Heart Strike

by David Bishop

  “That’s fine. But we need to get back to the basics. You don’t call the shots anymore. Your only choice is a rich, peaceful life in America or discovering how long you can survive in Aleppo, Syria. You made a deal with my government. I spoke to you as their representative. These two men are the same as me. This isn’t about my adopting you. Your part is to cooperate with everybody in our agency. Do your part well and we’ll do the same. But we won’t tolerate your pain-in-the-ass prima donna act. On se comprend l’un l’autre?”

  The CIA agent with the tie gave Testler a quizzical look. The agent without a tie leaned closer to the first agent and whispered: “Testler asked, ‘We understand each other?’.” The first agent drew in his lips and nodded.

  Testler sat down directly in front of Benoit, yet some distance away. “Let’s stop wasting time. Tell us about this supposed attack here in America. I want the where, who, and what. All of it.”

  “The group behind it is Egyptian. The name of the group, I may not have ever known. It’s my understanding the group has been around since the time of Farouk, Egypt’s first absolute ruler following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s. This group is very militant.”

  Testler acted bored. “Thanks for the history lesson we don’t need. Give me what we do need—the target information.”

  “You’re always so impatient. First off, the when is fluid, but it won’t be long. My guess is a week, maybe a bit longer.”

  The tie-wearing agent loosened the knot at his neck, and spoke for the first time. “Come on, Benoit. Sometime soon? Christ. Around here, we operate under that assumption every day. We don’t need you for terrorist attack coming soon to a theater near you.”

  “He’s got a point,” Testler agreed.

  “Come on, guys. I’m a banker. I move money. I’m not into strategic planning or operations. I don’t get specifics. Besides moving money, I provide food and drink and, now and again, I took on the role of a companionator and provided those duskies with some female company. I listen, but I never ask. In this specialized area of banking, asking about what you don’t-need-to-know can get you killed. I’ve fostered the notion I only speak French and English. However, I’ve quietly gotten pretty good at Arabic and Persian, even a little Turkish Urdu. Enough to get the essence of what these voyous are saying—sorry, loosely that means thugs. Keeping them thinking I only speak French and English encourages them to say things to each other in their language figuring I won’t understand. In my line, information is power, so I listen. They buy into my ruse because from me they only hear French or English, and that’s all they speak back to me.”

  “Come on. Give.”

  “Like I said, soon, a week, maybe two, at the outside. From what I picked up on, the exact date will be determined later in the operation. You realize what that means.”

  Benoit said it like a statement, not a question. Nonetheless, the agent with the loose tie clarified: “It’s not about a place. You’re speaking of a moving target.”

  Benoit nodded. “That’d be my take.”

  “Okay. Who?”

  Benoit shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine, but, whoever is probably here in D.C. or will be when the time comes. Could be a domestic target. Could be a foreign visitor. That helps explain the uncertainty of when.”

  Testler turned his head toward the agents. “We need a list of all visitors representing a foreign power who’ll get here in the next month, with firm dates or, if not set, estimates.” After he said it, Testler scooted his chair close to the Frenchman. “How do you know that without knowing the identity of the target?”

  “The target was never ID’d in my presence. The man who will carry it out, the sleeper, was talked about as having been here in D.C. for four or five years. From what I heard, he’s a student at Georgetown.”

  “You’ve described the sleeper as he. Do you know that as a certainty?”

  “With these clowns, not always, but mostly, the doers are men.”

  “What else?” the agent without a tie demanded.

  “That’s it. All I got.” Benoit sat back, took a deep breath and looked to make eye contact one-by-one with all three of his interrogators. “Seriously, fellas, come on, that’s all I got.”

  “That ain’t worth what you’re wanting in return: money, a new ID, a new place to live, a clean slate on life, including a cost-free divorce and lifelong healthcare.” Testler laughed. “For Christ’s sake, if we gave asylum and seven million dollars to every yahoo offering as little as you are, every foreigner with a shady history would be lined up at our border. We’d have to reopen Ellis Island and make the program our new American immigration policy. Nope. If you want to keep our deal alive, we’re going to need a lot more.”

