He studied the Kilbane and Westermann photographs. In a way, they were alike, this Scorpion and him. They were like World War One flying aces, enemies who tried to kill each other but who would afterwards salute, one airman to another, in their open cockpits.
Scorpion had stopped the American war, for the moment. Barikallah! Bravo! Even better, thanks to Scorpion, the CIA now believed that he, the Gardener, was dead. Perhaps we’ll meet again someday, he thought, getting up and putting the file in his high security office safe, with multiple locks and fingerprint recognition pad, hidden in the floor beneath his desk.
He went back to his computer and sent a Highest Expediency Level Secret e-mail to Shahab Dejagadeh, head of his IT special attack team, to permanently delete all the files and photographs on Kilbane and Westermann from all Iranian databases and computer networks. It would leave his hardcopy photographs as the only recognizable image of Scorpion. When he was done, the Gardener picked up his secure phone and called Moharami at the prison.
“Have the villagers confessed?” he asked.
“To what, baradar? We only questioned them about the helicopter and the Swiss,” Moharami said.
“They’re Kurdish spies. Members of PJAK,” the Gardener said.
Moharami didn’t hesitate for a second.
“Of course, baradar. Give us a day or two. We’ll get them to confess to everything.”
“You have twenty-four hours. Then execute them. No public announcement. Nothing. I want their confessions on my desk by noon tomorrow.”
“It’s not much time, baradar,” Moharami said. The Gardener could sense his hesitation. “They’re simple villagers.”
“Do you have any idea who this is coming from, Jamshid jan?” the Gardener said quietly, suggesting the orders came from the Supreme Leader himself. “This is a matter of state security in a time of national crisis. They are spies.”
“Of course, baradar,” Moharami said.
“Ta farda.” Till tomorrow, the Gardener said, and ended the call.
He leaned back in his chair. For the moment, his position was unassailable. As for those Pasdaran who had killed his parents and brother, he had arranged their deaths years earlier, making sure he was there in person to watch every second of their execution.
To complete his revenge would take more waiting. That’s all right, he thought. He was good at it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincerest thanks to Dr. Luciano Del Guzzo of New York for reviewing the medical descriptions in this book. My thanks are also due to Andrew Peterson, author of First to Kill and a nationally recognized championship shooter and holder of the classification of Master in the NRA’s High Power Rifle ranking system, for his invaluable feedback on the sniper sequence. As always, my first reviewers, my wife, Anne, my son, Justin, my agent, Dominick Abel, and my editor at HarperCollins, David Highfill, provided feedback that helped make this book better. The convention regarding errors is in this case absolutely true. Any errors that might have somehow slipped through, despite best efforts, are mine alone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANDREW KAPLAN is an American author best known for his spy thrillers. He worked as a freelance journalist and war correspondent for the International Herald Tribune in Paris, covering events around the world. He served in the U.S. Army, and in the Israeli Army during the Six Day War, and has consulted with major corporations and think tanks that advise governments. He is the author of six international bestselling novels: Hour of the Assassins, Scorpion, Dragonfire, War of the Raven, Scorpion Betrayal, and Scorpion Winter. His film-writing career includes the James Bond classic GoldenEye. He lives with his family in Southern California and is currently at work on the next Scorpion novel.
www.andrewkaplan.com
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PRAISE
Resounding acclaim
for the novels of
ANDREW KAPLAN
“Pure dynamite.”
Washington Times
“In a word, terrific. . . . The pace is blistering, the atmosphere menacing and decadent, and author Andrew Kaplan is in marvelously smashing form.”
New York Daily News
“Superb and original.”
Nelson DeMille
“This book is flawlessly conceived and it moves at breakneck speed. . . . The characters are unforgettable . . . Kaplan is right up there with the best.”
Readers Favorite
“Kept me up well into the late show hours . . . [paced] like a ride on the Magic Mountain roller coaster . . . Hollywood please copy.”
Los Angeles Times
“Brimming with action.”
Washington Post
“I was ready for a thrill ride and I wasn’t disappointed. . . . [Kaplan] matches the best work of the late Robert Ludlum and then surpasses it.”
Suspense Magazine
“The nonstop action will keep readers racing through the pages and hoping that Kaplan will put Scorpion back into action as soon as possible.”
Publishers Weekly
“Full of action and suspense. . . . A great read, a great spy, a great character.”
Examiner.com
“Unrelenting suspense.”
Booklist
“ELECTRIFYING . . . a searing, ultimately satisfying entertainment with energy, passion and moral resonance.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A killer pacing that never lets up. . . . This is an action thriller that will leave you breathless.”
Mystery Matters
“[Kaplan’s] characters and locales are brilliantly etched . . . [his] plot riveting.”
London Times
“Fasten your seat belts for high adventure with the best secret agent in the Middle East—and the greatest master of the close escape since James Bond. . . . Explosive non-stop action. . . . [Kaplan] proves as nimble in delineating character and evoking exotic locales as he is in sustaining razor-edged excitement.”
Mystery News
“[Kaplan] successfully blends sex, suspense, sustained action, an exotic location, and historic plausibility . . . [for] a superior thriller that is a memorable and entertaining reading experience.”
Library Journal
BY ANDREW KAPLAN
Scorpion Deception
Scorpion Winter
Scorpion Betrayal
War of the Raven
Dragonfire
Scorpion
Hour of the Assassins
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
SCORPION DECEPTION. Copyright © 2013 by Andrew Kaplan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780062219664
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-221965-7
FIRST EDITION
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