“Boy, am I glad to see you two back.”
“It’s good to be back,” Ahmed said, “I don’t find field work suits me.”
“We couldn’t have pulled that off without you.”
“Maybe you should recruit an Arab field agent, or teach Casey Arabic.”
“That’s something we’ll look at it, but he’ll never speak it like a native. You did a good job out there.”
“Do you think Avi will get anything out of him?” Miriam asked.
“If anyone can…but I don’t know if we have the time. Khalid will be a tough nut to crack. What you sent me about the target. How certain are you?”
“Pretty certain at this point,” Ahmed said, “One of their planes had a major overhaul recently, new engine and everything, and that’s the same plane that’s been flying ads over the ballpark for the recent home games. They’ve all been legitimate contracts and they have a contract for the All- Star Game as well. We thought the 4th would be a tempting target, but that date’s already passed and we know nothing happened then. The 11th is our next probable date.”
“If Avi can’t get enough out of Khalid, we might have to run with that.”
“If Khalid is smart, he’ll have the entire operation compartmentalized. He might be able to tell us the target, but the details are left up to the people in the field. That’s how I would handle it.”
“Here’s how we’ll handle it. I’ll have Ken fly Casey and Rachel down there while we stay here and dig up as much as we can. We’ll hang on to Khalid and his friends and see if Avi can get anything out of him. Maybe he can make him the same deal he made Ansari.”
“Just between you and me, do you think that deal’s good?”
“Tariq thought it was good and he talked.”
“He talked, but was the deal really good?”
“It was convincing.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think it will convince Khalid. I don’t think he’ll say anything. He’s a true believer. I know his type. He has to know he’s a dead man, and if he knows that, we have nothing to hold over him. He has no family. I could try to reason to him as a Muslim, but he views me as little better than an infidel. There might be a way to get him to crack, but I don’t think we have the time. The CIA might have all sorts of tricks to use, but we don’t know who to trust there either. We have two men in this building who are responsible for trying to detonate a nuke in the U.S. and whether we stop it or not, you and I both know we can never let either of them walk.”
“I see where you’re coming from. I’ve been thinking a lot about it. Turning them over to the government is not an option right now.”
“We’ll have to make them disappear, unless we can root out the mole or moles at the CIA.”
“Then the CIA will have to make them disappear quietly. If it became public…”
“Either way, they’re both dead men. We just have to be prepared to take care of it ourselves if it comes to that.”
“I see you’ve given it a lot of thought.”
“Yeah, not a pleasant thing to consider. I’ve changed a bit since I started working here. I had my mind made up when I finished school that I didn’t want to go back home, but it was mostly because of the way things are back there, and some of the crazy people I’m related to, but it’s more than that now. I see America as my home now. I love this country. You and I should know more than anyone else here. We’re immigrants. The people who were born here…they take it for granted. We chose to come here. You know what I mean?”
“I think I do, more than you know. It’s my country now and I would do whatever I can to defend her, but if you want to see someone who loves America, look no further than my husband.”
“Well, I figure that’s what we’re all doing here, isn’t it? We’re doing what we can to defend our country.”
“Yes, we are,” Avi said, “I’ve just been talking with our new friend. That is going nowhere. I hope the intel you have is good, because we’re going to have to act on it.”
“You have got to stop sneaking up on people like that,” Jenny said.
“Old habits…”
“So, you don’t think he’ll talk?”
“He might be inclined, given enough time to convince him, but it doesn’t seem that I have the time, and it also seems that even if he told me what he knows, it might not help much. I dropped that we knew the target and he never denied that, only said that we’ll never be able to stop it. I think some of the smaller details are being handled on site and he couldn’t tell us if he wanted to.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Ahmed said.
“How soon can we get people down there?”
“Ken can fly Casey and Rachel down. We can have them there tomorrow, or later today after they’ve rested. It depends on the shape the plane’s in,” Jenny said.
“I take it they’re resting now?”
“They went straight to the bunk room as soon as they came in.”
“I’ll talk to Ken about the plane. When they wake up, have them see me. We need to get them to Miami right away.”
33
1:00 PM
Ahmed’s head snapped to attention at the alarm from his right monitor. He wasn’t even aware he had nodded until the computer woke him.
“Why don’t you go take a nap?” Miriam asked.
“Too much work to do. I’ll sleep tonight.”
“You were sure getting a lot of work done there.”
“I just nodded for a second.”
“More like ten minutes.”
“You serious?”
“A good ten minutes. You set an alarm on your computer?”
“I had it decrypting some more files from Prescott’s thumb drive. It just alerted me, so maybe it has something for me.”
“I thought you got everything off that drive.”
“There were a couple more files that were more heavily encrypted. Since we were away in Mexico, I’m just now getting to them.”
“Do you think it’s anything important?”
“I don’t know. Let’s take a look.”
Miriam pulled her chair over to Ahmed’s workstation and they looked at the recently decrypted files.
“What language is that?” Miriam asked.