  “I can’t give you what I don’t have.”

  “And we won’t give you what you haven’t earned.”

  “On a different front, I know about a bombing in Germany planned for two months from now, but that’s all I have on your current homeland threat.” Benoit wiped his forehead and blotted the moisture by rubbing his hands together. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, blew it out and stared at Testler until he spoke.

  “We’ll get to the German threat a little later. For now, let’s recap: Who and what—unknown, but apparently a person. The use of a long still sleeper suggests an important target. Where?—Washington, D.C. When?—the fluidity of the date suggests an important target. One who moves around and whose schedule is kept under wraps or highly flexible.”

  The loose-tie guy tossed in, “This town’s full of people who meet that criteria.”

  “Okay. Okay,” Testler said, motioning downward with open hands. “Let’s reason off our recap. The use of a long-term lone sleeper suggests it won’t be a sniper shot. Something in close? Perhaps not using a gun. A copycat Russian poison job? Bomb? Chemical agent?”

  “I don’t think it’s any of those,” Benoit shook his head.

  Testler and the two agents snapped their heads back to face Benoit. “Why not?”

  “When I was listening, at that same meal, I heard one of them say something about the weapon having just left Limassol—”

  Clyde Blackstone, the loose tie agent Ryan had met when they stepped out to give Benoit ten minutes alone, was the first to speak. “That’s a port on Cyprus, isn’t it?”

  “Yep,” Testler clarified. “On its southern coast. How long ago did you hear that comment?”

  “A little over two weeks. No, more like three weeks, maybe plus a day or two. You’re agents confiscated my cellphone right after they swept me up in Paris. I understand we must assume there will be a trace on that phone, but it’s how I kept track of whatever.”

  Testler leaned closer. His forearms on his thighs. He spoke to Benoit in a firm whisper. “Three or four weeks ago—about—a weapon left Cyprus. We’re supposing the attack will be in D.C. in something like the next one or two weeks. That suggests … around four-to-six weeks between when the weapon was shipped and when it’ll be used. Given that rough time spread, it seems like the weapon came by ship. Limassol is a major cargo shipping port, while their air cargo is much smaller. Let’s talk about the weapon itself. What do you know?”

  “Nothing.”

  Agent Blackstone stepped closer and looked down at the sitting Benoit. His eyes still, hard, mean. His head motionless. Only his eyebrows and lips moved. “Maybe, a comment on the cost to obtain it? It’s weight? It’s size? How it was packed?”

  “I told you, I listen, disinterestedly. I can’t risk interest in something that doesn’t concern my function.”

  “Did anything get said that suggested whether it would be trucked to D.C. or carried by hand?”

  “I’m sorry. If they don’t say, I don’t ask, curious as I may be.”

  Dillinger, the agent without a tie, ran his hand over his mouth. “Shipping from Cyprus to the U.S. generally takes two to five weeks depending on the number of intervening ports. That’s at least half, and probably mor
e of our rough timeline.”

  Testler pointed a moving finger at Dillinger. “It’s loose, but fits with our other reasoned guesses.”

  The two agents, who had moved around to stand behind and to the side of Benoit, repositioned themselves next to Testler who, like Benoit, remained seated. The three of them stared at the banker. Testler did the talking. “We need more.”

  “That’s it. Perhaps a student sleeper, a non-shooter because it’s hard to go to shooting ranges when one’s cover is to remain incognito as a student. With the weapon arriving by ship, it follows that the target is a person or people here, likely in government … somebody’s government. You have already done more with what I brought than I thought possible.”

  “The name of the ship?”

