The First Commandment

When Harvath hesitated, the man yelled, “Now!”

Harvath did as he was told.

With his prisoner secure, the man holstered his weapon, turned to the guard at the door, and nodded.

Once the guard had closed the door and the man with the Taser heard the click of the lock, he threw Harvath the keys to the handcuffs. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes of talk time while the surveillance servers are rebooted.”

“What the hell is going on here?” asked Harvath as he removed the handcuff from around his wrist and threw the keys back to Rick Morrell.

Morrell was a CIA paramilitary operative whom Harvath had worked with on several occasions in the past. After a considerably rocky start to their relationship, they had developed a professional respect for each other and even a friendship. Harvath didn’t know if his being here was a good thing or a bad thing. In the intelligence world, friendships were all too often subverted for matters of national security. Harvath hadn’t forgotten that President Rutledge wanted him for treason. He’d have to tread very carefully.

“You are in a shitload of trouble. You know that?” replied Morrell.

Harvath did know it and he didn’t need Rick Morrell or anyone else reminding him of it. “You’d have done the same thing in my situation.”

Morrell nodded. “That still doesn’t make my job any easier.”

Harvath didn’t like the sound of that. “Exactly what is your job?”

“By order of the president, I have been charged with stopping you from taking any further steps in relation to the attacks on Tracy Hastings, your mother, and the U. S. Ski Team.”

“So, the president does believe the ski team attack was by the same person?”

“Yes, he does,” said Morrell. “They found a note at the scene matching ones from the other two attacks.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that the president wants you out of the picture.”

“I’ve got every right to-” began Harvath, but Morrell interrupted him.

“You don’t have any rights. Jack Rutledge is the president of the United States. When he tells you to do something, you do it.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“Well, it’s going to have to be,” said Morrell.

Harvath looked at him with disbelief. “Jesus, you are an asshole. You know that? A minute ago you agreed that you would have done the same thing in my position.”

“And I meant it.”

“So what’s your fucking problem?”

“My problem is that I and the other five members of my Omega Team on the other side of that door have been ordered to take you out if you refuse to cooperate.”

The response took Harvath by surprise.

“Dead or alive,” said Morrell as he read the expression on Harvath’s face.

Harvath had felt betrayed when the president had first turned on him, but now there were no words to describe what he was feeling. “And for an extra twist of the knife, you were chosen to head the hit team up. Should I call you Brutus or is Judas a better fit?”

“Rutledge didn’t choose me, Director Vaile did.”

“What’s the difference? You still accepted the assignment.”

“I accepted it all right. The DCI laid out a very compelling case.”

“I’m sure he did,” replied Harvath, the contempt evident in his voice. “I always liked Vaile, but apparently he never thought that much of me. Hell of a poker player. He had me fooled.”

“For the record,” said Morrell, “Vaile sucks at cards. And just so you know, he’s a decent guy. He’s probably one of the best directors the Agency has ever had. He’s a patriot who puts our country above everything else, even his own welfare.”

“What are you talking about?”

Morrell waved his arm around the room. “He’s the reason you’ve been brought here instead of some federal lockup. He’s the reason I’m here heading this team.”

“I don’t get it,” replied Harvath.

“Vaile has a lot of respect for you. While he may not think going head to head with the president of the United States is a great career move, he understands why you’re doing it. At the same time, he understands why the president is doing what he’s doing. The bottom line is that Vaile knows you’re not a traitor.”

“So then why am I here?” asked Harvath. “Why are we even having this conversation?”

Though all the monitoring devices were supposedly offline, Morrell leaned closer to Harvath, his voice barely above a whisper, though no less intense than it had been, and he said, “Because Director Vaile feels partly responsible for what has happened-Tracy, your mother, the ski team, all of it. He wants you to know why it’s going down.”

Chapter 65

Their time was short, so Morrell spoke quickly. “It is the stated policy of the United States government never to negotiate with terrorists. We all know it’s the nation’s first and most important commandment in the war on terror-Thou shalt not negotiate with terrorists.”

Harvath was well aware of the commandment. “But somebody broke it,” he guessed as he thought about the five prisoners released from Guantanamo.

Morrell nodded. “There is an exception to every rule.”

“Was the president directly involved in the prisoner release?”