SEVENTY THREE.

    It wasn't easy, but Rapp waited until their man had boarded the plane. He owed both Bourne and Dumond for not bolting on him and setting off the alarms that would have led to a three-ring circus at Baltimore Washington International. To stop the flight and detain their John Doe would have meant alerting the airline, the control tower, the airport police, the FBI and God only knew who else. The odds were very high that someone on that long list would call the media and alert them to something strange at BWI.

    Any one of the twenty-four-hour news outlets or all of them were likely to show up and shoot footage of the inevitable FBI SWAT team in full gear hauling a man in a business suit off an international flight.

    It was no criticism of the FBI. They had their job and Rapp had his.

    It was just that Rapp's job was always done best when it was carried out as far away from the media as possible.

    As he approached the soundproof door to the Situation Room he paused for just a second. The President and Kennedy did not need to know he'd been on the phone making arrangements. Rapp opened the door and found President Hayes, Kennedy, Secretary of State Berg, Chief of Staff Jones and NSA Haik all watching the bank of television sets and talking on various phones.

    The news was out that there was a bomb threat at the UN. People were streaming out of the bland Orwellian building in droves as police cruisers set up makeshift roadblocks to keep any vehicle from getting within two blocks of the world headquarters. Rapp took a second to admire his handiwork. It had been his idea to phone in the threat.

    He approached Kennedy and bent over to whisper in her ear.

    "Our John Doe just got on a flight bound for Paris."

    Kennedy turned her chair so she could look Rapp in the eye. It was as if she had to make sure he wasn't kidding before she'd believe it. She told the person on the phone that she had to go and hung up the phone. Reaching over she grabbed the President's arm and in a voice loud enough so only he could hear she leaned in and repeated the news to Hayes. Rapp placed a hand on the back of Kennedy's chair and bent over to listen.

    Before the President could react to the news Rapp took a knee and said, "Sir, this is what I propose we do. The flight is headed to Paris and then on to Nice, where I assume our guy will be meeting Omar…whose yacht is still docked in Cannes. I can have a team in the air in less than an hour. We can get there before he lands and have everything set up."

    Hayes looked at Kennedy, who only shrugged her shoulders.

    "What about the French?"

    "What about them?" asked Rapp.

    The President had been thinking about how best to use the information to forestall the vote and now seemed like a good time.

    "I think we need to bring them in on this."

    Rapp's expression turned from hopeful to hopeless. Never one to sugarcoat things, he said, "I think that's a bad idea, sir."

    "Listen," replied Hayes a bit testily, "the French are not going to roll over on this thing. As soon as the UN opens tomorrow morning they're going to convene the Security Council, and they're going to put this to a vote, and I'm not going to be able to veto it."

    "Why not?" asked a defiant Rapp.

    "For starters because I actually do think the Palestinians should have a state." Hayes firmly placed his forefinger in the palm of his hand.

    "And secondly because Crown Prince Faisal has asked me to." Hayes ticked off his point by adding a second finger.

    "And in light of what happened to his cousin just a short while ago, I'm inclined to grant his request."

    Rapp began ticking off his counterpoints, every bit as determined as the President was.

    "We're talking about the same Crown Prince whose brother bribed the French Ambassador with a million bucks.

    We're talking about the same Crown Prince whose brother has been meeting with some guy who just mysteriously shows up whenever someone is killed-" The President interrupted, "I know Faisal personally, and I can guarantee that he had nothing to do with this."

    "Can you?" asked a doubtful Rapp, and then in a more conciliatory tone added, "I happen to agree that Faisal doesn't have a hand in this, but I'd sure as hell like to make sure before we lay what little we know on the table."

    "I would too, but we don't have time," the President said in frustration.

    "If we're going to get the French to change their minds we need to open a dialogue now. Secretary of State Berg wants to present the evidence of Ambassador Joussard's bribe to the foreign minister as soon as possible. She's confident that once they see the evidence they will recall the Ambassador immediately."

    Rapp's displeasure was obvious.

    "Sir, the moment we do that we've tipped our hand. People will be warned. Someone will alert Omar, and he'll fly the coop like that." Rapp snapped his fingers.

    "He'll go back to Saudi Arabia, and we'll never get our hands on him, and we'll never know how far-reaching this thing was."

    "What if we have the French pick up this John Doe when he lands in Paris? We can have our people from the FBI present during the interrogation."

    Rapp's eyes were closed and he was shaking his head vehemently.

    "Sir, if we do that we'll never learn the whole truth, and what little we do learn will take weeks if not months to extract from this guy. And that still doesn't solve Omar. I'm telling you the second we grab this guy, we risk tipping off Omar, and without more evidence no one is going to lay a hand on Omar."

    Hayes sighed.

    "So what do you propose we do?"

    "Give me twelve hours, sir. That's all I'm asking. I've got a team ready to go. We can get to Nice before John Doe arrives and shadow him every step of the way."

    "And what if you come up empty?"

    Rapp could tell the President was leaning in his favor.

    "We're no worse off than we are right now."

    "Except that we're up against the clock with the French."

    Rapp swore under his breath.

    "Sir, if I were you I wouldn't tell the French a thing. I'd wait until that smug bastard Joussard climbs up on his high horse tomorrow morning, and then I'd have Secretary Berg ask him what he thinks of bribery. After he gets done stammering, the Secretary can clobber him over the head with the evidence. The resolution will never make it to a vote, and if it does by some off chance we can veto it in good conscience until a full investigation is made into Joussard's finances. And if the Crown Prince is upset, you can ask him what his brother is doing giving a million bucks to the French Ambassador to the UN."

    The President actually laughed.

    "That would be enjoyable, but the French are our allies, and I don't think we can blindside them like that."

    Rapp was tempted to comment on the value of having allies like the French but he decided not to. He could tell the President was leaning in his favor.

    "Twelve hours, sir. That's all I'm asking. Have I ever disappointed you?"

    The President was out of arguments. He looked to Kennedy for her opinion and she nodded.

    "All right," Hayes said, turning back to Rapp.

    "You have twelve hours."