by Trevor Scott
“What do we do with this guy?”
“We need to stash him for a while,” Jake said. “At least until we can find his contact in Pompeii tomorrow.”
“There are cameras everywhere in Pompeii.”
“I know. But we don’t have a choice. That’s where the meeting is set up. He has no other way to contact the next man up the chain.”
Russo put his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. My people run most of the historic sites in this region. We have people who can shut down the cameras tomorrow.”
Jake knew the Malavita was connected, but he had no idea just how much. “All right. Can you babysit this guy until after the meeting?”
“I know a guy and a place,” Russo said.
That was becoming a theme for his Mafia friend.
“On the other hand, I also know a guy with a fishing boat.” Russo gave Jake a broad smile.
“I understand. But I might need the guy for another kind of bait down the road.”
“All right. We’ll sit on him for now.”
Jake opened the container door and waved for Alexandra. She had gathered all of the gear into the bag, so she slung that over her shoulder and came out.
“We might need this stuff,” she said.
The two of them headed back to the car. Now they needed to find a place to stay for the night.
13
Rome, Italy
Elisa Murici had traveled most of the day with her new friend from AISI, Vito Galati, by train from Brindisi to Rome. It had not taken much to keep track of Zamir at first. The man had gotten a cheap ticket in the second class car. She and Vito had taken turns moving from their first class car to the second class one, where budget-minded folks where jammed together like an airline.
There was no great route to travel from the southeast coastal city of Brindisi to the capital city of Rome. Their ticket routed them along the coast to Bari, where they took on new passengers and perhaps dropped off a few. The train headed north for a while before cutting across the Apennines toward Rome. It was a beautiful ride, but Elisa had a lot on her mind. Officially she had nothing on this man named Zamir. For all she knew the man could have been going to Rome to visit old friends or to see the ancient sites.
Her opinion changed about an hour after leaving the coastal city of Bari. Zamir was missing. Sure he could have been wandering the train with restless legs. Many people couldn’t sit still very long. But then she had gone to one end of the train and her colleague had gone to the other end. Together, along with two porters, they had swept toward the middle, making sure to check every bathroom. Nothing. The man had disappeared.
There was only one conclusion. Zamir had somehow gotten off the train in Bari. But why? Did he know they were following him? She was sure she had not been burned, but she could not yet trust her young associate. What skills did he possess?
They had pulled into Rome a couple of hours ago and both of their bosses were not happy. Elisa wasn’t used to failing at such an epic level. She had to redeem herself. But how?
Then she thought about the phone call she had gotten from Jake Adams. Jake had rounded up a man who he suspected was part of a terrorist cell plotting something against Rome. That man had been turned over to the Internal Information and Security Agency, Vito’s organization. AISI had the man on ice, but they were not getting much out of him.
Elisa took a pass at the man, but he didn’t seem to be overly forthcoming. As an Italian citizen, the man knew his rights and the fact that they could not beat him for the information. And then the truth and realization fell onto her chest like a truckload of stones. Why had Jake Adams turned over this man to AISI? There was only one reason to do so—Jake had gotten everything he needed from this man, and he had turned him over for potential prosecution. But that was against Jake’s nature. He would be more prone to extracting data and then make sure the man couldn’t do anymore harm. Jake wasn’t a take prisoner kind of guy. He had once said that evil existed in the hearts of some men, and love could not change their hearts. The only thing those people understood was strength. A bullet to the head, Jake had intimated.
Now she stood in the darkness outside of the AISI headquarters building, her colleague Vito sitting in his agency car a block away waiting for her.
She reluctantly pulled out her cell phone and punched in the number that had called her when she was on the ferry.
“How’s my favorite Italian?” Jake Adams asked.
“I’m in Rome,” she said. “Is there any way we can get together tonight?”
Hesitation on the other end. Finally, Jake said, “Is this a booty call?”
“Ha, ha. It was a legitimate question, considering our past.” She turned and glanced at her colleague, and then swiveled around so he couldn’t read her lips. “I just talked with our Italian friend. The one you scared shitless. The one who refuses to say a damn thing to us.”
Jake said nothing.
She continued, “What did you get from him?”
Letting out a slight sigh, Jake said, “You know I can’t tell you that.”
“You no longer work for the CIA,” she reminded him.
“Thank God.”
“Then why not help a girl out?”
“No offense. But I don’t know those at Internal.”
“You know me.”
“True. I’m guessing they assigned someone to babysit you in Italy, otherwise you wouldn’t still be working the case.”
“Please, Jake.”
“You sound desperate.”
She twisted her head again for a second to look at Vito. Then she exhaled and said, “I screwed up.”
“How?”
Reluctantly, she told him about the potential Iraqi bomb builder she had been watching in Athens. How she had followed him on the ferry to Brindisi. And then the tough part—how she had lost the man on the train, perhaps in Bari.
“It happens,” Jake said. “The man bought a ticket to Rome?”
“That’s what the ticket agent said.”
