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9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd i 3/19/19 10:15 AM ALSO BY TOM CLANCY 01 FICTION 02 03 Red Storm Rising 04 The Cardinal of the Kremlin 05 06 07 08 09 The Bear and the Dragon 10 11 (with ) Against All Enemies (with Peter Telep) 12 (with ) 13 (with Mark Greaney) 14 (with Mark Greaney) Tom Clancy (by Mark Greaney) 15 Tom Clancy (by Mark Greaney) 16 Tom Clancy Under Fire (by Grant Blackwood) Tom Clancy Commander in Chief (by Mark Greaney) 17 Tom Clancy (by Grant Blackwood) 18 Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance (by Mark Greaney) Tom Clancy (by ) 19 Tom Clancy Power and (by ) 20 Tom Clancy (by Mike Maden) Tom Clancy (by Marc Cameron) 21 22 NONFICTION 23 : A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment 24 Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing 25 : A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force 26 Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier 27 Into the Storm: A Study in Command with General Fred Franks, Jr. (Ret.), and Tony Koltz 28 Every Man a Tiger: The Air Campaign 29 with General Chuck Horner (Ret.) and Tony Koltz 30 Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces with General Carl Stiner (Ret.) and Tony Koltz 31 Battle Ready S32 with General Tony Zinni (Ret.) and Tony Koltz N33

9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd ii 3/19/19 10:15 AM 9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd iii 3/19/19 10:15 AM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 TOM CLANCY 08 09 10 ENEMY CONTACT 11 12 13 14 15 MIKE MADEN 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS 28 NEW YORK 29 30 31 S32 N33

9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd v 3/19/19 10:15 AM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 G. P. Putnam’s Sons 09 Publishers Since 1838 10 An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC penguinrandomhouse.com 11 12 13 Copyright © 2019 by The Estate of Thomas L. Clancy, Jr.; Rubicon, Inc.; Enterprises, Ltd.; and Jack Ryan Limited Partnership 14 Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized 15 edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, 16 or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. 17 18 Title page image © Toria/​Shutterstock.com. 19 ISBN 9780525541691

20 Printed in the of America 21 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

22 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of 23 the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32S 33N

9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd vi 3/19/19 10:15 AM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 Aut inveniam viam aut faciam. 08 I shall find a way or make one. 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 S32 N33

9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd vi 3/19/19 10:15 AM 9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd vii 3/19/19 10:15 AM 01 02 03 04 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 05 06 07 08 09 10 THE 11 Jack Ryan: President of the United States 12 Scott Adler: Secretary of state 13 Mary Pat Foley: Director of national intelligence 14 Robert Burgess: Secretary of defense 15 Arnold “Arnie” van Damm: President Ryan’s chief of staff 16 17

THE CAMPUS 18 19 Gerry Hendley: Director of The Campus and Hendley Associates 20 John Clark: Director of operations 21 Domingo “Ding” Chavez: Senior operations officer 22 Jack Ryan, Jr.: Operations officer and senior analyst for Hendley 23 Associates 24 Gavin Biery: Director of information technology 25 Lisanne Robertson: Director of transportation 26 27 CLOUDSERVE, INC. 28 Elias Dahm, CEO 29 Amanda Watson, senior design engineer and head of security for 30 the Intelligence Community Cloud 31 Lawrence Fung: Watson’s number two and supervisor of the Red S32 Team IC Cloud hacking group N33

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01 OTHER CHARACTERS 02 03 Liliana Pilecki: agent with ’s Agencja Bezpieczen´stwa 04 Wewne˛trznego (ABW) 05 Senator Deborah Dixon (R): Chair, Senate Foreign Relations 06 Committee 07 Aaron Gage: husband of Deborah Dixon and CEO and founder of 08 Gage Capital Partners 09 Christopher Gage: stepson of Deborah Dixon and CEO of Gage 10 Group International 11 Rick Sands: former member 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32S 33N

