Page 64 of Edge of Honor

“Nothing. Just be careful and come home safe. That’s all I ask.”

Sølvi looked at her watch. “The Prime Minister and the Norwegian delegation arrive this afternoon. I’m going to meet up at the embassy with the Secret Service and we’ll drive out together to pick them up. When are you going to pay Russ Gaines a visit?”

“Part of me wants to show up unannounced at his house and catch him off guard. The only problem is, I have no idea what time he’ll be home. I may just reach out to him and see if he’ll meet with me in his office.”

Sølvi looked at him. “With the full expectation that if he is the leak and wants to get to Rogers, he’s going to put a tail on you the minute you leave.”

Harvath smiled. “Then we’ll know for sure.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” she ordered, kissing him one last time. “And try to get some rest. Will I see you tonight?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to leave Haney and McGee a mandown. Besides, we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do with Rogers.”

“I understand. Call me later if you can.”

Kissing her back, he then retrieved her phone from his office and brought it to her.

He stood at the front door and watched as she walked out to her car. She was such an amazing woman. Her confidence, her poise, her strength—he loved everything about her.

After pausing to admire Haney’s Bronco, she turned and flashed him a thumbs-up. He smiled back.

Sliding into the Mustang, she fired it up, gunned the engine, and then squealed the tires as she peeled out. Harvath chuckled as he shut the front door and walked back to his office.

Picking up his phone, he called Russ Gaines. The Secret Service agent sounded genuinely surprised to hear from him.

With dignitaries starting to arrive in town for the NATO Summit, the man’s schedule was packed, but as Harvath had said it was important and that he needed to see him in person, Gaines agreed to squeeze him in at 3:30.

The meeting set, Harvath could now focus on the rest of his list. And right at the top, just as Sølvi had suggested, was grabbing a few hours of sleep.

Though he’d been trained to go long stretches without, only a fool would pass up a chance to rest.

Sleep was a critical tool in his toolbox—as important as any knife or gun. The better rested he was, the stronger he became. And something told him that he was going to need every ounce of strength he had for what lay ahead.

CHAPTER 32

WASHINGTON, D.C.

There were only three more days of business before both houses of Congress broke for the Fourth of July holiday and members returned home.

Despite his staff having planned constituent events for him in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, Senator Blackwood had no intention of returning to Missouri. There was going to be a full-scale governmental crisis before his flight ever took off.

In the meantime, he had to proceed as if everything was normal. One of the items that needed his attention was the NATO Summit—in particular, the European Sky Shield program. It was one of President Mitchell’s chief initiatives.

Similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, the idea was to provide Europe with a security umbrella that could fend off incoming missile and drone attacks. And though these attacks could come from any state or nonstate actor, it was widely accepted that Sky Shield was intended to defend against Russian attacks.

Mitchell had thrown his support behind Sky Shield as a way to lessen NATO’s reliance on the United States and bring more American troops home from Europe.

While that position resonated with many voters, there were also those in Mitchell’s base who didn’t like that the program would use American missiles and American technology. Russia not only hated Sky Shield, but had also run an aggressive public relations campaign claiming thatthe Sky Shield was actually an offensive weapons system masquerading as being defensive.

There had been a ton of saber-rattling coming out of the Kremlin and it had only increased as the D.C. summit had gotten closer. Moscow was now publicly stating that Sky Shield, if fully adopted by NATO, would bring the world to the threshold of nuclear war.

The isolationist wing of Mitchell’s base seemed to hate Sky Shield as much, if not more, than the Russians. They wanted the United States fully out of NATO and didn’t want any further American weaponry or technology being shared with the Europeans. Unbowed by what had happened in front of the Vice President’s Residence, they had a massive “Don’t Poke the Bear” protest planned for the opening day of the summit. Thousands of people had already RSVP’d online and were headed to D.C. It was going to be a security nightmare for D.C. Police and the Secret Service.

The protest, however, wasn’t Blackwood’s main concern. Two Missouri technology companies, who also happened to be substantial political donors of his, had interests in seeing Sky Shield move forward. Their CEOs had asked the senator to introduce them to some of the European delegations at the cocktail party being held at the White House tomorrow night. Even though these companies would have big splashy booths in the exhibition hall next to where the summit was being held and would likely end up chatting with the very same delegates, they wanted any “pregame” leg up they could get over their competition.

Blackwood couldn’t give a damn about Sky Shield or the Europeans, but he needed to keep up the appearance that he cared about the President’s initiatives. He also wanted to keep money flowing from his donors.

For those reasons, he had asked his staff to prepare a briefing book for him, which he was now studying.

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