“I’m dead if I talk, so why should I give you infidels anything?”
“Look around. There aren’t any infidels in the room now. Just you and me.”
“You work with infidels. You’re no better than they are.”
“They are human beings just like you and I are. If they’re infidels, Allah will deal with them in good time. For now, I just need to know what you’re up to. I need to know if there’s any threat to this country. You sold someone something worth fifty million dollars. What did you have access to that would be worth that much? Rifles and grenades? I don’t think so. What did you sell?”
“If I talk, I’m dead.”
“If you don’t talk, you’re dead. Let’s cut to the chase. I know what items you had access to as Defense Minister. If you don’t talk, we drop you back at Islamabad and tell them you sold a nuke to a terrorist. If I dig long enough, I can figure out where the money came from. You know the difference between us and your government? We won’t cut your head off. But let me tell you right now. If a bomb goes off in this country, it’s all on your head. We will drop you in Washington or Islamabad, doesn’t matter which, and you’ll wish you would have talked to us. We will get to the bottom of it one way or the other, but if you tell us what we need to know, you might get to keep that head of yours attached.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything. I can…”
“You can what? You have no leverage. Nobody knows where you are. Your government doesn’t know where you are and those people who were trying to kill you don’t know. Think about that for a second. If our people hadn’t shown up, you would be dead already. You took a fat payment and thought you could just disappear, but someone tried to kill you almost immediately. Seems whoever gave you the money wants you dead. Buyer’s remorse maybe? Your only hope of living to old age, or in your case an older age, is to tell us what you know. Just think about your options for a minute. If you don’t talk, you’re staying here until I finish digging up who paid you. When I have that information, we drop you back in your country and we tell our government and your government what you did. You’ll be lucky to live a week.”
“I’m not afraid to die. Allah will reward me.”
“Are you sure Allah rewards those who shed innocent blood? For every verse you can quote about killing the infidel I can quote you two more about not killing the innocent. If a bomb goes off, a lot of innocent people are going to die, many of them good Muslims. Their blood will be on your head. You don’t want that on your conscience. I’ll give you a few minutes to think it over.”
Ahmed got up from his chair and headed toward the room’s exit. He put his hand on the doorknob and paused as if forgetting something and turned to face Ansari.
“Oh, one more thing. How’s your mother doing? You talk to her lately? She’s got to be what…pushing 90? Nice facility there in Karachi. Decent view from her room too. How do you think a woman that age would handle knowing her son’s a terrorist? I wouldn’t want to answer for her heart if she got that news.”
22
Ahmed sat down at his desk and turned his attention to the files being decrypted on his screen.
“I guess that didn’t go too well,” Miriam said.
“Not exactly.”
“How much do you think he really knows?”
“I have no idea. He probably knows who paid him. That would be a good start.”
“We probably already know that.”
“How do you figure?”
“I’m figuring the guy responsible for the bus bombings, and I’d bet he’s the same guy who tried to gas that arena. Even if Ansari gives up the name, we might not be any better off than we are now.”
“He might have other information. We have to find out.”
“Maybe we will. Take a look.”
Ahmed looked and saw Avi Zielinski going into the room to talk with Ansari.
“You think he’ll do better than I did?”
“He’s been playing this game longer than we’ve been alive. I give him better than even odds.”
“I hope you’re right.”
In the makeshift interrogation room, Tariq looked up as Avi walked in carrying a tray with two cups on it.
“Care for a cup of tea?” Avi asked in Arabic.
“Thank you, that would be nice.”
“So, you had a talk with my colleague? From his reaction, it did not go as he expected.”
“His inexperience was quite obvious.”
“Put that young man behind a computer and he’s a genius. He found your alias and where you were headed, and if he hadn’t you would be dead.”
“Perhaps I should be grateful for your intervention, however coincidental it was.”
“You’re right about the coincidence. We came there to talk to you, and showed up just in time it would seem.”
“Who were those people trying to kill me?”
“That is something we’re trying to piece together. The killers appear to be mercenaries, all former military from various countries. None were Arabs. The same people killed the former CIA director in his home just last night.”
“I had no dealings with the CIA. How is that possible?”
“That’s what we’d like to figure out. Knowing who you were dealing with would be a good start.”
“I’m signing my death warrant if I tell you.”
“Not necessarily.”
“That young man threatened as much. What he says is true. My countrymen would cut off my head in a heartbeat, and if the Americans get ahold of me, I’ll likely end up dead too.”
“Or locked away for the rest of your days. There might be a third option.”
“Are you authorized to offer that?”
“I might be capable, whether I’m authorized or not.”
“What would that option be?”
“Your original plan. A new identity and a quiet existence in a moderate climate for the rest of your time on earth.”
“Knowing what you know, you would do that?”
“There would be some conditions, of course.”
“What would those be?”
“You tell us what you know and we are able to stop whatever attack is being planned. Of course, we have to figure out who wants you dead and put a stop to that as well. I’m venturing a guess that if we stop one, we stop the other.”
