Two Days in Caracas

by Luana Ehrlich

  As soon as we entered the room, Olivia picked up one of the documents and waved it in the air. “I just received the English translation of Ahmed’s conversation. There’s a lot for us to talk about here.”

  “Ben and I made it back safely, Olivia. Thank you for your concern.”

  She appeared unfazed by my sarcasm. “I never doubted it for a moment.” She pointed down at the laptop in front of her “I’m expecting an update from the Ops Center any minute. As soon as it comes in, we’ll get started.”

  I said, “I need to get something to drink first.”

  She pointed off to her left. “Help yourself. The kitchen’s that way.”

  When I entered the kitchen, I saw some lemons in a fruit bowl on the countertop and grabbed one. After removing a knife from the butcher block, I sliced it in half and squeezed the juicy pulp inside a tall glass. Once I’d filled it with cold water and thrown in a few ice cubes, I dropped the lemon halves on top of the ice and gave it a stir.

  After taking several big gulps, I stepped out on the patio and called Carlton.

  * * * *

  He answered on the first ring.

  “Make it quick,” he said.

  “What’s your assessment?”

  “You’re on the ground, what’s yours?”

  “Ahmed didn’t travel to Venezuela to take out a president or Luckenbill or some foreign dignitary attending the trade conference. He came here to kill Roberto Montilla, and I believe Roberto knows that now. That’s why he’s on the run or gone to ground somewhere. When he got the news about Ernesto, he must have realized his son died by Ahmed’s hand, and he knew he and his family could be next.”

  “Interesting theory.”

  “What’s yours?”

  “I concur with your assessment.”

  “So why did you call it a theory?”

  “While the conversation between Ahmed and Zaidi seemed to indicate Roberto could be Ahmed’s target, that’s not certain. Hence, it’s just a theory. But, if Ahmed has traveled to Venezuela to take out a trade minister, then you need to find out why someone would want him eliminated. Personally, I believe it has something to do with those storage facilities.”

  “But you agree with my theory?”

  “Yes. I’m operating on the assumption Ahmed is in Venezuela to fulfill a contract to assassinate Roberto Montilla. That’s why your priority must be to get to Roberto before Ahmed does and determine what’s going on with him. You also need to find out more about those storage facilities. When you meet up with Roberto, you should leverage your ability to protect him from Ahmed as a means of obtaining information on those sites.”

  “We need to find Roberto first.”

  “The last I heard, the analysts were getting very close to sending Olivia an address on his location. She may have it already.”

  “She said she was expecting some updates from the Ops Center. Maybe she’s got it by now. As to Rehman Zaidi’s apartment in Caracas—”

  “I just sent her the address of Zaidi’s apartment in Caracas.”

  I decided not to ask him how he found the address, because I thought I already knew the answer to that question. Instead, I asked him something far more important.

  “Do you trust her, Douglas? Do you trust Olivia?”

  I heard him take a deep breath before answering me.

  “Yes, Titus, I trust her completely. I know you still have your doubts, but, in the long run, you’d be better off if you kept an open mind about her.”

  When we ended the call, I went back inside wondering what I’d done to make both Carlton and Sally Jo think I was such a closed-minded person.

  * * * *

  Olivia looked up as I entered the dining room, and when she noticed my lemon water, a smile flickered across her face. “I see you still haven’t lost your taste for that stuff.”

  I raised my glass as if offering her a toast. “Easy to make and available anywhere in the world.”

  She picked up her coffee mug and took a sip. “Sounds like you’re describing coffee to me.”

  When she set the mug back down, she gave me a why-don’t-you-challenge-me-on-that-statement kind of look. But, since I was trying to keep an open mind about her, I told myself I was probably wrong about what her defiant look actually meant.

  I asked her, “What’s the update from the Ops Center? Have they located Roberto yet?”

  “I’ll get to that in a moment.”

  She raised her voice and addressed Mitchell and Wylie, who were standing by the windows at the far end of the room. “Gentlemen,” she said, “let’s get started.”

