Saul's cell phone hadn't stopped ringing since Carrie had stormed out, her car screeching off his driveway a few seconds after she had slammed his door. None of the calls were from her. She didn't back down easily, he knew that. He sat in his kitchen trying to finish his coffee in peace before it went off again. He felt better for his shower but worse for having slept a little, like he had reminded his body of what it was missing and now it was pissed with him. He wondered when Mira would text him her flight details. He couldn't wait to hold her close. Saul had wished for months that she would realise that she missed him and come home again, for good this time. He was unable to demand it and thereby imply that his location, his job, his crusade was any more important than hers. He hadn't bargained on something like this being the prompt for her to book her flight, for their stubborn standoff to cease. He told himself not to get his hopes up, nothing was fixed between them, in fact his work was only going to intrude on his life more now and make a reconciliation with Mira more difficult. But when it came to it, when she thought he had been in mortal danger and then when she recognised that he had just really needed her, Mira had wanted to be here. That was something at least. That they loved each other dearly was never in doubt, the doubt had crept in when they realised that even love might not be enough to keep them together after all.
Saul had called Maggie straight after his fight with Carrie. They quickly discovered that Carrie had lied to them both about her having been with the other the previous night. Maggie was furious that Carrie had not been by her house, worried for her state of mind, the chemicals in her bloodstream, Saul guessed. She was obviously mad at Saul too for not taking better care of her sister, given the circumstances, but she was too polite to let that out. That was where the two sisters differed, Saul mused. Maggie quickly realised that Saul probably had many things on his mind, her crazy sister not the top of his list of concerns right now. Saul contradicted her, Carrie was actually his prime concern, both personally and professionally. Maggie asked him how things were going, if Congressman Brody really had done what they were saying he had done. Saul simply replied that this was why he needed to track down Carrie, to help him figure all this out. He wasn't sure how much Maggie knew about Carrie and Brody's relationship, whether Maggie knew that Carrie had been about to jettison the career she so loved for the man in the vest. He explained that they had fought, that Carrie was agitated after the bomb and may need medical attention. He asked Maggie if something like this could trigger a severe episode. What Saul had seen from Carrie today was nothing on the scale of her terrifying state before she was hospitalised but he wondered if it was looming over the horizon. Maggie said that it could rapidly turn that way, she would need to assess her. There was trepidation in her voice. Maggie would drop what she was doing and try to find her sister. Saul hung up and sighed heavily, lamenting his failure to contain Carrie's predictable wrath. He tried calling Carrie's cell himself and wasn't remotely surprised when she didn't pick up.
Saul yawned. He needed to get back to work.
Saul had received word from the highest office that promised a full and thorough investigation of the CIA's failure to prevent this attack, of how this 'calamitous fucking mess' had been allowed to happen right under their noses. Certain malicious elements, and a few of their cousins at the FBI would be loving it, of course. Not outwardly, needless to say, some of their number had been present at the memorial after all. But there were those among the establishment who would take a sick pleasure in watching this play out. Heads were going to roll. Saul asked himself how many heads were left. Only his, really. He wondered how he was going to protect Carrie from the attendant shitstorm. The CIA was about to become a rabid dog savaging its own tail because there was nobody else around to bite. Perhaps his job wouldn't stand between him and Mira for much longer.
He had another call confirming that the blast at Langley had come from Brody's SUV but that there was no trace of the man himself amongst the wreckage. The device had been detonated remotely, probably by cell phone. The race was now on to identify and differentiate between all outstanding human remains in that auditorium. If they didn't turn up some Congressman teeth pretty damn soon then Saul had a serious problem. His head wouldn't just roll, it would be kicked into orbit. He started to smooth his hair down over the back of his head repeatedly. He put a call in to the techs trying to recover the CCTV footage from Langley. Still nothing useful. He asked them to keep trying and also whether the footage from the streets and highways surrounding Langley both in the periods before the memorial and after the bomb was ready for review. He wanted to be able to count every soul into campus that morning. And any soul out that afternoon. Saul's very bad feeling was getting worse.
Maggie called again. No answer from Carrie's cell. She wasn't at home either. Maggie was en route to their family's cabin, just in case she had headed there to be alone. It had been known before. Saul thanked Maggie sincerely and assured her that he just had her sister's best interests at heart. He truly did. He asked himself if he had failed Carrie in letting Estes drag her back to Beirut, allowing her back into the fold after she was found to have been right all along about Brody. He could have pushed for them to leave her to her gardening and her teaching job. She might be safe now if he had. Safe, but half dead inside. He recalled the night that he reinstated her self belief by playing her Brody's video. It was the most beautiful gift he could ever have given her. Saul shook his weary head, concluding that you couldn't obscure a beacon that bright with a blanket.
He picked up his keys decisively but then slouched back onto his stool, inertia setting in at the thought of returning to the bomb site.
Perhaps this bear had been dancing in the circus too long, he thought.