The Secret Soldier

“The three at the end… Some Saudi cities have a system where the numbers start again in each district. Or it could be a city with three different roads named after Aziz. Or even a building with three floors.”

“That’s good. Thank you, Meshaal.”

They leafed through the papers as the boat chugged south but found nothing more of consequence. Around midnight, Gaffan and Meshaal headed to their bunks. Wells turned out the cabin lights and called Anne. They hadn’t spoken in a week, since he left Cyprus for Lebanon.

“John.”

“Lovely lady.”

“‘Lovely Rita, meter maid.’”

“You’re way too young for that song.”

“I’m on a Beatles kick. Very retro. Though to be honest, I don’t get why everybody thought they were so great.”

“Once upon a time, they were bigger than Jesus. John Lennon said so himself.”

“We’ll find out in a couple thousand years. I don’t even think they’re bigger than The National anymore.”

“The who?”

“Not The Who, either. Those guys fill stadiums.”

Wells smiled in the dark. He’d missed talking to her. “Who’s on first.”

“They came to see me, John.”

“I hate to start this again, but who?”

“They said they were FBI, but I’m not sure. They wanted to know if I’d heard from you, if I knew where you were.”

“I hope you told them the truth. On both counts.”

“I did. Yes and no.”

“Then it’s fine. If they’re agency or FBI, they can’t hurt you as long as you’re honest.”

“I wish I could see you.”

“I wish I could see you, too. I wish you were here. You’d be having fun with this.” Parts of it, anyway, Wells didn’t say. Maybe not the part where I killed the six guys.

“Are you in trouble, John?”

“The usual.”

“These guys said you were in serious trouble.”

“I’d call it the usual. Maybe a little more. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Pulled over a drunk on Main Street two nights ago—”

“You’re never going to let me live that down—”

“No, wait. And I swear, by the time I got him in the back of the cruiser, he told me I looked great in the uniform, and that if there were more girls in the bar like me he wouldn’t have gotten himself arrested, because he’d still be there.”

“Sounds like a real charmer. You give him your number?”

“I tried, but I couldn’t remember it. I have so many phones now. He was cute, though.”

“I’d better get home soon.”

“You’d better.”

BY SIX A.M. THEY had docked at Port Said, the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. While Egyptian land surrounded the canal on both sides, they didn’t need Egyptian visas to pass through it. According to international law, the Suez was open to vessels of any nationality, even during wartime — a rule meant to discourage any country from blockading or bombing it.

Normally, boats had to wait at Port Said for at least twenty-four hours, but thanks to a liberal application of Saudi cash, the Judge Wapner avoided the usual delays and hitched onto the morning’s southbound convoy. An Egyptian pilot came aboard to steer them behind a half-dozen ships stacked high with containers. The canal had no locks. But to keep the big ships from damaging its banks, the convoy crawled along at eight knots. Traveling a hundred twenty miles would take fourteen hours. They would reach Suez, the city that marked the southern end of the canal, around midnight.

The pilot spent his time sipping tea and smoking. He asked no questions about them or what they were doing, and Wells didn’t volunteer. The canal was as flat as a lake and smelled stale, almost fetid. Desert spread endlessly on both sides, its monotony broken only by low concrete pillboxes on the west side, defenses against the increasingly unlikely possibility of an Israeli attack. Egyptian soldiers popped out to wave as the cruiser passed.

“They don’t see too many ships like this?” Wells said.

“No.”

Just after sunset, the desert fading from gold to black, the Egyptian’s cell phone beeped. He listened for a moment, hung up. “Turn on the television,” he said. “There’s been a big terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. The president of the United States is talking.”

They watched the press conference in silence until it ended. Wells didn’t understand why Shafer hadn’t called already, until he remembered Shafer didn’t have his new phone.

Wells motioned for Gaffan to go downstairs.

“We have to go in.”

“To Cairo? The embassy?”

“Jeddah. The Kingdom. If Abdullah helps us, we can get in without the Defense Ministry knowing. The agency will give us stuff they won’t give the Saudis.”

“How can you be sure they’ll work with us at all?”

Because when a crisis hits this hard, guys like Duto know they have to try everything to fix it. Or at least look like they’re trying. If that means bailing us out of a few murder charges, they will. Especially since they should have already.

Aloud, Wells said only: “I know. Trust me.”

“It’s worked great so far.”

Wells called Shafer.

“Where are you?”

“The Suez Canal. Heading for Jeddah.” Unfortunately, Jeddah was seven hundred miles south of the southern end of the canal. With the ship at full throttle, they’d arrive sometime the next afternoon.

“The Saudis have closed their borders.”

“I think we can get in. Abdullah has a palace on the Red Sea.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“Did the NSA find anything that matches forty-two Aziz three?”

“No.”

“Have them run it again. And the NGA, too. This time for a street address.” Wells explained what Meshaal had said.

“So it could be anywhere in the country? That narrows it down.”

“Do it, Ellis.”

“All right.”

“What’s happening back there?”

“Nothing good. They’re moving two Ranger companies from Baghdad to Kuwait tomorrow. On your side, there’s an Airborne battalion on its way to Incirlik”—an air base in Turkey.

“A battalion, Ellis?” An Airborne battalion meant seven hundred soldiers and armored vehicles delivered by parachute. An Airborne battalion meant an invasion, more or less.

“The feeling is that if we have to go in, we better go in hard.”

“Please tell me you’re sending in a team to check out the camp. Even if it is three days late.”

“Yes. But remember Kurland only got hit six hours ago. We’re sorting through a lot of moving parts. We can’t even be a hundred percent sure it’s the same guys. Not yet.”