  “Je ne suis pas stupide. Asking that kind of stuff will end my life. I hear more by acting disinterested. I light a cigarette and look at the women until the men turn the conversation to my function, the money. And, by the way, I moved no funds for this operation. Truth is, they rarely talk about any of the operational stuff in front of me. But over food and drink things sometimes slip out. When it does, I listen, eat, and show no interest. This manner does not permit me to make inquiries to fill the holes in what I hear.”

  Testler looked at Benoit. “Okay, give us some time. Go back to your room.”

  When Benoit was gone and the door closed, Testler motioned to the two agents. They sat and moved their chairs in close.

  What are your first names?”

  “I’m Billy, as in William Dillinger.”

  “I’m Clyde. Clyde Blackstone.”

  “How fast can we get a list of ships that left Cyprus heading for the U.S.? Based on what Benoit has told us, the ship left Cyprus something like five weeks back and may already be here, possibly even here and gone. Give priority to ships that came to the east coast only or as their first port.”

  “Aren’t we relying pretty heavily on what Benoit is telling us?”

  “You bet we are Agent Dillinger. What choice do we have? We wouldn’t even know about the possible attack without Benoit. We either ignore what he said or go with it. If he’s stroking us, to what end? We’ll have nothing, but he’ll really have nothing. He won’t get his money. The terrorists will be hunting him. Hell, I expect they already are. He’s got no new identity. In short, he’s a dead man walking. For him to get what he wants, he needs what he brought us to mean something. Bottom line: we can’t ignore it. So, we play it like its gospel.”

  Clyde Blackstone inhaled and held his breath. Billy Dillinger ran his hand over the top of his head, his curly hair sprang back un-mussed.

  “Okay, let’s get back to the list of ships. How soon?”

  Blackstone said, “Quick.”

  Dillinger added, “Hours, maybe.”

  Testler pointed at Blackstone. “Go in the other room. Make some calls. Let’s get a feel for how many ships we’re talking about. For the ships, get the country of their registration, and the port from which they sailed and every intervening port before they arrived here, or are due to arrive here. Get a list of each ship’s top five officers, how long they’ve been with the shipping company, and the officers’ country of birth and residence, and the locations of their families. If none of the top five officers oversee boarding and unloading of freight, include the people who control that. This weapon was likely sneaked on as cargo and was or will be unloaded surreptitiously. For that to happen, someone with unquestioned authority over freight needs to be involved.”

  Blackstone added, “We’ll want to know which U.S. ports the ship did or will call on.”

  Testler slapped his hands together. “Yeah.” He pointed at Blackstone. “That too. And get schedules of any other ports they stopped at, particularly ports used for transshipments. The Rotterdam port in The Netherlands does a lot of that. I think it’s the largest port in Europe. Have someone develop probabilities if freight aggregators are involved in the cargos on any of the ships you identify.”

  “This task is spreading like a frigging fungus.”

  “That’s why we get the big bucks.” Dillinger smiled.

  “Langley analysts can work those angles.” Blackstone stood. “I’ll get with them.”

  “All right. We’re rolling. Let’s hope all this Holmesian logic leads us to something with meat on it.”

  Blackstone turned to leave.

  Testler put up his hand. “Stay with us while we do some reasoning about the students.”

  Blackstone sat back down and Testler turned to face Dillinger.

  “It looks like you’re quarterbacking the student angle. Find out what’s involved in getting a list of foreign students at Georgetown. Give priority to those from Egypt who enrolled at some point in the last five years, and remain in the area, whether or not they still attend classes. Make a second list of all students in that time period from all the other Middle East countries.”

  “Indicate males and females on the list,” Blackstone added. “Speaking for myself, with only names, I’m not always sure who are boys and who are girls.”

  Testler felt the tension in the room rising. “Ages too, and when they came stateside. Check to see which, if any, have a history of run-ins with law enforcement, or have been seen participating in local or campus political protests. Sleepers are trained to not draw attention to themselves.”

  Dillinger intertwined his fingers. “They’d probably get good grades, too, so check the dean’s lists.”