  As soon as Mitchell and Wylie sat down, Olivia handed out a transcript of the conversation between Ahmed and Zaidi. I knew the English translation had come from an Arabic speaker at Langley, because Olivia didn’t speak a word of Arabic.

  I glanced at it for a few seconds. Then, I laid it aside and said, “There’s nothing in this translation about what Ahmed and Zaidi said after I left the yacht.”

  Olivia said, “That’s because the conversation ended when Ahmed thought he heard someone in the passageway. I’m guessing that noise was you making your getaway.”

  Wylie laughed. “Next time, partner, try removing your spurs. They cause an awful racket on a boat.”

  Mitchell snickered.

  I nodded. “I appreciate the tip, Sam.”

  Olivia glanced down at her notes and said, “First things first. What seems apparent from this conversation is that someone has hired Ahmed Al-Amin to assassinate Roberto Montilla. You’ll be interested to know both Douglas and C. J. agree with me. If anyone here disagrees with this assessment, speak up. Otherwise, the rest of this operation will be built on that assumption.”

  She looked around the table.

  No one said anything.

  “Fine. Anyone want to comment about the time crunch Ahmed says he’s under?”

  She studied the transcript for a second. “He says, ‘There are only two days left on the timetable. If it’s not done by then, I won’t get paid.’”

  I said, “Ahmed was delayed several days in Costa Rica while waiting for his passport to arrive, but anyone who’s willing to hire a man like Ahmed isn’t someone who’s willing to listen to that kind of excuse, so Ahmed is probably worried he won’t get paid. He may have accepted a certain portion of his fee upfront, and the rest of it is contingent upon his fulfilling the contract by a certain deadline. That deadline must be two days from now.”

  Olivia turned to Wylie. “Sam, tell Titus and Ben what you told me about Rehman Zaidi.”

  Wylie recited the same information he’d given me earlier about Zaidi and the Campamento Laguna training camp.

  He said, “I’m not surprised Zaidi is the person responsible for supplying Ahmed with a weapon. What surprises me is his relationship with Ahmed.”

  Olivia nodded. “He seems to be Ahmed’s subordinate. Is that what you mean?”

  “Yes, ma’am. To me he sounded deferential toward Ahmed.”

  Wylie read from the transcript. “Zaidi says to Ahmed, ‘I would be most honored if you would stay at my apartment while you’re in Caracas.’”

  Wylie shook his head. “He’d be honored. It’s as if Ahmed is some kind of holy man to Zaidi.”

  I said, “That’s because he is. To a jihadist like Rehman Zaidi, anyone who has Ahmed’s reputation as a killing machine is considered someone to be revered.”

  Olivia said, “Speaking of Zaidi’s apartment; you may remember Douglas was looking into the occupants of that apartment complex Ernesto had marked on the map. Once he heard Ahmed say he knew where Apartment 1705 was located, Douglas checked the residents’ roster and found Apartment 1705 is occupied by Rehman Zaidi.”

  Although I had also wondered if there was a tie-in with Zaidi’s apartment and the Avenida Francisco address, I kept quiet about it and let Carlton get the credit for this observation.

  I said, “I suspect Ernesto could have met Zaidi during his first visit to Damas
cus at the same time he became acquainted with Ahmed. Maybe he marked Zaidi’s apartment because the two of them planned to get together when he came home.”

  Olivia nodded. “I’ve instructed the Agency analysts to begin mining the data stream for that information. We also need to understand why someone would want Roberto Montilla dead. Whether it was the Revolutionary Guard in Iran or Assad in Syria, whoever hired Ahmed must have considered Roberto a threat of some nature, and it may be in America’s interests to find out why.”

  Olivia gestured toward me. “Titus, you made a good call when you said the embassy should inform Roberto of his son’s death. When he heard about Ernesto this morning, he probably suspected Ahmed was responsible and realized he and his family could be next. Now, his actions have caused Ahmed to panic, and that means when Ahmed goes after Roberto, we should be able to nab him before he makes the hit.”