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9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd x 3/19/19 10:15 AM 01 02 03 04 1 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 PARTIDO DE BAHÍA BLANCA, ARGENTINA 14 e was a Scorpion. 15 First Ensign Salvio was never more proud of that fact than 16 Hnow. He checked his watch. 17 Three minutes to target. 18 Like his men, he was kitted out in body armor, a ­leg-​­holstered 19 Glock 17 pistol, an M4A1 carbine, and a ballistic ATE Kevlar hel- 20 met with ­night-​­vision goggles. 21 The noise of the whining twin turboshafts of the EC145 Euro- 22 copter filled the dimly lit cabin. His platoon of special operators 23 of Grupo Alacrán—­ ​­Scorpion Group—­ ​­was the best unit in the 24 Gendarmería Nacional Argentina. Maybe the whole country. 25 Grupo Alacrán was Argentina’s primary antiterror weapon. 26 Like ’s Yamam—­ ​­the elite police unit with whom Salvio’s 27 team had trained in the Ayalon Valley—­ his​­ men were the bleeding 28 tip of the spear. 29 Salvio flashed three fingers to his trusted number two, ­Sergeant-​ 30 ­Adjutant Acuña, who acknowledged with a nod and a feral grin. 31 The two of them cut their teeth fighting armed Mafia gangs and S32 Islamic radicals in La Triple Frontera, the border region where N33

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01 Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina collided. Long a bastion of drugs, 02 guns, and human trafficking by international and indigenous 03 gangs, the region’s violence and crime grew worse each year. The 04 Lebanon civil war drove tens of thousands of Lebanese to the re- 05 gion, and with them, Hezbollah. 06 And with Hezbollah came . 07 Hell, even and Khalid Sheik Mohammed had 08 visited La Triple Frontera years ago. 09 His government couldn’t root them out. Couldn’t even stem 10 the tide. But after OBL appeared on scene, American money and 11 technology flooded in and brought the war on terror to La Triple 12 Frontera. Kept the cancer contained for a few years. But then the 13 Americans turned their attention elsewhere and now Hezbollah 14 was on the move again. South. 15 Tonight’s mission was proof of that. 16 GNA intelligence had spotted a Lebanese Hezbollah com- 17 mander two days ago, and CIA confirmed. But the CIA confirma- 18 tion yesterday of an actual Iranian Quds Force commander on the 19 ground near the coastal city of Bahía Blanca put blood in their 20 mouths. 21 Against his government’s protests, a gathering of Hasidic youth 22 in Bahía Blanca was scheduled for next week. Hundreds of young 23 Jewish people from all over the country would attend. A perfect 24 target. 25 And an Iranian Quds Force commander to lead the attack. 26 Hezbollah had killed in his country before. More than a hun- 27 dred in two separate bombing attacks in the nineties. 28 And they’d promised to do it again. 29 The two terrorists were holed up at a small abandoned horse 30 ranch just ­twenty-six​­ kilometers north of the city. “Capture ­them—​ 31 ­alive” was his only order, straight from the mouth of the comandante 32S mayor. A chance to finally break the Hezbollah network, he said. 33N And to knock the bastard Iranians back on their heels.

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So they saddled up at their base in Ciudad Evita, loading up 01 three helicopters with ­twenty-​­three of his best troopers. The 02 three Eurocopters took three different flight vectors, avoiding di- 03 rect routes from the base to the target. He was pushing the EC145 04 range limit to the maximum but there was no point in making it 05 easy for any ­shoulder-​­fired MANPADS the tangos might have 06 with them. His aircraft would need a refuel for the flight back 07 for sure. 08 “Two minutes out,” the pilot said in Silvio’s headset. He glanced 09 around the cabin. Tarabini, Gallardo, Zanetti, Crispo, Birkner, 10 Herrmann. His boys were young but well trained, good shooters 11 and duros. They met his eyes with confident smiles. They were like 12 hungry wolves in a pack. 13 His pack. 14 “Kill the lights,” he told the pilot. The dim red bulbs extin- 15 guished. 16 Salvio switched his comms channel. “Bravo One, this is Alpha 17 One. Sitrep.” 18 His sniper ­team—​­a shooter and spotter posted a kilometer 19 away in the flat, open field surrounding theranch— ­ ​­replied. “Eyes 20 on. No movement. Lights out. Good to go, sir.” 21 “ETA ninety seconds,” Salvio said, adding in English, “Stay 22 frosty!” He logged off. Like every other Argentinian man his age, 23 he grew up on American movies, but it was his Black Hat jump 24 instructor at Fort Benning who’d first barked that order at him. 25 Time to rock ’n’ roll. 26 27 28 ased on drone surveillance photos shot the day before, Salvio 29 Bordered the pilots to put down at twelve, four, and eight 30 o’clock relative to the broken-­ ​­down main house. The only trees in 31 the area were a few dense mesquites surrounding the house, par- S32 tially blocking the view of the windows. Fence rails were down in N33

