by Gary Ponzo
Eddie’s face turned cold. “You think the terrorists are in that car?”
Tommy frowned at the thought. “I’m not sure. I have an idea, but it’s not fun to think about.”
The sheriff’s car needed some suspension work because the chassis kept bouncing over the winding road like a boat over choppy water. As they swerved from side to side, the headlights came into view again.
“Hang on,” Tommy said, as he tapped the brakes and turned into a narrow gravel driveway. The path was lined with trees and Tommy just cleared a pine as he dashed down the driveway twenty yards before turning off the lights and skidding the car to a stop. He pulled out his gun and turned to Eddie.
“Keep your head down and stay still,” Tommy ordered.
He jumped out of the car and ran back up the path to the side of the road. There was very little moon out so Tommy was practically invisible as he crept between the pines, gun by his side. He was only a few feet from the road and tucked behind a large trunk. Even in the cool night air, he felt a trickle of sweat wander down his temple. He forced himself to take deep breaths and waited. And waited.
No headlights.
As he stood there contemplating his moves, he realized he wasn’t going to track this guy down by himself. Not in foreign territory. Maybe back home he could make a couple of calls and get some lookouts, but not here. Tommy slumped against the tree and shook his head. The guy was a pro, no doubt.
He waited for almost three minutes when a terrible thought entered his mind. He was dealing with a professional. Norm Jennings had appeared harmless because he had that mid-western, fair-haired look. Pale skin. Blue eyes. A mid-western look, but also a European look.
Maybe even Russian.
Chapter 23
“Where’s Walt?” Matt asked while driving his SUV seventy down the crooked back road. Nick sat in the passenger seat and gripped the door handle tight. Jennifer and Stevie were in the back seat checking their phones while swaying back and forth.
“He’s at Palo Verde securing the site,” Nick said.
Nick glanced behind them and noticed the lead Humvee falling behind.
“You’re losing our soldiers,” Nick said.
“They know where the office is,” Matt said, staring intently on the road as far as the headlights would take him.
Stevie’s face was screwed up into a knot while squeezing his thumbs over his phone’s keypad.
“What are you doing back there, Stevie?” Nick asked.
“I’m trying to find out why I found traces of Chloride in Semir’s shoe,” Stevie said, not looking up.
“Isn’t that a common mineral around here?”
“Chloride itself is not a mineral per se, it’s a negatively charged ion and must be paired with a positive ion.”
“Okay,” Nick said. “I’ll take your word on that.”
Matt finally cruised the final mile before the sheriff’s office, then swiveled his head around as he pulled into the parking lot.
“Where is he?” Matt said.
“Good question,” Nick answered, remembering Tommy’s reluctance to meet at the house. He pulled out his cell phone, then stopped when he saw the sheriff’s car come charging into the parking lot to park beside them. There was only minimal security lighting, so both drivers left their headlights on.
“Where’ve you been?” Nick asked as they got out of the car.
Tommy looked disgusted as he slammed his door shut. “I picked up a tail on the way over here.”
Nick and Matt exchanged glances.
Tommy motioned them away from the cars. Nick and Matt followed. “Listen,” Tommy said, “I have a bad feeling about this guy I met at the bar. It seemed like a chance meeting, but the more I think about it, the less I like it.”
“What’d he look like?’ Matt asked.
Tommy met his cousin’s eyes. “He looked and sounded mid-western. But he tailed me like a pro. I don’t like it.”
“You get a name?” Nick asked.
“Norm Jennings from West Lafayette, Indiana,” Tommy said. “But I doubt that’ll mean anything.”
Nick rubbed a hand through his hair. “Great,” he said.
“Hey, I don’t like it any more than you do,” Tommy said.
“Did you tell him anything?” Nick said.
“What?” Tommy squinted. “Did you really ask me that?”
Nick covered his eyes and sighed. “Sorry. I’m a little frazzled right now.”
Matt looked over at the car where the kid sat in the passenger seat. “What’s he know?”
All three of them stared at Eddie who was talking on his cell phone.
“He says he knows where these KSF guys are,” Tommy said.
Matt headed for the sheriff’s car. “Well let’s get going then.”
Tommy raced around Matt and pulled the twenty-something kid from the passenger seat. He had three-day old facial stubble and a red rag in his hand.
As they got closer, Nick could see the kid’s nose appeared broken. He shot Tommy a look.
“This here is Eddie Lister,” Tommy said.
Eddie nodded, carefully.
Nick pointed to his face. “You okay?”
“The cigarette thief,” Matt said flatly.
“Hey, easy,” Tommy said. “He’s a good kid. He just made a bad choice, that’s all.”
The two Humvees filled with soldiers came rolling into the lot and Nick waved for them to stay put until they’ve figured out a plan. The lead driver flashed his lights for confirmation.
“So, how did you come to discover the safe house?” Nick asked.
“The what?” Eddie said.
“The place where the bad guys are hiding out,” Tommy translated.
“Oh, yeah, well,” the kid glanced around the parking lot. “Should I be calling my lawyer or something?