“You think Al Thi’b wants me dead?”
“So, it was Al Thi’b who paid you? That name is already on our radar.”
“What do you know of him?”
“Only that he orchestrated an attack earlier this month and we think he was behind one that we stopped.”
“I don’t know much more than you do. He’s well organized and extremely wealthy.”
“Where did he get his money? Oil money?”
“Nobody really knows. Rumor is that he’s pulled off quite a few jobs for hire over the last decade. That and the usual extortion. Nobody knows how many jobs, but every time someone ends up dead, he takes the credit. His legend is growing. He has no shortage of funds or dedicated people to carry out his wishes.”
“What did he pay you for?”
“If I tell you…”
“I have a good idea already. I’ve been around the block a few times. I know what you had access to. Nobody pays that kind of money for a few rifles and rocket launchers. You know what happens to you if one goes off? If we stop the attack, we can arrange a nice retirement, if not…well…I don’t like your chances. What’s the payload? One of those small 10 kiloton devices?”
“Only six.”
“Six what?”
“Six kilotons. Not big. Would fit in the back of an SUV.”
“Well, Tariq, now that we got that out of the way, what else can you tell me?”
Ten minutes later Avi approached Ahmed’s desk.
“A six- kiloton suitcase nuke was loaded on a cargo ship named Qadira. Al Thi’b was on board the ship and personally took possession of the weapon.”
“That was quick. How’d you get him to talk?”
“I have a little more experience than you do, and I made him a deal.”
“What kind of a deal?”
“We stop this attack, he can disappear on an island somewhere. If not, it’s back to Pakistan and a sharp knife.”
“And we’re going to follow through with the promise?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. You might want to see if you can find that ship.”
“I’ll start looking for the ship,” Miriam said, “You can keep at that thumb drive.”
“Should have something soon,” Ahmed said.
“I will leave you two to your work. Rachel, would you come with me?” Avi said.
Rachel got up and followed Avi.
“Say, you look familiar. Were you on the Science Channel last year by any chance?”
“Discussing some of my theories. You watch that kind of programming?”
“Yeah. Most of it’s over my head, but I find it intriguing. Your theory was very interesting. You ever get to test it?”
“That’s above your pay grade, young lady.”
“I’ll take that as a yes. You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.”
“That’s up to the boss.”
“Who is the boss around here?”
“That would be Jenny. You met her earlier, and we’re going to have a talk with her right now.”
They stepped into Jenny’s office and Jenny motioned for them to sit down. Rachel sat on the couch and Jenny came around and sat down next to her while Avi took a chair.
“How you feeling?” Jenny asked.
“Not sure. Kind of numb really.”
“It will take a while. I don’t want to throw so much at you so fast, but you can see what we have going on here. I’d like to talk to you about joining us. We’re horribly short- staffed and you do come somewhat qualified.”
“What exactly do you do here? Are you the outfit Dad talked about?”
“Yes. We’ve only been operational for a few days. You’ve already met everyone, starting with Casey. Our main focus starting out was intelligence gathering, but after what happened we’ve been forced to get a little more involved.”
“So, Casey is your first field agent?”
“If you want to call him that.”
“I figured that much. He seems a little raw.”
“That he is, but he shows promise. He’s cool under pressure. He said the same about you, that you were calm and you’re a hell of a shot.”
“I could hardly miss from that close. Dad insisted I learn.”
“Well, we’re new here, and we’re not a government agency. We’re not even really sanctioned, so the stakes are rather high. If we get caught, we’re up the creek. Same goes for anyone we have in the field. If you want to work with us, we’d love to have you, but I can’t sugar coat it. We’re a private organization doing work that’s usually set aside for government agencies. The advantage is that we have no red tape. The disadvantage is that we have no cover if things go south.”
“I think I understand. What kind of help do you need?”
“We need help in house, doing what Ahmed and Miriam are doing, but there may come a time we need more people in the field. We really don’t know where the need will be as we expand.”
“I’m in.”
“You can take some time to think about it.”
“I don’t need to. I want to help you nail the bastards who killed my parents. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“For now, you can get some more rest and I’ll have Nathan set you up at a workstation when he comes in. We’ll set you up next to Miriam. Take a couple days learning what we do in here and then we can discuss other duties.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’ve had enough rest. Ahmed said you had a gym…”
“It’s upstairs. Have Miriam show you the way, or Casey if he’s awake.”
When Rachel left, Jenny addressed Avi.
“What do you think?”
“She’s a sharp girl, and she’s motivated.”
“You think she can be an asset?”
“In what way? I think she’s smart and can handle herself well under stress. Casey said she dropped one of the killers with two shots to the head like it was target practice. As to her mind? Get her on a computer and see how she handles it.”
“How do you think she’ll handle it? Does she look like the type to be happy with a desk job?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to train her for field work or train her like Casey? Show her both and see what suits her?”
