by James Rosone
Stone was reading through a report about the attackers at a frenetic pace while a group of team leaders who were sitting around the table waited for him to give them the synopsis. “It would appear that we are now dealing with a new and separate cell that may have absolutely nothing to do with the original group that carried out the first set of attacks in Chicago. Does that fit with your assessments?” he asked.
George Lee, who up until four days ago had been relegated to the paperwork mound that no one wanted, was the first to speak his opinion. “Sir, that’s the assumption I am currently working off of. I know others may not agree with me, but please hear me out.”
Because he had not been a yes-man, Director Harper had sidelined George during her tenure. His opinion had not been asked or sought until now. When Mike had been given temporary command of the division, he had immediately promoted George to team lead, as well as Julie Wells, his senior analyst. Mike wanted to have people on his team who were willing to think independently, even if their ideas weren’t popular.
George looked through some files on his tablet for confirmation of his facts before he continued briefing the group. “Of the six groups of attackers that assaulted the police stations across Cook County tonight, two of the men were killed and three were captured alive. The suspects that were apprehended have all stated that they were born in Chechnya, even if they haven’t given us much else to work with at the moment. The two deceased attackers were in our biometric database, and we had their latent fingerprints on file from previous encounters with US forces in the Middle East. One set of fingerprints was linked to the remnants of a vehicle-borne IED that hit our troops in the Green Zone near Kabul five years ago.” He linked up his tablet to the projector in the room and brought up images of the vehicle bomb attack.
“A second individual’s fingerprints were found at the scene of a raid carried out by a Joint Special Operations Command team in Azerbaijan. Following the JSOC raid, the Sensitive Site Exploitation team discovered his fingerprints on a number of forged German passports.” The monitor then flashed images of the captured intelligence.
“Tell me a little more about this raid,” Mike instructed.
“Director Stone, about fourteen months ago, a series of terrorist attacks targeted several Russian military leaders and the Russian military base in Chechnya. As most of you know, the Russians had been using an airbase there as a waypoint for their operations against ISIS and the anti-Assad rebels. These were the first known direct attacks by the Chechens against the Russian military in nearly a decade. Well, the Russians managed to trace the rebels to a camp that was located just over the border of Azerbaijan in the Zagatala State Reserve.”
George took a quick swig of coffee and then continued, “The Russians informed the Azeris that they were about to carry out a raid on the camp and exterminate the group, but the Azeris put up a huge stink and wouldn’t give the Russians permission to enter their territory. At that point, the Russians called the US embassy and informed us that either we were going to need to work with the Azeris and terminate the rebel camp, or they were going to unilaterally do it themselves.
“Two weeks later, the President authorized JSOC to carry out the raid with an observer from both Russia and Azerbaijan. All captured materials were to be processed and jointly shared so everyone could see what was going on. As you can see from the images, nineteen individuals were killed, and fifteen prisoners were taken. The Azeris didn’t want the prisoners, so they were handed over to the Russians.”
Several people in the room broke into interested side chatter. Stone let them talk for a moment and then raised his hand to get the group’s attention again.
One of the other team leads, someone from ICE, spoke up. “Director Stone, if I can get a copy of the captured German passports, I can reach out to the Germans and see if we can get the batch number of the stolen passports. Then we can run the entire group of passport numbers against the EU, Canadian and US airport databases to see if any of them has been used. If so, we’ll be able to track exactly when and where they traveled.” She had just offered the group the best piece of news they had heard so far.
“Julie, speaking of passports, did we recover any identification on the attackers? Anything that might link back to these passports?” asked Mike.
“No, Sir. There was no identification or travel documents of any kind on the dead or captured individuals. We are currently running all the biometric data we’ve collected through the TSA to see if they had flown into the US. We have also passed the biometrics over to Canada and Mexico to be run against their systems as well. If they traveled through Canada, then they definitely would have been biometrically enrolled there. We should have a good idea of how and when they entered the country soon.”
Director Stone nodded. Then he stood up, signaling for the rest of the group to stay seated. He paced briefly behind the group before he spoke. “Listen, I have a meeting with the National Security Advisor in eight hours. What I really need to know is where are these attackers now? And I’m sure that they’re going to ask me if there are any other attacks planned, so if anyone finds any usable intel on either of those fronts, that’s the priority.”
He sat back down and took a sip of water before he went on. “There is going to be a lot of pressure on us to help find these guys. I need everyone to be on their A game, understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” replied the group.
“Listen, until these guys are captured, we have to anticipate that they are probably going to launch another attack.” He glanced at his watch; it was almost one in the morning. “We don’t have much time to find something before I meet with the President’s advisors, so I’m going to end this meeting so you all can get back to work.”
Everyone got up and went back to their desks. It was going to be a long night.
Heads are already rolling, he thought. He didn’t want to join that crowd.
