Dead Edge

by Jack Ford

  Cooper looked puzzled. ‘Now you’ve lost me.’

  ‘Okay, basically the map was built using the information on the USB, but remember when I said the maps update themselves? Well it turns out the information was old, though I didn’t know that when I created it. If you program in old data it will produce a map of that period of time, because it thinks that’s what you want. For example, New York. You could either feed data in from pre-9/11, and the computer would give you a map with the Twin Towers on it, or you could feed data from post-9/11 and you’d get a post-Twin Towers map. If, for any reason, you had created a pre-9/11 map, the metadata would then give you the latest version of that area as well… And that’s what happened with your map. The computer gave me an updated version of your area. Look here… The villages and huts and buildings which were once there, aren’t… Everything’s gone. All the huts, the agriculture. The entire area of land has been cleared. Like it’s Ground Zero. Nothing left. Like an Armageddon has occurred.’

  Cooper pointed to the new version of the map. ‘What are those, though?’

  ‘I couldn’t tell you for sure but they look like tents. Odds are, that’s some kind of camp.’

  ‘Do you know where it is?’

  Greg nodded. ‘I do. It’s West Africa. Burkina Faso. Gorom-Gorom.’

  *

  Once outside, Cooper turned to Rosedale and smiled. ‘There’s been something I’ve wanted to do all day.’

  He clenched his fist and bent his knees and kept his hips down low and rotated his body and released a perfectly timed uppercut with maximum impact, sending Rosedale hurtling to the craggy ground where Biden, Woods and Obama licked his face better.

  SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

  USA

  86

  Nf3 Kg7

  With boots on the table, and ignoring the angry swelling of Rosedale’s lip, Cooper lit a cigarette in the Onyx kitchen.

  He said, ‘We got to get over there.’

  ‘No, Thomas, we don’t.’

  ‘Then what the hell was all this about?’

  ‘It was about getting people to listen. Those in authority. The people that can make a difference. And that’s not us. It was never about us rushing off to wherever it is you think Bin Hamad is hiding out.’

  ‘I don’t think. I know. He’s just outside Gorom-Gorom. Greg basically spelt it out for us.’

  ‘That’s the location of the map, anything else we don’t know for sure.’

  Angrily, Cooper said, ‘Oh come on, Rosedale, it’s all beginning to make sense. We see Bin Hamad getting on a boat in Turkey, a Qatari owned ship, which goes completely unchecked because of the Goddamn agreement this country has with Qatar, allowing them to ship weapons around, but like we’ve seen for ourselves, it’s not just weapons, is it? It’s people, Rosedale. Kids. And then there’s Maddie’s friend, the one who works for a branch of NATO, he tells us that Ismet’s ships go around the top of Africa then down the coast. Plus, the USB key was found on Ismet’s other stealth ship. Everything’s pointing to Bin Hamad being there and setting up camp.’

  Conceding, Rosedale spoke thoughtfully. ‘It does seem that way… So okay, Thomas, let’s say Ismet’s ship sails around and down to Dakar, or even stops off along the Western Sahara, and from there they either cross by air or land to Gorom-Gorom And it is the perfect place for Bin Hamad to go and set up a camp. Away from anywhere, with no-one watching.’

  ‘Exactly. Taking the kids with him. God almighty, Rosedale…’ Cooper paused. Punched the wall. Took a deep breath to calm himself. Didn’t work. ‘Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! I can’t even begin to think about what’s happening to them.’

  ‘So that’s why we need to get all the evidence we have together. Pass it over to the people who can.’

  ‘What? Monkey can, monkey do? Seriously, Rosedale, how long do you think it’ll take the military to take action based on our word? It just won’t happen.’

  Rosedale’s eyes flickered down to the blood trickling off Cooper’s knuckles. Calmly he said, ‘That’s why we’re doing this. The hard proof is our key, because at least you and I agree on the fact that no-one in their right mind is going to listen to us, no matter who we are and what at our background is, unless we have some hard-ass facts to give them. Once we have that, Thomas, we’ll give it to the Senator. Rubins can take it from there. Okay?’