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Tommy cried. “There’s four FBI agents and a freakin’ platoon of soldiers here. You think they got out of bed to arrest some kid heisting cigarettes?”
Eddie looked at Nick, who groped one-handed into his pocket to pull out his credentials. Matt did the same. Nick motioned to Jennifer and Stevie in the back of the SUV. “They’re agents as well,” he said.
Eddie had a wary expression on his face.
“We don’t care about the robbery,” Nick said. “But if you can help us track down these terrorists, it would mean a great deal to the United States. You’d be considered a hero.”
Eddie seemed to like the sound of that. His face brightened. “So then I can tell you what happened and I won’t get into trouble? You promise?”
Nick had to move his arm sling a little to cross his heart. “I promise.”
Eddie nodded. “Okay, well, this guy asked me-”
“Whoa, stop,” Nick said. “What guy? How did he contact you?”
“I didn’t know the guy. He would come in the store every Thursday and buy us out of the carton of cigarettes he liked. Finally one day he comes in and asks if he could order a couple of cases instead of buying them one carton at a time. When I looked into it, we couldn’t. It was coming from Turkey and there was some sort of allocation going on so we were only allowed one carton a week.”
The sound of an engine approaching stopped the conversation. A red convertible cruised by, all four of them thinking the same bad thought as it passed.
Nick looked at Tommy who shook his head.
“Anyway,” Eddie continued, “one day he comes in with this wad of hundred dollar bills and explains how the truck which delivers the cigarettes goes down to Phoenix to drop off the rest of its load. He says there’s at least five cases of cigarettes on the truck and I can keep the money if I find a way to steal the cigarettes for him…. so I stole them off the truck when the driver was making a delivery in Pinetop. No one was hurt or nothing.”
Eddie looked around at the group as if looking for an understanding face.
“Of course,” Matt finally said. “A completely harmless
crime. We’d all do the same thing if it was us.”
Eddie raised his eyebrows, as if they were one big happy family of thieves. “Really?”
“No,” Matt said. “That’s okay though. Things happen.”
“So how did you discover where they stayed?” Nick asked.
“Well, they asked me to drop the cigarettes off in this dumpster behind the Native New Yorker. So I did what I was told and went into the restaurant to get a sandwich. After I’m done, I’m going to my car and I see this guy going through the dumpster and tossing the cigarettes into the back of a pickup truck … and, well I was curious, so I followed the truck back to their cabin.”
“Get outta here.” Tommy laughed and clapped his hands. “You and your bulletless gun followed a group of international terrorists back to their hideout? Are you kidding me?”
“Well, I didn’t know who they were,” Eddie said defensively. He touched his contorted nose. “Not until you come up to me in the bar tonight.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, okay?” Tommy said.
“You know the address?” Nick asked.
“No, but I could take you there.”
Nick placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Good work, Eddie. You did the right thing by coming clean.”
Eddie smiled like he’d just saved a baby from a burning building.
• • •
The first thing Temir Barzani did when he’d taken over the American operation, was plant a miniature video camera up in a tree across the street from the sheriff’s substation. It was far enough away to escape detection, yet could zoom in to determine faces and license plates. He wanted to know exactly who came and went to determine his timetable.
Now he sat at the kitchen table of their safe house and examined the video screen on his tablet and grunted with disappointment. In the darkness, two cars had just sped into the sheriff’s parking lot, followed by two large army vehicles. He knew they were coming. He could feel it.
Whether it was Semir, or another loose end, Barzani had no choice but to close the circle of information. He couldn’t afford to have any more of his men taken prisoner. There was too much risk involved. His mission required absolute secrecy. He would create a disaster which would exceed any destruction ever produced on American soil. His name would become synonymous with this event. A slaughter of such magnitude, his cunning would be renounced for decades.
A scratchy voice came over the radio on the kitchen counter. “Jemin and Tzardif are returning. They just pulled into the driveway.”
Barzani nodded and a member of his security team acknowledged the message by picking up the radio and saying, “Understood.”
A few moments later two members of his crew came in through the garage door and approached Barzani.
“Yes?” Barzani said.
Jemin Hester approached Barzani with a look of satisfaction on his face. “The bombs are all set, Sarock,” he said. “The detonator is in the cave where you instructed. The code is one-two-two-four.”
“Very good.” Barzani stood and patted them both on the back. “Jemin, I am in the mood for one of your cigarettes. It is a time of great celebration.”
Jemin smiled, drew a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to his leader.
Barzani held a cigarette between his fingers and held up the pack with his other hand. “May I keep these?”
“Of course, Sarock. It would be my honor.”
Barzani barely had the cigarette in his mouth when a lit match was waiting for him. He inhaled the burning tobacco and let out a breath full of smoke. He smiled at his squad of devout soldiers which was now forming a semi-circle around him.
“It is time to prepare for battle.” He gestured to one of his security team. “Tell our two scouts to return inside. I want everyone out of harm’s way. Let us make certain we are ready for this confrontation.”
The command made sense and his crew responded appropriately. He watched them attend to their chores with perfect loyalty. Men who’d chosen to leave their homeland for months at a time to accomplish their goal. For a moment, he actually felt a pang of guilt for what he was about to do. Just a moment.
