Oath of Office

Chavez scoffed, mimicking the tone of an answering machine. “Beep. If this call is in reference to a defection, please hang up and dial 1-800-CIA or go to your nearest U.S. embassy.”

Ryan waved him off and turned to Clark. “John, this Russian has been inside Iran for months. He could be a treasure trove of information. You know as well as I do how hard it is to work assets in that country.”

Clark looked at Ding. “Can you give us a minute?”

Chavez shrugged, staring for a long moment at Ryan. “I’ll go check on the others while you talk some sense into numbnuts.”

“I should have known better when I first saw her Facebook page,” Jack said, as soon as Chavez was gone and the door shut.

“So,” Clark said. “She’s not married?”

Several months before, Jack had taken a peek at Ysabel’s Facebook page to find a photo of her with a man and a baby, looking happily married and living in London. He now kicked himself for taking anything on social media at face value.

“No husband,” he said, “and no baby. She couldn’t talk about it much on the phone, but it makes sense. Hell, everyone I know in this business has a fake profile on social media. I was using one when I looked at hers. Listen—”

“No,” Clark said. “Do yourself a favor and you listen before you run off half cocked. I know you feel like you owe this girl for putting her in harm’s way.”

“They beat the hell out of her, John. Broke her neck trying to get to me. She healed, but that’s a little more than ‘harm’s way,’ don’t you think?”

“My point,” Clark said, his voice even, “is that you feel responsible for things that were out of your control. The government of Iran has done some serious backsliding in the freedom department since you were over there last. The mullahs are clinging to power tighter than ever, fighting for the very existence of their regime with everything they’ve got. No one knows who’s aligned with who anymore. It’s not much of a leap to make the case that someone who felt he owed Kashani, who’d been her lover, no less, might be blind to the possibility of a trap.”

Jack was silent for nearly a full minute, studying his feet. The tension of the moment caused him to breathe as if he’d just sprinted up a flight of stairs. At length, he looked up, jaw set with a realization he didn’t like. “I can’t argue with you.”

“Good,” Clark said. “Because if you had, I wouldn’t have let you go.”

Jack’s mouth fell open. “You’re going to authorize it?”

“Jack,” Clark said and sighed. “The mere fact that you came in here and informed me of the call before you just hopped on a plane is light-years ahead of where you were when you and Ysabel were together. I don’t like splitting the team, but for all we know, da Rocha could sit here in Seville for another month. You said yourself, this Russian could have a shitload of intel.”

“So you don’t think it’s a trap?”

“You’re positive it was Ysabel on the phone?”

“I thought of that,” Jack said. “She knew things only Ysabel would know.” He closed his eyes. “Personal things.”

“Okay, then,” Clark said. “I’ve met Ysabel Kashani. Pretty sure she’d die before she knowingly lured you into a trap. But notice how I said knowingly there. Just because she’s clean doesn’t mean the Russian is. I’ll need to run my idea by Gerry and let the DNI know through channels to make sure we deconflict with anything they’ve got going on, but they’ll agree with my assessment.”

“Which is?”

“That you should take your ass to Herat. The thing is, Ysabel might even be a better source than the Russian. She seemed like a smart girl to me. If she’s calling you, then she’s doing it for a reason.”

“You won’t regret this, John,” Ryan said.

“Oh,” Clark said, “I’m pretty sure I will. You probably will, too. I’ve learned a couple of things over the course of my time in government service. No plan survives first contact with the enemy, and anything more sophisticated than a can opener is liable to break when you need it most. Simple things like this hardly ever work out like expected. Anyway, this won’t be some Herat holiday, so I’m not sending you over there alone. Ysabel knows Caruso, so he won’t spook her. He’ll be your backup. I want you traveling under your alias diplo passport. Too many people in Afghanistan are familiar with your family. Now go pack. It’s about time you had a little change of scenery — if only to take your mind off Lisanne.”

“Lisanne?” Jack said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Knock it off,” Clark said. “I’m an old spy. I get paid to notice the subtle things. Now go on. I have some calls to make. You’ll probably have to fly through Dubai out of Madrid, so see what flights you can find. If you’re going, I want you out of here fast. Go tell Sherman to push Dom off his post so he can come see me.”

“Crap,” Ryan said. “This already isn’t working out like I thought. Waking up Adara scares me more than going to Afghanistan.”

* * *