entered, he said into the mic, “I’ll call you back. Out.”
He and Buck stood, and Chet said, “So, you’re taking Zamo.”
Brenner replied, without explanation, “We are.”
It was Buck who said, “The Bedouin in the courtyard are all the security we need, and some of them will accompany us to the scene.”
So we said our good-byes without getting too teary-eyed, and we all agreed that the A-team had performed admirably.
Chet said to us, “Thank you for your very professional performance.” He admitted, “It hasn’t always been easy to work together, but we’ve put our differences aside in the service of our country.” He looked at me and said, smiling, “You have been a challenge, Mr. Corey, but I’d rather work with a man like you than someone who never questions authority.”
“Thank you.” I think. Why do I always get singled out? This started in grade school.
Anyway, Buck added, “You can all be proud of your work here. Thank you for volunteering and for putting your lives at risk.” He reminded us, “The homeland will be a little safer after Bulus ibn al-Darwish is dead.”
I reminded Buck, “We have a rendezvous under the clock at Grand Central Station.”
“I’ll be there,” Buck promised. “We’ll stay in touch.”
Chet said, “I’ll try to be there, too.”
You weren’t invited, Chet. But, hey, anyone who’s alive at the end of today is invited.
Buck, and even Chet, hugged Kate, we all shook hands, and we wished each other good luck and Godspeed.
Buck said, “As-salaam alaikum.”
To relive our first meeting a million years ago, I smiled and said, “That’s easy for you to say.”
He smiled.
We left the van and piled into the Land Cruiser. Brenner was behind the wheel, Zamo was riding shotgun, and Kate and I were in the rear. The gentlemen had their shiwals with them, but no one saw any need to wear them at this time.
Yasir got off his butt and ran across the courtyard to open the gate as we approached it. We all waved to Yasir, who seemed delighted to see us go. But not as delighted as we were.
Brenner drove around the courtyard walls of the Crow Fortress, our home away from home, and we headed across the rocky plateau, toward the rock pile where the Bedouin guarded the northern approach to the fortress.
Brenner was following the dusty tracks of the other vehicles that had been to the Crow Fortress, and I asked him, “Do you know where you’re going?”
He hesitated, then replied, “Down the north slope… to pick up the Marib road.” He assured us, “I’ve been to the airstrip and I can find it.”
“Good.” We continued on toward the north edge of the plateau.
Kate said, “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Brenner assured her, “It is, and within an hour we’ll be on board a Company aircraft lifting off and heading for Saudi Arabia.” He added, “Probably Najran airfield.”
Kate asked, “Does anyone feel… sorry or disappointed that we didn’t stay until the end?”
Brenner and I, who are really in touch with our feelings, agreed that we would have liked to be there for the grand finale. Zamo, probably not into his feelings, said, “Tactically, this makes sense.” He added, “But it sucks.”
We continued on, and up ahead I could see the big rock formations and the SUV at the edge of the plateau where Musa’s men sat in the shadows of the rocks.
I said to Brenner, “Slow down.”
He reduced his speed and asked me, “What’s up?”
I replied, “Here’s what’s up, Paul. Not too long ago, Kate killed a CIA officer-in self-defense.” I asked him, “Did you know that?”
He hesitated, then replied, “I heard.”
“Good.” And you still have the hots for her? Brave man. I sleep with one eye open. Just kidding. I continued, “I think the Company is looking for some rough justice on that.”
Kate said, “John, we are not supposed to discuss this-”
“This is really important, Kate. Do not interrupt.” I continued, “As if Kate killing this guy wasn’t bad enough, we had also inadvertently messed up a CIA plan to turn most of the Mideast into a nuclear wasteland.”
It was quiet in the Land Cruiser, and I continued, “So, Kate and I know this big secret, and we’re sworn to silence forever-in exchange for the Company giving Kate a pass on the firearm incident. But the CIA doesn’t really work that way.”
Brenner, happily, agreed with me and said, “No, they don’t.”
“Right. They might let the gun incident go, but they are not comfortable with two witnesses walking around with that knowledge about the nuclear Armageddon that they’d planned for Sandland.”
Brenner was driving even slower now, and he seemed to be thinking. Finally, he realized I’d said my piece, and asked, “So what… what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that Kate and I, and anyone who happens to be with us, are not getting out of Yemen alive.”
No one had a response to that, and I explained, “That’s why Kate and I are here-this is the perfect killing zone. No one answers to anyone for anything here. It’s a black hole.” I added, “And this is Operation Clean Sweep.”
Brenner stopped the Land Cruiser. He glanced in his rearview mirror and said, “Kate? Do you believe this?”
My soul mate replied, “No, I do not.”
Zamo, who usually has no opinion, said, “I do.”
There you go. It’s settled.
Brenner asked the obvious question. “How do you think this… this is going to happen?”
“I’ll get to that later, but I can say it will happen between right here and the Marib airstrip.”
No one had any response to that.
I asked, “Why do you think we’re in this SUV, out of the Crow Fortress and away from Chet and Buck?”
Brenner replied, “What Chet said makes perfect tactical and operational sense.”
“Indeed, it does, which is why my paranoia wasn’t supposed to kick in. And you know what? I’m only, let’s say, seventy-three percent sure I’m right about Chet wanting to get me and Kate whacked.”
Kate said, “If we sit here all day, we
Brenner asked me the next logical question. “What does this-if it’s true-have to do with me, or with Zamo?”
I replied, “You are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s logical that you would be ordered to leave with Kate and me, and if you weren’t, that would look suspicious. As for Zamo, he was never going to stay behind. That was all bullshit to make this look like a tactically sound plan.” I informed Mr. Brenner, “Buck knew exactly what you were going to say about Zamo staying here, and one way or the other, Zamo was not going to stay with Buck and Chet.” I added, “And if he did, Chet would kill him with an AK-47, take his sniper rifle, and make it look like the Bedouin did it.”
Both men remained silent, then Brenner said, “I’m just not buying that Zamo and I are going to get wasted by our own people just because we happen to be with you.”
“You should believe it, but here’s another reason you’re not in a good place-for all Chet knows, I or Kate have confided in you about my suspicions, and you are therefore a person like us who knows too much.” I reminded him and everyone, “And in this business, when you know what you’re not supposed to know, you become a worry to the Company.” I added, “The Company chose well when they chose Chet Morgan for this job.” I explained, in case no one noticed, “He’s crazy.”
Brenner, Kate, and Zamo thought about all that, and I could imagine them concluding that John didn’t need a Kevlar vest as much as he needed a strait-jacket.
