nafi Nasiri better than you think.”
“If you did, then you’d know that he doesn’t walk out on limbs without knowing exactly how strong they are and what he can grab if necessary on the way down.”
“Things are changing,” Durkin pontificated. “And if there’s one thing the Arabs don’t like, besides the Jews and the rest of us, it’s change.”
“I’m telling you, Phil, this is a survival issue for the Jordanians. They think they could be the next country to collapse and that we might be behind it. They’re an ally. We shouldn’t mess with them. Let’s help them.”
Again, the man shrugged. “What else do you want me to do? I told you that I’ll personally hand the terrorism plot allegation over to our Jordanian and Syrian desks. We’ll see what they come up with.”
Despite their relationship, Ryan had expected more buy-in from him. “Why not horse-trade with Nafi a little? Aren’t you even the slightest bit interested in what our old team might be up to? Let’s at least open a file on them.”
“The only jobs they’d ever be able to find are in the private contracting world. That whole team was made up of cowboys and more than a couple of bullshit artists, which means they’re probably selling some hybrid package of intel gathering and personal security services. They never liked discipline and they didn’t like rules, which means no reputable American company would ever hire them. They’ve either bamboozledsome loosey-goosey foreign outfit to take them on, or they’ve hung their own shingle. Either way, they are persona non grata at this agency and I
“It’s not healthy to live in the past, Lydia. You’ve got to let it go.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you. In fact, I bet you’d like it if I left the Agency altogether.”
“What I’d like, is if you didn’t run your mouth so much. It’s not like I skated. I got suspended without pay and my wife left me.”
“Brenda left you because you’re an asshole and drinking only made you worse. The Agency should have cut you loose, but you manipulated the crap out of them and blamed all of your bad behavior on being an alcoholic so they sent you to rehab instead. Speaking of which, do you even bother going to AA meetings anymore?”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“Fair enough,” Ryan replied with a shrug. “I can only imagine how much they get in the way of drinking.”
“Can we get to the point? I’ve got a lot of other work to do.”
“ Get to the point? What do I have to do? Draw you a picture? The Jordanians aren’t going to share until we give them something.”
Durkin shrugged and looked at her. “None of the guys they’re asking about work here anymore. The Eclipse program was disassembled. What do you want me to do?”
“Let me see,” she replied. “This is the Central Intelligence Agency. We have assets and liaison relationships around the world. Hmmmmm. Maybe try to find them?”
“You seem to have forgotten that the Eclipse program technically didn’t exist. I can’t now just unilaterally launch an operation to huntdown a group of American citizens who were photographed having lunch on Cyprus.”
“Who were also placed in Egypt and Libya before the turmoil there.”
“I hate to break it to you, Lydia, but visiting any of those countries isn’t a crime.”
Ryan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How about lunching with two high-ranking Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood officials?”
“Also not a crime.”
“This is serious, Phil. This isn’t the kind of thing the Agency should be playing chicken over.”
“I’m not saying it isn’t serious.”
Ryan locked eyes with her former boss. “Maybe you don’t know Nafi Nasiri very well, but I do. Trust me, he doesn’t bluff.”
“I know Nafi Nasiri better than you think.”
“If you did, then you’d know that he doesn’t walk out on limbs without knowing exactly how strong they are and what he can grab if necessary on the way down.”
“Things are changing,” Durkin pontificated. “And if there’s one thing the Arabs don’t like, besides the Jews and the rest of us, it’s change.”
“I’m telling you, Phil, this is a survival issue for the Jordanians. They think they could be the next country to collapse and that we might be behind it. They’re an ally. We shouldn’t mess with them. Let’s help them.”
Again, the man shrugged. “What else do you want me to do? I told you that I’ll personally hand the terrorism plot allegation over to our Jordanian and Syrian desks. We’ll see what they come up with.”
Despite their relationship, Ryan had expected more buy-in from him. “Why not horse-trade with Nafi a little? Aren’t you even the slightest bit interested in what our old team might be up to? Let’s at least open a file on them.”
“The only jobs they’d ever be able to find are in the private contracting world. That whole team was made up of cowboys and more than a couple of bullshit artists, which means they’re probably selling some hybrid package of intel gathering and personal security services. They never liked discipline and they didn’t like rules, which means no reputable American company would ever hire them. They’ve either bamboozledsome loosey-goosey foreign outfit to take them on, or they’ve hung their own shingle. Either way, they are persona non grata at this agency and I
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