  Agitated and pacing, with sweat dripping and trickling and seeping, Cooper shook his head furiously. ‘But if evidence is our key, like you say, surely that means we need to do a reconnaissance and go to Burkina Faso.’

  ‘Come on, Thomas… ’

  ‘Don’t Thomas me! Listen! Just listen and think about it. The tents that Greg pointed out on the map must be a terrorist training camp. Agreed?’

  ‘Most likely.’

  ‘So Bin Hamad’s preparing fighters as we speak, teaching them not only survival skills but the art of combat. Training them to become suicide bombers… Training them to wage war on US soil. There isn’t time for the usual red tape. We have to act now!’

  ‘You need to calm down, Thomas… Are you wired? Are you?’

  Stopping to stare at Rosedale, Cooper tilted his head. Looked at him curiously, like it was the first time he was seeing him. He spoke slowly, disappointment coating his tongue. ‘Is that all you care about? Whether I’m high or not? Is it? Don’t you get it, Rosedale? Don’t you see how insignificant it is? This. Me. My problems fade into nothing when you look at the big picture. There are kids out there who need our help. They’re the ones who you need to be worrying about. Them. Not me. So if I want to kill myself then let it be my choice, but until I do, until that day, we can’t turn our backs and wait for other people to do what we should be doing. We need to act now. We can’t pretend, and we can’t say we didn’t know what was happening. I will not have any more blood on my hands.’

  The silence of the men felt like another presence in the room, until Rosedale lit a cigar and said, ‘Tell me more. What are you thinking?’

  ‘How much do you know about Burkina Faso?’

  ‘Let me guess… you’re about to tell me everything.’

  ‘Well, we know there’s been an upsurge in terrorist activity, especially in the north of the country, which happens to border Mali – not good news for us, as that’s where Gorom-Gorom is located. And since the coup which toppled the long-serving leader Blaise Compaore, there’s been a whole heap of chaos to add to the unrest already bubbling under the surface. A perfect breeding ground, with all the necessary ingredients to cultivate terrorists.

  ‘The other thing we know is that Bin Hamad has affiliations with Al-Qaeda. He’s been marked as one of the main leaders of an off-shoot. Only a little while ago AQIM, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, attacked a hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, killing over thirty people. Turns out Bin Hamad’s right hand man, the Commandant, as they call him – who’s also a Qatari national, and was based in Pakistan – is now based in Burkina Faso. That’s according to security advisors. Has been there, apparently, for the past eighteen months. It’s obvious he’s continuing with the branch Bin Hamad set up, as well as trying to re-establish Al-Qaeda as the number one terror group. As we know, they certainly took a hit after Osama Bin Laden’s death.

  ‘Before Bin Hamad was captured, his off-shoot were one of the wealthiest, best-armed militant groups in Pakistan, mainly because of the huge amount of donations they got from wealthy Qatari sympathizers, and even Qatari royalty. And the sympathy’s certainly still there. After all, the stealth ship was at Bin Hamad’s disposal, and of course the access to American weapons.’

  ‘Thomas, I’m trying to hear you, and I want to help, but you’re in a fantasy world if you think it’s possible to just go in like that. Or rather, we’ll have no problem getting in, but getting out is another matter, especially if you need to get out fast. It’s a hell of a place to escape from. The country’s landlocked. And you can take your pick of troubled countries bordering it.’

  ‘We’ve been in
worse,’ said Cooper. ‘ Besides, the place is only slightly larger than Colorado.’

  Rosedale stubbed out his cigar in one of the unwashed coffee cups in the sink. ‘Listen to me, sugar. That area in the north of the country is desolate. It’s in the Sahel belt of Africa. Hot, dry and barren. It’s unsafe for many reasons, least of all the deteriorating security situation of Mali. The place is vulnerable, which would make us vulnerable. There’s no hiding. And we saw from what was on the USB key, and Greg’s imaging, that that particular area’s been cleared, which means there’s no going in there without being seen. It’s not even a starter. So whatever it is in your head, let it go.’

  87

  Bg4 Kg6

  An hour later, Cooper, still agitated, let the smoke rise up and over his face from his tenth cigarette in an hour. ‘I’ve just spoken to Eddie, and it’s like we thought. Senator Rubins’ hair strand has come back positive for scopolamine.’