“Looks like Russian. I wonder if Avi can read this.”
Avi was wrapping up with Casey and Rachel and came to Ahmed’s desk a minute later.
“What do you have there?” he asked.
“Just decrypted a file. Can you read it?” Ahmed asked.
“Let me take a look…Oh my…”
“I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Yes. Jenny needs to see it.”
“What is it?”
“Confirmation of the moles we’ve suspected. They’re Russian. Give me five minutes and I’ll type up a translation.”
When Jenny arrived, Avi was typing away and soon had the document translated.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.
“Yes, the names of the two moles, but only their Russian names. Still, it’s proof. And we know we’re looking for a man and a woman. Judging by the time they’ve been here, probably in their late 40s or early 50s.”
“Leonid Kosomov and Nina Yunevich have both been in the United States since 1985. What were they doing all these years?”
“Working their way up the ranks, at least one in the CIA. I wonder if they’re both in the CIA or if one is in another agency.”
“Is there any other information in there?”
“It’s sparse. Just that their handler was someone named Yuriy. No last name on Yuriy.”
“I wonder if there’s any way we can smoke them out.”
“I might have a couple ideas,” Ahmed said, “but I’m a bit sleepy right now. Give me two hours in the bunk and I’ll get back to you on that.”
“What kind of ideas?”
“We have some intercepted phone calls and emails, the ones with the scrambled voices. If we can plant some fals
e messages, maybe lure them somewhere…”
“I like the way you think. Get some sleep, you and Miriam both. I’ll do some digging around while you’re napping, but you need to spring any trap for after the 11th. Stopping that bomb is still our first priority.”
Mahmoud took off from Islamorada and piloted the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter north toward his airstrip in Parkland. This was by far the nicest helicopter he had ever flown. He almost hated taking out half of the passenger seats, but he needed the space for the crate that was now back there. He tried not to think much about what was in the crate, only that he hoped the shielding was good enough to protect him. He had no desire to start glowing in the dark in a few days. His cousin Fareeq had no such concerns, considering he would be the next pilot to fly this package and that would be a one- way flight.
Mahmoud admired his cousin for his dedication, but for his part he had no plans to be a martyr with him. The yacht would be in Biscayne Bay on the 11th and he would be on board, sailing due east and well out of the blast radius by the time Fareeq completed the mission. There would be no returning to America, and that was fine with him. He was headed home at last, home to a hero’s welcome and a life of ease. The families of martyrs were always taken care of, and after the blow they were about to strike, his family would be set.
He flew toward Parkland, but didn’t stop at the main office and airstrip for his company, Aero Ads, but instead flew another five miles north to what looked to all appearances to be an abandoned warehouse. He purchased the property when he first came to the area but never bothered to fix it up, at least not to the eyes of anyone passing by. Weeds still grew around the building and the parking lot was in serious disrepair. The pavement in the back was new and smooth, and long enough for the Cessna to take off and land. He had never brought any of the planes here, but he had made sure of a large enough strip should the need arise.
He landed the helicopter near a large overhead door and waited. Two men opened the door and came out with a dolly which they used to wheel the crate inside. Once inside, the warehouse took on a decidedly different appearance than it had from the outside. The interior was immaculate and the walls and roof showed no signs of the neglect that was obvious on the outside. On the other side there were two large overhead doors that lead out to the back of the building and sitting just inside one of these doors was one of the Cessnas, the one Fareeq would be flying for the mission. Near the wall to his right was a storage container made entirely of lead. The crate would sit in there until the time came to load it in the plane. On the left side of the warehouse were living quarters where Fareeq would be staying until the 11th. It was a sparse looking apartment with a small kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and a prayer rug facing east.
It was on the prayer rug that Mahmoud found his cousin. He waited patiently for Fareeq to finish his prayers before greeting him.
“Hello cousin, at prayer again I see.”
“We are only a few days away. I find I have little desire to do anything else.”
“Your soul will be well prepared to meet Allah.”
“That is my wish. I want him to welcome me with open arms.”
“He will more than welcome you. You are doing a great service, but you seem nervous.”
“I am ready to meet Allah, but I am just nervous about the mission. I don’t want to make a mistake setting the detonator. Why can’t we set it before I take off?”
“We will go over it that day before you take off, but it’s really quite simple. It’s an altitude detonator, designed to go off when the bomb reaches a certain distance above the ground. If you set it before you take off, you’ll blow up as soon as you lift off. All you have to do is reach behind you with one hand and flip a switch. That will arm the bomb and once you descend to the set altitude, it will go off. All you have to do is fly the plane.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It really is that simple. I know you can do it. We will load it so it will be right behind you. You just reach back and flip the switch. Once it is set, the detonator can’t be turned off.”
“So, I take off from here and go straight there?”
“You will still need to pick up the banner. That will be set up the usual way at the airstrip. You’ve done that plenty of times. You’ll be okay.”
“Is the banner really necessary this time?”
