Chapter 279

The agent lying on the stage was not moving. He was crying. He had been shot and wounded on the job before. He had been in countries where his life was in danger every second of the day, and come home unscathed. Today, on an assignment that should have been a piece of cake, a tiny woman had scared him to death, using a hammer and a nail. Most devastating of all, were her words. She was correct. His agency had crossed a very visible line.

They had authorized the killing of an innocent American citizen, without a trial by jury, as guaranteed by the Constitution, and he was the point man. He wondered where he had lost his moral compass. How had he convinced himself that this would be the right thing to do, because his superior gave him the order to do it? If he testified against the agency he worked for he would be labeled a traitor by his peers. If he didn't, the agency would continue down a path that would trample on the civil liberties of the American people. Where would