“Agent White?” The man turned and she handed him the phone. “Thank you for arranging the phone call.”
“No problem,” he said, nodding toward Tanya. “We just got through to her family as well.”
Sarah looked over at Tanya who was sitting against the wall of the clinic, tears pouring down her cheeks as she spoke rapidly and excitedly in Ukrainian. Tanya spotted her looking and smiled widely, waving and pointing at the phone.
Sarah grinned, giving her a thumbs up. She turned back toward the soldiers. “Did I hear you say that Koroma’s body was here?”
White nodded, pointing at one of the bodies. “Intel confirms this is him.”
Sarah stepped closer to make sure of what she already knew then shook her head. “I’m sorry, Agent, but that’s not Koroma. That’s Mustapha.”
“What!”
The shock in his voice was clear as he motioned for the Asian to hand over a tablet. He showed her side-by-side photos, one of Mustapha in uniform, looking up at the sky from beside a truck, the other of his dead face taken minutes ago. “You’re telling me these aren’t the same people?”
There was no doubt they were. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that man is not Koroma. Koroma looks nothing like him. This is his second in command, Amadu Mustapha. I think I heard him called Captain at one point, but I’m not sure.”
“Did you meet Koroma?”
“Yes, he’s the one who kidnapped us.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Earlier today, first thing this morning. I don’t know, maybe ten, twelve hours ago. What time is it now?”
“Almost midnight local.”
“Really? Then probably closer to fifteen, I guess. I’m not sure.”
“And you’re positive this isn’t Koroma.”
“Absolutely.”
“Maybe they just switched names to confuse you?”
She shook her head. “No. Koroma’s daughter is inside that clinic. Tanya took her from her home where his name was on the front door, and we’ve been sleeping there. There’s no doubt the man I knew as Koroma was Koroma.”
“Shit!” he muttered as he stepped away, activating some sort of radio. “Control, Bravo Zero-One. We’ve got a problem here.”
Dawson stared at the satellite image taken from the docks when the supplies had been stolen, then their corpse. There was no doubt.
It’s definitely the same guy.
Yet their hostage was adamant this wasn’t Koroma.
Which meant the intel was wrong.
Which wouldn’t be the first time.
“Bravo Zero-One, Control. We’ve patched in Langley and Homeland Security. Repeat what you said, over.”
“Doctor Henderson has confirmed that the man we’ve identified as Koroma is not Koroma, I repeat, not Koroma. His name is Amadu Mustapha, apparently his second-in-command.”
“This is Leroux. How certain is she?”
“Absolutely. Apparently Koroma’s daughter is in the clinic they created here and Doctor Danko took her personally from his home where his name was on the door. I think we have to assume the man we’ve thought was Koroma isn’t.”
“Which means we have no clue what Koroma actually looks like,” added Niner, shaking his head. “This is a Charlie-Foxtrot if I’ve ever seen one.”
“She says he left about fifteen hours ago, but she’s not sure exactly. Did we have drones in the air anywhere near here?”
“Negative,” replied Leroux. “We’ll have to go to the satellites. It’s going to take some time, but at least we have an exact location for where he was and a time window.”
“Maybe you can see who the VIP was,” said Sarah Henderson, listening in on a comm provided by Niner.
Dawson’s eyebrows rose slightly. “What VIP?”
“Some guy was here before he left. Lots of security and a Mercedes with flags on the hood. He looked important. Koroma handed him a briefcase.” She motioned for Tanya Danko to join them. “She overheard the conversation. She speaks Krio.”
Tanya jogged over, all the while saying goodbye to her family on the phone. She hung up and handed it to Niner. “Yes?”
“Tell them what you heard them say, when the VIP was here.”
“Oh, that! Yes, well, Koroma told this guy something like ‘she confirms it will work just like we thought’, but I don’t know what he was talking about. Or at least I didn’t then.”
“What do you mean?” asked Dawson, not liking where this was heading.
Sarah responded. “They had me infect them with the virus.”
“What?”
Even Langley echoed the outbursts on this end, Dawson leaving the comm open so everyone could hear the civilians.
“Eight of them that arrived with this VIP,” said Sarah. “And Koroma. Apparently they’re going to commit some sort of attack on the United States as payback for us not helping them sooner.”
“Jesus Christ,” muttered Dawson. “Did you guys copy that?”
“Affirmative,” came Clancy’s subdued voice.
“Yes,” said Leroux. “I think we need to focus on that VIP. I’ve already got my team trying to track anybody who left that village today, but the VIP might be faster. If he was senior enough, then we might have a much narrowed list of people to go through. I’m going to pull what we’ve got and have their photos pushed to you. Give me a few minutes.”
“Roger that,” said Dawson, handing the tablet back to Niner. He turned to Sarah. “How quickly will they become infectious?”
“In as little as a day or two, but it could be longer. But that’s just them being contagious. If they decide to use themselves as transport devices, the virus is in their blood. They could simply take their own infected blood and use it to infect others.”
“This is unbelievable,” muttered Niner. “And we have no idea who the target is?”
