Pestilence (Jack Randall #2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

agency. Some of these guys are hoping you drop the ball. I know you hate the politics, but that’s the way it is. So, when we go through those doors, just be a good little soldier, toe the line, and we’ll get you back on the front line, okay?”
    Jack nodded. “Okay.”
    “That’s my boy.”
    They turned and entered the large double doors. All conversation stopped as Jack found himself in the Bureau’s largest conference room. It was used for meetings involving the upper echelon or the elected committee members. The walls were richly paneled in dark wood, and oil paintings adorned them, depicting highlights in the FBI’s history. A large portrait of Hoover himself looked down from one end of the room. The windows were floor to ceiling, and the faint buzz of elevator music vibrating the glass to foil eavesdropping devices could be heard if one listened closely. The table was larger than any Jack had seen in his corporate days and it was ringed by high-backed leather chairs. Two empty ones sat waiting for him and his boss, and they took them facing several men and women. Jack couldn’t help but note that there were no aides standing on the sidelines taking notes. Some of the people he recognized, but most he didn’t.
    “I apologize for the delay everyone,” his boss addressed them. “We can proceed whenever you wish.”
    The room shifted its collective gaze to the man seated on the opposite end of the table. Jack recognized the man as Senator Kenneth Teague of Texas, the longtime chairman of the Senate Arms Services Committee. He was infamous for being a hard-ass, both for and against, when it came to the military. The senator had very clear ideas on what he thought the military needed and didn’t need, and billions of dollars rested on his yea or nay votes. Now that the Department of Homeland Security had been added to the country’s defensive arm, he had gained influence into the intelligence and anti-terrorism world. There were many who felt he wielded too much power, but few that had the cover to oppose him. No president had won Texas without his support, and the current president was a personal friend of the senator.
    “Mr. Randall, I have no doubt you know why you were summoned here today. This embassy bombing is another setback in our war on these terrorists. I have your file here—” he placed his hand on a thick manila folder on the table in front of him, “—and I can see you’ve had a short, but impressive career here at the FBI. Normally I would expect the CIA to rectify their mistake of not averting this type of attack by bringing in those responsible for it. But I’m afraid they are focused elsewhere at this time. An investigation into this bombing is just that, an investigation. We have determined that the FBI has the best resources to execute and complete this task. I’m also told you are the man we need to conduct it.”
    Jack forced himself to not look to his boss for support. The questions in his mind were popping up faster than he could process them. How did he get my file? Was it my FBI file? My military file? Who cares, he has it. He can have it anytime he wants. Why are they so eager to send me? He recalled something an old teacher had told him. When it all goes to hell, just fix one thing at a time.
    “Thank you, sir,” Jack offered.
    “You have some special operations experience?” the senator probed.
    He already knows what I have, Jack thought, this was for the others present. Or it was a test. Don’t be a pushover.
    “Sir, I apologize, but I don’t know every party present here. I feel it would be inappropriate to discuss that here today.”
    “Fair enough. Ever been to Africa?”
    Jack hesitated again, but the senator let him off the hook.
    “Simple yes or no will work, Agent Randall. I’ve been six times myself.”
    “Yes, sir, just not to Tanzania.”
    “Know a lot about bombs, do you?” The senator smiled as he asked.
    “I know the fundamentals pretty well,