  I was surprised at Olivia’s compliment, but I tried not to show it.

  Mitchell asked, “Has Langley located Roberto yet?”

  Wylie said, “My boys found Montilla’s vehicle on three traffic videos. It shows Roberto was headed to the Campo Alegre area of Caracas.”

  Olivia nodded. “Right. We have an address now. We believe Roberto is at his sister-in-law’s house. Her name is Roxanna Palacio. This is Marianna’s sister, and we discovered Marianna made some calls from her cell phone this morning from that address. Those calls, along with the traffic videos, made it possible for the Ops Center to triangulate her location.”

  Olivia hit some keystrokes on her laptop and then gestured at Wylie. “I’ve just sent you the address. We need twenty-four-hour surveillance at that location immediately.”

  Wylie got up from the table. “If you’ll excuse me, ma’am, I’ll go make those arrangements.”

  I shook my head as Wylie left the room. “This isn’t good. If we can find Roberto, then so can Zaidi. He told Ahmed he has plenty of sources he can use to locate him.”

  Mitchell asked, “Are you sure Roberto is even at this location? He could have dropped off his wife and daughter and gone somewhere else.”

  That’s good, Ben. Look for the loopholes. Consider the possibilities.

  Olivia was preoccupied by something on her computer, and when she answered Mitchell’s question, she sounded dismissive. “Nothing’s certain at this point, Ben.”

  Mitchell looked over at me and shrugged.

  “Olivia,” I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice, “Ben has a valid point.”

  Olivia tore herself away from her computer and looked over at me. “I never said he didn’t have a valid point.”

  I said, “So Roberto’s wife made some phone calls from her sister’s house. That doesn’t mean Roberto is staying there. We need something more concrete than suppositions.”

  “I agree,” she said. “That’s why I was just requisitioning a UAV to be positioned over that location. It should be in place within the hour. If nothing else, the drone will at least give us the heat signatures from everyone inside that house.”

  Her response took me by surprise.

  “I had no idea you were ordering up a drone.”

  Olivia smiled at my admission—a really big smile—and said, “This isn’t my first rodeo, you know.”

  At that moment, Wylie walked back in the room. “Did someone mention a rodeo?”

  * * * *

  After Wylie resumed his seat, he told Olivia he’d ordered a surveillance crew over to the address on Avenida Los Jardines to keep an eye on Roxanna Palacio’s residence. He assured Olivia she’d be the first to know the moment he heard back from his boys.

  Just as Wylie was finishing up his report, Olivia’s cell phone rang. After a brief conversation, she hung up and announced she’d chartered a plane to fly us from Margarita Island to Caracas in a few hours.

  “Once we arrive in Caracas,” Olivia said, “we’ll be taken to the embassy where I’ll contact the Ops Center and get an update on Roberto. By that time, we should know whether he’s staying at his sister-in-law’s house or not.”

  She nodded at me. “Titus, if Roberto is at the house on Los Jardines, then you and Ben will pay him a visit.” Olivia looked over at Wylie, “Sam, you’ll take care of Ahmed. The moment he—”

  “Just to clarify,” I said, interrupting her. “What exactly does take care of Ahmed mean?”

  “It means Sam will be part of the surveillance team outside Zaidi’s apartment, and he’ll let you know if your conversation with Roberto is about to be interrupted by Ahmed.”

  “Don’t worry,” Wylie said to me. “I won’t lay a finger on Ahmed. When that time comes, he’s all yours.”

  “Or mine,” Mitchell muttered under his breath.

  Olivia gave no indication she’d heard Mitchell’s remark. “Sam,” she said, “as soon as you’re on site, you should have someone from your team get inside Zaidi’s apartment and plant the listening devices. We need to know what Zaidi and Ahmed are discussing, and how close they are to locating Roberto.”

  “Won’t be a problem,” Wylie said. “The two guys keeping an eye on the yacht tonight will be on the plane with Ahmed tomorrow, and they’ll let me know the minute he lands. As long as no one’s in the apartment, we should have plenty of time to wire the place before Ahmed gets there.”

