by Camden Mays
Capps had nicknamed Liski, and the reference seemed to fly over the head of the Ukrainian-born woman, or perhaps she just ignored Capps. They had treated her as an outsider, and Cole knew some of it was warranted due to her aggressive behavior and leveraging the DO to get her agenda prioritized over Cole’s. She often overstepped her boundaries and was indifferent to the team’s opinions. They had been inhospitable as well. But she made it so damn hard.
She was physically attractive, but her harsh personality and abrasive nature eroded her beauty. Cole had always been drawn to strong women, but strength devoid of grace was a turnoff, at least for Cole. While Capps had it in for the woman for some reason, Sinha’s palate evidently didn’t have the criterion of grace. The man salivated and catered to the tall woman. And Cole watched as Liski took advantage of the poor guy.
Cole looked at his watch. “Did they get the bird up in the air?” he asked with a yawn, referring to the CIA Predator drone used for surveillance. The small drone the team had with them was only capable of forty minutes of flight time.
“It’s on its way over,” Wang responded.
“Where’s Liski?” he asked.
“Visiting the head at the fruit stand. She always tries to get in there to freshen up before you see her,” Wang said with an eye roll.
“Yeah, whatever. Are we packed up?”
“Almost. We’ll be ready and mobile in ten to fifteen minutes. All the comms are charged. We’ll be relying on the CTC to guide us from the bird’s eye. I gotta say I don’t like being on the other end. I like being the one seeing it all and calling out the directions.”
Cole rubbed his hand through his hair, trying to wake his thinking cap. He finally stood and began pulling his gear together. “Darryl still pissed about the call sign?”
“Oh yeah,” Wang said. “Watch this.” Wang pressed the key on her com. “Tiger Two, this is base. How do you copy?”
“Five by five,” Capps replied.
“Say again? I didn’t get your call sign.”
“Five by five, Tiger Two out,” Capps grunted the last part. Cole and Wang laughed. The team had determined they would mess with the big man since he was so eager to use the Rebel call sign from Ole Miss. Instead, the team had decided they would work their way through other SEC football team names. After Capps complained about the Wildcat call sign, he became an easy target.
“Alright, I better load my gear in the van. Those trucks will probably get on the road soon. We need to stay close until we know the bird has them in sight.” Cole folded the cot and grabbed his gear. He took his toiletries to the bathroom that they had rented two buildings down and passed Liski.
Yep, he thought. She looks fresh. Don’t know how she’s doing that.
It was half past three in the morning, and the two of them had gotten just three hours of sleep after their shift. Cole felt like the walking dead.
Soon the team had loaded into the two vans they had secured and were following the directions of the CTC drone. They trailed the trucks at a distance to stay out of sight.
✽✽✽
FBI National Counterterrorism Center
Hannah’s role at the FBI’s NCTC was much less fulfilling than she had imagined. She worked with a team under the Directorate of Intelligence. It was one of the four primary objectives of the organization, with the other three being Terrorist Identities, Operations Support, and Strategic Operational Planning. Her new role required analytical skills and was technical in nature. She was one of approximately a thousand personnel at the center. She missed being in the field. But after her achievements and the high-profile event at the DC hotel, she was sought after by multiple departments.
The director of Intelligence had been a trusted mentor going back to her FBI internship. Hannah had accepted a role at the NCTC at the beginning of the year, and one of her first assignments was to act as an FBI liaison with the CIA’s CTC. It kept her out of the office enough, and when she was assigned to the interagency task force, she was back in her element in the field. She missed it. She had taken a promotion to stay on at the NCTC with her mentor, turning down other opportunities. But she was no longer invigorated by her work. She wasn’t an analyst and certainly didn’t feel qualified to lead a team of analysts.
“Go on in. She’s expecting you.” The administrative assistant nodded toward the door of the director’s office. Hannah knocked anyway before pushing it open, stepping in, and seeing Deputy Director Pershing at her desk, typing away on her keyboard.
