The Brooke Law Firm occupied a small brick building on the fringes of McLean, Virginia. Situated unobtrusively amongst a stand of ancient trees it went unnoticed by most passing motorists.
When Olivia Walker Brooke arrived only Harry's elderly black Lexus occupied the parking lot. She parked her own car close to the door and entered the office without noticing the silver Cadillac that had been following her since she left home. If they did their job well Olivia might take years to catch on to the rotating teams of security officers her father in law had eschewed for years.
Sitting in a high backed crimson chair, the sound of the office door opening distracted Harry from his early morning news feeds.
“Good morning, Harry.”
“Olivia,” the former senator brightened at the sound of her voice. “How are you this morning?”
“Honestly, Harry, I’m not sure. A couple of weeks ago I was getting ready for class every day at this time.” She referred to her former role as a professor at Georgetown Law.
The old gentleman gave her a kindly smile as he stood to greet her with a hug.
“Why don’t you try this one on for size?” He asked pointing to the smooth leather chair he had vacated.
She did so without hesitation while he made himself comfortable in one of the guest chairs facing his own antique desk.
“My predecessor passed away without warning so I had no one to turn to,” he offered. “Harrison, of course only occupied the chair only a few times during what was supposed to be his transition into my role.”
Until then Olivia hadn't thought about her late husband occupying this same chair during his short secret life. The thought made her uncomfortable and her always observant father in law noticed.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to upset you. However, the fact remains, you are now following in your late husband’s footsteps. I am certain you will do him and me proud.”
“Thank you. I’m fine, Harry. I just a realized how little I knew about my own husband and about you.”
“What we have done has been in service to our Country. Of that much I can assure you.”
Harry Brooke smiled and glanced at the portrait of Thomas Jefferson hanging above the counselor’s desk.
“Olivia, perhaps the principal reason I chose you was the thesis you wrote on Jefferson while still a student at Georgetown. You correctly sited all the reasons for the existence of the office of Legacy Counsel and instinctively understood the danger Jefferson and Washington and Franklin were men in. All the signers were. By declaring independence they’d willingly risked a noose in exchange for a chance at freedom. The end of the war didn’t end the danger. A false step or a failure of the experiment could have put them on the gallows in England. They grew up understanding the monarchy and living without one for the first time was like being on the high wire without a net. The existence of the Legacy Counsel, as we now call the President’s personal “fixer”, hedged their bet and gave them a wild card to play if needed.”
“And now I’m not yet fully on the job and we’re making a decision to kill American citizens.”
“No, Olivia. It’s not the counsel’s job to make the decision. That rests with the President. Our job, your job, is to make certain his wishes are carried out expediently and secretly.”
She started to speak but Harry Brooke continued, “The world has changed so much since September 11th. A paranoia grips our country and the intelligence community is on the verge of anarchy and chaos. That the CIA is in competition with our old enemies for a computer program is one thing, but their goal of acquiring an untraceable source of cash is unacceptable. To compound the insult, they are operating totally outside the purview of the President and, in my opinion, bordering on treason.”
“If challenged they’d deny it, Harry.”
“Perhaps, but they won’t get the opportunity. Bringing Dr. Kovich into the fold is critical. Doing so efficiently is the job of this office with the help of Frank Beretta.”
“I don’t know him well, Harry, but he seems to be a good man.”
“Even you have no idea, Olivia. Frank has gone above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of these United States on more than one occasion and done so fearlessly and without expectation of any recognition.”
“A real Patriot.”
“Well put. Frank Beretta is certainly that and this world needs more men and women like him.”
“This is a new world.”
“Soon it will change yet again. Killing individuals outright will become obsolete and wars will be waged in an electronic world. Yet, it will be more dangerous and the stakes will be much higher.”
“The ability to totally disrupt commerce?”
“Yes, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. I foresee a day in your lifetime when, by flipping a switch, a terrorist will be able to throw an entire nation into chaos. Perhaps the world.”
“A definite and chilling possibility.”
“As I would hope you would. So now we fire a preemptive strike. Two Russians will die so we can deprive Serge Malroff of their skills and two Americans will die to deprive our own CIA of the young woman who may have deciphered their source code.”
“The Rusikov twins I can understand, but the notion an entire agency of our government has gone rogue is more difficult.”
“Not the entire agency, Olivia, but a part of it and until we're sure we understand how deep the malignancy is embedded we can take no chances. That’s why this job is so important. We operate in total and absolute secrecy and serve only our client.”
“I do understand, Harry and I promise you I will do my best to live up to the responsibility you are entrusting me with.”
“Let me give you this piece of advice. If sending people to their deaths ever becomes easy you should quit this job immediately.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, I need to introduce you formally to the most important member of your team. You will rarely meet him face to face, but rest assured, you may trust him with your own life.”
24.