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01 several places, and a few ramshackle outbuildings were scattered 02 around the now horseless ranch that had seen better days. 03 Each Eurocopter flared in near perfect sync to just a meter 04 above the hard-­ ​­packed dirt one hundred meters from the house. 05 Salvio jumped first. His men followed, boots hitting the ground 06 on a dead run. The choppers roared away and took up overwatch, 07 circling high and wide as the Scorpion operators raced toward the 08 main house. Beneath the moonless ­blue-​­black sky, the ancient 09 farmhouse was a gray shadow. 10 Salvio landed at the four o’clock. He whispered orders into his 11 comms for the advance of the rest of his team, knowing full well 12 his men could do it without him. 13 “Bravo One, we’re on the ground,” Silvio said. “Watch your fire.” 14 “We have your back, sir.” The sniper team was positioned at six 15 o’clock, the big Barrett M95 directly opposite the front door, ready 16 to put a .50 BMG slug through any cabrón that stepped into its 17 ­night-vision​­ glass. 18 Salvio’s squad advanced at a slow, crouching trot, as did the 19 others. Out in the open on the flat, grassy plains there was little 20 chance of finding cover, so dropping in close was the only choice. 21 He’d chosen the night, hoping the fighters inside didn’t have ­night-​ 22 ­vision capabilities. 23 The ­twenty-​­four troopers closed in rapidly from three direc- 24 tions, weapons high, rounds chambered, safeties off. Heavy boots 25 thudded onto the rickety wraparound porch, where the squads 26 split up, stacking on either side of windows and both doors, front 27 and back. ­Flash-​­bangs were pulled. 28 Salvio took the front door. Arab music blared from a tinny ra- 29 dio inside. He whispered another order into his comms. ­Flash-​ 30 ­bangs crashed through window glass in six places simultaneously. 31 The men closed their eyes and opened their mouths just as the 32S grenades detonated. 33N

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Doors crashed open under their boots and Scorpions poured 01 through into darkened rooms. The tactical light on Silvio’s Glock 02 17 illumined the living room, as did the swiftly panning lights on 03 the carbines around him. 04 “Clear!” one of his sargentos shouted from the back of the house. 05 Other shouts of “Clear!” soon followed. Soon, Acuña appeared, 06 disappointment in his ­flash-​­lit eyes. 07 “All clear, sir. Nobody’s home.” 08 Salvio swore as he holstered his pistol. Where the hell were these 09 bastards? 10 “Aquí!” a man shouted from the kitchen. Silvio and Acuña 11 dashed in. Private Gallardo’s lighted weapon pointed at the floor 12 inside a small pantry closet. A trap door. Salvio tore it open and 13 pulled out his pistol, activated the tac light on the barrel. 14 “Gallardo, Hermann, with me,” Salvio ordered as he dropped 15 into the darkened tunnel. 16 17 18 alvio and the others returned to the kitchen entrance ­empty-​ 19 S­handed. The tunnel ran seventy or so meters to an empty 20 outbuilding. The terrorists must have fled from there, out of sight 21 of his sniper team. 22 Salvio checked in with the chopper pilots on his comms, all 23 deploying night vision and thermal imaging. “See anything?” 24 “No, sir. Not even a rabbit.” 25 Damn it! 26 He was supposed to report the capture of the two terrorists to 27 the comandante mayor as soon as it happened. The old man would 28 be pissed. All he had in his hands at the moment was his own 29 swinging dick. Not exactly what HQ was hoping for. 30 Salvio barked orders. He’d tear the place apart for intelligence. 31 Maybe come away with something to show for their efforts. S32 N33

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01 02 03 hey ripped through the house front to back, flipping mat- 04 Ttresses, tossing drawers, pulling rugs, tearing up floor boards. 05 The place looked like a debris field after a tornado. 06 Somebody had been ­here—trash​­ and butts on the floor, a filthy, 07 unflushed toilet. 08 But not one shred of intel to bring back for a trophy. 09 While his men stood around gulping water from their hydra- 10 tion packs and scarfing down protein bars, Salvio called his pilots, 11 ordering them to land for exfil. Might as well get back to barracks 12 at Ciudad Evita and call it a night. 13 Ten minutes later, his unit’s three Eurocopters touched down, 14 their turbines slowed. His men ducked low to avoid the ­carbon-​ 15 ­fiber rotors raking the air just above their heads and piled into the 16 choppers. They made room for the sniper and his spotter, who’d 17 had to hump in six klicks by foot the day before to avoid detection. 18 The sniper grabbed a spot on the floor at Salvio’s feet. 19 At least the men were in good spirits, Salvio told himself. They 20 laughed and joked among themselves as young men do for release 21 after the adrenaline rush of a combat operation. 22 Even one where no shots were fired. 23 “Ready, Ensign?” the pilot asked. 24 “Let’s get back to the barn,” Salvio said, in English. Just like his 25 instructor at Fort Benning used to say. “Rápido.” Salvio’s son, a 26 striker, was finally starting on hisfútbol team. With any luck, 27 the refuel would go fast and he’d make it home in time to catch 28 his game. 29 The turbines whined as the choppers lifted in unison, arcing 30 into the warm, starlit sky, streaking for home in single file. 31 A heartbeat later, alarms screamed. 32S Missile lock. 33N Salvio grabbed a handhold as the helicopter plunged violently