Sarah’s mouth opened slightly, then snapped shut.
It wasn’t missed by Dawson.
“You’ve got an idea?”
She nodded, slowly. “Well, he asked if I had a message for my father.”
Dawson’s eyes narrowed. “Really? That suggests he’s going to see your father.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Control, did you hear that? The target might be the Vice President.”
“We’ve confirmed that on this end,” replied Clancy. “Bravo Zero-Two and the FBI just hit a suspect’s apartment. It looks like this is all about him voting against an Ebola funding bill months ago.”
“Do you have him in custody?”
“Negative.”
Niner waved the tablet. “First photos are coming through.” He handed the tablet to Sarah who began to swipe through the images, Tanya at her side. They had flipped through several dozen before they both cried out in excitement. “That’s him!”
“Who?” asked Dawson, taking the tablet and looking at the photo.
“The VIP.”
“Langley, it’s photo ID Alpha-six-four-seven.”
“Are you sure? Can you repeat that?”
“Alpha-six-four-seven.”
“If your witnesses are correct, then they’ve just identified the new Vice President of Sierra Leone, Mr. Ibrahim Kargbo.”
“Do we know where he is?” asked Dawson.
“Yes. He’s at a reception at their embassy in Washington right now, meeting Vice President Henderson.”
Republic of Sierra Leone Embassy, Washington, DC
“I’m Special Agent Savalas, head of Vice President Henderson’s detail. What the hell’s the problem here?”
Red’s quick assessment of the new arrival already told him he didn’t like the man. Savalas appeared arrogant and already on the defensive, his tone and language walking into this situation speaking volumes to his character.
Now we know why Henderson is still here.
He and Spock along with FBI Agent-in-Charge McKinnon had been left cooling their heels in the security office at
the Sierra Leonean embassy for ten minutes, impatiently waiting for Savalas to grace them with his presence, all the while working the phones as they tried to get an update on why their security warnings were going unheeded.
McKinnon flashed his badge. “I’m Agent-in-Charge McKinnon, FBI. There’s a threat to the Vice President’s life.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Then why is he still here?”
“The Vice President is quite secure. Thank you very much.” Savalas turned to leave when Red reached out and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him back toward them.
“Obviously I’m misunderstanding something,” said Red, his eyes narrowed slightly as he glowered at the arrogant asshole. “You are fully aware of the threat to the Vice President, the fact that this threat involves the very man he is meeting here today, and that this threat involves infecting the Vice President with Ebola, yet Vice President Henderson remains. I am going to assume that this is on his own orders, rather than the supreme idiocy of the head of his security detail, because if I’m wrong, and you haven’t informed him of this threat, and the fact that the intelligence comes from his very own daughter, then I’m going to put two bullets in your chest right now, because you, sir, are a threat to national security.”
Savalas stared at him, sweat beading on his brow as Red’s iron grip continued to tear into his arm.
“Come with me,” he finally said, Red’s grip immediately loosening. “But you leave your weapons here.”
The three of them disarmed then followed Savalas into the embassy, two Sierra Leonean guards accompanying them. Red heard a squawk in his comm.
“Bravo Zero-Two, Control. We’ve got more intel on Vice President Kargbo. Apparently he’s Koroma’s wife’s uncle and was his commanding officer until about five years ago when he went into politics. CIA has also confirmed that Koroma’s records were altered in the Sierra Leonean mainframe to replace his photo with that of one Amadu Mustapha. We still have no photo on Koroma, but if the Vice President was at the village and is now at your present location, Koroma may be with him, over.”
“Copy that, Control.” Red turned his head slightly toward McKinnon, Spock having heard the conversation. He relayed the intel in a low voice. “This new VP was Koroma’s wife’s uncle and his former commanding officer. There’s also the possibility Koroma may be here.”
“And we have no idea what he looks like,” hissed McKinnon, shaking his head.
“We need to get the Vice President out of here. With this virus the threat may be indirect. They might infect him somehow without ever touching him.”
“Agreed.”
They stepped into a large conference room, the tables and chairs having been removed so they could fit a decent sized crowd of about fifty dignitaries. It was fairly tight, everyone having some elbow room but little else. He noticed several cellphones out as people took video of the dignitaries. He turned to Spock. “Start sending video to Control and keep an eye out for Uncle Bai.” He activated his comm as Spock pulled out his phone. “Control, Bravo Zero-Two. We’re sending you footage now. Request you push to Bravo Zero-One so the witnesses can pick out Koroma if he’s here, over.”
“Roger that, Bravo Zero-Two. Receiving footage now and relaying, over.”
They followed Savalas through the crowd, weaving between the guests as they neared the rear of the room where it appeared the guests of honor were standing. Red spotted Henderson and his wife, huge smiles on their faces now that they knew their daughter was alive and safe. He was impressed that they were here, but apparently it was to thank the Sierra Leonean government for their assistance in the recovery of their daughter.
Despite their best efforts.