  ‘Shit. I know we were expecting that, but it’s not good,’ Rosedale said.

  ‘When are we going to tell him?’

  ‘We’re not.’

  Cooper looked surprised. ‘He needs to know.’

  ‘I know he does, but not yet. We have less than twenty-four hours until Rubins picks up the phone to the person whose name keeps popping up over and over again in this whole picture.’

  ‘Chuck Harrison?’

  Not bothering to offer Cooper a drink from the Onyx fridge, Rosedale broke open a can of Red Bull. ‘Yeah. His name’s crawling all over this like bugs on a bed. He had the access to Bin Hamad, the knowledge of who held the other part of the code, and he was also Gibson’s station boss out in Khartoum. They are the facts. Period. Also my hunch is, and go with me on this one, Chuck was behind bringing Gibson back from Saudi.’

  ‘You think there was some kind of deal made?’

  ‘Absolutely. Maybe he arranged to give the family of the abused boys blood money, which is pretty common. And then once he does that, what Chuck has is a brilliant ex-CIA agent, who not only has to live in secret but is completely reliant on him. All the dirty jobs Chuck needs doing, including giving the scopolamine to Rubins, he gets Gibson to do. Probably not giving him any other choice. And all under the radar of the agency. By using Gibson, he can get jobs done which even in his position he’d struggle to get authorized.’

  Cooper walked over to the fridge and took out the only drink which was left – a battered can of Pepsi. ‘Go on.’

  ‘Chuck got Gibson to drug Rubins, and knowing his movements on that Friday, it was a pretty easy job – we now know how quick and easy it is to administer the stuff. He then takes him to Florida where Chuck probably meets him, then flies him out to the black site in Cuba and brings him back and Rubins is none the wiser. They obviously did their homework on Rubins. Gibson must’ve planted the vodka in Rubins’ house, knowing it was his poison, and knowing the blackouts from scopolamine gave similar effects to that of alcohol. So he wouldn’t suspect anything and he also wouldn’t be shouting about it to anybody thinking he’s had another relapse. But Gibson’s mistake was stopping off at the ATM. There’s no way I can believe Chuck knew about that or authorized it. Though Gibson probably didn’t realize that the ATM machine had a linked in camera, or he didn’t think about it. Desperation has a way of doing that to you.’

  Maddie who’d been sitting quietly, contemplating how and where and when Rosedale’s lip had been busted, said, ‘Desperation?’

  Rosedale nodded. ‘If, like I suspect, Chuck is behind this, then it’s him who Harry Gibson was reliant on. Like you said, for food, clothes, money. The whole thing. So perhaps what Harry Gibson did was make the most of an opportunistic moment.’

  With neither of the men offering her a drink, Maddie walked over to the fridge to find it empty. Making a mental note to chase up the ordering, she drew a glass of tap water. ‘It was hardly tens of thousands. Why risk it?’

  ‘Because what else did he have left in life apart from risk, Maddie? He was hiding out in the woods, and although it’s certainly better than a Saudi prison cell, like you said, it’s hardly a life. It’s a prison in itself. He probably hated what he was doing. So maybe knowing how hypnotic scopolamine is, Gibson took the risk by getting Rubins to withdraw money for him. I suspect he was then going to take his chances and head off somewhere far away from Chuck… Lie low until he can figure out what to do, or even just keep moving. Anywhere but here. That was until he got a bullet through his skull.’

  ‘You think Chuck was behind that?’ Cooper said.

  ‘Don’t you? Who knows, maybe Gibson was surplus to demands.’

  ‘But why did Chuck get him to do it?’

  Offhandedly, Rosedale touched and licked and sucked his lip. ‘Are you kidding? What’s wrong with you? You need me to paint it by numbers? Bin Hamad of course. He got Rubins to release Bin Hamad with him, because Chuck and Rubins arriving at the black site to take Bin Hamad somewhere, well nobody would’ve questioned it. Or talked about it. Or followed it up. Nothing. And if we hadn’t seen Bin Hamad, nobody would know because the setup of HS around him made the guy only accessible to the very few, and those very few would only be answerable to those who were right at the very top, if those at the very top ever found out.’

