by Lynn Ames
“No, sir, but it’s just a matter of time. Another day or two and we should have her. Our dragnet is closing in.”
“Really?” The president made a face indicating incredulity for Kate and Jay’s benefit.
“Absolutely, sir.”
“How do you know that?”
“Um, as I indicated yesterday, Mr. President, we have strong reason to believe that Ramos is heading to Baghdad. I’ve got people scouring for her at every border crossing and every major transportation outlet. There’s no way she can slip past us.”
“I see. Good work, Daniel.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“How are you coming on the answer you were going to get me?”
“Sir? I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“When you were in my office last night, I asked you who, specifically, at the NSA was responsible for catching on to the Ramos woman and having her put under surveillance. I’m assuming you have an answer for me now.”
“Oh, that, sir. Actually, the answer to that question is that I don’t know.”
“You didn’t investigate the matter, after I specifically asked you to get me more information?”
“No. I-it isn’t that, sir.”
“What is it, then?”
“Well, sir. The tip was given anonymously to the NSA’s Internal Affairs Department. They took it from there.”
“I see.” The president looked at Kate and Jay and held his hands palm up. He mouthed, “Anything more you want to know?”
Both women shook their heads.
“All right, Daniel. Keep me posted.” The president disconnected the call. “Well,” he said to Kate and Jay, “what do you think?”
Kate answered first. “Although we’re pretty sure he’s lying through his teeth about not knowing specifically where the report originated, we can’t prove yet that he definitively knew it was Niger.”
Jay picked up the thought. “What if Niger submitted the tip anonymously?”
“Why would he?” the president asked. “He’s in a position of authority. All he would have to do is assign someone to monitor Sedona’s activities and it would be done. He wouldn’t need Internal Affairs for that.”
“True,” Kate said. “But we still don’t have a smoking gun.”
“You could double-check his story, sir,” Jay said. “You could ask the director of the NSA for a copy of the internal affairs report.”
“My guess is one doesn’t exist,” Kate said.
“I’m sure you’re right,” the president agreed. “Have you ever met my director for the NSA?”
“No, sir,” both women said.
“Let’s just say I seriously doubt he has his finger on the day-to-day workings of his agency.” The president folded his arms. “As a result, the first thing he’d do when I made a request like that is have Niger take care of it for him. Then the director would put his name on it and send it to me. In which case, we’re no closer to knowing the truth than we were before.”
“Not necessarily, sir,” Jay said. “If there really isn’t any internal affairs report and you request to see one, Niger likely would panic and try to manufacture one, in order to distance himself from the situation.”
“Hmm. Very true,” the president said. He was impressed with Jay’s analytical thinking. “But we’d still need someone like Sabastien to hack into the system and determine where any report I get originated.”
“Yeah,” Kate agreed. “But at least it would keep Niger scrambling and strike some fear into his heart. If he is working with Hart, perhaps they might try to meet or have a discussion. If we had surveillance in place, that could give us good information.”
“The only problem is that we don’t know if there’s someone absolutely clean we can get to do the surveillance,” the president said.
Kate and Jay looked at each other. “Maybe we do, sir,” Jay said.
Kate nodded. “Peter has a consulting partner—his name is Max Kingston. I’ve known him almost as long as I’ve known Peter. When I was the spokesperson for the New York State prison system, Max was in charge of the agency’s Corrections Emergency Response Team. I know Peter trusts him with his life.”
“Heck, honey,” Jay said, “Max saved your life or helped to.”
The president weighed the possibilities. “It could work. At the very least, we’d have more information than we have now. The only downside I can see is that if I ask for the internal affairs report, Hart is going to know I’m suspicious.”
“Respectfully, sir, I disagree,” Jay said. “Hart is going to know that you’re thorough, and you’re very serious about this imminent terror threat. If he believes you are keen to stay on top of it, he might interpret that to mean capturing Sedona is going to be your number one priority.”
“I bet he’d like that,” Kate said.
“I bet he would.” The president picked up the phone and asked the White House operator to get him the director of the NSA. When he was done relaying his request for the internal affairs file, he turned back to his guests. “So, when can your man Max get here?”
“I’ll call him right now, sir,” Kate said. “If he’s in town, and I believe he is, he can be on the job within the hour.”
“Excellent,” the president said. “Now there’s only one problem.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“We know that every allied law enforcement agency around the world is looking for Sedona, including the remaining US forces in Iraq. How on earth are they going to get where they’re going without being intercepted?”
The team gathered up their gear. The ship had docked some forty minutes ago and they were just waiting for the all-clear from the security chief. Sedona stuffed the jacket she was using as a pillow into her duffle and scrutinized her Army Combat Uniform to make sure everything was regulation, right down to ensuring that the trousers did not extend farther than the third eyelet of the boots. Then she donned the thirty-pound Improved Outer Tactical Vest and secured it. She would wait to don the reflective sunglasses and strap on the Advanced Combat Helmet with a mount for the night vision scope until they were outside.
She could feel Vaughn’s eyes on her, but she chose to ignore her. The strategy worked fine until Vaughn spoke in her ear.
