Read Enemy of My Enemy for Free Online Page A

fly the man out of the country when this is over. Ishmael's his name. He agreed to go with Davis and help us find out where they took Lieutenant McCallister."
    The president was pleased. Finally they were making some progress. "If Major Davis finds out where the Turks are holding McCallister, I assume that he'll go in and try to rescue the pilot?"
    "Your orders were no engagement until you personally approved it," Childress said. "You can change that if you want. It's your decision, Mr. President."
    Kendall looked around the room. "Anybody see a downside to my giving Major Davis a blank check? Letting him go in with whatever force he thinks is needed to get our pilot out?"
    Jimmy Grange responded in a soft voice: "Lieutenant McCallister might get killed in any rescue effort. Maybe we should run it by Terry first."
    Kendall looked at General Childress. "What are the chances of losing Lieutenant McCallister in any rescue effort?"
    Childress tried to be patient. It was the kind of ridiculous question the general had grown accustomed to hearing from civilian leaders in Washington over the years. "Major Davis has an elite unit specially trained for this type of operation. They're the best we have."
    The president tapped his fingers on the table. "Terry McCallister's been leaning hard on me to do something. If the military people think this makes sense, Terry's got no basis to bitch. Besides, he's not running the country."
    Grange was preparing to respond, to remind Kendall how much money Terry had raised and contributed in the last campaign and how valuable he would be the next time around. As his mouth opened, he caught himself. That would be a mistake. He knew Kendall well enough to realize his words would only irritate the president, who wanted to believe that none of his decisions were politically motivated.
    Before Kendall could decide, the secretary of state spoke up. "As you said before, Turkey's an ally. I can't believe that Ankara authorized this. That means they have renegades in their military who pulled this off. People who hate the United States because of the war in Iraq. It's only fair that we give the Turkish government the opportunity to deal with this matter themselves."
    Doerr's haughty manner, as he looked over those little glasses of his, annoyed Kendall. Putting him in the job of secretary of state had been a mistake. But he did have a point here. Giving Ankara a chance to deal with it wasn't a bad idea. Also it would be a way of avoiding the decision authorizing military action.
    Kendall shook his head in frustration. "God, what a mess."
    Joyner looked away from the table and through the window at the trees struggling to bloom. She was no longer unhappy about being a bit player in this drama. For now she was willing to wait in the wings. Her gut told her they weren't about to rescue Robert McCallister. They would need her before this was over. She wasn't burning any bridges.
    Meanwhile, the president closed his eyes, pondering the decision he had to make. If anyone thought that being the governor of a state prepared a person for this job, they were kidding themselves. It was Kendall's first foreign-policy crisis. No matter which way he went, the press would second-guess him. No one made a sound. The tension was heavy. Finally, Kendall opened his eyes and pointed to his secretary of state. "I want you to summon the Turkish foreign minister to your office as soon as you leave this room. Chip should be at that meeting. Tell the ambassador that we now have irrefutable evidence that the Turkish military shot down the plane, and provide it to him. His government has twenty-four hours to return our pilot, or we intend to take appropriate action.... Don't tell him any more than that. Do you understand?"
    Doerr and Chip nodded.
    Kendall turned to General Childress. "If we don't have Lieutenant McCallister back in twenty-four hours, give the order for Major Davis to mount the rescue effort."

 
    Â 
    Â 
    Chapter