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attacks on America.”
    I didn’t like where this was going. “Why?”
    He looked at me. “To provide an emotional and political pretext for the suspension of the Constitution.”
    “You’re talking about a coup,” I said, my tone doubtful. “In America.”
    “A coup against the Constitution, yes. You don’t think it can happen here? Do yourself a favor. Even if you don’t want the job. Google COINTELPRO, or Operation Mockingbird, oh, and especially Operation Northwoods. You might also look into Operation Ajax, Operation Gladio, Operation Mongoose, and the so-called Strategy of Tension. And those are just the ones that have leaked. There are others. Unless you think the Reichstag Fire and the Gleiwitz incident and the Russian apartment bombings were unique to their respective times and places and could never happen elsewhere, least of all in America. But you don’t strike me as that naïve.”
    “Was nine-eleven an inside job, too?”
    “It wasn’t, though the way it’s been exploited, it might as well have been. But are you arguing that because not all cataclysms occur behind a false flag, that none of them do?”
    The waiter brought over the omelet and Horton started in on it. I wondered how much of what he was telling me was true. And why, if it were true, I would even consider getting involved.
    “You want some?” he said, chewing and gesturing to the omelet. “It’s delicious.”
    “Why are you coming to me for this?”
    He swallowed and nodded as though expecting the question. “The plotters are prominent individuals in politics, the military, corporations, and the media. They can’t just be killed or otherwise obviously removed, or the factions they represent would sense a threat and retaliate. I need their misfortunes to look natural for as long as possible, so we can do maximum damage to the plot before opposition can coalesce.”
    I didn’t care for his premature use of we . But natural would explain why he was interested in me. “What else?”
    “Some of the targets have significant security details, meaning you’ll need a team. That’s where your man Dox comes in, along with my men, Larison and Treven. This job could actually stand for a larger detachment, but size entails risks, too. I think the four of you can manage.”
    “I don’t buy it. You don’t have the manpower in the ISA?”
    “The manpower? Sure. The expertise? My friend, you’re being too modest. There are people who say you pushed a man in front of a moving Tokyo train in such a manner that a dozen bystanders didn’t see it, that even the security cameras didn’t pick it up.”
    I didn’t see any advantage to correcting him, but the target in question had actually committed suicide with no assistance from me, and I was as surprised as everyone else standing on the platform when it happened. But my employer at the time believed it had been my doing and was awed. Funny, how legends get started.
    “What do you have on Treven and Larison?”
    “That’s between them and me.”
    “Are they even part of the ISA?”
    “They’re status is…”
    “Deniable?”
    “I suppose you could put it that way.”
    “I hear ‘deniable’ and think, ‘hung out to dry if it comes to that.’”
    He nodded. “Then don’t let it come to that.”
    “And you want me to run this,” I said. “Not one of your guys.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Why?”
    “You’ve got the most experience with this kind of thing. You know what you’re doing, and the other men will respect you. Plus they’re accustomed to following orders. You’re not. No disrespect.”
    I looked at him, considering. He really thought I was going to do this. “Plus,” he said, “Larison, while a capable soldier, needs guidance.”
    I sensed beneath the simple sentence a great deal of meaning. “What kind of guidance?”
    “Discipline, for one. He’s like a gun—you want to make sure he’s always pointed in the right direction.”
    “I don’t follow