The enemy, p.2
The Enemy, page 2
Katrina and Jason were three years old. They were watched over by the eagle eye of Anna Montalbono. Anna had started out as a live-in nanny and become an indispensable friend. It didn’t hurt that she could use a Glock almost as well as Selena.
Anna carried a pistol because Nick and Selena had made a lot of enemies over the years. Some had managed to get past the security and inside the loft. It was another reason they were thinking of leaving the city. They’d both had enough of the deteriorating environment, high crime rate, and constant focus on politics that came with living in the nation’s capitol. Good restaurants and historic monuments weren’t enough to make up for it.
Selena and Valentina were at the kitchen counter, drinking coffee. Wisps of steam rose from their cups. At first glance, the two women didn’t look much like sisters. A closer look revealed the similarities between them.
Valentina was the result of a forbidden liaison between two spies. Selena’s father had been CIA, stationed in West Berlin during the Cold War. Valentina’s Russian mother was a KGB agent assigned to seduce him. In spite of both governments having harsh penalties against fraternizing with the enemy, the two had begun an affair. Both had been recalled, but not before Valentina’s mother became pregnant. She’d refused to abort the child.
When her mother was killed a few years later, Valentina became a ward of the state. Her intelligence and physical beauty were quickly noted. She was chosen for training as a seductress and assassin. A twist of fate brought Selena and Valentina together before they knew they were sisters. It was only later that Valentina defected to the West.
Selena was taller by a few inches. Her hair was reddish blonde, cut short. Valentina’s was dark brown, thick and long, usually kept in a ponytail. Selena’s eyes were a striking deep blue color that was usually violet. Valentina’s were a cold green. Looking into her eyes was like looking out at the Arctic steppes, the home of her ancestors.
Both women gave off a strong vibe that warned predators away. Both had high cheekbones, one slightly higher than the other. The flaw made their looks interesting and kept them from falling into the trap of too much beauty. That didn’t stop people from turning to look at them wherever they went.
“Morning, Hon. Val, you look a little the worse for wear.”
There were deep shadows under Valentina’s eyes. She kept her hands wrapped around her coffee cup.
“I was at Little Odessa,” she said. “I meet nice man there. We have drinks.”
Little Odessa was a bar near Dupont Circle that claimed its bartenders could mix a hundred varieties of vodka drinks. Valentina looked like she had tried to sample most of them.
“That explains it.”
“I think she’s in love,” Selena said.
“Ha, ha,” Valentina said. “You are very funny, sister.”
Nick poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Harker called. She wants us to come in right away. She said she couldn’t reach you, Val.”
“I lose my phone. Maybe I find later. It is not important.”
“What does she want us for?” Selena said
“How would I know? She said Ronnie and Lamont are on their way.”
“I thought Ronnie was in Arizona and Lamont was down in Florida. If she called in the whole team, it must be important.”
“It’s always important. Where are the monsters?”
“I wish you wouldn’t call them that. Anna took them to the park. It’s going to be over a hundred today. She wanted to get there while it was still cool.”
Washington in August wasn’t high on anyone’s vacation list.
Nick drained his coffee.
“We should get moving.”
“Give me ten minutes,” Selena said.
“That works. Gives me time to make some toast.”
Twenty minutes later they were on their way to Virginia.
Chapter 4
Nick turned in past a stone pillar set with a brass plaque announcing the Harker Group and followed the drive to the house. The building was a classic example of federal style architecture. Across from the entrance, a large fountain sprayed water into the air. A dusty black Hummer, Elizabeth’s Audi, and a Cadillac were parked in the lot. Selena looked at the Caddy.
“I see Ronnie’s here. Isn’t that Clarence Hood’s car?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Nick said.
They climbed the steps and went in. Harker’s office was straight ahead across a high atrium. On the right, a curving staircase climbed to a second floor balcony, where a large oil painting of Cornwallis surrendering to Washington overlooked the space below.
Elizabeth was behind her desk. Ronnie Peete and Lamont Cameron sat on a long leather couch facing her. Clarence Hood was in a chair to her right. To her left, Stephanie Willits sat at a rolling computer console. Stephanie was Elizabeth’s deputy and resident computer genius. She looked up as they came into the room. Gold bangles jingled around her left wrist as she waved at them.
“Hi, guys.”
Stephanie maintained a Cray supercomputer located in another part of the building. She’d tweaked the machine far beyond its normal specs, designing a program of artificial intelligence which gave the big Cray a unique personality. Over time, the computer had become an active part of the team.
Steph had named him Freddie. Freddie was capable of independent thought and processed data and information far faster than the human brain. He’d helped them out of bad situations more than once.
“Here comes trouble,” Lamont said, as Nick and the others came in.
“Been a while,” Ronnie said. “What’s the haps, Nick? Hi, Val.”
Elizabeth tapped her pen on her desk. “Have a seat.”
Nick, Selena, and Valentina sat down next to the others.
