“You guys didn’t. But the FBI did.” LT Cooper shifted his glance towards Edgar.
“How? Where?” Arya blurted out her questions in a rapid fashion.
Before LT could respond, there was a knock on the door. LT shifted his gaze towards it to find a Uni standing on the other side of the glass door.
LT stood up from his chair and motioned with his hands for the Uni to open the door.
“LT, there’s a call from a reporter to the switchboard, and he is asking to talk to you,” the Uni respectfully said. “It is regarding the shootout in Stoneridge.”
“Who is the reporter?”
The Uni proceeded to reveal the name of the reporter and the newspaper where he was employed. LT immediately recognized the reporter; he is widely respected in the police community for a series of articles he has written in the past, showcasing the life of a cop in a dangerous world.
“Patch it through,” LT said, raising from his chair.
“LT, it seems your phone is unreachable.” The Uni signaled towards LT’s desk phone.
Edgar noticed the phone was off the cradle, and he leaned forward to place it back correctly.
“Thanks, Edgar,” LT said before turning towards the Uni. “We good now?”
The Uni nodded. “Thanks, LT, we will have the call patched through,” he said before closing the door.
“Where were we?” LT turned towards Arya.
“Samir’s body,” Arya brought the focus back to where they left the conversation.
“Yes. Samir Tariq was definitely not one of the hijackers, but he was definitely on the wrong side of the law.”
Edgar and Arya nodded. Based on their investigation, they suspected that that would be the case. There were too many red flags.
“Whatever I am going to say stays in this room,” LT firmly said, eyeing both Arya and Edgar.
There was something in LT’s tone that raised the temperature of the room. Arya and Edgar felt it deeply in their bones as they nodded.
“Omar Al-Farooq was being tracked and watched.”
“By whom?” Arya rhetorically asked, even though she knew who that could be.
“FBI? Agent Taylor?” Edgar asked pointedly.
“CIA,” LT Cooper said slowly, stressing each syllable.
“CIA!” Edgar exclaimed. “When?”
“Should be before the attacks,” Arya uttered, peering into LT’s eyes as if to draw confirmation from him.
“Yes. What I was told is that Omar was considered a person of interest by the CIA.”
“How the hell was he not picked up?”
“Remember, I said CIA and not FBI. CIA has no jurisdiction to arrest people inside the country.”
“Shit. They should have told the FBI or us,” Edgar said with anger.
“They could. But we don’t know how much intelligence the CIA had on Omar. What I was told was that he slipped into the country using forged passports.”
“JTTF?”
“Yes. We will learn more in the months to come. Intelligence is flowing.”
“It should have…. Earlier.”
“Should have, would have, must have. We all know that Monday morning quarterbacking is easy and cheap. Hindsight is always 20/20. Instead of finger-pointing, we all need to do one thing now. Put all our focus and energy into stopping another attack.”
“Another attack?”
“Yes. CIA and FBI have intelligence that strongly indicates that follow up attacks were planned.”
“Jesus.” Edgar sank in his seat.
The phone in LT Cooper’s office started to ring loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Must be the reporter,” LT remarked as he went around the desk to get the phone.
“Jim,” LT answered the call by addressing the reporter by his first name, showing his familiarity and relationship with the hard-hitting reporter.
“I guess congratulations are in the order,” Jim Devine, the reporter, answered.
“Thanks, thanks.” LT smiled. “How did you know? Not many people know about the promotion.”
“Promotion,” Arya and Edgar whispered almost simultaneously. This was the first they had heard anything about LT being promoted.
“Had lunch with my wife, and she knows that we are friends.”
“I must have guessed it. You married well – the Chief’s sister.”
The back-and-forth conversations between LT Cooper and the reporter drew a blank face from Arya and Edgar. They both were completely in the dark. They had no idea about the promotion.
“It looks like LT is getting promoted,” Edgar whispered, leaning closer to Arya.
“This is the first I have heard of it,” Arya whispered.
“Okay, Jim. I know that you didn’t call me at this time of the day and wait fifteen minutes on the line to just wish me.” LT stopped smiling. “What is this really about?”
“Calling about Stoneridge.” Jim proceeded to drop a bomb. “My source is telling me that it was related to 9/11.”
“Where did you hear that?” LT blurted out grimly.
Arya and Edgar noticed the sudden change in LT’s demeanor. He became serious and highly concerned.
“Who is the source?” LT looked disturbed.
“Come on, Coop, you know I can’t tell you that. All I can say is that the source is highly reliable, and I trust the source.”
“Jesus! Look, Jim, I can’t confirm or deny. But….” LT let out a deep sigh. “I can’t emphasize this enough. This is literally a matter of national security, and I implore you not to print this story.”
“National security. What the hell is going on?” Edgar whispered.
Arya responded with a shrug to signal that she was equally in the dark.
“Coop – I am hearing that one of the people who was shot had links to the hijackers.”
“Hijackers? Who told you that?”
“Come on, Coop, I can’t divulge my sources. I am hearing that Feds have identified all the hijackers, and their pictures are being circulated to all the authorities. Are you saying that is not true?”
