Excerpt of The Barrett Solution by Robert Norris

FBI Director Richard Carson and CIA Director Kevin Samuels took their seats in front of White House Chief of Staff Ronald Pace's desk.

The chief of staff looked at Carson. "All right, RIchard, I don't have a lot of time today, so what's on your mind?"

"I don't have a complete picture yet," Carson said. "But apparently this task force in Texas uncovered a money laundering operation that led to an arms trader named Nicholas Islamov. They caught Islamov's strong-arm man, Raul Aquilleros and it looks like we may have a shot at nailing Islamov." Carson sensed Samuels stirring in his chair.

"Does that give us a problem?" Pace asked.

"Possibly," Carson said. "My people say a CIA agent named Bruce Abrams has been trying to locate Aquilleros and it occurred to me that if the CIA is somehow tied to Islamov there might be a political angle.That's why I called."

Carson and Pace both turned to Samuels.

"Is this something we need to be concerned with, Kevin?" Pace asked.

"Well.: Samuels was from Mississippi and spoke with an affected Southern drawl. "ya'll remember a couple of years ago when the Muslim Freedom Fighters in Afghanistan were getting their asses kicked by the Russians? In order to stabilize the situation and..."

"Just give us the short version, Kevin," Pace interrupted."I don't need a refresher course on Afghanistan."

"We used Islamov and his man Aquilleros to supply the Mujahiden with suitable weapons and ran the Russians home with their tails tucked between their legs.

Pace squinted at Samuels. "And if the FBI takes Islamov, you think he might drag that skeleton out of the closet?"

"The only way to make sure he doesn't would be to eliminate him, but I doubt if he'll expose anything. He's too smart for that. Revealing who paid for an arms delivery is not good for his business. On the other hand, I'm concerned about Aquilleros. If they have him, we need to, ah, get to him before he starts talking."

""Okay, Kevin." Pace rubbed his brow for a moment. "Do you have any suggestions on how we go about that?"

"Sure, two things," Samuels replied. "First, forget about Islamov, He'll disapear as quietly as a boll weevil in a cotton patch. Then we pick up Aquilleros on a National Security charge. A couple of days with my folks and he won't be able to remember his name."

Carson frowned. "It's too late for cloak and dagger games, Kevin, Aquilleros told the detective the whole story. That's how I found out about this. besides, I can't just forget about Islamov. Three congressmen have been hounding for the past two years to nab him. If I walk away from an opportunity like this it will raise a lot of questions. Beyond that, if the cop knows everything would you deal with him?"

Samuels was quiet a moment. He rubbed his palms together. "You plan to take Islamov?"

"I don't think I have a choice."

"Well," Samuels said, "that's the asnwer. You won't take Islamov without a hell of a fight. Suppose you take the cop along. Maybe in the fracas..."

Carson shook his head in anger."My God, Kevin, you're talking about assassinating a law officer in the performance of his duty. No wonder they refer to your outfit as the Toy Factory."

"An accident, Richard. Things like that happen all the time." Samuels' tone turned ugly. "We're not talking about cops and robbers here, we're talking about the security of the country."

Carson grimaced and pointed his index finger at Samuels. "Security? That's bullshit Kevin. What we're talking about is getting somebody's ass out of a crack and you..."

"POTUS," Samuels said in a whisper, invoking the White House acronym for the president of the United States. ":And if you think for a minute I wouldn't sacrifice some county mounty..."

"Good God, Kevin. You've lost your mind."