“Hannah, have a seat at the table,” Pershing said.
Hannah pulled out the chair. “Thanks for seeing me, ma’am.”
“Sure,” Pershing said, moving over to join her at the table. “What’s on your mind?”
“Well, it’s been an honor to work with you, ma’am, and I appreciate all that you’ve done for me over the years and recently with the promotion. But I have to say I don’t really feel like I’m built for this role.” Hannah paused to see the reaction of her mentor and boss. It was a delicate conversation. She imagined the mentor in Pershing would tell her to follow her passion, but the manager in her wouldn’t appreciate hearing that an employee was vacillating in her commitment. She was right. Pershing allowed the awkward silence to linger. Hannah continued, “So I was hoping to get some guidance from you as a mentor.”
“Hannah, you’ve got a lot going on right now. And I know you have opportunities within the Bureau as well as elsewhere. I wouldn’t want to hold you back. But if you want to climb the ladder, it’s best for your career to stay on here at the NCTC. You can be groomed to run this place someday,” Pershing said, stealing a quick glance at her watch.
“That’s just it, ma’am. I don’t have that desire. I think I’m better suited for field divisions or maybe even an instructor’s role at Quantico. Again, I appreciate how you have supported me. The day I was assigned to intern with you and how you supported me during the NAT program was one of the luckiest things that happened to me.”
“Well, your scores were outstanding. Still can’t believe you didn’t win the director’s award for that graduating class.” Pershing paused. “Look, I understand the itch for the field, working cases, the variety that brings. And you would make one hell of an instructor. But take it from someone that’s got twenty-plus years on you—all of it gets old after a while. Even the field work. Why don’t we do this. Take a few weeks to let things marinate, see if you settle into a rhythm that’s more appealing. If you get opportunities, go ahead and explore them, and keep me posted.”
“Thank you, ma’am. That means a lot to me. I didn’t want to have discussions with anyone without your knowledge and support.”
“Alright, Hannah. I’ve got to jump on a call, so we’ll follow up on this later.” Pershing stood.
“Ma’am, one more thing. Any chance you’ll reconsider letting my group work the AIJB files?” Hannah knew she probably pushing it, but she had to ask.
“We’ve discussed this. You’re too close to the situation. The AIJB operation is better handled by Eric’s group. No emotions attached.”
Hannah nodded her acceptance.
“Guess this means you’re still with the CIA guy?”
Hannah chuckled. “Cole Cameron. Everyone calls him the CIA guy. We’re trying ma’am.”
“Yeah, that can’t be an easy one.” Pershing’s admin stuck her head through the door to signal that she needed to join the conference call. Hannah thanked her again as she left.
As Hannah strolled past the glass walls and cubicles, she knew she had some tough choices to make that would impact her in multiple ways. Career choices and relationship choices. Before Cole, her path may not have been a direct line, but her desire and goal were always apparent. She allowed nothing to interfere with her career with the Bureau. It was challenging with Cole gone so much. She candidly asked herself if the upside was worth the life- and career-altering choices the relationship required. She loved him like she never imagined loving anyone, but eve
ry relationship is set in some kind of context. And the context of theirs was more complex than she could have ever imagined.
She saw Eric Masters heading into a meeting room and asked him for a quick update on the AIJB. He gave the general assessment of their domestic monitoring and whispered a few tidbits about the Jawahir takedown.
“Your CIA guy is getting quite the reputation. Geez, there was even a video of him shooting Jawahir and the whole takedown that someone caught on a phone and posted. I think they were able to catch it before it spread too much.” He looked over his shoulder, seeing he was the last one not at the conference table. “I’ve got to get in there.”
Hannah grabbed his arm. “Any idea where the team is now?”
“You probably know more than me. Those guys over at the CTC keep us in the dark until the shit happens. Then they pass along intel to us as if we were in the loop all the while.”
