Page 115 of The House of Cross

“In the wind with whoever was with him when he escaped,” Mahoney said. “He’s the target of a massive manhunt in British Columbia and Alberta.”

Bree said, “Malcomb’s helicopter was found abandoned one hundred and fifty miles from the mine, and he hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Nor have any of his other operators, some of whom escaped by Sno-Cat.”

Director Hamilton said, “We’re putting Malcomb and his associates at the top of our most-wanted lists effective immediately. Post-inauguration, his capture and the destruction of his vigilante network will be one of our top priorities. But not today, correct, Mahoney?”

“Well, again, we believe that the best thing that can happen today is the seizure and immediate shutdown of Paladin, Malcomb’s data-mining company,” Mahoney said. “If he has remote access to his supercomputers and real-time NSA data, he might already know everything about the inauguration plans, including security details.”

The Secret Service commander shook his head. “But if you shut down Paladin, we won’t have access to the data that we need in real time.”

Hamilton nodded. “I’m ahead of you, Mr. Wilson. After Winter is sworn in, she will be taken to a room in the Capitol, where she will sign a series of national security documents. Among them will be executive orders for the federal seizure of Paladin and the installation of a digital protection system that will keep everyone except U.S. law enforcement out of Paladin.”

Wilson said, “But that doesn’t help us before she’s sworn in.”

“No,” Hamilton allowed. “We’re roughly seven hours from that.”

Chief Barry Thomas with the U.S. Capitol Police said, “But you don’t think Malcomb will try to come here himself, do you?”

“No,” I said, speaking for the first time. “But we believe that if he has the opportunity and capability, he will go on offense.”

Wilson said, “Defineoffense. Assassination?”

“I have no details, but that’s in the realm of possibility,” I said, and held up my hands at a few grumblings around the table. “Hear me out. During our escape, I asked Malcomb what his endgame was with the murders of the potential Supreme Court nominees.

“He said, and I quote, ‘It was never about the judges we killed. But I can tell you I fully expect the balance of power in the judiciary to change cataclysmically during the inauguration and afterward.’”

CHAPTER 91

U.S. SECRET SERVICE SPECIALagent in charge Wilson sat forward, studying me.

“He definitely said ‘balance of power in the judiciary’?”

“One hundred percent,” I said.

“Nothing about the executive branch?”

“Not specifically.”

Chief Thomas said, “Nothing about an assassination attempt?”

“Nothing directly,” I admitted. “But given the nature of my question to Malcomb and given his tacit admission that he’d ordered the killings of potential Supreme Court nominees, an assassination plot has to be considered likely.”

Chief Thomas said, “But the assassination of whom, exactly?”

Bree said, “It could be anyone in power in the federal judiciarysystem, from the incoming attorney general to, frankly, the acting director of the FBI. But it makes sense for the target to be a U.S. Supreme Court justice.”

“Or two, or more, from a cataclysmic perspective,” I said.

“Two or more?” said Diana Zhang, marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court. She wore combat fatigues and, judging from her expression, believed her worst nightmare had come true.

Nodding soberly, I said, “One successful assassination attempt would upset the balance on the court. But two? It would radically change the court for decades.”

Bree said, “And remember that Malcomb has already, in effect, culled the pool of potential nominees so the ones who remain are to his liking. This is very real.”

“What do you mean, to his liking?” Zhang said.

I said, “I’ve been thinking about what M told me, that it had never been about the judges they’d killed, and I believe that he meant that the goal wasn’t to murder those judges but to move the ones who remained to the top of the list.”

Director Hamilton said, “You think the possible nominees are compromised?”

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