  I said, “We’ll need to make arrangements to remove Roberto from his sister-in-law’s house. I want him isolated when I question him tomorrow. His wife, his daughter, or any other family members shouldn’t be around when I do that.”

  “I’ll work out the logistics once the surveillance team is in place, and we start receiving images from the drone.”

  Olivia glanced down at her watch. “We have three hours before we need to be at the airport for our eleven o’clock flight. I’ve already informed the desk clerk at the Wyndham that Mr. Awerbuch and his party will be flying to Caracas this evening to pay a visit to the embassy, but we still need to return to the hotel and change clothes. Why don’t the three of you go back there now, and I’ll wrap things up here.”

  I walked with Mitchell and Wylie to the front door, but, when Wylie went to grab his messenger bag out of the hall closet, I said to Mitchell, “I need to clarify some things with Olivia, so why don’t you ride back to the hotel with Sam, and I’ll meet you there later.”

  Mitchell handed me the keys to the rental car. “Are you sure you and Olivia don’t need a referee?”

  I was hoping an intercessor would be sufficient.

  Chapter 37

  I walked back down the hallway to the dining room and found Olivia still sitting at the table, but she wasn’t working on anything. She had her head down, massaging the back of her neck, as if she might be nursing a sick headache.

  She didn’t react when I came in, so I stood there a moment and tried to decide whether I should disturb her or not.

  Seconds later, she sensed my presence.

  “You startled me,” she said, suddenly looking up at me. “I thought you’d left with the others.”

  “I told them I’d meet them back at the hotel later.”

  “Why?”

  Although I knew talking to Olivia was going to be hard, I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be until I finally found myself alone with her.

  I froze for a moment.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked. “I saw some eggs in the kitchen. I could make us an omelet.”

  She looked surprised. “You stayed here to cook for me?”

  I shook my head. “No, not really. I stayed here so I could talk to you about something, but I think both of us need to eat something first. You used to love my omelets.”

  “They were okay I guess.” She nodded. “Sure, go fix us something to eat. Don’t put too much butter in mine, though. I won’t eat it if you do.”

  When I started out the door, she called after me. “I’m glad you stayed. I also need to talk to you about something.”

  I tried to keep an open mind about what that might be.
>
  * * * *

  Once I’d prepared the omelets, I took the plates outside and placed them on a glass-topped table beside the swimming pool. As I turned to go back inside, I spotted Olivia watching me from the window in the dining room.

  I motioned for her to come outside.

  She disappeared from view and reappeared on the patio a few minutes later with a fresh cup of coffee in her hand.

  She walked over and looked down at her plate. “I’ll never be able to eat all of that.”

  “I see your eating habits haven’t changed. Just leave it. I’ll eat what you don’t want.”

  “Your eating habits haven’t changed either.”

  She sat down and took a small bite. “Not bad. A little salty, though.”

  “I didn’t add any extra salt.”

  We ate in silence for a few minutes, and then I said, “I just remembered. Toby Bledsoe fixed me an omelet the night before he died.”

  “I never knew Toby.”

  “He was a good man.”

  “That’s what everyone says when someone dies, especially a station chief who’s been killed in action.”

  “In Toby’s case, it was true, and I believe Ben really cared about him.”

  Olivia pushed her plate aside, and said, “Let’s talk now.”

  I shoved one last bite in my mouth. “Um ... sure, but I’d like to go first.”

  “No, I want to go first. And, since you brought him up, I’ll start with Ben.”

  “You wanted to discuss Ben with me?”

  She nodded. “He’s the reason I’m in country with you. He’s the reason I got assigned as the FO for this mission.”

  After Olivia made this statement, she sat back in her chair and looked at me.

  For some reason, I had the feeling she was enjoying my confusion.

  I said, “I assume you’re about to explain yourself.”

  “You sound angry.”

  “I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with myself. I was preoccupied with someone ... I should say some family matters, when I got back to Langley, and if I hadn’t been distracted, I might have questioned Douglas about your role in the operation.”