“Now that we’re here, would you care to explain why it was necessary for us to sleep on a metal floor instead of in more comfortable berths?”
Sedona resisted the urge to look at Vaughn directly. Instead, she picked up a military-issue M4 rifle and eyeballed the sight on it. “I told you, I wanted to limit our exposure. The fewer people who know we’re here and get a look at us, the better.”
“And the sleeping crew would have been problematic because…?”
Finally, Sedona shifted to face Vaughn. “Do you really believe that not one of those crewmembers would hear the commotion we would’ve made? Did you want to take a chance like that? For what? So your delicate bottom could be more comfortable for a few hours? Honestly, Vaughn, I didn’t think you were that kind of girl.” Sedona hoped that derision would deter Vaughn from pushing the point any farther.
“Hardly,” Vaughn scoffed. “I can’t help thinking there’s something else going on in that head of yours. I just don’t know what it is yet.”
“When you figure it out, send me an e-mail,” Sedona said, hoping her tone signaled the end of the discussion. “In the meantime, how about if we discuss the route we’re going to take to get to our ground transportation. I know my guys are in range. Once I make the call, they’ll head to our usual meeting point. We just have to figure out how to get from here to there on foot without arousing any suspicions.”
“Okay, gang,” Vaughn said, reluctantly abandoning her line of questioning. “Huddle up.” She waited until everyone was close. “Our cover story is that we’re a squad from the 411th. Note the patch on your left shoulder right below the Military Police insignia. For now, we’re going to have to show only the weapons a soldier would carry. So
, use the Sigs, since they’re the closest things we’ve got to a Beretta-92F, and put those in the serpa holster. Use the M4 as the long rifle. Put that in the tactical sling and your clips in the ammo pouches on your vest. Tuck everything else away.”
“Obviously, we’re not taking these crates with us,” Lorraine pointed to the boxes with all their additional accessories, food, weapons, ammunition, and the two drones. “So what are we doing with all of that?”
“Divide it up. We’re taking it on our backs,” Vaughn said.
“What?” Sabastien’s eyes were wide. “Already this clothing weighs more than I do. I will never be able to walk.”
“This will be good training for you. You ought to get out from behind a desk every once in a while.” Vaughn cuffed him affectionately on the side of his head.
“I’ll take some of your stuff,” Sedona offered Sabastien. “Give me those.” She pointed to the ammunition clips.
Vaughn tsked. “I can’t believe you’re going to let a girl carry your load.”
“She volunteered.” Sabastien grinned.
“In return,” Sedona winked at him, “you have to figure out our walking route to get to the café where we’re meeting up with Ahmed and Umar.”
“It is a deal,” Sabastien said.
“I’ll carry the drones,” Peter said. “By the way, Sabastien, don’t necessarily pick the shortest route. We need to protect Sedona at all costs. I’m sure every soldier on patrol and every civilian private security contractor knows who she is by now.” He gave Sedona a sympathetic look.
Sedona’s stomach did a nervous flip. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten about her outlaw status, it was that she had consciously willed herself not to think about it. “I’ll be wearing a helmet and reflective sunglasses.”
“Even so,” Vaughn said, “Peter’s right. Aren’t you the one who was arguing for less exposure?” Vaughn smirked. “Find us the least traveled route, genius. But try to make it so it doesn’t take us too far out of our way. We have a date with some very bad people at a nice little outpost called Tuwaitha.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“I told you this would happen!” Orlando Niger’s body vibrated with anger. He didn’t care that the fear showed in his eyes. He was damned afraid. “The president wants to see the fucking internal affairs report. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?” He poked Daniel Hart in the chest. “You got me into this. You get me out.”
“Relax.” Hart swatted away Niger’s hand. “Manufacture the damn report. This isn’t rocket science.”
“What if they trace it back to me?”
“You said yourself, the NSA is hacker-proof. It’s why we had the satellite images sent to you in the first place.”
“Yeah. You can see how that turned out,” Niger sneered.
“That was a fluke.”
“A fluke that brought the president of the United States down on our heads.”
“Listen, soldier. Now is not the time for retreat. You’re a decorated veteran. I never saw you afraid in battle. What the hell is going on with you?”
“This is different,” Niger muttered. He signed up to go to war on behalf of his country. This—this was something else entirely. The cause was not his. Hell, he didn’t even know what the endgame was. When he asked, he was told it was a need-to-know basis, and he didn’t need to know. Had he not owed his life to Hart…
“Get it done,” Hart said, leaving no more room for discussion. “Send it to me before you send it to that idiot boss of yours so I can make sure it’s what we need.” He slapped Niger on the back a little harder than necessary and walked away.
Niger stared after him, wondering just what the hell he’d signed up for and wishing more than anything that he hadn’t done it.
The president stood with his arms folded across his chest, his eyes riveted to the big television set as the meeting between Orlando Niger and Daniel Hart unfolded on the screen. His expression was grim. “This is good work, Mr. Kingston.”
“Max, sir.”
“Max, then.”
“Kate, Jay? Looks like we’ve got our smoking gun.”
