The Whistler Agenda

As a sequel to The Quixote Files, The Whistler Agenda follows Baltimore Times reporter Martin Cosgrove on the story of progressive Presidential candidate Robert X. Stoneman’s confrontation with conservative foes determined to stop him at any cost. Stoneman’s plan to make high speed transportation, using Maglev technology, the keystone of his administration has inspired outrage from politicians and the industries which would most feel the competition.
Martin is given a flash drive, containing copies of a large number of documents, by a woman claiming to have worked in the White House during the Bush/Cheney Administration. The documents reveal a more sinister agenda at foot in the planning the invasion of Iraq than had been suspected. Namely, that the real plan was to lure Iran into a war that would have required the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Buried in several of the CIA documents, is the name of an Iranian man who currently works in a key position with the Stoneman campaign team.
As Martin investigates, he finds that the woman who supplied the documents to him had used an assumed name, Deanna Whistler, and had been recently murdered. He discovers that her real name was Martha Grimes, and her second husband is a lawyer and chairman of a Political Action Committee, ACV, with a majority of its board of directors being old Quixote Group founders. Quixote had been formed a year earlier by senators, congressmen, and business people to oppose Stoneman, but had seemingly gone underground. Realizing that the documents were not totally what they seem, he begins a series of newspaper stories around the semi-legitimate documents purposefully to stir the pot.
Amos Moses, now retired and living in Costa Rica, served as a covert operative in the middle-east during the Iraq War, probably for the CIA, and had assisted Martin in the Quixote investigation. Amos’ contacts bring Martin face to face with a current CIA agent, Diane Sinclair. Sinclair coordinates a joint FBI-CIA task force to investigate the members of the ACV, helping Martin in the process to bait the trap with his stories. After two attempts on Martin’s life, the FBI closes in with warrants.
One member of the old Quixote Group, Congressman Howard who had escaped the FBI’s grasp the first time, reappears to settle accounts with Martin for good. This time, justice is served.