hidden hand. Why?
He raised his eyes, fixing Asefi with a cold, hard stare. “Perhaps. But look where it’s gotten you.”
“No, I have not contacted Asefi since your departure from Qom this morning. Why, is something wrong?” the Ayatollah Isfahani asked.
He listened carefully, his face growing longer with concern as the man on the other end of the line went on. “Take every precaution you deem necessary, Major Hossein. Just make sure you reach Al Quds by sundown.”
He terminated the call and walked onto the balcony, looking out over the desert in the glow of the morning sun. Something was going wrong.
Asefi had served him faithfully for over a decade. The man’s body bore the scars of bullets, bullets that had been meant for
Hossein’s men must succeed, but now, if Asefi had defected, that very success was in jeopardy. He glanced down at the phone in his hand and began to dial. There was only one way to find out…
“Listen carefully, Harry,” Carol Chambers began. “We’re ready to do this. Things on your side?”
He cast a cautious look across the lobby to where Asefi sat, leafing through a fashion magazine. “Yeah, we’re good to go. What’s the plan?”
“I tried a couple of ways, but we’re up against airtight security with the bank. We’re going to have to go ahead and transfer the money.”
“You got authorization on that?”
“Yes,” she replied impatiently. “Got my old man out of bed. Good times. This is what’s going down. I’ve remotely installed software on your laptop to capture his password and log-in information. After he’s confirmed the deposit and you’ve gotten the information, we’ll use it to withdraw the eight mil.”
“Simple as that,” Harry observed. “In and out.”
“That’s the plan.”
Harry tucked the phone back in his pocket and strode back across the lobby to where the bodyguard sat.
“Everything all right?” Asefi enquired blandly, looking up into his eyes as he returned to his seat.
“Yeah. The money’s being transferred into your account as we speak.”
“You understand I must confirm this with my bank. Your word is simply not good enough. No offense intended.”
“None taken.” Harry smiled. “I would count you the biggest sort of fool if you did not. Feel free to use my laptop to access your account.”
It was the Iranian’s turn to smile, producing his cellphone from the pocket “And I ask myself in turn what sort of fool
“Pardon?”
“This phone is perfectly able to access my account through the mobile web. And infinitely more secure for my purposes than your laptop.”
Disaster.
“As you wish,” Harry responded, his face expressionless as his mind raced through the possibilities. The money was being transferred. Without password and log-in information, there was no way to retrieve it.
He could have laughed at the irony of it all.
At that moment, the phone in Asefi’s hand began to ring. The bodyguard glanced down at the display and the blood seemed to drain from his face, confidence melting away like the morning mist.
“What is it?”
He lifted the phone so that Harry could see the screen, his fingers trembling as he did so. “The Ayatollah Isfahani,” he whispered. “What do I do?”
“Don’t answer it,” Harry responded. “Power down the phone and remove the SIM card. If you use the phone, he’ll be able to pin down your location.”
Asefi hit the power button and watched anxiously as the screen went black. “He knows something or else he would not have called.”
“Then we need to finish our business quickly,” Harry prompted, gesturing toward his laptop. “Shall we?”
“
It was no accident that the meeting had been arranged in such a public place. Due to the inherent ambient noise, public venues were notoriously difficult for enemy intelligence services to wire.
He and Rashid had never frequented this cafe before, and when they parted ways in a few moments, they would never reenter it. That was as secure as it got.
“
“
Farouk’s eyebrows went up in surprise, anger flickering across his face. “Money? The will of Allah need not be facilitated by hirelings. I thought you said he was a true believer.”
“It is nothing of the sort,” the young man replied with an impatient gesture. “It is his sister. She has dishonored her family by sleeping with a
“A Jew?”
Rashid shook his head. “The son of a French contractor. She was caught in the very act.”
“So many have strayed from the ways of purity and truth,” Farouk murmured, raising the cup of tea to his lips and blowing upon it. “How does this concern our mission?”
“In order to remove this stain from her family, she has agreed to give her life in the holy jihad. In return for our help with this, he will help us get inside. What answer should I give him?”
The terrorist leader took a sip of the tea and made a face. It was still boiling hot. “Anything can be arranged,
“And good-day to you as well.”
Asefi smiled as he turned off the TACSAT and handed it back to Harry. “The woman I just spoke with is my personal account manager, has handled my finances for years. Her voice-shall we say, it is unmistakable. I am satisfied. My apologies for doubting you.”
“
The Iranian took a cautious look around the lobby, then leaned forward, gazing intently into Harry’s eyes. “Hossein is on a mission from President Shirazi. His execution was staged to cover his role in this attack.”