He was pretty certain from Savalas’ reaction that Henderson had no idea the man he was glad-handing with was involved in the kidnapping and that their end game had been to kill her. It was clear to him Savalas hadn’t passed on all of the intel that he had been provided, or, if he were to give the asshole the benefit of the doubt, Henderson hadn’t been willing to let him, instead dismissing him.
God knows I’ve had enough politicians ignore me.
But still, Savalas’ reaction made him think he hadn’t told Henderson everything on purpose. Either way, Henderson was going to listen now.
“Wait here.”
Savalas went ahead, leaving Red and McKinnon cooling their jets not ten feet away from the man. Red took the opportunity to scan the crowd, spotting Spock in the thick of things with his phone, pretending to be taking selfies, instead getting the faces of those behind him.
“Both witnesses have confirmed the man identified by them as the VIP is standing beside Vice President Henderson.” It was Dawson’s voice passing on the intel. He could only imagine how terrified Henderson’s daughter must be right now knowing her father was two feet away from the man that had been involved in her kidnapping. “Still no sighting of Koroma, over.”
He personally didn’t think Koroma was here, but the possibility couldn’t be ignored. If he were Koroma, out for revenge against a country whose people he apparently hated, he wouldn’t be targeting one man. He’d be targeting hundreds or thousands. And with his body an incubator for a disease that could do just that, multiplied nine fold with the others that were infected along with him, this contained venue made no sense.
But according to the witnesses, something had been given to the new Vice President, a briefcase containing God knows what, but when handed over, a reference being made to “it” working like they thought it would.
And that had to be the virus.
He knew from his briefings that a single drop could last for days or even weeks, depending on the conditions, and the handover was only earlier that day, the time difference and haste of the meeting meaning tight timeframes.
They had no idea where Koroma and his accomplices had gone, but he was willing to bet they weren’t in a hurry, instead wanting to give the virus time to be truly contagious before unleashing themselves on an unsuspecting American public.
Savalas waved them over as Henderson appeared to excuse himself, the four men gathering in a corner of the room.
“Now what’s this about,” asked Henderson. “I’m in the middle of a very important gathering.”
Red took the lead, he the only one of the four jacked in directly to Sierra Leone through his comm. “Mr. Vice President, I’m part of the same unit that rescued your daughter earlier today.”
“You’re Delta?”
Henderson seemed to immediately realize the gaffe he had just committed, but with the secret spilled, Red noticed an immediate change in Savalas’ body language suggesting he was ready to defer to him.
And a touch of fear.
“I can’t say. What I can say is that according to your daughter, Vice President Kargbo visited the village she was held hostage in earlier today, was friendly with our prime suspect, Major Koroma, and was fully aware your daughter was there, looking directly at her.”
“Impossible! How could he have gotten here so quickly?”
“Your daughter was only a three hour drive from Freetown and the flight was ten hours, sir. With the time difference, he had plenty of time.”
Henderson paused for a moment, then shook his head resolutely. “No, I’ve known this man for several years. He’s an honored member of their government, a man who’s fought on the front lines in the battle against Ebola. He’s a doctor for Christ’s sake!”
Red was kind of surprised by this at first, but it could explain a lot. If the man was a doctor, fighting Ebola, then he would have seen the carnage it caused, and as a senior politician, even before he became Vice President, he would have been on the front lines of fundraising as well.
And there was no greater source of relief funding than the United States, no matter how much the ill-informed in the world hated this country. The US was almost always the first to respond to natural disasters the world over, sending its military into harm’s way when earthquakes, volcanoes, ts
unamis and typhoons struck, sending hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars to help rebuild and care for the survivors, regardless of whether or not they were traditional allies.
America punched its weight, rarely receiving the credit it deserved and didn’t seek.
America wasn’t just the world’s policeman, it was its fireman and paramedic as well, its search and rescue tech and doctor. It was everything to everyone, funded by the American taxpayer who realized that it was the responsibility of the greatest country on Earth to help those who were in need without any expectation of even a thank you.
It was the American way, it was the Western way.
He had always found it interesting how countries that hated us, who criticized our very way of life, who felt we should burn in hell for being infidels, contributed almost nothing when disaster struck. The Boxing Day Tsunami resulted in billions of aid from Western countries, and barely a trickle from oil rich countries like Saudi Arabia until they were heavily criticized, and even then their contribution was paltry.
Those who throw stones…
But when America did fail, as it had too many times in Africa, all the good it did around the world seemed conveniently forgotten.
Henderson had continued his spirited defense of Kargbo, but Red finally cut him off. “Nine of the perpetrators forced your daughter to inject them with the Ebola virus. A case was given to the Vice President that we believe may have contained the virus. We can’t risk you or your wife getting infected.”
Henderson paused for a moment at the mention of his daughter. “How could they possibly infect me? Besides, everyone who came off that flight was screened. No one had a fever.”
Red opened his mouth to continue but Henderson raised a finger, cutting him off.
“Enough. The Vice President of Sierra Leone, my counterpart, was assassinated on our soil. The new Vice President was instrumental in the rescue of my daughter.” Huh? “I can’t just run out of here because I think someone in the room might be infected with Ebola.”
“Red, he’s coming right at you!”
Payback Page 22