“I’d say so, Mr. President,” Kate said, “but I can’t help feeling there’s something more than what we’re seeing here.”
“She’s right,” Jay agreed. “Max, back it up to the beginning, will you?” When the camera caught Niger full on, Jay said, “Pause it right there.” She turned to the president. “Note his expression, sir. He’s really afraid.”
“So it would appear.”
“Sir,” Kate jumped in, “Orlando Niger is a twice-decorated war veteran. Yet here, he looks like he’s quaking in his shoes.”
“Let’s hear his next sentence, Max,” Jay said.
Max pushed “play” once again, and they watched Niger and listened to his words.
“Stop.” Kate motioned to Max. “Mr. President, you heard him. ‘You got me into this. You get me out.’ That makes it sound as if Hart is not holding the end of the leash, doesn’t it?”
“Not to mention the fact that he pokes Hart in the chest. Niger clearly is afraid, but it isn’t of Hart,” Jay added.
“What are you suggesting, ladies?” The president watched the silent communication between Kate and Jay with interest. They certainly made a great team.
“Let it play out a little longer, sir,” Kate said. “If you bring Hart and Niger in right now and there are other players out there, we might lose the opportunity to grab them. If they fade into the woodwork and we haven’t identified them, then they’re still a threat.”
The president nodded. “More importantly, we still don’t know what’s going on at Tuwaitha. Until we know that, the only thing we have them on is lying to me, falsifying a report, and wrongly accusing an innocent woman of treason. Frankly, that isn’t much in the scheme of things.”
“Sir, if I might make a suggestion?”
“Sure, Jay.”
“Let Max here continue to monitor Secretary Hart. It seems clear that he is more heavily involved than Deputy Director Niger, just based on their conversation.”
“So it would seem.”
“Who knows? Maybe he’ll lead us to someone else.”
“Do it.” The president ordered Max. He uncrossed his arms and walked over to his desk to pick up his iPad. “According to my calendar, I leave for nuclear proliferation talks with the Russians in ten days.” He looked at his guests. “I’d sure like to have this thing wrapped up by then.”
“Sir, we know the team was in Kuwait yesterday,” Kate said. “By now, I’d imagine they have arrived at or are close to their destination. With any luck, you’ll have some answers within a day or two.”
“I certainly hope you’re right, Kate. Still, with Sedona’s status as a wanted fugitive, I imagine things are less than simple or straightforward. I really wish there was more I could do.”
Vaughn, Sedona, Lorraine, Justine, and Sabastien crouched within earshot just inside the ship’s cargo hold, watching as Peter approached a checkpoint set up at the end of the gangway.
“Hey,” Peter said casually. “What’s going on?”
“Haven’t you heard, man?”
“Heard what?”
“We’re on high alert. Seems we’ve got ourselves an American terrorist on her way to meet with the jihadists.”
“No shit. Really?”
“You didn’t know about this? You been living under a rock or what? We all got briefed on this yesterday.”
“Just back from leave,” Peter said. “I hitched a last-minute ride back on this Red Cross ship.”
“Must be nice.”
“Yeah, it was.” Peter glanced over the man’s shoulder at the official NSA picture of Sedona. “This who we’re looking for?”
“Yeah. Too bad. She’s hot.”
“Yeah, she sure is,” Peter agreed. “So what’s the deal? What do we care about a Red Cross ship?”
“You were on it—this ship came from Kuwait. Our orders are to inspect eve
ry incoming foreign or neutral vessel or transportation site from any of the border countries.”
“That’s a lot of manpower hours.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been here for over ten hours already.”
“Wanna take a break?” Peter asked.
“I don’t get relieved for another hour,” the soldier said.
“Well, if you just want to take a piss or get off your feet for ten minutes, I’ll take over here.”
The soldier seemed to hesitate.
“The ship’s empty, right? Everybody already got off? I didn’t see anybody behind me.”
“I did look at the manifest,” the soldier said. “The count as they got off matched my roster and I questioned some of the crew randomly. None of them said they saw anybody matching her description.”
“See.” Peter smiled at him. “I can handle watching an empty ship for a few minutes while you take a blow. Go for it.”
“Yeah?” The soldier smiled.
“You bet,” Peter said.
“Cool. See you in ten, man.” The soldier started to take off. “And thanks.”
“No biggie,” Peter said, waving him away. When the soldier was completely out of sight and the coast was clear, Peter gave the pre-arranged signal. Lorraine, Sabastien, Vaughn, Sedona, and Justine emerged from the shadows. All donned their helmets and dark, reflective sunglasses.
“Nicely done,” Vaughn said.
“Yeah, well, I strongly suggest you guys get moving. I’ll catch up to you at the rendezvous point.”
“I don’t like the idea of you staying behind without any backup,” Sedona said.
Peter looked at her affectionately. “I’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, need to disappear.” He made a shooing motion.
“I agree,” Vaughn said. “We’ve got to get you away from here.”
“How are you going to know which way to go?” Sedona asked Peter.
“I can guide him over the coms,” Sabastien offered. “Because he is not you, he can take a more direct route. It is even possible that he will arrive before we do.”