As much as he enjoyed Ahmed Jaziri in the past as a friendly associate, his threats were becoming tiresome. Yes, this was business, he got that. But the annoying little intimidations were also becoming unnecessary pressures. The Bangladeshi always operated under cool extremes. But Jaziri was making it clear that the Bangladeshi would have a short shelf life as though he were a perishable good about to go bad, should he disappoint. And this was something the Bangladeshi didn’t appreciate at all—these threats that were hardly veiled.
The Bangladeshi nodded as though he was in a match of self-debate between his ego and alter ego. Succeed or not, perhaps it would be best if he put Ahmed Jaziri in his place by pointing the hollow eye of a suppressed weapon at his face. Surely, his respect for him would return with his apologies if his threats were meaningful and true.
Perhaps.
Starting the vehicle, the Bangladeshi would know no sleep until he reached Rome.
Putting the truck into DRIVE with the gears ratcheting in protest, the Bangladeshi went to greet his future.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The West Bank
Saheem Baghdadi considered himself to be a conduit to Allah. Though a low-level acolyte to the principals of the extremist machine, Baghdadi was a crusader by way of espionage. He was to be heard but never seen, and someone who reached out via the chatrooms to entice and to lure individuals in the name of his god. He had established within young minds a sense of romanticism, which was a strong tool for recruitment. And now that the United States was pulling their forces from the Middle East, it was time for the masses to rise in the name of Allah to reestablish Sharia Law where al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Taliban ruled. Become the soldiers of Allah and rule along the sides of true kings, future kings, and kings who would destroy the infidels and bring to the land the policy of One Rule under the One True God! It was all propaganda and disinformation, of course, but it was also a campaign that was highly effective as the online views grew from the thousands to the tens of thousands.
Online, Arabs had railed against the Americans, the Great Satan, and Israel, as well as those who were in league with the United States. Hatred filled the chat rooms which demanded an end to their enemies and to all the infidels who bowed to gods that weren’t Allah. Rally cries trumpeted over the Internet for the demise of Israel and a unification of forces with al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Taliban leading the charge. Then as a rallying point, Baghdadi composed a multi-page manifesto regarding a strike against the enemy who would suffer a blow so severe that the people throughout the land would rejoice.
For the people of the Middle East, it was a proclamation of victory.
But for Vatican Intelligence, it would become a red-flag issue.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
United States Embassy
Palazzo Margherita, Via Vittorio Veneto
Rome, Italy
The United States Embassy in Rome is located in the Palazzo Margherita, which is approximately 1.5 miles from Vatican City and across the Tiber River. Now that Shari Cohen was working at the consulate as a liaison between the American and Italian governments in counterterrorism, it didn’t take long for the division to get a red-flag warning from Vatican Intelligence regarding two things. First, the sudden transfer of five hundred million dollars into an account belonging to a bogus owner, which was then converted into cryptocurrency and summarily disappeared; and two, there was some saber rattling going on inside of chatrooms that were known for recruiting jihadists.
On the surface, disappearing transactions was never a good sign when these acts are often tied to misconduct. But as far as she could tell, the chatroom discussions were little more than blowhard speak. People were simply voicing their dismay over the United States and Israel, which was nothing new. What was new, however, was that the IP address where the talk was originating from had been linked to Saheem Baghdadi, a low-level operative who recruited members to fight the good fight. He wasn’t just raging on about the infidels and their crimes against Allah, but of a pending strike that would surely make the people of the Middle East rejoice. What this action was had not been stated, but the threat was deemed valid enough to set the international alerts to near high levels.
Shari, after studying the lengthy messages and Baghdadi’s biographical records, believed that there might be a connection between the transference of funds to the timing of the posts alleging a strike against an unknown target. Baghdadi was just a mouthpiece who spewed hatred as his pitch. But his written vocalization to the masses that an assault was about to commence was a deviation from his usual tactics. Were the two incidents connected given that the funds came from Ahmed Jaziri, a known financier who backed terrorist operations? At the moment, Shari believed that the probability of this was high.
A half billion dollars transferred into untraceable currency, she told herself, with the trail dissolving immediately. And now this, a promise from a jihad recruiter who was implying a potential end of days and a new beginning. Sign right here on the dotted line and give yourself over to Allah. Sacrifice your life for the good of the cause. Shari could hear Baghdadi’s voice clearly in her mind, while reading the Arab transcript on her computer monitor.
“What do you say—lunch?”
Shari gave an eyeroll, something Toby Henderson did not see from the other side of the cubicle. For the past two days since entering the consulate, she could see that the man was enamored with her. When he first saw her, his
