Everything to Lose Read Online Free Page A

fifty years and still remain secret from the most senior members of the CIA was a massive achievement. It infuriated Bill Maverack and made him even more determined to dig it out. There is nothing more irritating for a senior person in the secrecy business with the highest security clearance than a seemingly unobtainable secret held by your own side.
    A meeting with the Chairman of the JCS to discuss an additional support package for POINT-K was a digging opportunity but given the depth of secrecy it would need to be handled with extreme care. It was well known in certain Washington circles that Bill Maverack and George Schumantle didn't like each other. Bill Maverack began to formulate a plan that would trick the stiff-backed narrow-minded soldier into revealing POINT-K.
    As he pushed back on his executive leather chair he smiled smugly and clasped his hands on his chest and thought of himself having to apologise to his fellow CIA Office Directors for not having leave to tell them about POINT-K.
    Bill Maverack met four star General George Schumantle in his palatial office in the Pentagon. It was tastefully decorated with military honours and memorabilia dating back to the War of Independence. The General was compelling as he specified what CIA support he wanted from Maverack. He wanted a base house in Hampshire, England and a two-man team to install surveillance equipment at an address specified by agent Dovecoat. He wanted monitoring equipment at the base house for agent Dovecoat. No more and no less.
    "Hampshire. That's in the south of England," Bill said.
    The General handed over GPS coordinates for a target location in Hampshire and precise protocols for contact with Agent Dovecoat. Bill Maverack started out on a prepared discussion to draw out information on POINT-K. The General blanked Maverack like he was a junior reporter from the gutter press. He pressed his intercom and told his Aid to escort Mr Maverack to the reception office. The General returned his eyes to a paper on his desk and started writing. Maverack wasn't military so the General didn't dismiss him or even say 'that will be all'. He chose to say nothing and let Maverack wait in limbo.
    During the twelve seconds it took for the General's Aid to enter the room Bill Maverack felt like a head boy who'd been scolded by his headmaster. By the time Maverack returned to his office in Langley he was incandescent with fury. Bill Maverack and the military worked together when they had to but they had no respect for each other.
    The military had deep suspicion and mistrust of Maverack's mission planning. It was based on his premise that FCD (friendly collateral damage) was not only acceptable but also inevitable. It seemed to the military that it was always their people rather than CIA agents that were first into the line of fire.
    Maverack pressed the intercom button on his desk phone and leaned toward the microphone.
    "Janice, find out what assets we have in Hampshire, England. And track down Hopper. He's in Eastern Europe somewhere."
    "Yo mean Joe T Hopkine? I doan like him. He's trouble."
    "JANICE shut-up. Just get him. Patch him through," he replied and his tone told her he was in no mood for her normal chitchat. But Janice was a strong-minded woman.
    "AM JUSS SAYIN. He's one bad ass son-of-a-bitch. Aah mean wee'ze talkin super-size can of worms here y'know," she said as she typed on her keyboard.
    "I'm sick of this army game shit. It's time these SOB's were put in their place. Hopper is the right man to split open this whole POINT-K crap."
    "Yo'll regret it. Mark ma words."
    "ENOUGH already."
    He picked up a framed picture from his desk and stared at it. It was a picture of him standing shoulder-to-shoulder and shaking hands with the President.
    Mr President it has come to my attention that senior members of the military are withholding secrets and it's my duty to inform you ... he imagined himself in the Oval Office in private conversation with the