Jihad

CHAPTER 61

Dabir watched the German helicopters training their spotlights on the docking area at the petroleum processing plant. Whoever had tipped the police off had obviously known the general target of his attack, though not the specifics of his plan. The German police were good — but not quite good enough to stop him. In ten minutes, the plant would be in flames.

Who was the traitor?

It couldn’t be the men he’d sent inside, who would have been able to identify their targets. It couldn’t be the chemist, either — if it had been, the man Dabir sent to get the oxygen tanks would have been arrested, or at least followed.

The only person Dabir could think of who knew the target but not the precise plan to strike it was Asad bin Taysr. As much as Dabir hated him, Asad was a steadfast supporter of the cause and it was inconceivable that he would do anything to betray it.

One of the helicopters passed nearby. Dabir got out of the car and popped the trunk. In his haste earlier he’d forgotten to put out the trunk light; the flood of yellow took him by surprise. He pulled the bicycle out, then slapped the trunk lid closed.

Asad had wanted to watch the refinery burn, but the helicopters had convinced him that was too much of a risk. With the success of his mission guaranteed despite the odds stacked against him, he began contemplating his next move. He got on the bike; one of the helicopters was swinging in the direction of the creek his men had used to infiltrate the facility.

The Germans were too late. But if it took the rest of his life, Dabir swore as he pedaled down the darkened road, he would find out who had betrayed him.