Separation of Power

The five men smiled and nodded at each other while flashes from the cameras lit up the room. Not to be left out of the spotlight, Senator Moeller cleared his throat and said, "This is truly a historical moment. Dr. Ke

Rielly was busy writing something on her notepad and without looking up she said, "That is of course, if she's confirmed by the Senate." "That goes without saying," Clark said. "But Senator Moeller and I can tell you that she will have no problem making it through our committee."

"Assuming there are no surprises."

Clark stared at Rielly. She really was a beautiful woman, with a brain and a little spunk to boot. He wondered briefly if she knew the type of person her boyfriend was. The number of people he had killed. "There are no guarantees in this town, Ms. Rielly, but assuming there are no surprises, I am very confident that Dr. Ke

Rielly directed her gaze at the President. "Was Dr. Ke

Without hesitation Hayes replied, "Yes."

"Was Dr. Ke

"Director Stansfield felt that Dr. Ke

"Director Stansfield thought that Dr. Ke

Rielly took the hint and checked her notes. "Will Deputy DCI Brown stay on as the number two person at the Agency or will he be leaving?"

Michael Haik, the President's national security advisor, fielded the question. "I spoke to the DDCI this morning, and he said he will stay on for as long as he is needed."

"Does that mean that he plans on leaving as soon as Dr. Ke

"No. Brown has the utmost respect for Dr. Ke

"Is he disappointed that he didn't receive the nomination from the President?" Rielly didn't look to Hayes for an answer. She kept her eyes on Haik.

Haik knew he had to throw Rielly a little bone here or she would keep digging. "Of course he's a little disappointed. Brown is extremely qualified. We were fortunate enough to have two great candidates to choose from. Brown respects the choice of Dr. Ke

"I would like to add something here," interjected Senator Clark. "Brown has been invaluable to the CIA, the Senate Intelligence Committee and this country." Clark leaned forward to elicit a nod from Senator Moeller. "There is no reason why just because one of them got the job the other should have to leave. If Brown were to decide to vacate his position I would be extremely upset. I would expect Dr. Ke

Rielly flipped to the second page of her spiral notepad. "There have already been some rumblings from the Hill about Dr. Ke

"I'm not familiar with these rumblings," the President said. "Would you care to identify the rumblers or rumbler you're referring to?"

Rielly smiled briefly at the President and said, "Chairman Rudin has gone on the record stating that he thinks nominating Dr. Ke

"The last time I checked Chairman Rudin was in the House, not the Senate," said the President flatly. He had a recent history of run-ins with the fellow Democrat, and he was none too fond of him.

Rielly looked a little confused. "Yes, but he is the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence."

"He sure is, but that also means he will have nothing whatsoever to do

with the confirmation of Dr. Ke

"But, he runs the committee that approves the Agency's budget. Aren't you the least bit concerned that Chairman Rudin considers Dr. Ke

The President forced a smile."I wouldn't be alarmed, A

CHAPTER FOUR.

Rapp showered and took his time getting dressed. He put on a dark gray, three-button suit, a white shirt and a burgundy tie. He left his house a little later than he should have, but he didn't care. As he worked his way around the Beltway from the east side of town to the west, he kept the radio off and tried to go over the details of his last mission one more time. During Rapp's affiliation with the Agency he had always felt secure that his identity was kept a very close secret. He moved freely around Washington without fear of being recognized by someone who might know that he did more than run a small international computer consulting business. The only people he really associated with were the handful of other world-class tri athletes who lived in the Baltimore-Washington area. They trained with each other from time to time, but even that had stopped several years earlier when Rapp retired from the sport.

As Rapp picked his way through traffic he sifted through the details of what had happened on that last mission in Germany. That was where it had all started to unravel. Just a month earlier Ke

Everything had gone as pla

What the Hoffmans didn't know was that Rapp had bulletproof Kevlar sewn into the liner of his leather jacket. When he awoke almost five minutes later the Hoffmans were gone, the bodyguard was dead and a pool of Rapp's blood covered the floor from the gash on the back of his head. Rapp's next course of action came instinctively. Create a diversion and run like hell. He set fire to the study, destroying his own blood, and then stole a car that one of the guests had arrived in. Rapp never went into a mission without pla