at Holly as I spoke.
“On my orders. Nobody else’s. I get that some neo-Nazi group is running around with C-4, but there’s a terrorist cell here, and it’s tied to that imam. I’m asking as a favor. Please. You only have to stick with Baltimore, where he flew in. Just cover the last four days. Maybe something will give me a handle on the guy.”
Vic said, “You can’t do anything domestically anyway. What’s the point?”
“Just do it, please. Nobody else is looking, and you guys have the experience. I understand it’ll cost some time for a team overseas, but this is important.”
I saw both of them look at each other, mulling it over.
Holly said, “We can give you the rest of the day, but we can’t do anything more. Sorry.”
Vic scowled, saying, “Bullshit. You want to do that, you’re on your own. I’ve got enough work.”
I broke into a grin. “Thanks, Holly. All I want to do is get whatever you find into the law enforcement system. You find some links, and they’ll do the work. Nobody’s looking right now because of A.P. Hill, and that imam’s the key to something a hell of a lot worse than a bunch of redneck racists.”
64
Rafik watched Carl load the dummy EFP with clay and set the blasting cap, then duplicate the sighting procedures, exactly as he had been taught by Farouk. His military experience was paying off, since he already knew about the dangers of the blasting cap and how to use the M57 firing device.
In fact, Rafik was surprised at how quickly all his prison recruits picked up the theory behind the EFPs. After the A.P. Hill hit, he’d separated the men, sending them to different hotels and bringing them individually to Keshawn’s Baltimore warehouse to be trained. He’d planned two full days for the train-up, but Carl was the second recruit through today, and both had taken a quarter of the time he had allocated. He was somewhat taken aback by their calm acceptance of the mission, without any questions on the manner of the attack. There was something different in the Americans that he couldn’t pinpoint. He’d spent countless hours training Arab recruits, and invariably they always needed a massive amount of time to fully comprehend what they were trying to do, as if they were going through the motions but not assimilating why. He had seen students do things with blasting caps that would be catastrophic in an uncontrolled environment, with the men acting nonchalant, firmly believing that Allah would protect them.
He believed in Allah as much as anyone he had taught, but it was a trial trying to get the men he trained to understand that Allah wouldn’t save them if they made a mistake. It required repetitive instruction until they grasped the concepts, something that didn’t seem to be an issue here.
He’d scheduled a full day of training per team, but after seeing them in action at A.P. Hill, he’d gone to two a day, with Carl the second one through. Now he was thinking he could train all four in a single day and begin the assault tomorrow morning, shaving three full days off of their timeline. Three days that they would need, given the media frenzy surrounding the stolen explosives.
I left the secret cell and went up to the fourth floor to help the guys unload the kit we had used. I should have taken Jennifer and beat feet out of the building, but I needed to give the cell some time to find what I wanted. I knew if Kurt discovered us here, he’d blow a gasket. I was under no illusions about which straw I was placing on the camel’s back.
The inventory was menial work, but necessary. We’d have to ensure we hadn’t lost anything, then make sure it all still functioned correctly, so the next team could pull it out of a locker knowing it would work as intended. It was a gray area as to what would happen if the stuff was screwed up or missing, since I had been the team leader, but I was no longer a Taskforce operator. Another complication for an ex-operator running a front company. Especially since this ex-operator just ran a bunch of missions with national implications for presidential authority.
Kurt or the Oversight Council hadn’t thought about it yet due to events, but I had. Sooner or later our company was going to need its own special oversight, to protect both them and us. A mandate that said it was okay for us to do more than the other cover organizations. All they ever did was facilitate the infiltration of an area. They never interfered in the action, leaving that to the operators on the ground. My company was different, with implications I hadn’t considered when I’d built it.
Jennifer saw me come in and said, “What did you do?”
“Nothing. Just trying to get a handle on the imam. That’s all.”
Decoy said, “Pike, I don’t know what you’ve got in mind, but leave it alone. We don’t do domestic operations. There’s a reason for that. You ever hear of posse comitatus?”
I bristled. “Don’t tell me what this taskforce does or doesn’t do. I was taking out terrorists in this organization while you were still sweating through hell week.”
Retro cut in. “Whoa, hang on. What’s that about? He’s only saying what we all feel. Pike, you know I’d follow you into hell and back, but you’ve made a few decisions lately which were a little loose.”
He dropped the case he was inventorying, holding up his hands. “You’ve done okay so far, but we’re back at home now. Back under Taskforce control. It’s time to get back to what’s right, you know what I mean?”
I knew exactly what he meant: I was no longer an operator, and thus was no longer in charge. He was telling me to back off and let the “real” operators take over. It hurt a great deal, exposing another wrinkle related to our little business. Good enough to get the job done under duress, but no longer worth a seat at the table when it was over.
“Yeah,” I said. “I get it. No issues.”
Buckshot said, “Pike, it’s not—”
I cut him off. “I fucking get it. Let’s get this done so Jennifer and I can go home.”
We spent the next four hours going through the kit, the atmosphere decidedly strained. Jennifer got the worst of it, because she wasn’t sure where she stood. I could tell she wanted to be anywhere but in that room.
When we were finally done, Decoy said, “I’ll get you guys out.” He paused, then said, “Pike, I didn’t mean what you think I meant. I know what you’ve done for this organization. You’re a damn legend. It’s just that… that…”
“That I’m now a nobody? Save the speeches. And we don’t need you to show us out. If my feeble memory serves, we don’t have to have badges to leave the building.”
Jennifer looked appalled, like she was seeing a family self-destruct and wanted to stop it. We left without another word, going down the stairwell to the third floor. When I exited there instead of continuing down she said, “Where are you going?”
“I need to check something. Just hold fast. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“Pike… what are you doing?”
“Nothing. Just checking something out.”
I left her and headed back to the secret cell. When I entered, Vic looked at me with distaste, but Holly smiled.
“Well,” Vic said, “here you go. Everything with a Muslim angle. Thanks for wasting our time.”
“Did you find anything interesting?”
Holly said, “Not really. But see for yourself.”
She handed me a sheaf two inches thick.
“Can I take this with me? Is it classified?”
“Nope. It’s for official use only, but nothing more than you’d get as a police officer. They’re all yours.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. You guys have a phone number where I can get you? I’m probably not coming back in here due to operational constraints, but I may need your help again.”
Vic looked at me suspiciously, but Holly said, “Sure, here’s our internal number. It’s good for another five days. After that, I don’t know what it will be. You know how the Taskforce changes numbers every five seconds.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I know. Nothing like operational security to impede operational success.”
