STRATEGIC INFORMATION AND OPERATIONS CENTER
FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, DC
Director Sorce summed up his command in two words as he left his secure SIOC conference room, “Do it.”
His deputy director, Stan Caldwell, wasted no time. First he ordered a chopper, then he called Gary Lawlor and told him to be ready.
As the pair flew toward Fort Meade, Caldwell gave Lawlor the Highlights for Children version of what the FBI had learned. The NSA’s director, Lieutenant General Richard Maxwell, had called the FBI director personally for interrogation assistance. He explained that the NSA had been running a highly classified intelligence gathering operation out of New York City and that three of its four facilities there had been taken out and all the personnel killed.
Of course, none of this was news to Lawlor. He was the one who’d informed the NSA of the situation, including how he’d shot and killed Joseph Stanton after the man had killed Captain William Forrester and was in the process of trying to kill him. What was news was that the NSA had already identified the person who had leaked the locations of the crush depth facilities. They had a strong suspicion that the attacks on their facilities and the attacks on New York were connected, which made them doubly angry and desirous for justice.
The final piece of information, which Lawlor could have seen coming a mile away, was that the fourth NSA crush depth location was now unresponsive. Since his was the only qualified tactical team with relatively current top secret clearances, Lawlor was the obvious choice to bring along. What still wasn’t making sense to Gary was what the DIA’s role in all of this was.
He couldn’t help but wonder if his pending visit to the NSA might reveal more than just who had leaked the classified locations of the New York facilities. Now that he was face-to-face with Stan Caldwell, he had one question in particular he was very anxious to ask, but he was smart enough to know that he should save it until after the interrogation.