*******
A few hours later, Acting Director Stone was headed to the White House. He couldn’t help but think back to what Dawn had said in Director Harper’s office the day of the attacks.
I was just doing what I was told—what did she mean by that? Something just wasn’t adding up. He knew he was going to have to dig into that further, once he was done putting out the current fire.
Also…I’m going to need to watch my back, he realized. What if they had help from the inside? Maybe even directly in the administration? He wasn’t sure who to trust anymore.
*******
Washington, D.C.
White House, National Security Advisor’s Office
Leah Bishop was exhausted. It had been a long and frustrating week. The terrorist attacks in Chicago had caught the country completely by surprise. The President was fuming that a terrorist attack had taken place during an election cycle, and the Republicans were naturally going to go crazy, blaming the administration for allowing this tragedy to happen on their watch.
The firing of Director Mallory Harper had given the public and the President a sacrificial lamb, but it had cost Leah to keep her quiet. She had had to call in one of the favors she had been hoping to save for another time. A big donor to Leah’s husband’s congressional campaign offered a high-paying fancy lobbyist job to former Director Harper, with a start date a few months away to give the controversy time to blow over. In exchange, she agreed to stay silent about receiving names for special consideration from Leah. It was imperative that the President never find out that CAGIR had been providing her names of people of interest that they wanted to have accepted into the refugee program.
If Nihad Nassimi didn’t have her over a barrel with evidence to ruin her reputation and squash her husband’s political career, she would have used her office to crush him like a bug. As it was, she was now having to use her office to cover her own tracks. Her husband, Alexander, would kill her if he knew about all the campaign money that was coming to him from CAGIR, not to mention all the other major donors to him that CAGIR had
influence over.
On top of the contributions to Alexander’s reelection campaigns, there was the whole matter of the house in the Hamptons. Five years ago, one of Nihad’s associates sold his palatial estate to the Bishops at a rock-bottom price, just after she had become the President’s National Security Advisor. At the time, Leah hadn’t realized that Nihad had ensnared her in a blackmail trap. Her husband had been a bit aloof as well—he’d just thought that these perks came to them because of their positions of power. Now the whole thing was a house of cards, waiting for one strong breeze to knock it all over. She had to do what she could to protect their future.
Her Chief of Staff, Trey Lima, knocked on her door frame, interrupting her thoughts as he poked his head into her office. “Acting Director Michael Stone just arrived. You asked me to let you know when he got here.” He paused for a moment to see if she had any additional requests for him.
“Thank you, Trey. Have him wait near you and see if he wants some coffee. I’ll buzz you when I’m ready to have him brought in,” she directed. She needed a few more moments to work out her approach. What was she going to say? Mallory had warned her that he was sharp, good at what he did. If he dug deeper into what former Director Harper had been doing and found any kind of link to her, it would be incredibly problematic.
Twenty minutes went by before Leah buzzed Trey and asked for Stone to be sent in. When he walked into her office, it suddenly struck her just how much he looked like a spy from any number of movies. He was tall and naturally just a bit too good-looking, with deep blue eyes and an athletic build. He took his seat opposite her, waiting for her to begin the conversation.
Leah opened by trying to stroke his ego a little bit. “I want to commend you for taking charge of the department the way you have. Your group has done a superb job of identifying several other potential extremists before they were able to perpetrate their attacks.”
Mike held up his hand. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but there’s something I need to inform you about.”
“Oh, OK, go ahead. Then I need to pass along some information to you,” she said reluctantly.
“On the day of the first attacks, when Director Harper and I confronted Dawn King, the analyst who had cleared the two men that turned out to be terrorists and let them into the country, she said that she was just approving the names she had been given.” He let that statement hang in the air, observing her facial features carefully. She suddenly felt exposed. She knew the color had just drained from her face.
Leah just wanted to crawl under her desk in that moment. At least he hadn’t figured out who had given her those names yet, or else they would be having a different conversation—one that involved her being arrested. She had to nip this in the bud quickly before he was able to draw any additional conclusions.
“This is actually what I wanted to talk with you about,” she said, trying to regain her composure. “Director Harper had mentioned that comment during her outprocessing debriefing. I wanted to discuss it with you and let you know that I have opened up a special investigation into this and referred it to the Justice Department.”
Stone’s left eyebrow raised incredulously. “I wasn’t aware that Director Harper had given an outprocessing statement. I would love to read it, if possible,” he said, calling her bluff.
“Because of the nature of some of the comments she made, I have classified her statement and made that document a part of the investigation,” Leah explained. “This is incredibly sensitive. I do hope you understand, Director Stone, that this needs to stay quiet while we let the investigators do their work. Emotions are running high, and we can’t allow an investigation like this impact or affect the election.”
She brought her glasses down the bridge of her nose like a schoolteacher. “Just so you’re aware, I’ve moved this entire investigation into a closed special access program until it is completed.”