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to escape, blowing auto-­ ​­chaff in a steep banking turn. Through 01 the gunner’s door he saw a fiery streak slam into one of his chop- 02 pers and erupt in a cloud of flaming metal. 03 The last thing Salvio heard was the roar of the exploding HEAT 04 charge that tore his aircraft apart, killing most, including him. 05 The screaming survivors perished when the burning wreck 06 slammed into the ground five hundred meters below. 07 In the space of thirty seconds, the entire Scorpion platoon 08 ceased to exist. 09 Proof of concept number one. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 S32 N33

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9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd 6 3/19/19 10:15 AM 9780525541691_EnemyContact_TX.indd 7 3/19/19 10:15 AM 01 02 03 04 05 2 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 CRISFIELD, 14 15 ack pulled up to the curbless street in front of the modest one-­ ​ 16 ­story white frame house and killed the engine. It brought back 17 Jmemories. He hadn’t been here since his freshman year in col- 18 lege, when Cory’s mom cooked the two Georgetown students a 19 roast. “Stick‑­to‑­yer-​­ribs food, Jack. That’s what you boys need if 20 you’re sailing today,” she’d said. Taking the skiff Cory’s dad built 21 out onto Daugherty Creek was one of Jack’s favorite memories. 22 Cory’s ­working-​­class family was a lot like that little house. 23 Solid, sturdy, ­dependable—​­and certainly nothing fancy. But Cory 24 had been a good friend, and the memories Jack had from the sum- 25 mer road trip they took in their sophomore year, hiking fourteen- 26 ers in , still made him laugh. 27 Jack approached the front door with trepidation. He hadn’t seen 28 Cory in years. Always meant to, but they both got busy. When his 29 father died in his junior year, Cory gave up his dream of law school 30 and dropped out of Georgetown to take over his father’s hardware 31 store, and to care for his ailing mother. Jack made it out a few times 32S that year, but Cory was too tied up with customers and inventory 33N to really do anything but shoot the bull over coffee at the store.

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Jack’s academic plate was also overflowing. No hard feelings. Just 01 a fork in the road. They went their separate ways. 02 Jack found his dream job with Hendley Associates and The 03 Campus. 04 Cory stocked lumber and bird food. 05 Cory’s mother died a few years back, but Jack missed that 06 ­funeral—​­he didn’t even know about it until a year after she was 07 buried. He meant to call and offer his condolences, but it just felt 08 too damn awkward after so much time had passed. 09 Yeah, awkward. 10 Some friend, asshole. 11 Jack rang the doorbell. A moment later, a smartly dressed 12 ­middle-​­aged nurse in blue scrubs opened the door. Jack noticed 13 her lapel pins. Mary Francis was an RN and a nun. She smiled. 14 “You must be Jack. Cory’s expecting you.” 15 “Thank you, Sister.” 16 Jack followed her through the neat and tidy home, the old 17 wooden floors creaking under histwo- ­ ​­hundred-​­pound muscled 18 frame. 19 “How’s he doing?” Jack whispered, as if in church. 20 “As well as can be expected,” she replied at full voice. “It won’t 21 be long now.” 22 He followed her down a narrow hallway. A dozen family photos 23 in cheap frames hung on the walls. One of them was a picture of 24 Jack and Cory standing next to that skiff so many years ago. 25 Ouch. 26 “This way,” the nun said, pushing open a bedroom door. An 27 invitation for him to enter alone. 28 Jack halted for a second. He would’ve felt more comfortable 29 charging blind into a Tora Bora cave with an empty pistol than 30 dealing with what he was imagined was waiting for him inside. 31 “Jack, you came.” S32 Cory smiled broadly, sitting up in his adjustable bed. He held N33