  “We’ll wanna know how they receive their funds,” Blackstone suggested. “Locally? From some mosque? Maybe a Middle East company?”

  Blackstone extended his train of thought. “Their money could be wired to their bank. Does the student use one of the legally registered hawaladar bankers? If so, which one and what do we know about that hawaladar? When we’ve got the list narrowed, we’ll need Delayed Notice Search Warrants to do sneak-and-peaks in their living quarters, automobiles, storage facilities, and offices, if any, along with installing listening devices and tracking equipment. Can we determine if any of those students have family in D.C. or anywhere in the States?”

  Testler summed it up. “Benoit has provided us the hayfield. It’s our job to find the needle. We’ve stretched this into more than something doable by one analyst in a couple of hours. Get to someone who can issue orders. You know better than I who that is. Use data analysts and draw whatever manpower and overtime you need. I suspect you’ll get lots of data, mostly unrelated, so you’ll need time on a super computer with a geek jockey to ride it. If you get any resistance, you let me know and I’ll solve that immediately.”

  Blackstone left the room to get started on the shipping angle.

  Dillinger remained. “I don’t know if all those data points on the students will be readily available.”

  Testler nodded. “Let’s see what we get through university security. I’m guessing the funds for foreign students are often transferred right into GU. If so, they’ll know the sources or go-between on those monies. Maybe the office there can tell you which of the students use a traditional bank. The lists are to come to me, but you know what we want. Tell whomever necessary that you two are assigned to me until I release you. Anything else either of you have been assigned will need to be reassigned. Be sure your families have your pictures, they won’t be seeing much of you for a while. If you get any guff about any of this, tell me who and what, and I’ll handle it. The exception is wives. On that, you’re on your own.” Testler grinned when Dillinger shook his head. “Once we know how many students and ships are on these lists, we’ll form a plan to winnow the number and determine how much legwork and additional agents we’ll need.”

  Dillinger scratched his neck. “You want Benoit back in here? He’s been in there alone thinking. Shouldn’t we find out about what?”

  “Good. Bring ‘im in.”

  Benoit came in, his hands spread like a tent revivalist. “My turn again?”

  “Front and center like the star you are
. You’ve been in there thinking. What about?”

  “My kids. Shit like that.”

  “Yeah. Sure. Look, if this attack is stopped, you’re a hero. You get all you asked for and maybe I can pull you a bonus. If the bad guys pull off their plan, you’ve be labeled a waste. You’ll no longer be connected to the terrorist hotline. You’ll have access to nothing new moving forward. In that scenario, my vote would be to save the taxpayers’ money. So hear this: you definitely want this terrorist attack shut down.”

  “I’m doing all I can. As you learn whatever or pick up some names, I may be able to chip in more.”

  “Okay, pal. If that’s how you wanna play it. At this point, I’m thinking the USA has paid for a private jet and you’ve delivered us a horse-drawn milk wagon. If things don’t change, you’re in line for, at the very least, a huge discount on your expectations.”

  “Hey, we had a deal. I get seven million and a new American identity.”

  “And you described what you had for us as the real deal. There’s no time to re-plow that ground right now. Our people are working on your new identity. When they get it finished they’ll run it by you. Whether or not you get it will be decided by how this plays out. You’d be smart to remember a lot more we can use. Right now, your side of this deal is really light.”

  “Tell me what else you want.”

  “Whether you tell us everything you know, or try to get by giving less, your ass is in the same place. The people you served then want you dead now.”

  “Hey, if I have it, you have it.”

  “Okay. Develop a list of every banker, diplomat, hawaladar, mosque, politician, business person, and citizen you can think of who has aided, in any way, any past acts of terrorism or movements of funds for terrorism. We want names, places, and dates, and how each links to specific acts of terrorism. My suggestion is start by recalling who first approached you about moving money for them. Then follow it chronologically to the most recent event before we grabbed you in Paris.”

  “Christ, that’ll take … forever.”