He took another puff on the cigarette and casually said, “Memu, you will drive me to the cave so I can prepare for the great holocaust.”
“But Sarock,” Jemin said. “We have just come from the cave. There is no reason for you to risk such a move.”
Barzani gave Jemin one of his most ferocious glares, which put the young man on his heels. “You do not yet have the privilege to question my authority, Jemin. There are duties I must tend to which require my attention. Only I am capable of securing these duties. Do you understand?”
Jemin nodded silently even though he couldn’t possibly know which duties Barzani could have been speaking about. One of the great advantages to autonomous rule was the ability to proceed without true scrutiny.
There was a sense of anticipation in the room as his squad gathered around Barzani and awaited their instructions.
Barzani pointed his finger and raised his voice like a fierce soccer coach, “When we left Kurdistan over a year ago, we came here with great ambitions. Ambitions which are now just hours away from completion. This will be the final twenty-four hours of our journey. Tomorrow night either the American President will be removing troops from our homeland, or his country will suffer the most colossal destruction they have ever faced. Ever. This next day will bring us closer to our main objective-a sovereign state for all Kurds. Our families will rejoice in our accomplishments. We will return home to the greatest of celebrations.”
The handful of men began a low grunt in agreement, like wild animals showing their excitement, as their leader took in each and every face.
“This undertaking will live on as the defining moment in Kurdish history. No one will ever doubt our resolve again.” Barzani pumped his fist in the air. “We are warriors!”
The squad began to jump in unison, a rhythm of ecstasy as they chanted, “Kurds, Kurds, Kurds, Kurds.”
Barzani puffed on his cigarette and smiled and waved his hands as the men jumped and chanted and grunted.
“We … will … not … fail!” Barzani screamed over the exuberant pack of soldiers. He could feel the floor move beneath him, gyrating to the pulse of the surrounding militia.
Barzani let the celebration continue for several minutes before raising his hands for quiet. The room immediately became still. Nine pairs of eyes intently watched their leader as Barzani walked over and dropped his cigarette in the sink. He returned to address his team for one final time.
“I will arrive back here in less than two hours. By then I will expect to see every weapon sparkling, every soldier will be at their designated station. No one shall leave this dwelling until I return. Should a conflict occur, fight to the death if that’s what it takes to secure our base.
“Yes, Sarock,” came the unanimous chant.
Barzani looked at Memu and found his chief of security already holding the keys to their vehicle. As he left through garage door entrance, he saw his crew already focusing on their tasks. Barzani could not be any prouder of their loyalty. They did not deserve their fate. But Barzani would not let anything or anyone jeopardize his plan for success.
Not even his own flesh and blood.
Chapter 24
They were driving down a residential street where thick rows of pines lined the road, making everything appear similar. The cabins were all set back into the darkness, barely visible, but for an occasional porch light. Many of the residents were already gone, heeding Temir Barzani’s threats to destroy homes until he’d achieved his goal. Matt crawled barely over walking speed. Eddie Lister was in the back seat between Stevie and Jennifer, craning his neck for something familiar. Tommy was stuck in the far back row of the SUV.
“Anything?” Nick said from the passenger seat.
Eddie moved side to side, his head on a swivel. “It’s hard to say. Everything looks different at night.
”
They were quiet while Eddie continued his search.
“I think it’s a block over,” Eddie said.
Matt took a long, disgusted breath. “Are you sure you know where this place is?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie said. “I know. Maybe we could come back during the day?”
“That’s a good idea,” Tommy said. “Let’s call it a night and go get some ice cream.”
Nick scrutinized each cabin, searching for something, anything he could consider suspicious. The Humvees remained in a holding pattern, idling in a vacant cul-de-sac, waiting for Nick to give them the signal. They’d been joined by a caravan of FBI SWAT agents from Phoenix who were sitting with the soldiers awaiting their turn as well. Nick wanted to scout the area and give them a quality target before the fireworks started.
“Stevie,” Nick said. “You bring the parabolic with you?”
Stevie reached down into a duffle bag at his feet and pulled out a metal, cone-shaped dish about a foot in diameter. He handed the dish to Nick along with a pair of headphones. Nick put the headphones on, opened up his window and stuck the parabolic out the window. He pointed it at the first home they passed on the right and found nothing but static and some lonely crickets.
Jennifer Steele leaned over, pulling a pair of night vision glasses and a flashlight out of the bag.
“I’m going to go on foot,” she said, opening the door.
“No,” Matt barked, but Steele had already closed the door behind her and stuck her head back in the open window.
“Relax,” she said. “I’m staying within viewing distance.”
Matt kept rolling down the street. He turned his lights off to aid Steele with her infrared canvass of the neighborhood.
“Keep an eye on her, will you Tommy?” Matt called out over his shoulder.
“You kidding? I’m already fogging up the window back here,” Tommy said.
Nick caught Matt staring in his rear view mirror. “Stay focused,” he said.
Matt glanced over at him and frowned, but said nothing.
Methodically they moved through the neighborhood with the windows down, eyes and ears wide open. They were all beginning to lose their patience.
