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One of Secretary Berg's assistants came up and informed her that the Saudi foreign minister had entered the building. Berg excused herself and left Ross and Ke
Ross stood with his back to the room, facing Ke
Ke
Ross cut her off. "You don't need to say a word. It's water under the bridge."
Ke
Ross considered his reply. "I know Mitch has sacrificed a great deal for this country, but a lot of people worry he's uncontrollable. That it's just a matter of time before he does something that really embarrasses the Agency. Neither of us want that to happen."
"No, we don't," Ke
"Then I suggest you keep him on a short leash."
Ke
"And this Coleman guy. I wasn't born yesterday. That guy spells trouble."
Ke
"I'm going to do my best," continued Ross, "to stay out of the day-to-day business of the Agency. I have a lot of faith in you, you've done a great job so far, but I worry that you have a blind spot where Rapp is concerned. I've already talked to the president about this and he shares my concerns."
Ke
"We've decided," said Ross, "to keep a close eye on the situation. If Rapp can't start following orders and respect the chain of command, some changes might have to be made."
"You talked to the president about this?" Ke
"Yes, and he's been worried for some time about it."
Ke
Where Rapp was quick to anger, Ke
She gave Ross a slight nod and said, "I'll have another talk with him." And with the president, she thought to herself.
"Good." Ross pivoted so he was standing next to her. Gordon moved into position on her left. The two men had her bracketed. Talking out of the side of his mouth Ross said, "You're probably wondering why I asked you to come to this reception."
"The thought has crossed my mind."
"The Saudis are the key."
Ke
"Don't you care to know why they are the key?"
Ke
"Why are they the key, and to what are they the key?"
"Very good qualification," Ross replied. "They are the key to solving this whole mess."
"Which mess?" asked Gordon in a slightly impatient tone.
"The whole mess…the Middle East, terrorism, the spread of radical Islam. They hold the key. If we can get them to trust us…to see that we mean them no harm, we will do more to secure this country from terrorist attacks than we could ever hope through use of force."
Ke
Ross pointed. "The problem isn't with people like the foreign minister, or the king. They like us. They get it. They know we don't want to take over their country and their culture. The problem is with people like Prince Muhammad bin Rashid."
Ke
"How well do you know him?" asked Ross.
Ke
"The road to peace lies through their religious leaders, and he is the way to get to those leaders. He is the key," Ross said emphatically. "I personally asked him to come on this trip. I told him I wanted to open an honest dialogue about how our two great nations can get to know each other better."
Ke
The man was an incurable bigot, and for Ross to not already know this was a bit unsettling. He was, after all, the president's chief advisor on intelligence and the international terrorist threat. If their relationship had been better, she would have taken the time to explain to Ross why Muhammad bin Rashid could not be trusted, but at present it would be a waste of breath. Ross would not want to hear why his plan wouldn't work. He would have to spend some time with the prince and figure it out for himself. In the meantime, Ke