“She sure seems like a go getter, but she’s dealing with grief. Her parents were murdered a few hours ago and she killed both men. That’s a lot to deal with. Let’s ease her into things and see how she pans out.”
Jenny’s phone buzzed and she hit the speaker button.
“Yes, Ahmed.”
“I’ve got more of that thumb drive decrypted. You might want to take a look at this.”
“Okay, I’ll be right out.”
“This Al Thi’b guy, there’s a whole file on him here, and you’re not gonna like what’s in there,” Ahmed said when Jenny sat down.
“What do you have?”
“His real name is Hasan Khalid…”
“Yeah, I knew that. Amber told me that much.”
“Okay, most of what she told you is true. Khalid was on the CIA payroll for a bit, helped them hunt down Al Qaeda people and got really good equipment and training. The standard story is that someone gave the CIA bad intel and they wiped out a village where his family was. That much was true. The village was hit and his family was there, and that turned him against the U.S. overnight.
Here’s where it gets weird. Here’s a conversation Prescott was most likely not supposed to see. Private server and the accounts are random numbers instead of names. Don’t ask me how he got it. Khalid was advised that the village his family was staying at wasn’t safe and that he should move them, which he did.”
“Then…there aren’t real names on these messages?”
“No, just the numbers. Keep reading. You’ll see why whoever this is didn’t want real names used.”
“So, a couple days later this person is advised that Khalid’s family is in place and gives the go ahead to wipe out the village, but make sure Khalid isn’t killed?”
“That’s pretty much it. He had to know what the result would be.”
“They created a terrorist. Khalid was a good asset and his family was killed intentionally to push him over the edge. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would the CIA want to create a terrorist?”
“I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that.”
“Have you saved all these files to the server?”
“Putting them there as soon as they’re decrypted.”
“Good, have everyone meet me in the conference room then. About time we put that room to good use.”
“Everyone?”
“Yes, wake Casey up and find Rachel. Avi, Ken…anyone who’s in the building. The more the merrier.”
“Everyone who’s in the building?”
“Well…make sure Tariq’s secure somewhere. Everyone else.”
Ten minutes later everyone was in the conference room, everyone except Ansari who was locked in a storage room with food and water, a proper detention area having been overlooked when the facility was designed. Ahmed had a keyboard he was using to display the files on the large screen at the front of the room.
“Are these the files from Dad’s thumb drive?” Rachel asked.
“Yes,” replied Ahmed, “Well…most of it. There are still a couple files that are taking a bit longer to decrypt.”
“Okay, everyone, I’m going to let Ahmed take over,” said Jenny.
“I’ll start from the beginning, since not everyone here is up to speed. When we captured the bomber responsible for the bus station attack in Cincinnati, the only thing he gave up was the name Al Thi�
��b, which for the few of you who don’t speak Arabic, means The Wolf.
That is a moniker. His real name is Hasan Khalid. We know Khalid was responsible for the bus station bombings and we suspect he was behind the failed attack in Detroit. We also have reason to believe that he is in possession of a small nuclear device that he most likely intends to sneak into the U.S.
The official word from the CIA is that Khalid was an asset used to hunt down Al Qaeda personnel in Iraq and he turned against the U.S. when his family was killed in a drone strike. The official position is that the village was destroyed because of faulty intel that a senior Al Qaeda official was supposed to be there. In reality, that wasn’t the case. This email exchange shows that Khalid’s family was instructed to move to that village and then upon confirmation that they were there, the okay was given to destroy the village.”
Ahmed let that sink in for a minute before continuing.
“Since then, Khalid took the name of Al Thi’b and has been attacking U.S. personnel for the last decade. Until now, he has been content with placing IEDs and taking out military personnel, but it looks like he’s now upping his game. He is also taking responsibility for numerous other attacks in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He has amassed a small fortune. We know he paid Tariq Ansari fifty million for the nuke, so we can assume he has access to a sizeable amount of funds. If not stopped, he could become the next Osama, if he isn’t already.
If we are to believe the information that Doug Prescott compiled, Al Thi’b was not simply an asset gone bad, as the CIA would have us to believe, but was created by the CIA deliberately, or at least by elements inside the CIA. It doesn’t appear that Prescott was behind this, so we need to figure out who and why.”
“I’d bet it’s the same people who killed Prescott and tried to kill Ansari,” Casey said.
“If that’s the case, then Al Thi’b isn’t the biggest problem,” Jenny said.
“He’s the biggest immediate problem,” Avi said, “If he has a nuke and is planning on using it.”
“Yes, but if we stop him and we don’t stop whoever created him, there will be another,” Jenny said.
“Now here’s another oddity,” Ahmed said, “I was wondering why the president fired Prescott so quickly, and why Prescott didn’t seem to fight the firing. If he followed protocol, which it appears he did, there would be no reason to fire him. If anything, the FBI director would take the fall, not Prescott.”
Wolf Trap (Casey Reddick Book 1) Page 17