“I’ve done similar things in the past,” he said. “He probably got off in Bari and waited to pick up the next train to Rome. Or, he could have bought a ticket to somewhere else. He could be anywhere in Italy now.”
She knew that, and that’s why she was beating herself up so much. “I know. What do I do now?” She hoped he would take pity on her and divulge what the man had told him.
“Do you know of any ties the Iraqi has in Rome?”
“No. We know very little about the man. We do know that he worked both sides during the Iraq War. He was giving up intel while building IEDs for the bad guys.”
“Then why in the hell did they let the guy live?” Jake asked.
“Good question. That’s above my level, though. But now we have what we have. What did you discover from this man you picked up in Rome?”
Pause. Jake finally said, “He didn’t know much. He simply called his group the eyes.”
“They were a scouting team.”
“I believe so,” he confirmed.
“What are the targets?”
“The usual suspects, I would guess,” Jake said. “Nearly every major tourist attraction in Rome, religious and otherwise.”
“But those have been hardened,” she assured him.
“Not enough. We had a shootout with a couple of his team.”
“The two men you killed.”
“In self defense.”
“Right. And then the third one at the man’s apartment.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“Someone did. A friend of yours?”
“Something like that. Anyway, that’s how we got the man you’re talking with.”
“That’s all the man told you? That they were the eyes?”
“As you know, that’s the most important part of a terrorist plot—good intelligence. And I’m telling you that Rome has flaws with their security profile. You’re vulnerable.”
She knew this. Although
that wasn’t technically her job, she could give recommendations.
“What do you want from me?” Jake asked.
“Anything you can give me. If the cell you broke up was the eyes, then I might have just lost part of the brain. The bomb maker. We must find him. Was I not helpful last time?”
“Yes, you were.” Jake paused, obviously thinking. “Your Italian friend gave us the name of his contact.”
“What? Why are you just telling me this now?”
“The last time we talked,” Jake said, “it wasn’t like you were overly forthcoming.”
“I was undercover in close proximity to my target. I shouldn’t have been on the phone at all. Maybe that’s how the Iraqi burned me.”
“I doubt it. The Iraqi was probably simply following a pre-determined route to avoid detection. It happens.”
“What’s the contact’s name,” she demanded.
Jake grunted.
“Come on. I need your help.”
Reluctantly, Jake gave up the man’s name and location.
“So, Napoli. I’m guessing you’re there now.”
“Not exactly.”
“You’ve already found the man.”
Jake said nothing. Then he gave her the address of the contact in Napoli.
“Thanks, Jake.”
“Not a problem. But are you even sure the Iraqi is related to the man you have in custody?”
“We have nothing else to go on.”
“Be careful,” he said. “These people are dangerous.”
But not as dangerous as Jake Adams, she guessed. They cut their call off and she wandered back to the car. She got in and tapped the GPS.
“Did you get something?” Vito asked her.
“A lead in Napoli.”
“Are we going there in the morning?”
“No. We’re going there right now.” She had a feeling Jake might be telling her the truth, but not the whole truth. He wouldn’t have given up the man’s name and location if he hadn’t already found the guy. Yet, she had no other options.
“Can I stop by my apartment to get a few items?” Vito asked.
“Yes. I’ll do the same. My clothes from my trip are all dirty.”
“My place is only two kilometers from here.”
She waved her left hand while she continued to put in the address of the man Jake had given her from Napoli. Deep down she had a feeling that time was not a real issue this evening.
•
Jake stood naked in his hotel room, having just gotten off the phone with Elisa Murici. He hated lying to her. She had been a great asset to him in the past, and that had nothing to do with the sexual encounters they had experienced. He peered around the curtain at the lights of Naples in the distance. Technically he was in the city of Pompeii, so he had not lied to Elisa.
“Jake, would you get that nice ass of yours back to bed?” Alexandra said.
They had made love earlier and he wondered now if she was ready for round two. Or perhaps she was just a bit chilled by the cool room.
He set his phone on the nightstand and slid under the sheets. She nuzzled next to him and grasped onto his partial erection.
“Was that your old girlfriend again?” she asked.
Jake had no intention of answering that. Instead, fully erect now, he flipped her over and took her from behind. Hard and fast. But he felt guilty for doing so, since he was thinking about Elisa while he was pounding Alexandra.
14
Innsbruck, Austria
Derrick Konrad had been correct, the man he had followed from Geneva to Zurich had gotten off the train in the capital city and simply waited for his next train to Innsbruck, Austria. Konrad had gotten on the train with his Swiss Polizei colleague, Holgar, and watched the man from a distance. He had even called his boss at INTERPOL when the train crossed into Austria, trying to simply pull the man in for interrogation. The problem was tying the man to the bomb making equipment at the apartment in the western suburb of Vernier, near the Geneva Airport. The Swiss Polizei had to get something from the two men captured in that raid. They had all three on voice recording, but there had been no real smoking gun with what they had discussed there. Perhaps his boss was right telling Konrad to stick with the bomb maker. Now, with the entry to Austria, they had a problem. Holgar was a Swiss Polizei officer with no authority to act in Austria. Konrad had asked for authorization to assign Holgar officially, at least on a temporary assignment, with INTERPOL. That would give Holgar authority to act worldwide, with some restrictions, and within the European Union countries with near impunity.
