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In the Oval Office, President William Hayes was meeting with NSA director, Stanley Rodger, Secretary of Defense, Matthew Pills, Secretary of state, Carolynn Crown and lastly four stars General and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Josef Dunlord. They were sitting face to face on the couch except for the President who was on the chair.
All of these important people were discussing the revolution in Yemen and what the US should do. Going in or still looking at a distance. It was a complex geopolitical situation as Saudi Arabia wanted the US support in dealing with the threat while the UN just wanted to help the civilians trapped in the crossfire while providing food and medicine. Yemen was also situated in a strategic position and so the US had a vested interest in going in to have a foothold near Iran.
It was at that moment that the Head of the secret service knocked on the door and entered after being invited in by the President. William knew that only Tobias could knock on his door like that without being summoned and he would never do it without an extremely good reason knowing the important meeting was taking place now.
"Mister President, member of cabinet, sorry to interrupt like that but we have a situation. Sir, there is an important phone call that you should take in private." Tobias said.
Getting to his feet and sighing quietly, the President turned to his member of staff.
"Take a break and drink a cup of coffee, I'm coming right back." The President said before turning back to Tobias. "Let's go to my private quarter."
Walking first, Tobias opens the side door leading to the private quarter of the President family. Even if they were in the White House, Tobias was still on his guard and looked at attention in the room before walking in it. The intrusion of Nathaniel a month ago into the house had shown that no place was 100% secure and since the incident, his guys were more thorough and focused on their job even if he will never give Nathaniel tribute for it.
"Okay, who is on the phone and what is going on?" The President asked once the door had closed and he made sure they were alone and could not be heard.
"It's Nathaniel sir. For the rest, it's best if he explains it to you himself. It's a secured line." Tobias said, giving him the phone.
"Nathaniel, I'm guessing you are not taking the risk of calling me directly if it was not important so start talking." The President ordered.
"Sorry to disturb you Mister President but this is a serious matter. My grandfather, Robert Lyndon, was kidnapped in Italy a little more than an hour ago." Nathaniel said on the phone, hearing the sharp intake of breath the President did once he said the news to him.
"I'm sorry to hear that Nathaniel, I really do. I always like your grandfather. What can I do to help?"
"I need information, sir. The organisation that took him is named the 'Crooked Moon' and the man called himself 'Khalid'. I need every piece of intel you can give me. They asked for a thirty million dollar ransom in exchange for my grandfather's release."
"You are lucky, I have an NSA director in the next room, I'm going to give you everything I can."
"Thank you, sir. There is more. My grandfather's itinerary was not known by many people as he was meeting with Italian economic adviser. My people also told me that the Rome Police were complicit in the attack against my grandfather. It's possible that the Italian government is working with a terrorist cell, sir."
"It's a very serious accusation Nathaniel." The President said seriously.
"I know sir but this is the only explanation. The only people who knew about this trip were the Italian economic adviser and my grandfather's bodyguards and employees that he took with him. Among them, two are dead now, one have been shot and he's currently being operated on and the last one is running away from corrupt cops as we speak."
'I see but if what you said is true, it's going to be even more difficult for you to get back your people in the country."
"Don't worry about that sir, they are my people and so are my responsibilities, not yours. When can I expect to hear news from you?"
"Give me an hour and I will have all the intels I can gather, Tobias will send them to you once I get them. I must go now, do not call me again like that." The President orders before hanging up and giving Tobias his phone back.
Walking back to the Oval office, he could see that the important people in the room were curious as to why it was so important but nobody asked him a question. Being the President as it's perks after all.
"Sorry to side track this meeting but new information has been brought to my attention and we need to do something about it. Robert Lyndon, CEO of Universal Lyndon Records, was kidnapped in Italy less than two hours ago." The President announced.
Looking at the reaction around the couches, William could see that even NSA director did not know that and it seemed to infuriate him although he tried to hide it. William smiled to himself, glad to know something that the man did not change. Even the others had a reaction as they knew Robert Lyndon for decades, the man was a legend in the music industry and he even was in the top 30 of the most influential people in the world.
"Can I ask how that information made its way through you, Mister President? To attest the validity of the intel" He tried to justify.
"No, you can't but this is solid. The organisation who claimed to be responsible for the kidnapping is named the 'Crooked Moon'. Ever heard of it?" William asks, looking at the NSA director and the Secretary of Defense.
Hearing that name, the two men in question exchanged a concerned look that did not escape the President's attention.
"Yes, we know about that organisation Mister President and if they are the one who took Robert Lyndon, this is bad." The Secretary of Defense said.
"What do you mean?"
"Sir, last year they kidnapped the CEO of a huge construction company in Qatar, they managed to take 10 millions of dollars in exchange of giving him back. The man was released when they said they would but there were harsh consequences. For the following year, that organisation start building suicide vest and explosive devices used by terrorists in the Middle East. Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were hit the most with these devices and we lost at least a hundred men just on that account. Can I ask if you know how much they ask for the release of Robert Lyndon?" The director of the NSA asked.
"Thirty millions."
This time it was an alarmed look that the two men shared.
"Sir, this is vital that this money do not find its way to this organisation or he could endanger our soldiers and our ally military personnel abroad. If they could hurt us this bad with ten million, I don't want to know what they can do with thirty." Stanley said worriedly.
"Does the name 'Khalid' made sense to you related to this organisation?" William asked.
"In fact it does. It's rumored that the man behind the Crooked Moon organisation is named Khalid Rahal but we could find no evidence supporting this intelligence."
"And why has nothing been done against this organisation or that man in the past?" The President asked.
"It's because we only have earsay, nothing more. We could find no hard evidence against the man in question. He always was good to cover his tracks. And the other reason is because Khalid Rahal is a Saudi Arabian citizen and never left the country sir."
Hearing that piece of information made the President frown.