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Authors: James Bruno
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brainless IWG meetings, however, made Innes a captive. There to sit against a wall and take notes and report back to his bosses in the Department's Secretariat, Innes was in on most things. What he didn't learn at the meetings he usually could easily obtain through a secure phone call or an office visit. At the last meeting, he found himself unconsciously shaking his head in disgust. He caught himself before anyone could notice.
"What do you mean the CIA has nothing recent on the Patriotic Front for the Liberation of All Children of Islam?"
Scher thundered at the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations.
62 JAMES
BRUNO
"We don't even know if the PFLCI still exists. At most it had a dozen members, all hotheads at the University of Cairo. But they've all graduated. One is working in New York with Prudential Securities. The others we're still trying to track down. The Cairo Station believes one was tortured to death by the Egyptian police--"
"I want the low-down on the Prudential guy by tomorrow afternoon," Scher shot back. "Now, what's this latest report about the Kurdish Workers Patriotic Brigade threatening to blow up the embassies of imperialist governments who give aid to Turkey…?"
Innes couldn't believe his ears. He looked at his watch impatiently every six or seven minutes.
"We're demarching the Egyptians," intoned the gray-suited Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs.
During a coffee break, Innes cornered Claire Norton, Scher's deputy on the interagency group.
"Claire, can you tell me what's going on?"
"'Going
on',
Bob?"
"I can't believe it's just me who sees we're barking up the wrong trees."
"Whatever do you mean?" Claire replied in astonishment.
"Why are we committing the formidable resources of the U.S. government in chasing after phantom terrorist suspects? We all know Mortimer's reputation. Though no one has the gumption to raise it."
"Ambassador Mortimer's personal life may have not been saintly, but it's irrelevant to this investigation," Claire answered officiously. "Besides, why sidetrack a serious investigation by getting the media into a feeding frenzy on marginal issues like Mortimer's personal foibles?"
PERMANENT INTERESTS
63
"When I told Scher about what I found out before I left Rome, it was like I was giving him my mother's recipe for blueberry muffins. He turned off completely."
Claire Norton was the same rank as Innes. She, like most of her female thirty-something peers in the Foreign Service, was immaculately burnished and behaved, and unmarried. Every hair always in place; her outfits were replications of the Brooks Brothers and Nordstrom suits of her male counterparts. She reminded Innes of female Coldwell-Banker agents who sold homes only in certain elite neighborhoods in the northwest quadrant of the capital. Claire punched all the right tickets. She was on the threshold of promotion to the senior ranks. Her positioning herself to be selected as Scher's deputy on a major task force was a strategic move.
"Do you really think Mortimer was zapped by some raghead zealot?" Innes asked almost in desperation.
With a plastic smile and a practiced upbeat delivery, Norton responded in measured tones, "We believe that there are enough indications to lead us to suspect strongly that terrorist elements are behind the assassination of Ambassador Mortimer." She sounded like a junior press spokeswoman reciting the party line, Innes thought.
Scher reconvened the meeting.
"The Strike Force for Bosnian Salvation," Scher began in a dramatic, paced presentation that would have the participants think that this Balkan splinter group had just gotten hold of the bomb. "DIA tells me that they have threatened to carry their message, quote, 'to wherever necessary and by whatever means,' endquote. I can't understand why they haven't been entered on Interpol's watch list."
64 JAMES
BRUNO
"We're demarching the Swiss," chimed a Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs with no
"What do you mean the CIA has nothing recent on the Patriotic Front for the Liberation of All Children of Islam?"
Scher thundered at the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations.
62 JAMES
BRUNO
"We don't even know if the PFLCI still exists. At most it had a dozen members, all hotheads at the University of Cairo. But they've all graduated. One is working in New York with Prudential Securities. The others we're still trying to track down. The Cairo Station believes one was tortured to death by the Egyptian police--"
"I want the low-down on the Prudential guy by tomorrow afternoon," Scher shot back. "Now, what's this latest report about the Kurdish Workers Patriotic Brigade threatening to blow up the embassies of imperialist governments who give aid to Turkey…?"
Innes couldn't believe his ears. He looked at his watch impatiently every six or seven minutes.
"We're demarching the Egyptians," intoned the gray-suited Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs.
During a coffee break, Innes cornered Claire Norton, Scher's deputy on the interagency group.
"Claire, can you tell me what's going on?"
"'Going
on',
Bob?"
"I can't believe it's just me who sees we're barking up the wrong trees."
"Whatever do you mean?" Claire replied in astonishment.
"Why are we committing the formidable resources of the U.S. government in chasing after phantom terrorist suspects? We all know Mortimer's reputation. Though no one has the gumption to raise it."
"Ambassador Mortimer's personal life may have not been saintly, but it's irrelevant to this investigation," Claire answered officiously. "Besides, why sidetrack a serious investigation by getting the media into a feeding frenzy on marginal issues like Mortimer's personal foibles?"
PERMANENT INTERESTS
63
"When I told Scher about what I found out before I left Rome, it was like I was giving him my mother's recipe for blueberry muffins. He turned off completely."
Claire Norton was the same rank as Innes. She, like most of her female thirty-something peers in the Foreign Service, was immaculately burnished and behaved, and unmarried. Every hair always in place; her outfits were replications of the Brooks Brothers and Nordstrom suits of her male counterparts. She reminded Innes of female Coldwell-Banker agents who sold homes only in certain elite neighborhoods in the northwest quadrant of the capital. Claire punched all the right tickets. She was on the threshold of promotion to the senior ranks. Her positioning herself to be selected as Scher's deputy on a major task force was a strategic move.
"Do you really think Mortimer was zapped by some raghead zealot?" Innes asked almost in desperation.
With a plastic smile and a practiced upbeat delivery, Norton responded in measured tones, "We believe that there are enough indications to lead us to suspect strongly that terrorist elements are behind the assassination of Ambassador Mortimer." She sounded like a junior press spokeswoman reciting the party line, Innes thought.
Scher reconvened the meeting.
"The Strike Force for Bosnian Salvation," Scher began in a dramatic, paced presentation that would have the participants think that this Balkan splinter group had just gotten hold of the bomb. "DIA tells me that they have threatened to carry their message, quote, 'to wherever necessary and by whatever means,' endquote. I can't understand why they haven't been entered on Interpol's watch list."
64 JAMES
BRUNO
"We're demarching the Swiss," chimed a Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs with no
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