Now, the train slowly pulled out of the Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof. They were all on the night train from Innsbruck to Venice, Italy. The dirtbag potential terrorist was in a car with a row of seats on both sides facing each other. A fairly plush car. But Konrad and Holgar had been able to get a private sleeper car, which they had already converted from seats to beds.
Konrad stood and glanced out the window at the city lights. He had been on this train before, but that had been in the winter during the ski season. Now the trees were mostly bare awaiting the snow. Already a chill was in the air. He could tell that at the main train station in Innsbruck. Warm lights reflected off the colorful buildings along the swift-flowing Inn River that cut through the city.
“Derrick, I just got a text from our headquarters. I am authorized to work with you under the INTERPOL umbrella.”
Checking out his partner’s reflection in the window, Konrad nodded his head. “That’s good.” It wasn’t like they would have said no. For the Swiss Polizei that was a win-win situation. If Konrad and Holgar screwed up, the Polizei could blame it on INTERPOL. If they succeeded in bringing down a terrorist network, the Swiss could claim that it was a joint operation between the Polizei and INTERPOL. And both Holgar and Konrad were officially Swiss citizens. But Konrad didn’t care about recognition. He only cared about results.
Turning back to his partner, Konrad said, “Where do you think this man is going?”
Holgar shrugged and placed his hands on his hips. “Venice.”
“For now, yes. But I mean in the end. What’s his plan?”
“I’ve been thinking about that since leaving Zurich,” Holgar said. “I thought the plan was to strike somewhere in the banking district of the city. But now I don’t know.”
Konrad was equally confused. Why work with those other men in Geneva only to depart in a hurry? Finally, he said, “The man’s plans had to change after we raided the apartment.”
“Makes sense.” Holgar seemed to be in deep thought as he grasped onto the ladder leading to the top bunk. He asked, “Did your boss mention what they got from those men at the apartment?”
“Nothing new,” Konrad said. “I thought they would give us something. Anything.”
“Maybe they don’t know much.”
“They know more than they’re saying,” Konrad assured his young associate. “Sometimes I wish we could take the gloves off and pound some sense into these criminals.”
“You mean terrorists.”
“Terrorist criminals. That’s the problem, you see. We treat them as if they plan to rob a bank. But really they want to change our way of life. They come to our country because we allow them in. Then they try to change us into something we are not. And we can’t allow that, Holgar. We must fight them with every cell in our bodies. They can’t survive. They are a malignant tumor that must be sliced out.”
“The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist,” Holgar said with a smirk.
“Something like that.” Exactly like that, he thought. “But sometimes we must follow the ant back to the colony and kill them all. Otherwise we just get the scout and more will follow. We must douse the entire ant hill with petro and light it on fire. Kill them all before they kill us.”
Konrad sat on the lower bunk and dropped onto his back, his eyes closed. This was the only way they could succeed, he thought. This scout would lead them to the colony.
15
Pompeii, Italy
For the first time in weeks, Jake had actually allowed himself to sleep in past 0600. Since the site of the ruins at Pompeii didn’t open until 0830, they had time for a leisurely breakfast and plenty of coffee. Their meeting was scheduled for 0900 in a remote corner of the ruins. Jake had found a map of the complex and plotted out a strategy. He was depending on Russo to control the security feeds to that area. Alexandra would back him up by making sure the contact had no escape. But Jake knew that this place was massive, having been there a couple of times.
He and Alexandra got to the ruins at the opening, making sure to get in to position early. Since Jake had no photo of his contact, he was depending on the contact carrying a telescoping rod with a baby blue flag on top—the type used by tour guides to keep tourists lined up like cattle.
Jake wandered around pretending to take photos with his phone. While he did so, he made sure to find all of the cameras scattered among the ruins. But there was no way to find them all, he thought.
“In position,” Jake said into his mic.
“Auch,” Alexandra said.
Glancing about the area, Jake didn’t like what he saw. There were two ways into the location. The first way went back toward the front entrance, and the second way rounded the outer edge of the ruins toward the coliseum, a smaller version of Rome’s main attraction. But Jake had a plan for both options, if it should come to that. Alexandra was in position to handle the back escape, and Jake would handle the short way. If the contact got past the both of them, Russo would be waiting at the exit. The problem was Russo would have to be contacted by cell phone. He wasn’t wearing a comm unit.
Jake could see why the contact wanted to meet here, though. It was perhaps the most isolated location in the vast ruins. Other places highlighted elaborate villas with mosaic tiles and beautiful terraces. Others showed macabre scenes of human remains curled up as death came to them, covering them with feet of pumice and ash. Here, though, was a long passageway that probably served back in the day as an outer wall road used by security.