Red Cell Seven by Stephen Frey Page B

the U.S. intelligence program.” Troy hesitated. “And I especially don’t understand the one-eighty when it was one of the senior guys inside RCS who tried to assassinate him.”
    “I can think of a couple of reasons.”
    “Okay. Spin that out for me.”
    “Over the last few weeks, he did find out how valuable the cell has been. He read those files I gave him, and he probably had his people do some more digging.” Bill nodded toward the Oval Office. “He probably knew about at least some of those attacks we stopped before we went in there today. And maybe he figured that if a senior guy inside it is willing to assassinate him to keep it going, maybe it is that valuable.”
    “Maybe,” Troy said, still unconvinced. “What else?”
    “Simple. He doesn’t want to get shot again.”
    “So he’s trying to convince a rogue element he’s on their side?”
    “Keep your allies close…and your enemies closer.”
    “Yeah, yeah, but Shane’s smart enough never to trust Dorn no matter what he said or did.”
    “Maybe we should be so smart. Maybe President Dorn is being more careful about getting rid of it this time. Maybe that’s what this is really all about.”
    Troy raised an eyebrow and nodded. “See, now you’re on Maddux’s side.”
    “I’m on the country’s side, son. That’s all. If that means I have to deal with shades of gray, so be it.”
    “Why do you think President Dorn asked you where the two originals of Executive Order One-E were?”
    “He was curious.”
    “Come on, Dad . ”
    “It’s like he said. He knows Red Cell Seven is vulnerable without the original documentation President Nixon signed.”
    “Or he wants to get his hands on the documents so he can destroy them. That’s why you mentioned impeachment possibilities. You wanted to scare him.”
    Bill didn’t respond.
    “Do you know where the documents are, Dad?”
    Bill shook his head.
    “So, how many defections did you hear about?” Troy asked after a few moments. His father would never tell him where the original Orders were, even if he did know.
    “How many what?”
    “Do I really have to—”
    “Five,” Bill cut in. “I heard five RCS agents defected with Maddux.
    “There were three from the Falcons, including Ryan O’Hara,” Bill continued, “as well as two from other divisions. You?”
    “I heard—” Troy interrupted himself as the news anchor began speaking quickly in an animated tone. “Look at this,” he said, gesturing at the screen on the wall. “The guys under the bridge are shooting at the chopper.”
    “Here we go,” Bill mumbled grimly. “This is it. I just hope the cops on the front line are ready for anything.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “These people are crazy, and they’re well-equipped,” Bill answered. “They aren’t like the normal idiots who shoot up places. Most local law-enforcement units around this country are completely unprepared for this kind of capability…and commitment.”

CHAPTER 10

    “A LL RIGHT , all right!” the leader shouted at the other two men, who were still shooting into the air. The helicopter was moving off quickly. The eye in the sky had gotten the message. “Hold your fire.”
    “What do we do now?” one of the men yelled, panic-stricken. “We can’t stay here forever.”
    “We’ll be fine.” The leader smiled confidently. He nodded over their shoulders. “You see, help is coming already.”
    The two men turned in unison to look, as if their chins were connected, completely convinced of the sincerity of their leader’s gesture. However, it was nothing more than an old playground trick.
    The leader shot both of them in the back of the head as soon as they glanced away. As they lay sprawled on the ground, he put an extra bullet into each man’s brain.
    When he was sure they were dead, he burst from behind the wall toward a line of police cars. He knew why the authorities had waited so long. He knew what they were doing, and he was too