  Maddie nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah because why would they find out? And how could they find out, because nobody’s talking or saying anything. And it’s not like there are spot checks. And besides, the checks would go through Chuck. So really, to all intents and purposes, Chuck is his own master, unless something goes wrong. But he’s smart enough to make sure something doesn’t.’

  Rosedale winked at Maddie, making Cooper ruminate further. ‘But something did go wrong, because we know. What Chuck had on his side was the fact Bin Hamad has been sitting in a cell for a long time now – or he was, prior to this. So nobody’s thinking about him. Not the US government, and not the American people. They’ve moved onto the next thing. Therefore, as far as everybody is concerned, Bin Hamad is living out his days in whatever black site they put him in. Untroubled and troubling no-one. Like so many of the other prisoners held at black sites without trial.’

  Cooper stubbed out his cigarette angrily. ‘It’s you who needs the color by numbers. I get all that, what I don’t get – and clearly you don’t even get my question – is why. Why would Chuck Harrison release Bin Hamad? From what you tell me, and from what I know of him already, Chuck Harrison is a lot of things but he isn’t a double agent. This country means everything to him. His methods and his integrity might be as twisted as a coiled spring, but helping the other side is not on his agenda.’

  ‘I agree, Thomas, but I think that’s what we’ve got to properly find out… Which is why I want to go back to Virginia.’

  ‘What for?’ Maddie asked.

  ‘Harry Gibson was a CIA agent. And therefore he must have had a plan B. There’s always a plan B. Without question. Everyone in the CIA has one. So if we need to get out, we can. It’s what you’re trained to do. I’ve got one now. It’s a habit which stays with you long after you walk away from Langley. Working undercover and out in the field, you don’t know who to trust, so it’s part of the job to have an emergency escape plan. Money, details, weapons, false passport, even an L-pill, a lot of us who work in certain places and countries have that stored away somewhere.’

  ‘You’re talking about a suicide pill, right?’

  ‘Sure am. There are some places you just don’t want to spend a day in. Death has got its freedom… So what I’m saying is I reckon Gibson will have his plan B tucked away somewhere. If he does, then maybe there’s something in it to give us more answers than we have now.’

  ‘You think he had one, even though he was hiding out in the woods?’ Maddie said.

  ‘More of a reason for him to have one.’

  Cooper drank back the last drops of Pepsi. ‘For all the good it did him.’

  ‘Right, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have one. It just means he was taken b
y surprise. Or, more likely, he’d done what no CIA agent should do. He’d come to trust whoever it was who shot him. And in this case I think that was Chuck.’

  ‘But Chuck would know everyone has a plan B.’

  ‘You’re right, Thomas, and for all we know he found it and took it, if there was anything worth taking. But what if he didn’t? After all, he didn’t bother going in the cupboards and looking in those bleach bottles. Maybe Chuck’s arrogance has made him not be so vigilant. After all he doesn’t know we’re onto him. There’s a possibility he didn’t think Gibson would have one, or maybe he couldn’t find it. But I think it’s worth going to look and see.’

  Maddie raised her eyebrows. ‘A needle in a haystack comes to mind.’

  ‘Not really, because his plan B would’ve been hidden far enough away from the shack to make it covert, but near enough to get it if necessary. That’s why I think it was Chuck himself who pulled the trigger. Gibson would’ve been alert to anyone coming near that place, and there wasn’t any sign of a forced entry. The only thing was the broken window but that was too small to get through. I think he didn’t feel the need to be on high alert when Chuck was around. Like I say, I think to a certain point he trusted him. Then, bang… So we really need to go and find it if it’s there.’

  ‘Find what? And get your Goddamn feet off that table.’ Granger stood in the doorway, giving the three highly trained, highly skilled, ex-military a fright.

  Under his breath, Cooper muttered, ‘I thought you said he was away.’

  ‘What was that, Cooper? Surprise you, did I? Well, I’m glad I did, because now I want to know what you jokers are up to. It’s like walking in on a bunch of hyenas. Cackling and plotting away. Come on, let’s hear it. After all, in case you’ve forgotten, this is my business and you’re in my building and you’re sitting in my staff kitchen. So I think I deserve to know.’