Leighton glanced over at Mike. 'Tell us what you recall about the prisoner here, Petty Officer Assad.'
'When the other guys in my group and I first arrived at the mosque to get with the terrorist program, he gave us an indoctrination and explained the setup,' Mike said. 'He also taught a couple of classes on the Arabic language and alphabet.'
'Sure,' Allawi said. 'I gave classes on Arabic because there were lots of guys who had been born in America. Some of 'em were second-and third-generation and hadn't been exposed much to written Arabic. The mullahs taught religious stuff because some of the guys hadn't had much of an Islamic environment in their homes. Hell, there's nothing wrong with that, is there? It's called going back to your roots; very hip and trendy.'
Mike said, 'What I recall most vividly about this guy is that he was the organizer of a program to get some of the students to enlist in the reserve components of the armed forces. I'm talking about the National Guard, reserves, and outfits like that to get military training, and learn the SOPs of the various units. He led the way when he joined the Army Reserves. They made a big deal out of it at the mosque.'
'See?' Allawi said. 'I was a patriot and wanted to serve my country.'
'Bullshit,' Mike said. 'I remember your hate-America talks and all that death-to-the-infidels crap you preached.'
'I'm not talking to you two fucking guys anymore,' Allawi said.
Leighton walked over and banged on the door. When it opened he motioned Mike to follow him out into the hall. Mike walked over to the exit, then turned and looked back at Allawi.
Dude, you are so compromised.
.
OVAL OFFICE WHITE HOUSE
28 JULY 1430 HOURS
WHEN Liam Bentley walked into the Oval Office he was surprised to see not only the President standing at the front of the desk, but also the woman and two men sitting in nearby chairs, like it was a casual visit among neighbors. The Chief Executive stepped toward the visitor with his hand extended. 'Welcome to the Oval Office, Mr. Bentley.'
'Thank you, Mr. President,' Bentley said, holding on to his briefcase as he shook hands.
'This is somewhat of a historical moment,' the President said. 'The newly created post of FBI White House Liaison Officer goes into effect at this time and date. This is something entirely fresh and innovative.'
'Yes, sir,' Bentley said. 'I'm honored to be the first.'
'Let me introduce you to my White House chief of staff, Ms. Arlene Entienne; the press secretary, Owen Peckham; and Colonel John Turnbull of the Special Operations Liaison Staff.' He chuckled. 'We seem to have our full share of liaison today.'
Bentley took an empty chair as directed, putting his briefcase in his lap. 'I'm most happy to join this group, and I'm looking forward to all the coordinating and information-sharing aspects of the arrangement. I'm sure we'll be able to accomplish many meaningful tasks that will increase the effectiveness of the homeland security program.'
Colonel Turnbull decided the guy was probably a damn good agent, but he had way too much urbanity to be a soldier. Probably too much to be a field operative for the bureau either, but well suited for a supervisory or administrative position.
The President took another chair with the group, looking directly at Bentley. 'I have been told you can bring us up to date on this matter in which a member of the press made inquiries involving the shooting death of a wounded enemy prisoner of war.'
'Yes, sir,' Bentley said. 'And speaking of briefings and the like, the CIA brought me up to date, since their representative to the White House is in the Middle East.'
'Yes,' Arlene said. 'That would be Edgar Watson. He's another member of our group, as is Dr. Carl Joplin, who is also in the war area.'
'Well, to get started,' Bentley said, retrieving a report from his briefcase, 'the journalist in question--Dirk Wallenger of Global News Broadcasting--didn't seem to have all the facts straight, or he changed them to suit his own purposes. The prisoner was not wounded. As a matter of fact, he had been bitten by a deadly, poisonous snake. It was a cobra.'
'Whew!' Owen Peckham said. 'That doesn't make it much better. He was incapacitated, at any rate.'
'He received the bite during an escape attempt,' Bentley explained. 'But, sadly, he was indeed shot afterward as he lay helpless on the ground.'
'Oh, shit!' Colonel Turnbull exclaimed.
'It was a mercy killing,' Bentley said. 'The SEALs who had captured the man had no means of treating him, and one took it upon himself to keep the poor fellow from suffering an agonizing death. Several witnesses have been questioned about this since those facts were revealed to Brigadier General Leroux at his headquarters aboard the USS Combs.' He gave the report a further perusal. 'The man who fired the shot was evidently punished for taking the action without his commanding officer's permission.'
'Mmf!' Turnbull snorted. 'And that's as it should be.'
'But what worries me,' the President said, 'is how the hell did this guy Wallenger hear about it?'
'That's being worked from two angles, Mr. President,' Bentley said. 'The first is from Barri Prison in Bahrain, and the second from right here in Washington. As we build the facts from both ends, everything will eventually meet in the middle and we'll all know the exact truth of the matter.'
'Then tell us what you know now, Liam,'
the President said, putting himself on a first-name basis with the FBI agent.
'I'll start in Barri Prison,' Bentley said. 'There were two other prisoners with the one who was bitten by the cobra. They are both confined in that facility, where there is a guard by the name of Arjumand Allawi. He is an American citizen and a sergeant in an Army Reserves military police battalion assigned as custodians. He has been observed in countless friendly conversations with various prisoners, including the pair who were captured by the SEALs. Both the inmates, when questioned, stated they had told Allawi about the incident. He was the only one they informed of the snake bite, and we are now convinced he passed on the story to somebody else outside the prison.'
'Fine,' the President said. 'That's one end. What's the other?'
'There is a cabdriver here in Washington named Daleel Guellah, who is known by the code name of 'Ali.' He has been under surveillance for close to a year now. One of his regular customers is Dirk Wallenger. Wallenger most likely learned of the incident of the dead prisoner from him. And 'Ali' had the information from someone in their net between him and Allawi at Barri Prison. Either 'Ali' or Wallenger himself changed the story to make it come out as the murder of a wounded prisoner of war.'
Owen Peckham chuckled with delight. 'Oh, how I would love to see that pudgy son of a bitch go to jail!'
Arlene Entienne smiled too. 'I'll go along with you on that, Owen. I know he's been a bane to you during press conferences.'
'I appreciate your support, Arlene,' Peckham said. He looked over at Bentley. 'Have you questioned Wallenger yet?'
'No,' Bentley answered. 'But there are plans to not only interview Mr. Wallenger, but also Don Allen, the president of GNB.'
Turnbull leaned forward with a grin. 'Do you think that whole GNB group might be working for the terrorists?'
Bentley shrugged. 'All we are certain of at this moment is what everybody already knows, Colonel. Their newscasts go in a leftist direction as a matter of practice. There have been times when they've put an extra-strong slant on certain types of reports to support their agenda. The GNB has this reputation even among other journalists.'
The President leaned back in his chair. 'I want the FBI to go to the very heart of this matter, Liam. Consider that an executive order.'
'Yes, Mr. President.'
CHAPTER 13
OA IRAN-AFGHANISTAN BORDER
