Free Agent of Influence: A Thriller by Russell Hamilton Page A

constantly keeping his eyes and ears open for any strange behavior patterns from them. If he came across any solid evidence he could always take it to the U.S. government and bargain with them. 
                  “Enough. They do their jobs honorably,” Aman said in a rather annoyed voice. “They come from poor families in Cairo. They would never get a chance to work here and get a good education were it not for this opportunity.” Aman paused briefly before getting back to the business at hand. “What do you have? I’m assuming you didn’t call me to vent.”
    “I thought you wanted to be kept in the loop. Also, we’ve found one of the groups we’re looking for. Do you want me to handle it personally?” Solomon asked.
    “Yes. I want you to handle any problems personally if it becomes necessary. I don’t want anyone else knowing the extent of our little problem.”
                  Solomon closed the cell phone and locked his private office at the Desert Dust Inn. He had to get over to the New York, New York hotel as quickly as possible.
    ***
    Aman pounded his thousand-dollar driver into the ground in frustration before tossing it in Zach’s general direction to pick up. He decided to walk up to the area where his ball disappeared. It would give him a chance to blow off some steam.  The President-Elect’s overactive sex drive was the one thing Aman blamed himself for. In his weaker moments he wished he gave Zachariah a few more opportunities to have fun when he was younger, but deep down he knew that the strict discipline he imposed on his protégé was an absolute necessity. They would not have reached this point were it not for their laser like focus on their goal.  At least they now had the Secret Service to help keep his sexual forays hidden.
    He yanked off his glove and motioned to Zach to drive the cart. Maybe he was being too hard on his adoptive son. After all, the former Senator from Nevada already did the hard part, getting himself elected the President of the United States. He certainly could put on a show for the cameras, and when it came down to it that was what the media really wanted; a good story to sell to the public.
    Zach’s interesting story became irresistible once his wife died tragically. It also inoculated him from much of the mudslinging that occurred during the primary battle. It did not prevent him however, from continuing to use his own scorched earth policy to get the nomination. The main election proved an easier victory. The sitting President saddled himself with an unpo pular war and this combined with his bunker mentality allowed Zachariah to win the election with relative ease. 
    The past year had gone remarkably smoothly up until this point. Now he had an unfolding problem that was beyond even the best political manipulation. It needed to be solved quickly and permanently, or Zachariah would become the fastest lame duck president in history; and that would be the best-case scenario.  Aman would never allow this to happen. He had come too far to have things fall apart now. He did not like the idea of ordering murders, but his top intelligence officer was telling him it may be an absolute necessity. Despite his initial misgivings, he trusted Solomon’s vast experience. The idea that Solomon was pursuing his own agenda was far-fetched and ridiculous, and Aman knew it was only a product of his own fear and paranoia. Solomon would be a complete fool to botch a job like this. He would have nothing to gain from it. No intelligence agency or individual could afford the salary that he was paying the former member of the French DGSE.
    Aman watched as Zachariah drove the golf cart into the middle of the fairway a hundred yards in front of him and stopped and stepped out.  Zach yanked a fairway driver out of his bag, sauntered up to his ball, and blasted a drive that screamed towards the flag until it skidded to a stop just a few yards short of the green. The