“Thanks, Eric.” Hannah’s cell buzzed with a text as Masters joined the meeting. It was from Tom Anderson at Quantico.
Evals are in. U were a hit with the class. Have another group coming in. Can you schedule us in next week?
Hannah thought about it. She liked the idea of exploring an instructor’s role, and being a guest lecturer was a way for her to dip her toes in, but Tom Anderson? She questioned whether he could keep it professional.
She typed her response. Count me in. I’ll send you a couple of times that work.
✽✽✽
Al Hudaydah, Yemen
Cole jumped back in the passenger seat of the van after relieving himself on the side of Highway N2. They had been driving for over seven hours and had made just one other stop. The only upside was that it was a scenic route along the coast as they headed west, getting a view of the Gulf of Aden, and followed the highway north, putting the Red Sea to their left. All three trucks were on the highway about seven kilometers ahead of the vans. Cole rode with Wang and Liski, carrying the communication equipment that Wang brooded over like a mother hen. Capps, Sinha, and Robinson were in the other vehicle, running ahead of Cole’s group.
“Geez, boss. Didn’t think you were ever going to turn that faucet off,” Wang said, obviously annoyed at having to make a stop.
“You and me both. I don’t know how you two can hold it that long,” Cole tossed back.
“We’re like camels. We got some extra humps to hold it,” Wang said, making Cole laugh.
Cole dialed the CTC to check on the trucks from the Predator drone’s perspective.
“Still heading north on N2 at this point,” Amy Wiggins relayed the information.
“How far are we from Al Hudaydah?”
“About seventy kilometers.”
“OK, we’ll need to get a setup there for our nest. I don’t want to go any further with the gear if we don’t have to. I know we have a couple assets there. We’ll need you guys to connect with them and get us someplace we can use, hopefully somewhat secluded. North of Al Hudaydah is out of the area controlled by the government-aligned forces. It’s Houthi territory, and they’re besties with the AIJB, so we need to stop and set up even if the trucks continue.”
“We’re on it. I’ll call you back when we get the logistics lined up.”
“How’s the team holding up?” Cole knew Amy was directing the resources in the den at the CTC, and she and the team of analysts in DC had worked through the night tracking the shipment and providing cover for the field team.
“We’re good,” she replied.
“Alright, thanks.”
Cole rubbed his hand through his hair again. He was tired, and it showed. It was only noon, but it felt like they had been driving for two days. The trucks had pulled out of the port at 0430 and it seemed like they would never stop moving. “Tiger Two, this is Tiger One. How are you guys doing up there?”
“We’d be doing a lot better if we were Rebels instead of Tigers,” Capps snarled.
“Copy that. We’re stopping in Al Hudaydah to set up the nest. I’m not comfortable going much further north. The den is working out the connection.”
“Copy.”
Sasha Liski leaned up and touched Cole’s arm. “Are you and the FBI girl serious?”
Cole chuckled at the reference. “Everybody calls her the ‘FBI girl.’ Her name is Hannah Jacobs. Yes, we’re serious.”
Liski raised an eyebrow and sat back as Wang scrunched her face and deepened her voice. “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley!”
The movie line gave Cole a good laugh. Wang and Cole rolled through different scenes, quoting the lines. Cole caught Liski’s eye roll.
“Come on, Sasha, you never saw Airplane?”
“Afraid not,” she said, folding her arms and tossing a wet blanket on the humor. It was too bad, because the desert drive was monotonous.
When they were just a few kilometers from Al Hudaydah, Amy called on the sat phone to give them directions to the location secured by the asset. Cole relayed the information on the radio, and soon the team pulled off on a dirt road just south of the city. They bounced their way over the rough terrain, causing Wang to curse, apparently worried about her equipment. They finally arrived at a farmhouse with dozens of large rectangular planters with green crops that stood in stark contrast to the desert landscape. The long rows of planters—equipped with irrigation equipment—were filled with vegetables.
“Looks like we’ll be setting up in a house,” Cole said as they arrived, seeing Capps and the others already off-loading.
