“I’m sure.”
“I hope Nick makes the Russians pay for this in every possible way,” Sam said.
“I have no doubt he’ll make them sorry they ever messed with us.”
* * *
“Mr. President, President Petrov is holding for you, sir.”
“Thank you.” Nick looked around the Situation Room where Graham, Teresa and the rest of the national security and intelligence team had gathered for the call.
“Put it through,” he said to Terry.
Petrov’s face appeared on the screen. “Mr. President, it is nice to see you,” he said in heavily accented English. Petrov, who was in his late fifties, with thinning blond hair and an often expressionless face, had been educated in London. As such, his English was excellent.
“Let’s not bother with bullshit. Your diplomatic team bombed my wife’s workplace yesterday, which is an act of war.”
“It was a misunderstanding at best.”
“Why did you want Ivanov’s body back badly enough to bomb MPD headquarters?”
“That order did not come from me. I’ve demanded an explanation for these events from the ambassador.”
“We’re going to want you to waive immunity so the bombers can be prosecuted here.”
“Now wait just a minute, Mr. President?—”
“You wait just a minute. Your people bombed the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Department. Four people were killed, and the chief and deputy chief are in the hospital.”
“I am very unhappy about that, and they know it.”
“How unhappy do you think I am? Unless you want this to turn into a much larger issue than it already is between our two countries, you’ll waive immunity.”
“I’ll need to give that some thought.”
“Think quickly. What I don’t understand is why anyone from your embassy would want Ivanov’s body badly enough to risk hostilities with the United States to get him back. Not to mention, he was initially dumped from a vehicle with diplomatic plates, which means they had him to begin with—and perhaps are the ones who killed him.”
“From what I’ve been told, a lower-level staff member made two unfortunate decisions—first to dump the body and then to use a bomb to retrieve him. You have my apologies for these events. I have no desire to be in conflict with you or your government.”
Nick didn’t believe that for a second, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth since he’d basically just confirmed that they had killed Ivanov. “Those people will be tried here.”
“We will ensure justice is done.”
“That’s not good enough for me. The American people will want to see them dealt with right here, and that will happen or the bombing will be treated as an act of war.”
After a long pause, Petrov said, “What will become of Ivanov’s body once your police are done with him?”
“That’ll be up to his family. Our State Department has been in touch with them about their wishes.”
“His followers are raising hell around the country and accusing me and my government of having him killed.”
Nick wanted to laugh at his indignant tone, as if it wasn’t common for him to have his adversaries killed. He didn’t believe for a second that he hadn’t ordered Ivanov’s murder. “You did have him killed! He was in your custody before he was dumped.”
“I never gave that order,” Petrov said, “and I’d like to know what’s being done to find the person who killed him.”
“The investigation is being handled by the Metropolitan Police Department, which has jurisdiction.”
“In other words, your wife is investigating?”