“Okay, Jim, I am going to play it straight with you. But this is strictly off the record.”
“Off the record, it is,” Jim confirmed that he understood.
“Your source is right. One of the people who got shot in Stoneridge might have ties to 9/11.”
“Might?” Jim pushed.
“This is too early in the investigation. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of agencies. All I can say is that there is a strong indication that the link could be true.”
“Okay, I can live with that. What about your two detectives? I heard they were the ones who tracked them down.”
“That is true. Arya Martins and Edgar James, two detectives from my precinct, were involved in the incident.”
Arya and Edgar looked surprised, hearing their names being mentioned in the call with the reporter.
“I heard one person died, and two people were arrested by the FBI.”
“Jesus, Jim. Who the hell is your source?” LT Cooper asked, feeling upset.
“Someone well connected,” Jim said with a half-smile.
“Jim – if you believe what you are saying, you know how sensitive this whole situation is. There is a massive inter-agency investigation going on, and you can’t print anything that would tip off these monsters.”
The emotional answer cut through to Jim Devine. He remained silent for the next thirty seconds, evaluating what he should do.
“Twenty-four hours, Coop. I can hold off for another twenty-four hours.”
“Jim, seriously? Twenty-four hours won’t be enough.” LT shifted the receiver from his right hand to his left. “I can’t stress the criticality! What you are printing could tip off the people we are trying to catch.”
“Coop, if I don’t print this, someone else would. The cat’s out of the bag.” With that as the parting remark, Devine hung up on LT Cooper.
43
�
�Twenty-four hours!” Agent Taylor bellowed; his voice was filled with frustration. “That is not much.”
“I know, Damien.” Cooper nodded in agreement. “I had to pull all the stops to get the story delayed by twenty-four hours. The reporter was hell-bent on going forward with it.”
“Damn it, Mike. This is going to blow up,” Agent Taylor fumed. “Who is the reporter? Do I know him?”
“You might have crossed paths with him. His name is Jim Devine; he is with….”
“I know Devine,” Agent Taylor interrupted. “Does he know that I am in charge?”
“No. I don’t think so….” LT Cooper hesitated as he replayed the conversation in his head. “I am certain that I did not disclose any operational details.”
“Good, good,” Agent Taylor retorted. “Let me call Jim; he owes me one.”
“That is good. Does Devine owe you big enough for him to kill or delay this story?”
For the first time, Agent Taylor let out a small smile. “Does saving one’s daughter buy you a big enough favor?”
“Jesus!” LT Cooper exclaimed. “When did that happen? I am tight with the guy, and he never said anything.”
“It is a long story, Mike. It happened almost ten years back when Jim was working in DC.”
“What the hell happened?”
“Some other day, Mike. We don’t have much time; let me call Jim before he gives the story to his editor,” Agent Taylor explained.
LT nodded, gesturing his agreement with Agent Taylor’s assessment.
Guessing the conversation was about to end, Arya stepped in front of LT’s vision and mouthed, “Sania.”
LT shook his head, gesturing that he can’t get in the middle of a federal investigation.
“Please,” Arya held her hands together, in front of her chest, as if she was pleading her case.
“Got to go, Mike.” Agent Taylor was about to conclude the call when LT Cooper raised Arya’s plea.
“Damien, one more thing,” LT Cooper started.
“What, Mike?”
Hearing the hesitation in Cooper’s voice, Agent Taylor asked, “Is it about those two?”
Cooper was not surprised that Taylor was able to accurately determine the cause of his hesitation. “Yeah….” He stretched the word.
“They are,” Agent Taylor caught himself from disclosing and asked, “Is someone with you?”
Arya shook her head, hoping that LT would not reveal her presence. She felt sure that Agent Taylor would not say anything further if he found out that she and Edgar were in the room.
LT Cooper took a deep breath and told the truth. “I have those two detectives, Edgar James and Arya Martins, in the room with me.”
Agent Taylor’s tone shifted immediately. “Am I on speaker?”
Before Cooper could respond, Agent Taylor jumped in. “Never mind; I know you wouldn’t do that without telling me upfront.”
LT Cooper felt good hearing Agent Taylor’s vote of confidence.
“Why don’t you put me on speaker, Mike,” Agent Taylor added.
“Taylor, you are on speaker,” LT Cooper said, as he lowered his receiver back to the cradle and pressed the keys to place Agent Taylor on the speakerphone.
“Detectives, let me start by saying that you guys did a good job on the field today.” Agent Taylor sounded like a man who was in charge.
“Thanks,” Edgar replied to the compliment.
Arya’s silence was immediately noticed by both LT and Agent Taylor. As LT gazed directly at Arya, she replied back. “Agent Taylor, where is Sania?”
“Straight to the point, Detective Martins. I like it when people act that way. Tariq and Berg both are in our custody.”
“Agent Taylor, I know for a fact that they never made it back to your field office.”
“I know. You talked to your friend, Agent Callahan,” Agent Taylor remarked, surprising Arya.
“How did you know that? You are not even from the Philly field office.”
“That is my job, Detective. And I am good at it,” Agent Taylor oozed confidence.
