“I did, but it didn’t seem to matter to him. He was pretty upset.”
“Just enjoy yourself. I’ll smooth things over with him later.”
Fazil hung up and took in the view again. After draining his glass, he picked up his phone to call Cyrus Black.
“Is everything in place?” Fazil asked.
“Has anyone seen you in the past twenty-four hours?” Cyrus responded, ignoring Fazil.
“I’m maintaining a low profile, don’t worry.”
Cyrus didn’t respond immediately.
“What is it, Cyrus?”
“What are those sounds I hear?”
Fazil tapped his cigar on the ashtray. “Perhaps the sound of the ocean.”
“Are you walking on the beach?”
“Of course not. I’m on my balcony way above the water.”
“Get inside now,” Cyrus growled. “I hear people talking as well. If anyone sees you . . .” The second half of his statement was left unsaid but was very much understood.
Fazil rolled over out of his chair and shuffled inside, closing the door behind. “I’m inside now. No worries.”
“Did you enter your penthouse how I instructed?”
“I avoided the lobby and made sure Fatima paraded through the entrance and announced that she’d be staying there for a while.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. My cousin is very fickle. She’s probably out partying with her friends.”
Cyrus chuckled. “I guess millennials are the same no matter what country they’re from.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind. Look, the most important thing is that you’ve avoided detection so far and everybody thinks any activity in the apartment is your cousin, not you.”
“In the words of George W. Bush, mission accomplished,” Fazil said, conjuring up his best Texas accent.
Cyrus didn’t laugh. “This isn’t a joke. Don’t get arrogant and make the same mistake Bush made.”
“Don’t worry yourself there, cowboy,” Fazil said continuing his put-on drawl. “We won’t celebrate until we have vanquished our enemies.”
“That won’t happen unless everyone truly believes you’re dead,” Cyrus warned.
Fazil became serious again. “I will be careful. Don’t worry. Now, were my dental records replaced with Mohammed Nasir’s?”
“The work was flawless. No one will suspect it isn’t you once they sift through the rubble.”
“Excellent. And when will this attack occur in Mirabad?”
“Half an hour from now. I’m sending you a link where you can watch a video feed of the wedding live over the internet.”
Fazil puffed on his cigar again. “How did you arrange that?”
“I have my ways. And I’m sending you the link you can watch over the internet from a secure browser. Happy viewing.”
Cyrus hung up, and Fazil let out a long breath. He’d always imagined there would come a day when he wouldn’t have to run from the U.S. And it was almost as he pictured it, freedom arriving in death. He just never thought he’d be alive to see it.
Fazil grabbed his laptop and opened a secure browser as Cyrus had instructed. He typed in the address Cyrus had sent and waited. Seconds later, a digitized image appeared without any sound. The wedding ceremony was underway, and Fazil identified Nasir attending in his place. With the low quality video feed, Fazil couldn’t tell if Maloof was smiling or frowning, though he imagined it was the former if he was truly happy about his cousin’s marriage. But ultimately, Fazil didn’t care. He was only watching to see one thing.
After ten more minutes passed full of traditional ceremony acts, Fazil’s phone buzzed with a message.
1 more minute
For Fazil, the seconds seemed to creep by, moving at the pace of a burial casket on the way to its final resting place. But Fazil saw this moment as a second chance, the kind he needed to become immortalized among the great jihadists in world history.
As Fazil watched, he noticed several people pointing to the sky, and then the crowd began to scatter frantically. However, none of them escaped the wrath of the Hellfire missiles unleashed by the drone. In an instant, the feed went dark. Moments later, Fazil received another text message.
Direct hit — no likely survivors
Fazil got up and poured himself another drink.
Who knew being dead ever felt so good?
CHAPTER 31
Washington, D.C.
HAWK PULLED HIS GUN out and prepared for the worst as the rattling at the door continued for a brief moment before it stopped. He leaned toward the opening, straining to hear what was going on. He heard muffled voices in the hallway.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked.
“I’m not sure,” Hawk said. “Stay here. I’m going to see if I can hear what’s happening.”
“Be careful, Hawk.”
Hawk crept toward the front of the house and heard the two agents engaged in a conversation with another familiar voice. It was Mrs. Norton. He also heard a high-pitched bark in the background.
“I’m sorry, Mrs.—” one of the agents said.
“Mrs. Betty Norton.”
“Yes, Mrs. Betty Norton, I’m sorry that no one notified you about this service call, but we’re authorized to be here.”
Mrs. Norton was persistent. “Without a key? I find that very hard to believe.”
“I can assure you that we’ve been given permission.”
“Have you? Well, let me just call the building superintendent and find out.”
“No, no,” said one of the agents. “He wouldn’t know about us. We spoke directly with the owner of the building.”
“How about I just call the police and then Jennifer Whitten? I’m sure they’d all love to know about your entering her apartment without permission.”
The dog continued to bark.
“Okay, fine,” one of the agents said. “Just forget it. We’ll go get the building superintendent so you know that we’re here on official business and allowed to be here.”
“What kind of official business? I’ve never seen a cable guy dressed like that.”
“We’re here to give her a quote for her floor.”
Mrs. Norton grunted. “Never seen a contractor dressed like that either.”
“You just go walk your little fluffy dog, Mrs. Norton,” the other agent said. “We’ll have all the people here who can give us keys and provide proper authorization to satisfy your conscience.”
“If you think you’re getting off that easy, buddy, you’ve got another thing coming,” Mrs. Norton said. “I’m not going anywhere until I see
