Independence Day by Ben Coes Read Free Book Online

does, but he’s just as likely to wear a pair of colored shorts or a striped shirt.”
    McCauley, the Bethesda Country Club general manager, was temporarily silent.
    “I see, sir. Did you have an opportunity to discuss your concerns with the member, Mr. Gant? Often I find that many issues can be ‘cut off at the pass,’ so to speak, with a few simple words.”
    “No,” said Gant, “and I don’t necessarily want to. I play tennis with him.”
    “Of course, I see. Would you like me to say something to the member?”
    “Per club rules, I believe it is the responsibility of the rackets committee to address the issue,” said Gant, his lips flaring for a brief second as he contemplated the anonymous reputational strike he was making at the member, a player who had now beaten Gant for four consecutive years in the club singles championship.
    McCauley was silent.
    “Anonymity is of the essence.”
    Gant’s other cell started to vibrate. He looked at the screen:
    :: US SEN FURR : :
    Gant hung up one phone as he answered the other.
    “Hello, Senator,” he said.
    “We have a problem,” said Furr, the junior senator from Illinois, barely above a whisper.
    “Where are you?” asked Gant. “You sound like you’re in an elevator.”
    “Who the fuck cares where I am,” said Furr. “We have a problem. Someone leaked the Andreas file to Calibrisi.”
    “I expected it, Senator,” said Gant. “There’s nothing wrong with what we did.”
    “He’s going to rip your head off.”
    “Calibrisi? I’ll be ready for him. In the meantime, you need to continue demand access to any other aspects of Andreas’s life that are even remotely questionable. The death of his first wife. His time on the oil rig. Jessica Tanzer’s death. Push it. ”
    “Look, Josh, I don’t like the guy either,” said Furr. “I was willing to run the psych eval, but I’m not about to start ruining his life. We’re talking about a bona fide American hero. For fuck’s sake, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dellenbaugh loves the guy.”
    Gant took a sip of his tea.
    “You don’t get it, Senator,” said Gant. “This isn’t about Dewey Andreas. He’s a means to an end. He’s a pawn, a poker chip.”
    “Yeah, I know,” said Furr. “But if he’s innocent—”
    “The question is not whether Andreas is innocent,” interrupted Gant. “It’s about image. This is a political campaign. We’re going to expose a security risk at the highest levels of the Central Intelligence Agency. We’ll be notorious, Senator.”
    “I’m not sure I want to be notorious.”
    “Notorious is the rung on the ladder just before ubiquity,” said Gant.
    There was a short silence.
    “It would be a front-page story,” agreed Furr, calming down. “The American public likes their heroes until they’re exposed as something else, then they tear them down and kick them to the curb. The press would have a field day, Josh.”
    “We need to be patient,” said Gant. “Calibrisi might say something, but I can handle it. We need to be patient and bide our time.”

 
    4
    PIVDENNA BAY
    SEVASTOPOL, UKRAINE
    A rusty light blue CMK 12.5-ton crane spewed diesel smoke out into the Sevastopol sky. The smoke blended into the thick fog shrouding the port city as dawn approached. The sun would burn off the fog by 6:00, but now, at 4:30 A.M ., it hid the port well enough to obscure any possible observation from satellites overhead or Ukrainian patrol boats.
    The operator of the crane sat in the cab and smoked a cigarette as he maneuvered the boom. He swept it above a flatbed semitruck. The truck was parked on a concrete pier sticking out into the ocean. He stopped the boom when the hook and ball were above a brown-skinned man named Al-Medi.
    He was tall, with a thin, sinister-looking mustache, a beaklike nose, and long black hair. He was shirtless. His chest, shoulders, and torso were thick with muscles.
    He was standing near the back of the flatbed, next to