The farmer and his family welcomed their guests and showed them to their quarters. Cole noticed another AK-47-toting, khat-chewing boy following the example of most men in the region.
The team went through the setup routine, and Wang and Sinha worked through their checklist and fired everything up just as the sat phone rang again.
Cole answered, and the team watched, anticipating the next move. “OK, give me the coordinates.” He scribbled down the longitude and latitude numbers and looked at Wang, who gave him a thumbs-up. “OK, we’re set up here. We’ll tie into the Predator feed.”
They watched as the trucks pulled into a compound located about ten miles north of Al Hudaydah. The containers slid off their rails and onto the ground. The diesel trucks drove out of the camp, leaving behind the shipment of weapons and ammo.
✽✽✽
Washington, DC
The sound of a deep breath and the squeak of the bed caused Katrina to freeze at the kitchen counter in Darcy Regis’s studio apartment. She watched as Darcy settled back into the pillow. The Russian SVR agent had already installed spyware on the journalist’s laptop and was now cloning her cell phone. The device’s cloning app read 100 percent. She was now set.
Katrina actually had a moment of compassion for the unsuspecting reporter. The poor girl was being worked by every angle. Scott Shepherd wanted to know what dirt she had on him and where she was getting it from, the Bear wanted all of the intel to use against the congressman, and Nancy McCune was working her own agenda at the CIA. And then, of course, she played her part as well, teasing and manipulating the poor girl into a frenzy. Katrina knew that Darcy had fallen hard for her—well, for her alias Emma, at least.
She contemplated holding back the intel to protect Darcy and secure her own interest, which was to break free from Gavriil Medvedm. If Shepherd was successful in destroying Cole Cameron and Nancy McCune, it would eliminate her best path for freedom. And the SVR’s North American Deputy Director demanded results. She had procrastinated too long—she had to deliver intel to the Bear and share something with Shepherd to keep them both at bay until Cole was back in the States.
She decided to keep the phone cloning to herself for a while. She would have to find some excuse to convince the Bear. As for Shepherd, he only wanted to learn a few details about the reporter and a copy of her apartment key. The thought of having to meet him again at the Hilton Capital sickened her.
“Emma,” Darcy said from the bed. “You OK?”
“Yes,
just getting some water.”
“Good, come back to bed,” Darcy said, patting the covers next to her.
Katrina lifted the long T-shirt over her head and crawled back beneath the sheets to her lover.
Chapter 14
Al Hudaydah, Yemen
“Idon’t understand. Why don’t we just blow their asses up with an air strike right now?” Sinha asked.
Cole and the team had been ordered to get eyes on the compound to verify no civilians were at risk. The CIA was taking political heat for the Mogadishu work. Congressman Scott Shepherd had rallied his allies on the Hill to bring accountability to the team. However, those in the know understood his motivation was to destroy Cole Cameron. Now the team had to use the cover of night to get to the compound.
Cole gathered the team around. “Here’s what I’m thinking. We’ll set out at zero two hundred. Darryl and I will go in. Bridgette, you’ll drive us up N2 about a mile before the dirt road turnoff to the compound. We’ll hoof it about three or four miles east, running parallel to and a half mile south of the dirt road that leads to the compound. We’ve got to watch these small pockets of villages. We’ll position ourselves here around the bushes.” Cole pointed to the satellite images. “That’ll put the camp directly north, a village to the northwest, and another village directly east.”
“That’s a lot of ground to cover in mostly open sand,” Capps said.
“I know, so Sara, we’re going to need you and Steve to keep your eyes peeled on those villages.”
“Copy,” Wang said.
“Bridgette, after you drop us off, you and Sasha will circle back down N2, pull in behind the closed Petro station, and stand by as backup. We’ll aim for the drop-off point as the extraction. If that is cut off, we’ll head south to this dirt road here.” Cole again identified the spot on the screen. “That’ll be our backup extraction point.”