“Now that we’re all here, we can begin. You all know Clarence. Before I start, this is one of those times when I need to remind you that we no longer have the protection we enjoyed when President Rice was in the White House.”
“That’s nothing new,” Nick said. “Why are you telling us now?”
“Clarence has come to me with something none of us are supposed to know about. It’s classified and it’s tricky. If we get involved, we’re getting right in the face of some powerful people who have a lot invested in not doing anything about it.”
“What people?”
“The kind of people who put money and personal power ahead of country,” Elizabeth said.
“Oh, those kind of people. Now you’ve got me interested, Director.”
“Nick, I’m serious. This could create a lot of trouble for us. We could all go to prison for treason.”
“Director,” Ronnie said. “Why don’t you just tell us what it is you want us to do?”
“Ronnie’s right,” Nick said. “Consider us duly warned and tell us what’s going on.”
“I told you that would be their reaction,” Clarence said.
“I didn’t doubt it,” she said. “I just thought everyone should know the consequences if this blows up in our faces.”
She paused.
“Okay. A week ago, Langley inserted an operative deep into Iranian territory, inside a highly secured area. Nobody knows what they’re doing there, but it seemed important enough to try and find out. Our man was being monitored live while he was in the field. He took the video I’m about to show you before his signal disappeared. He never made it back to his extraction point. We assume he’s captured or dead.”
“Was it worth it?” Ronnie asked.
“Judge for yourself. Watch the monitor.”
Elizabeth played the video. When it was done, nobody said anything for a moment. Nick broke the silence.
“What killed the animals and those people?”
“We don’t know,” Clarence said. “Whatever it is, it’s nasty stuff. Tehran is planning something, but the people who want to find out what it is have been overridden by the White House. The current administration is playing footsie with the mullahs. It’s politically inconvenient to do anything that might upset the apple cart.”
“Like blowing the whistle on an Iranian WMD?” Selena said.
Hood nodded. “Like that.”
“I’ll never understand these people,” Ronnie said.
“You, and a lot of others,” Nick said.
“We don’t know what Tehran is doing, but there’s someone who does,” Elizabeth said. “That’s what we need to talk about.”
GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE.
The computer voice boomed through the office. Selena winced.
“Damn it, Freddie, turn the volume down,” Elizabeth said.
Sorry, Director. I have adjusted the volume.
“Have you been listening, Freddie?”
I am always listening.
“Put up a photo of Jahleh Kezri on the monitor, please.”
Of course, Elizabeth. I am happy to oblige.
The photograph was of a middle-aged woman wearing a tight fitted hajib that covered her hair and left only her face visible. It had been taken at long distance as she entered an official looking building. Men in the uniform of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard stood at attention on either side of the entrance. The camera had caught her turning to look at something over her shoulder. She looked stressed.
“This is Doctor Jahleh Kezri,” Elizabeth said. “She’s a researcher in Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. The public face of the ministry is primarily concerned with health and education. They run the hospitals, the universities, things like that.”
“I take it she’s not part of that public image,” Nick said.
“Definitely not.”
“Why are we looking at her?”
“Doctor Kezri is one of the two or three top people worldwide in the field of neuroscience. She wants to defect. The last thing the White House wants is an important Iranian scientist turning up on talk shows telling us what she knows.”
“They know she wants to defect but they’re not going to do anything about it?” Selena asked.
“That’s right.”
“Then she’s at risk. If people here know about her, it won’t be long before there’s a leak and word gets back to Tehran.”
“Right again.”
“I see where this is going,” Nick said. “You want us to extract her before the mullahs string her up by her thumbs.”
“That’s the mission in a nutshell,” Elizabeth said, “should you choose to accept.”
Nick and Ronnie groaned.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth said, “I just couldn’t resist.”
“Oh boy,” Lamont said. “All that’s missing is the corny music.”
Valentina looked confused.
“Excuse me, why should be music?”
Selena smiled. “Never mind, Val. I’ll explain later.”
“It may not be impossible,” Elizabeth said, “but it’s not going to be easy. One thing we have going for us is a secure channel of communication with her.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to know anything about this?” Nick said.
“Did I say that? Yes, I suppose I did. But Clarence still has a deep connection into Langley.”
“You mean Lucas, don’t you?” Selena said.
Lucas Monroe was Stephanie’s husband. He’d been a field operative for years and was a legend within the agency. Under Hood he’d risen to Director of Clandestine Operations, the first black man to reach that powerful position. He still held the post, but it was only a matter of time before he was fired.
“You’re free to speculate, but you didn’t hear that from me,” Clarence said. “What’s important is that we can get a message to Kezri. I don’t know how long that will last. Iran’s counterintelligence is excellent. She could be exposed at any moment. We have to assume the window of time to get her out is closing.”
“Isn’t the ministry where she works in Tehran?” Selena asked.
“Yes.”
“No way we get her out of Tehran,” Nick said. “She’s going to have to meet us somewhere. Is she allowed to travel? Can she leave the country?”
