«He thinks that given the short notice and the security around the target, we would be better off opting for a more direct approach.» Kennedy went on to give the president a brief overview of the plan.
When she was finished Hayes sat back and folded his arms across his chest, his expression thoughtful. Kennedy watched him and kept her own expression neutral, just as her boss would do.
Hayes mulled things over for another ten seconds and then said, «What if they did it..:» The president stopped because Kennedy was already shaking her head.
«Mitch doesn't respond well to advice given from three thousand miles away.»
The president nodded. After the White House incident the previous spring, Hayes had read up on Rapp. It was almost always his way or the highway, and while this could be a concern, one could hardly argue with the man's record of success. He had a history of getting the job done, often when no one else even dared to take it. Hayes suppressed his urge to be an armchair quarterback and instead decided to remind Kennedy of what was at stake.
«Do Mitch and the others know they are on their own?»
Kennedy nodded. «I mean really on their own. If anything goes wrong, we will deny any knowledge of the situation and of who they are. We have to. Our relationship with Germany could not withstand something like this, nor, for that matter, could my presidency.»
Kennedy nodded understandingly. «Sir, Mitch is good. He'll have all of his backups in place by this evening, and if things get too tight, he knows not to force it.»
The president stared at her for a moment and then nodded. «All right. You have my authority to go ahead with this, but you know where we stand, Irene. If it blows up, we never had this meeting, and we didn't have the five or six meetings before, either. You had no knowledge of these events, and neither did anyone else at the Agency.» Hayes shook his head. «I hate to do this to Mitch, but there's no choice. He is way out there working without a net, and if he falls, we can't do a thing to help him.»