boats and planes were scattered around the Istanbul area. Coordinated by the Art Room, the individual units had limited knowledge of the operation to help insure secrecy. Security was so great that the CIA agents and paramilitaries on standby had not participated in the extensive rehearsals.
“Where are our operatives now?” Rubens asked Telach.
“Tommy and Dean are in separate cars, tracking Asad,” said Telach. “We assume they’re en route to a safe house.”
“Lia?”
“Just picked up Dr. Ramil and is heading to his hotel.”
“If the others don’t need her, have her arrange to meet one of the CIA teams near the hospital. You can see the driver’s room through the security network?”
“Yes.”
“Lia should plan something to snatch the driver — but the danger he is in has to be clear.”
CHAPTER 15
Lia had the cab stop at the Four Seasons, a deluxe hotel in the Sultanahmet area of old Istanbul, the center of the city’s main tourist attractions. She paid the driver, rounding up the tip to the next whole lira, then joined Ramil on the sidewalk. The doctor seemed spent, his face white and drawn.
“You all right?” she asked.
“Tired. Did you change my hotel?”
“We’re going to walk around this way,” said Lia, pointing to the right. “I want to make sure the hotel isn’t being watched before we go in.”
“Uh-huh.”
They walked down the cobblestone street, turning up the hill in the direction of the Blue Mosque. The stones were not as old as they seemed; the area was booming because of the tourist trade, and the road had recently been torn up and resurfaced. Middle-aged men watched them from the sidewalk near their stores. Had they looked more like rich tourists, the men would have approached and hawked rugs or a nearby restaurant, but Ramil’s Egyptian face and Lia’s heavy dress signaled they weren’t worth the effort.
Watching tourists was a favorite pastime in this part of Istanbul, but as they circled the block Lia didn’t spot anyone who looked like they were interested in anything other than selling them a rug. In the meantime, Sandy Chafetz checked the feed from the video bugs they’d planted in the hotel and told her everything was quiet.
The Sari Oteli had been built as a townhouse by a member of the sultan’s entourage sometime in the seventeenth century. Rebuilt at the end of the twentieth, it had the air of a country inn rather than a big city hotel. The woman at the desk greeted Ramil warmly, remembering the cover story he had told her that he was a doctor.
“My friend is a nurse I met at the conference,” said Ramil. “She’s going to help me with some notes.”
Lia rolled her eyes.
“You made it sound like you picked me up,” she told him after scanning the room to make sure there were no bugs.
“I don’t think she thought that.” Ramil collapsed back on the bed.
Lia retrieved the suitcase of spare clothes she’d left in the closet. Sweating like a pig under the heavy Islamic dress, she jumped into the shower before changing into Western clothes, a long skirt and knit sweater baggy enough to hide one of her guns as well as a satphone and her handheld PDA.
Ramil was snoring on the bed when she came out. Lia checked the video feeds, then sat on the other bed to check in with the Art Room.
“How’s the doc?” asked Chafetz.
“Out cold. Where are Dean and Karr?” Lia asked.
“They’re trailing Asad,” said Telach, coming on the line. “Listen, we want you go back near the hospital.”
“Why?”
“We want to put together an operation to snatch Red Lion’s driver. The al-Qaeda people are going to kill him. We heard Asad okay the plan.”
“So?”
“Lia, I’m not in the mood. Get back over there right away. Dr. Ramil can go back to the hospital to set up a review of his patient.”
“Ramil’s going nowhere,” said Lia. “He’s out cold. Besides, he’s supposed to be able to take care of himself, isn’t he? He doesn’t need me watching him.”
“Fine.” There was a pop on the line as the Art Room supervisor switched out of Lia’s channel.
CHAPTER 16
Karr turned onto Kennedy Caddesi, the highway that circled old Istanbul, and drove along the Sea of Marmara, the large body of water connecting the Mediterranean with the Black Sea. He passed a large marina of pleasure boats and turned off to the left, circling toward the water. Both SUVs were about a half mile dead ahead.
“Hey, Charlie, you hearing me?” he asked Dean.
“I’m here.”
“I’m off the Kennedy road, near the water. Why don’t you go on ahead in case they get back on?”
“They’re probably going to take a boat.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figure.”
If Asad went out in a boat, Karr would launch a Crow — a small robot aircraft that looked like the bird it was named for. The Crow would stay near the al-Qaeda leader until Karr arranged for a boat to pick him or Dean up. They had four small vessels in the waters nearby, all operated by contracted paramilitaries who had no knowledge of the overall mission.
The PDA he was using to plot the SUV’s positions beeped, then beeped again, indicating that the vehicles had stopped. According to the map, they were on the other side of the highway, away from the water.
“Yo, Rockman — what are these dudes talking about?” Karr asked. “They going for a boat or what?”
“Buggee isn’t talking, Tommy. They’re just sitting there.”
“Tommy, how close are you to Red Lion?” asked Marie Telach.
“Quarter of a mile, little more. Right?”
“We’re worried that we’re not hearing anything. It’s possible something is interfering with the signal.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that myself. I’ll take a walk with one of the boosters and see if that helps.”
He pulled the car forward, leaving just enough space for someone else to get by. Then he grabbed his backpack and got out, pulling on a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. He’d just reached the highway when Rockman warned him that the cars were moving again. It was too late to turn around without seeming suspicious, so Karr continued walking, thumb curled in the backpack’s strap.
“Bug’s working,” said Rockman. “They’re just following some sort of prearranged plan.”
“Great” said Karr. “Then you’ll hear them shoot me.”
Neither of the SUVs slowed down as they passed. Karr continued past the spot where they had stopped, figuring the second car might have dropped off someone to watch for a trail.
“Coming your way, Charlie,” he said. “I’ll catch up in a bit.”
Traffic was light, and Dean had no trouble pulling out about a half a mile ahead of the SUVs, protected from sight by a bend in the road. He drove slowly enough that they passed him within a few minutes. Dean waited until they were nearly out of sight to pick up his pace. A