“Firstly, I did not say that they were in the local field office. If you heard me right, all I said was that they are in custody.”
“Where?”
“In a classified location.”
“You are making a mistake. Sania is not a terrorist,” Arya said, hearing Agent Taylor’s response. Hearing that Sania was taken to a classified location meant only one thing; the FBI believes that Sania was involved in the attacks.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, before Agent Taylor said in an even tone, “I know.”
The words from Agent Taylor sparked hope in Arya’s eyes. “You know. That is good. Why is she still in custody?”
“There is a lot about this case that you don’t know.”
“Can you…?” Before Arya could complete her question, Agent Taylor interrupted her.
“Detective, I don’t have much time to talk on the phone. We are in the middle of the biggest national security situation that this country has seen in quite some time.”
Arya could feel that she was about to get shut down, and she couldn’t think of anything that she could say to change the direction of the conversation. She felt desperate.
“I asked LT Cooper to put me on the speakerphone because I personally wanted to thank you both for your work. But now the time has come for me to go,” Agent Taylor said, as he checked the time on his watch.
“Wait, wait… Agent Taylor,” Arya blurted out. “I know both of them, Eli Berg and Sania Tariq. I can get them to tell me everything they know.”
“Detective, who said that they are not talking, and we needed help?”
That was the last card Arya had to play, and she was now left with nothing.
44
“Arya.” Edgar gently placed his right hand on Arya’s shoulders.
Arya, who sat crouched on her seat, lifted her gaze towards Edgar. “I will be fine.” She took a deep sigh and ran her hand over her face to collect herself.
“Agent Taylor did say that Sania is not a….” Edgar stopped himself as he looked around the squad room. The room was mostly deserted, and Edgar continued with the conversation after feeling sure that no one could overhear him. “Sania is not suspected of terrorism.”
“I know.” Arya let out a deep breath. “That is good, but….” She hesitated.
“What?” Edgar leaned in.
“I still have a lot of questions. What happened to Samir? Where did he die? How did he die? If not during the attack, who killed him?”
The question hung in the air for a few seconds before Edgar responded. “Does it matter?”
Edgar’s response seemed to have caught Arya off-guard; she was not expecting that reaction from Edgar.
“Hear me out.” Edgar pulled his chair closer to Arya and continued. “We now know Omar and those Culver City guys were involved in the 9/11 attacks.”
Arya’s gaze was firmly on Edgar as she listened to Edgar.
“Samir and Omar were in cohorts for a long time. We also know that Samir definitely met with Culver City guys before Omar met them.”
“Oh, shit!” Arya jumped up.
“What the hell happened?” Edgar was surprised by Arya’s sudden reaction.
“I know about the next attack.”
“What?” Edgar raised his brows in surprise.
“The theft. Marisomo theft. It is all connected.”
“You think…?” Edgar was trying to process what Arya meant.
“Yes. I think Omar smuggled some kind of chemical….”
“Chemical?”
“Chemical that could be used to cause mass casualties.”
“Biological?” Edgar asked. “Like the ones Saddam used in the Middle East?”
Arya nodded.
“What makes you think it is biological?”
“The aluminum case in the Marisomo theft. What could fit in that case that could cause mass casualty? Also,
remember the masks they had bought?”
Edgar quickly pulled Samir’s case file and skipped over to the financials. “Yes, you are right. They did not use the masks during the theft, but Samir bought masks and suits that could be used as a defense during the attacks.”
Arya shook her head. “I can’t believe that Sania was married to a terrorist.”
Edgar jumped up from the seat. “I think we need to get this to LT. I don’t think….”
“FBI knows. Agent Taylor knows.”
“What? How can you be sure of that?”
“I think that is why they are holding Sania and Eli. They are trying to figure out where Samir could have hidden that aluminum case.”
“You are right.” Edgar collapsed back in his chair.
At that moment, a sudden thought appeared in Arya’s mind. “Oh, my God!” Arya exclaimed so loudly that made a few heads turn towards their direction.
Arya raised her hand to gesture that everything is alright.
“What the hell happened?” Edgar asked.
“I think I know where the case is,” Arya declared, as she raised her phone and flipped it open.
“Where?” Edgar looked baffled. “What are you checking on the phone?”
“Photos,” Arya said, as she opened the gallery folder on her camera phone.
“What photos?” Edgar asked as he leaned in closer to Arya.
Arya quickly swiped through pictures without even looking at them. To Edgar, it appeared as though Arya knew precisely the photo she was looking for.
Edgar looked on silently as he didn’t want to interrupt Arya.
The wait was not that long as Arya landed on the picture that she wanted to examine.
“Oh, God. I am correct,” Arya said, staring at the picture she took in the JNC bank.
The picture showed the contents of Samir’s locker box, which he had opened in the JNC bank just before the Marisomo theft.
“Do you see it?” Arya asked, tilting the phone towards Edgar.
Edgar narrowed his eyes and took a closer look at the photo. The photo showed the locker box’s contents – multiple passports, cash, drawings, maps, scribbled notes, and a key.
When his eyes landed on the key, Edgar paused and lifted his gaze towards Arya.
The Hunt for Truth Page 24