“She’s important and she’s watched. She won’t be allowed to leave, but she’s free to move about inside the country.”
“Freddie,” Elizabeth said. “Let’s see a map of Iran.”
Please specify what kind of map you would like to see, Elizabeth. I have over three hundred and seventy-six different maps of Iran in my database, going back to the days of ancient Persia. Would you like to see a map of the area during the era of Alexander the Great?
“No thanks, Freddie. Just a current map will be fine.”
As you wish.
A map of modern Iran appeared on the screen.
“Freddie sounds disappointed,” Lamont said.
“He likes to show off his database,” Stephanie said.
“Can this woman get to the border, Director?” Nick asked. “Turkey, or even Iraq? I don’t think we can extract her in country and get away with it.”
“There aren’t many options,” Elizabeth said. “The border with Iraq is heavily guarded. Same thing with Turkey. I don’t think either one of those is a good bet. Neither is Afghanistan or Pakistan. Nobody in that area is our friend.”
“Then we have to get her out by water. The Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, or the Gulf of Oman. Maybe someplace where people go for a break. A resort, a hotel on the beach, that kind of thing. She could take a vacation. Once she’s near the water, we can come get her.”
“We could stage from Kuwait,” Ronnie said. “If she could get to a place on the northern end of the Persian Gulf, it’s a short run from there.”
“That area is crawling with military bases and installations.”
“I don’t like the Caspian Sea for pickup,” Lamont said. “You really want to try and stage from Turkmenistan or Azerbijan?”
“Not ideal.”
“If we don’t go from Kuwait or one of the Arab states, all that’s left is the Gulf of Oman,” Selena said. “If she could get to one of the towns in the southeast corner of the country, that might work. I see two possibilities on that map, Jask and Chabahar.”
“Jask is close to the Straits of Hormuz,” Ronnie said. “Another with a strong military presence.”
“That leaves Chabahar,” Nick said.
Elizabeth watched the back-and-forth. She’d learned long ago to let Nick and the team brainstorm missions. She trusted their experience.
“Where would we leave from?” Selena asked.
“India,” Lamont said. He pointed at the map. “If Kezri could get to Chabahar, or somewhere close by, we could stage from Kandla in India. It’s a port and it’s not too far to Chabahar if we have a good boat.”
“Yeah,” Nick said, “but those are Pakistani waters. They’re bound to have patrol boats right where we want to go. What are we going to do, pretend we’re local fishermen?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time we played hide and seek with them.”
“Be a lot simpler if we could put her on a plane to Rome,” Lamont said.
“Why Rome?” Ronnie asked.
“They have great pizza.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Lamont, Rome is not an option.”
“Just saying.”
Selena had been looking at the map.
“I think we should go from Kuwait,” she said.
“What’s your reasoning?” Nick asked.
“Look at the distance we have to travel if we leave from India. It’s a long stretch through hostile waters. Lots of patrol boats. If we go that way, we’d need something like a fishing boat. That makes it certain radar would pick us up. Someone would intercept us. If we stage from Kuwait, we could do it in a zodiac. Low radar profile, harder to spot, maneuverable.”
“This is going to be a high risk op,” Nick said. “I want you onshore for that part of the mission.”
“You speak Farsi?”
Nick looked uncomfortable. “Well...”
“I rest my case.”
“Damn it, Selena...”
“It’s not up for discussion. You know I’m right.”
“I think Selena’s got the right idea,” Lamont said. “A quick in and out, below the radar. Looks a lot better to me than the India option. I know those waters. We did a training exercise with the Kuwaitis there, back when.”
Lamont had been a Navy SEAL. There wasn’t much he didn’t know about boats, weapons, water, and survival. The pink scar that ran across his forehead and down the side of his face was the aftermath of a SEAL mission in Iraq.
“Ronnie?” Nick said.
“I’m with Lamont. Kuwait looks like the best bet.”
“Can we get their cooperation?”
“I have good contacts in Kuwait,” Clarence said. “I can make sure you get a smooth entry into the country.”
“We need weapons.”
“Take what you need with you, but keep it simple. I’ll have to bring in someone on the Kuwaiti side to get you through customs.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“You won’t get weapons in without local help, and you can’t obtain them there. It’s the only way. You’ll have to trust me on this.”
“There isn’t much time to get this done,” Elizabeth said. “Every day that goes by increases the risk she’ll be arrested.”
“Director, we walk into this without the right prep and nobody is going to come back.”
“How much time do you need?”
Nick thought about it.
“How long will it take to contact her and get a response?”
“A day,” Clarence said. “Maybe two.”
“Okay. Let’s say it’s a day. Once she knows were coming for her, she has to find a way to travel from Tehran or wherever she is to the extraction point. We don’t know how long that’s going to take. She has to follow directions exactly. There has to be a way for her to let us know when she’s ready for us to come get her. Otherwise, this isn’t going to work. Assuming no problems, we can be waiting for her signal in Kuwait.”
Nick tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch, thinking.