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01 out his hand. Despite the pallid skin and skeletal frame, he exuded 02 warmth and grace. 03 Jack sighed with relief. He crossed the room and took Cory’s 04 soft hand. Jack was six-­ ​­foot-​­one and powerfully built. More so 05 now than when they were in school together. But back then, Cory 06 had been six-­ ​­four and two-­ ​­twenty. A state champion lacrosse 07 player. A real beast. Hard to believe the frail wraith in the adjust- 08 able bed had once carried a ­175-pound​­ Jack a mile and a half down 09 a Colorado slope on his back after he twisted his ankle. Now Cory 10 was half his former weight, if that, and could barely hold up his 11 own arm. 12 “Good to see you, Cor.” 13 “Sorry for the long drive out. I know you’re a busy guy.” 14 Ouch. Again. 15 Cory saw the flinch. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I know 16 working for a financial firm like Hendley Associates must be an 17 ­eighty-​­hour‑­a‑­week job.” 18 “Sometimes I bring a cot to the office. Better to sleep than 19 commute.” 20 “Good for you.” Cory lay back on his elevated bed, obviously 21 fatigued by his efforts. 22 Jack glanced around the room while Cory got comfortable, ad- 23 justing the IV needle taped to the back of his bruised and sallow 24 hand. A large crucifix hung on the wall opposite the foot of his 25 bed. Next to it was a framed wedding photo of his parents. Cory 26 was an only child. 27 Standing next to the bottles of pain meds was a framed 28 ­novena—­“Our Lady of Good Remedy.” A rolling IV stand with a 29 bag stood on the far side of the bed. 30 “So, I like what you’ve done with the place,” Jack said. 31 “My designer calls it Medical Modern. Sort of like Mad Men, 32S but with drugs instead of booze.” 33N “I need to call her.”

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“Just wait a few more weeks. I know a place where you will be 01 able to get all of this stuff dirt cheap.” Cory winked. 02 Jack chuckled. He never knew anybody funnier than Cory. Or 03 scarier, when he threw a punch. Fists like cinder blocks tied to tree 04 trunks. Two bikers in a Jackson Hole bar discovered that side of 05 Cory the hard way. 06 Jack suddenly felt very self-­ ​­conscious, his full beard and head 07 of hair in stark contrast to Cory’s naked scalp. Chemo took that 08 thick mane of curly blond hair, no doubt, but not the fire in those 09 dark brown eyes. 10 Cory reached for a plastic cup full of ice water, but it was too 11 far away. Jack snatched it up and brought it close. 12 “Thanks.” Cory sipped cool water through the straw. 13 Jack’s eyes drifted back to the prayer card. “Dear Lady of Good 14 Remedy, source of unfailing help, thy compassionate heart knows a 15 remedy for every affliction . . .”­ 16 “You go to church much, Jack?” 17 “Me? Not enough. You?” 18 “Kinda hard to wheel this bed down the aisle these days. But I 19 do have my own nun, don’t I?” 20 Jack glanced back at the large crucifix. He thought about the 21 coeds that used to draw to Cory like flies to honey, and the beer 22 kegs he’d polished off, almost ­single-​­handedly. “I guess you got 23 some religion lately.” 24 “No, I got some cancer lately. My faith renewed is the payoff.” 25 “That’s great,” Jack said. 26 Cory heard the cynicism in Jack’s voice. “Yeah, I know. Foxhole 27 prayers and all of that. But I’m serious. There’s something about 28 facing your mortality that brings eternal things into focus.” 29 “Sure, I suppose it would.” Jack didn’t mention he’d stared 30 death in the face a few times lately. Quite a few times. He had a 31 hard time finding faith in the dark abyss of a pistol barrel shoved S32 in his face. N33