“Yes. Your plane has been seen over the stadium many times, always towing a banner. It will draw no attention until it’s too late. That’s the way we want it.”
“I understand. Are you going back to the office now?”
“Amir is coming to drive me back. We have a potential client stopping by. I need to humor them. He should be here by the time I get the helicopter put away.”
“It looks like he’s arriving now. You go. I’ll take care of the helicopter.”
Ken, Elijah, Casey, and Rachel were sitting in a hotel room in Coral Springs, having left Nyangumi parked at the Pompano Beach Airport. Casey was sprawled on a bed about to nod off when Ken interrupted him.
“No rest yet, buddy. You and the young lady have an appointment in Parkland. You might be interested in flying an ad during the All -Star Game.”
“When did you arrange that?” Casey asked.
“Online, while we were waiting for the rental car.”
“Do you think we’ll find anything there?”
“Probably not, but it’s our first step. See what you can see, and what they’ll show you. If you can verify the planes, see if there is any off- limits storage area…just look for anything out of the ordinary, and try not to arouse suspicion. Your appointment’s in an hour, so you have a little bit of time.”
An hour later, Casey parked the rental car at Aero Ads and he and Rachel walked into the office. Mahmoud was behind the counter and flashed them a warm smile when they approached.
“Welcome, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Williams. I’ve been expecting you.”
“Nice to meet you,” Casey said as he stuck out his hand.
Mahmoud shook his hand.
“What brings you in today?”
“We’re interested in an ad for the All- Star Game. Is it too soon?”
“Not at all. We still have two planes open, but they could go fast. It’s a popular event.”
“Oh, that’s excellent news. I was afraid you would be all booked up this close,” Rachel said.
“We had a couple (of) cancellations.”
“I guess that’s good news for us then.”
“Do you know what you want on the banner? We will need to move fast. It takes time to print them and we are close to the day.”
“I have it written out here,” Casey said as he handed Mahmoud a piece of paper.
“You have strange notions of celebrating an anniversary, Mr. Williams.”
“The 11th will be one year. We’re going all out. Spare no expense, right dear?”
“That’s right,” Rachel said.
“Do I need to pay anything down today?” Casey asked.
“Let’s go over the payment options, shall we?” Mahmoud said.
“Can I see the planes?” Rachel asked.
“I see no harm in that. Amir will show you around while your husband and I finalize everything.”
Amir lead Rachel out of the office and gave her the grand tour of the grounds, showing her the hangar with the two planes, a garage where basic repairs could be made, and the airstrip.
“What are those poles?” she asked.
“When we need to pick up a banner, it is laid out and a line is held up by the poles. There is a hook on the plane. The pilot comes in low and hooks the line with the hook on the back of the plane. Then when he climbs, the banner unfolds and flies behind the plane. It is quite impressive to watch.”
“It must be. Are any going up today?”
“No, we have nothing today.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. I would love to see it first- hand.”
They walked back to the office a
nd entered just as Casey was wrapping things up with Mahmoud.
“Did everything go well, honey?” she asked.
“Yes, it did. They’ll have our ad up for twenty minutes at the beginning of the game.”
“Oh, that will be splendid. Shall we go then? I’m absolutely famished.”
“Are you famished?” Casey asked when they were back in the car.
“Somewhat. Let’s pick up Ken and Elijah and find someplace.”
When they walked into the room, Ken was the first to speak.
“Well, find anything?”
“Squeaky clean,” Rachel said, “There were only two planes in the hangar though, and neither one was the one we were looking for.”
“That doesn't surprise me. If they have the bomb on board already, it could be parked somewhere else.”
“It has to be, and the bomb has to be someplace else as well. Everything in that hangar was wide open, no other storage that I could see, unless there’s a lower level.”
“Did you get the bug and camera placed?”
“I stuck the bug under the edge of the counter when Mahmoud was pulling up prices on the computer,” Casey said.
“One camera outside and one in the hangar,” Rachel said.
“Well, let’s email Ahmed with the news and see what he can dig up. In the meantime, would anyone object to getting a bite to eat?”
“Certainly not,” Rachel said, “Let’s go.”
34
The bug and the cameras worked as well as anyone could hope, but they provided absolutely no intel. Mahmoud spoke on the phone with clients, took payments for jobs completed, and had innocuous conversations in Arabic with relatives or friends, but so far nothing incriminating. The two planes that were there came and went on jobs and mechanics entered the hangar to perform routine maintenance. They had a laptop set up in the hotel room to monitor and record everything and they monitored the feeds in shifts around the clock.
This was the routine for the next few days. Someone was always watching the laptop and the others would bring food to the room on a regular basis. Casey went out and drove around the city each day, not sure what he was looking for but hoping to catch any kind of slip up from Mahmoud or his cousin. He went down to the ballpark a couple times, back to Parkland, by the airstrip, and around the beaches. On the 10th, while he was driving back toward the hotel, his encrypted phone rang.
Wolf Trap (Casey Reddick Book 1) Page 25