Stone’s forehead crinkled like old aluminum foil. “Why would you move this to a SAP right now? It’s going to be next to impossible to do any sort of intelligence sharing as we continue to investigate this out.” He was clearly annoyed.
Noticing his displeasure, but not really caring, Leah responded, “This is an election year. The last thing we need is for this investigation to become politicized. The National Security Council, in coordination with the FBI Counterintelligence Division, will be conducting this investigation. Your department is to provide whatever information they need and be available for interview, if needed.” She was essentially ordering Stone out of the investigation.
Stone’s face displayed a range of emotions before he settled into a stoic expression “Yes, Ma’am,” he answered.
*******
McLean, Virginia
CIA Headquarters, Langley
Mike hit the button for the seventh floor on the elevator. He wasn’t wasting any time; he was about to meet with his real boss again. He had a serious problem, and he needed some guidance on how to proceed.
As he approached the door to Trevor’s office, Mike saw several people walking out. He recognized one of them as a member of Leah Bishop’s team. One of them wasn’t watching where he was going and bumped into Mike’s shoulder before he continued to the elevators. The man didn’t apologize.
Mike brushed it off and knocked on the door. Through the little window next to the entrance to Trevor’s office, Mike could see his mentor look up and smile at him; then he waved for him to come on in.
Once Mike was seated, Trevor said, “I’m sure you saw the group that just left my office.” He didn’t sound pleased.
“I did. I recognized one of them, Lars Lichtman. He works as NSA Bishop’s deputy,” Mike replied with a bit of disdain.
Trevor chuckled. No one really liked Lars; he was one of those yes-men that said and did whatever he was told, never thinking for himself. “Yes, Lars wanted to make sure the Agency knew that the NSC was going to be running point on the investigation into how the Chicago attackers managed to slip into the country,” explained Trevor.
Mike leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I’m reading from your expression that you might already have a pretty good handle on how these guys slipped through, huh?”
One side of Trevor’s mouth curled up in a smile. “It’s clear that someone in Director Harper’s office cleared the individuals. The question is who? And why?” He grabbed his cup of coffee and took a long sip.
Mike grunted. “I’ve been sidelined in the investigation. Bishop told me directly that my office is to focus solely on giving the individuals who had already been let into the country through the program a second review, approving them again, while her office and the DOJ focus on who in my department was aiding and abetting these terrorists.” A vein suddenly became visible on his forehead. He was livid.
Trevor shrugged. “Mike, this is all part of Washington politics. It’s called cover your butt. You and I know someone cleared them to enter. That individual has been identified and relieved of their position, and most likely charges are going to follow. However, the bigger question to ask is who directed them to do it? I would wager it came from someone in Congress or the White House.”
Mike processed what his boss was saying for a moment. He knew Trevor was probably right. He didn’t believe for a minute that the analyst fired was solely responsible for this, despite what the White House and the media were conjuring up. Julie Wells had told him that she suspected that the orders came from Director Harper, but even she had been removed. Word had it that she had been given an immunity deal to cooperate, and so far, she was laying all the blame on Dawn King and Constance Pool.
After a pause, Mike said, “On the day of the attacks, I told you what Dawn had said when we relieved her. Have you been able to find anything on that angle that might shed some light on what’s going on?”
“Well, I would like to investigate Director Harper’s connections to all of this, but as you know, the Agency is strictly prohibited from investigating or spying on US cit
izens,” Trevor recited dutifully, and then he smiled mischievously. “But the NCTC has that authority,” he said with a wink and a nod.
Mike laughed. “Oh, I would love to open up a counterterrorism investigation into Director Harper, Constance Pool, and Dawn King. However, I’ve been explicitly told to stay clear of the matter, not just by NSA Bishop, but by the Attorney General’s office. Even my FBI liaison has been cut out of the loop on this one.”
“They’re circling the wagons, Mike,” Trevor responded. He sighed. “I know you’d like to dig into this further—I can see it all over your face—but I’m telling you as a friend, and your boss, heed their advice. Stay clear. Focus on the task they have given you and find any other ISIS operatives that might have slipped through. Chances are, some very powerful people helped to get these individuals moved into the US. As much as you want to find and expose them, wait until you have removed any further ISIS threats. In doing so, you will also prove yourself to the powers that be, and you will be in a better position to ferret these people out down the road.”
Mike let out a deep exasperated breath. “It just makes me so angry that there are people in our own government who could’ve aided these extremists in entering our country and killing our fellow citizens. I want to hunt them down and expose them as the turncoats that they are.”
Trevor paused for a moment, apparently calculating his answer. “I know you’re frustrated with this, but trust me, you will be better served by appearing to be a team player right now and gaining the trust of the powers that be. Look at this as a long-term infiltration operation. Gain the trust of those above you, figure out who can be trusted, ascertain their true intentions, and then, when the time is right, you can move to uncover the traitors in our midst.”
