Page 214 of Incisive

“Either there is or there isn’t chatter, Leo. That’s a yes or no question.”

He finally looks at me. “Uncertain. If there were actionable intel it would have been in your PDB. Or will be in your PDB.”

I study him. “Thereischatter, but news of it’s being suppressed?”

He signs. “Uncertain, but possible.”

“Fuck!” I stand and slowly pace the room. “Hollander?” That’s my NSA.

“Clean. Below him.”

I think for a moment. “Dougherty?”

He shakes his head.

I literally have thousands of people who work for the White House, or close to it, in various departments and branches of the government. “Will I know their name?”

He shakes his head again.

“You know his name? Or her name?”

Leo hesitates but finally nods. “But,” he emphasizes, “I am uncertain. I have unsubstantiated intel of an unreliable nature that I have not yet corroborated. I am not prepared to move forward on it.”

“So there’s nothing actionable yet, but hints of something maybe in the works, or at least people talking about something, maybe?”

He finally looks me in the eyes. “If it’s not in your PDB, it is not actionable.”

“You know that’s not how it works. There could be actionable intel that will slip through the cracks. And they frequently give me a heads-up about stuff when we don’t have confirmation or corroboration.”

“This is different. Due to…selective filters being applied.” Jordan hands him his fresh drink. “Thank you,” he quietly says before focusing on me once more. Jordan sits next to him again, this time leaning against Leo and stretching his legs across the couch where I was sitting earlier. “No, I cannot guarantee confirmed, corroborated, actionable intel outside my ken will make it into your PDB,” Leo says. “Icanguarantee any confirmed, corroborated, actionable intelIlearnwillmake it into your PDB.”

It pops out before I think about my words. “Your contact’s in the NSA. In Hollander’s office. And they’re feeding you info about someone maybe suppressing stuff? An analyst? They’re both analysts? But they’re not in a position to admit what they know without getting them in trouble, too, because it’s outside their direct-report? Or the log-jam is above them, in their direct-report, and they have no way of easily reporting it without implicating themselves?”

His voice drops to nearly a whisper as his gaze returns to his drink. “Ican’ttell you any of that, Elliot. It’s not just one contact I have. Remember, I’ve spent thirtyyearsin DC. Unless I have firm intel I can’t risk burning anyone just because I’m protected. You know I can’t. That’s now how this works.”

He glances at Kayley and Jordan. “Besides, we don’t even know how protectedImight be. There’s no guarantee that Ciro, if he’s elected, would be willing to issue pardons for anything that came out later if I tip something and it trickles downhill. I won’t risk anyone else short of IknowI’m saving lives by revealing it. Just because I’m one of the good guys and doing the right thing for honorable reasons doesn’t mean it’ll get me off the hook, much less those others if their involvement’s exposed. I’m talking there could possibly be treason cases made over the type and quality of intel I have access to and have received via my contacts.”

Kayley’s eyes widen. “Whoa.No wonder you’ve pulled in big bucks over the years working as a private security contractor.”

He smirks. “Gee, yathink?” His attention returns to me. “I have…layers,” he adds. “If something’s confirmed, corroborated,andactionable, Iwillmake sure it makes it into your PDB and you can take things from there, demand any available intel, and at that point my sources are protected and the log-jam will be busted. Plus it means the selective filter won’t risk withholdinganythingfrom that point, because they won’t risk their job, much less their freedom. They’re a small fish. They’ll possibly be written up when the log-jam is revealed, and from that point on they’ll kick everything up the ladder, even if it’s trash. Rumors and innuendo…even something potentially actionable, they can always make the case that they didn’t feel it was substantiated enough to elevate it, and cover their ass that way. They won’t be able to keep doing that once you get involved, though.”

“I don’t know if that’s good enough—”

“Ithasto be,” he says. “Because short of lives or national security being at risk, I willnotburn my sources. Not even for you.”

“Oooh, look, their first fight,” Jordan teases, glancing at his wristwatch. “What, twelve hours in?”

Kayley giggles, and soon both Leo and I are laughing with them.

“Okay.” I down the rest of my drink and walk over to the wet bar to make myself a refill. “So let’s change gears.” I hold up the bottle to Kayley, she nods, and I walk over to pour some into her glass. “What do we do about Stellis, Dr. Cruz?” I say to her. “How do we handle them?”

“I hear Guantanamo Bay’s nice this time of year,” Jordan darkly mutters.

“Down, boy,” Leo says, hooking an arm around him and nibbling the back of his neck. “No sticking them in any CIA black ops sites, either.”

“You’re no fun, Daddy,” he mumbles and sips his own drink.

“I don’t know,” Kayley says. “My opinions were different before President Samuels jumped into the fray. Getting dressed down by not only your in-laws, who are the president’s parents, but the former commander-in-chief, isn’t exactly covered in any classes I took in college. Thank god it didn’t happen in public. I would have told you to batten down the hatches and await the eruption. And thankfully he’s not holding office right now, so he’s not crawling up your asscrack every time you turn around. Unfortunately, the problem is he’s not in office right now.”