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01 “Don’t be like me and wait until something like this wakes 02 you up.” 03 “Now you sound like my sister.” 04 “I liked your sister. She doing okay?” 05 “A doctor now, just like Mom. Same hospital, even. Married a 06 great guy.” 07 “Good for her. Your folks okay? I don’t watch the news much 08 these days.” 09 “They’re doing well. Thanks for asking.” 10 Cory coughed violently. Thick gobs of phlegm rattled in his 11 throat. He lurched forward, gasping for breath, his pale face red- 12 dening with the effort. 13 Jack reached for a clean spit tray on the table and held it up to 14 Cory’s lips with one hand while supporting his bony back with the 15 other. Cory coughed and spat until a spoonful of yellow gel finally 16 dropped into the pink plastic tray. 17 The nurse burst into the room. 18 “Cory?” She rushed over to the bed as Jack gently lowered him. 19 She took the spit tray from Jack’s hand and set it down. 20 “Thank you, Jack. Perhaps you can wait outside for a minute,” 21 she said as she wiped Cory’s mouth with a tissue. 22 “Sure, no problem.” 23 Cory shook his head and waved a frail hand. “No, wait, Jack, 24 I’m fine.” 25 “You sure? I’ve got plenty of time.” 26 Cory took another sip of water with the nun’s help. It surprised 27 Jack how much effort it took him. He finished and sighed with 28 exhaustion. 29 “I’ll be right outside,” the nun said. “But call me before you 30 need me, okay?” 31 Cory smiled. “Okay.” 32S She left, closing the door gently behind her. 33N

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“So, Jack. Remember those fourteeners we climbed in Col- 01 orado?” 02 “Sure do. I was thinking about that when I pulled up.” 03 “Good times, man. Can’t tell you how often I thought about 04 those days when I was counting pallets of sheetrock and roofing 05 nails. Got me through some dark patches.” 06 Guilt fell all over Jack like a bucket of warm motor oil. 07 “I’m sorry about that, Cory. I should’­ve—­” 08 “Oh, man. No. I wasn’t saying anything. I just mean climbing 09 those mountains meant a lot to me. That high up. Clean air. And 10 the quiet!” 11 “Yeah, good times for sure.” 12 “I’ve had a lot of time to think about my life lying here, ya 13 know? Things done, and things undone. And to be honest with 14 you, I wouldn’t change a lot. Don’t get me wrong. Arguing a land- 15 mark case in front of the Supreme Court would’ve been awesome, 16 but it wasn’t meant to be.” 17 “It must have been hard on you.” 18 “It was, and it wasn’t. I just did what I had to do to take care of 19 my family. You would’ve done the same thing for yours. I know 20 you would have.” 21 Jack nodded. He sure as hell would have. There wasn’t any- 22 thing he wouldn’t do for his family, especially his mom and dad. 23 “So really, no regrets. Well, except one. I never told you this, 24 but I made two promises to my dad when he was on his deathbed. 25 I’m proud to say I kept one of ­them—​­finishing my­pre- ​­law degree 26 at Georgetown last year.” 27 “That’s freaking awesome. Congratulations.” 28 Jack stuck out his hand. Cory took it as best as he could. 29 “Thanks, man. Summa cum laude, too, by the way.” 30 “Not surprised.” Truth was, Cory was the sharpest knife in the 31 drawer. S32 N33

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01 “But I didn’t keep the other promise. And it’s killing me.” 02 “You do look like shit. But I thought that was the cancer,” Jack 03 said, hoping for a laugh. 04 He got one. 05 “Ouch, man,” Cory said, touching his stomach. “Don’t do that. 06 It makes me hurt.” 07 “Sorry.” 08 “No, you’re not.” 09 “No, not really.” 10 They bumped fists. Friends again. For life. 11 However long that was. 12 “So, what’s the promise you didn’t keep?” 13 Cory told him. 14 Jack didn’t bat an eye. 15 “It’s a lot to ask, I know. But I couldn’t think of anyone else 16 I could ask, let alone pull it off. But I hate to disappoint my dad, 17 you know?” 18 “Yeah, I know. But I think he’d understand.” 19 “He probably would. But this is about me. I want to keep my 20 word. And you’re my only shot.” 21 Jack fought back the tears welling up in his eyes. 22 “It would be an honor.” 23 24 25 ister Mary Francis brought in a bottle of ­twelve-​­year-​­old Ma- 26 Scallan single-­ ​­malt whiskey and two glasses Cory had pur- 27 chased for the occasion. The bedridden man sipped water out 28 of his glass while Jack worked his way through a couple fingers. 29 They laughed and told stories like old college buddies do, but the 30 light began to dim outside and Cory’s eyes began fluttering with 31 fatigue. 32S Jack left the room with Cory gently snoring and Sister Mary 33N Francis’s heartfelt thanks.

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“If he needs anything at all, please call me,” Jack said, slipping 01 her a business card. She handed him one of hers as well. 02 “I will. Safe travels, Jack. And God bless you for coming.” 03 04 05 ack was surprised his phone rang with her number three 06 Jand a half hours later as he sat at his desk, poring over a 07 ­spreadsheet. 08 Cory Chase was gone. 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 S32 N33

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