Back Blast

4

CIA headquarters in Langley, an unincorporated neighborhood in the city of McLean, Virginia, was open twenty-four hours a day, but the executive offices on the seventh floor of the Old Headquarters Building were normally deathly quiet at ten p.m. on a Saturday night. This evening, however, lights began flashing back on just before ten, and by ten thirty an entire office suite was occupied by nearly two dozen executives, assistants, communications specialists, and other support staff.

The Eurocopter from Maryland landed in the parking lot minutes later, and Jordan Mayes was there waiting for it in front of the large amphitheater known as the bubble, shielding his white hair from a light rainfall with a plastic file folder. Denny Carmichael climbed out of the aircraft surrounded by his four security men, but DeRenzi and company soon took up positions just behind their charge so Mayes could shoulder up to his boss while they all walked for the safety of the Old Headquarters Building.

As soon as they were inside and Mayes could be heard over the helicopter, he updated his superior. “Here’s where we stand. FAST team reports no joy on board the cargo ship, but they found a bedroll and some personal items in a recess aft of the engine room. They definitely had a stowaway on board.”

“How did he get off?”

“A supply launch left the boat two minutes before the marines boarded. Figure Gentry was on it.”

Denny knew they wouldn’t catch Gentry sound asleep in his cot. “He’s in the wind. Who do you have assembled here?”

“The JSOC liaison, the NSA liaison, the NGA liaison, the DS&T guy read in on Violator, and the communications officer on the task force. We’ll have eight in the meeting in total.”

Denny kept walking, but said, “There are only seven in the Violator Working Group.”

“I’ve asked Suzanne Brewer of Programs and Plans to join us.”

The two CIA execs and DeRenzi all had their IDs scanned, and then they entered the elevator, leaving three of the bodyguards behind. Carmichael’s clipped voice showed his displeasure. “What does Brewer have to do with this?”

“Among her other duties, she has been red-celling a lone-wolf attack on domestic CIA infrastructure for over a year. She’s got the background of a good targeting officer, and she knows how to prevent an attack by a determined enemy. If Gentry is here, and if he’s got CIA in his sights, Suzanne might prove useful.”

“She doesn’t know a damn thing about the problem at hand. Gentry isn’t some raghead with an AK taking potshots at cars at the south gate, for God’s sake.”

“Brewer is as sharp a counterterror mind as we have. She’s spent a decade on risk mitigation involving Agency facilities and personnel overseas, and she’s developed protocols for dealing with sophisticated homegrown terror hazards as well as high-level foreign actors who might target Agency assets.”

“I don’t like bringing outsiders into the fold.”

“Think about it, Denny. We’re going to have to beef up your security protocols, and we’ll be putting assets on Gentry’s known associates in the city. There is no way that can happen without Brewer learning about it. She’s an outsider now, but we bring her in and give her password access to the Working Group, and she’ll become an ally instead of an impediment.”

“And when she learns we don’t want Gentry alive?”

Mayes didn’t hesitate. “Operational expediencies won’t trouble her. If you tell her this target needs to die, she’ll make it happen.”

The elevator arrived on the seventh floor. Mayes reached out and took Denny by the arm before he left the car. He spoke softly to him. “I was also thinking… if Gentry is here to target the Agency, and this manages to make some noise outside of the Agency, God forbid, we might want to frame this to the media as some kind of an external threat. If Suzanne is involved, beefing up the guns and gates of our facilities, it will only help us sell it as some lone-wolf terror attack on the Agency.”

Denny looked at his second-in-command. In a louder voice he said, “One, this is a terror attack on the Agency. Gentry didn’t come all this way to pick up an old paycheck. And two, keeping this shit in house is paramount. No one breathes a word. We’ll take care of it.” Carmichael took off, heading up a brightly lit hallway towards his office.

Mayes knew when to fight with his boss, and he knew when to let his boss wrestle with his own arguments. As he caught up with Carmichael he said, “So… Suzanne. Yea or nay?”

After a moment the director of National Clandestine Service gave in, to a point. “Maybe. But before I bring her into the program, I want to know more about her.”

“She’s reliable. I’ve worked with her myself. She’ll play ball.”

Denny slowed and turned back towards Mayes, but before he could say anything Mayes preempted him by handing over the plastic file folder. “Here’s her two-page write-up. You want more, I can send it to your office.”

Carmichael took the file, but said, “I want it all. Nobody gets read in on Violator unless I know them inside and out.”

Ten minutes later five men and one woman converged in a glass-walled conference room that could easily accommodate sixteen, took their seats quickly, and then all eyes turned to a pair of side-by-side monitors on the wall. A satellite linkup had been established with Tel Aviv and fed to one of the monitors, but until the commo people on the Israeli side of the connection gave the word that their attendee was on camera and ready, the screen just glowed blue. Next to this, a larger screen displayed an interactive map of the greater Washington, D.C., area.

The responsibilities of those in the room represented some of the most secret departments and divisions within the CIA. Communications was there, as were the CIA employees charged with working with the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Special Operations Command, the military’s most elite paramilitary fighting force. A CIA analyst sat across from a senior officer in the Department of Science and Technology. Jordan Mayes, assistant director of the National Clandestine Service, entered and sat to the left of the empty chair at the head of the table.

Most of these officers had been on the Violator Working Group for years. It had taken them, both physically and virtually, to locations all over the world. But this was most assuredly the first time any of them found need to refer to a map of the local area in relation to the Gentry hunt.

The one new face in the room was also the lone female. Suzanne Brewer was a thirty-nine-year-old Programs and Plans officer for the National Clandestine Service. She spent her days at CIA identifying and fortifying soft spots in Agency security protocols. She knew the name of every potential agent provocateur; she knew the details of threats against CIA personnel, every known operation targeting the Agency, every website that posted warnings to life and limb of intelligence officers all over the District. She wasn’t a spy herself, but she saw it as her mission to keep the spies of NCS safe from harm.

Denny Carmichael marched in at eleven forty-five p.m., his brow pinched with purpose. DeRenzi was with him, and as Denny moved to his chair, his close protection officer took a position against the wall, present for the meeting in an observer capacity only. It was his job to keep his protectee safe from harm, after all.

Denny dropped into his seat at the head of the conference table, facing the large monitors on the opposite wall. He turned first to Brewer. “Suzanne, you’re the odd man out here, if you will excuse the phrase. This is going to be a little out of your wheelhouse, but AD Mayes invited you in. Before I decide whether you are going to have code word access to the Working Group, I need to make a determination about your relevance to all this. What have you been told?”

“Only that there is a potential threat to local CIA personnel, and I would be briefed in the meeting and asked for my preliminary assessment.”

“I’ve read your file,” Carmichael said. “You’ve been solid in delicate situations. You’ve worked as a targeting officer as well as a counterterror officer, and you’ve excelled in both positions.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“But you haven’t run up against a situation as difficult or as delicate as this.”

Brewer said, “I only ask for an opportunity to show you what I can do.”

Carmichael turned to Mayes, and with a nod gave him the go-ahead to brief her.

Mayes said, “Here’s the sitrep. A former Ground Branch paramilitary operations officer, code named Violator, has appeared suddenly in the United States. We think it’s likely he’s in the immediate area.”

Brewer was confused. “And this former employee. He poses some sort of a threat?”

Mayes just said, “His name is Courtland Gentry.”

It was obvious to all that the name meant something to Suzanne Brewer. She blinked hard. “The Gray Man? You’re talking about the Gray Man? Here?”

The reply was delivered in a biting tone. “We call him Violator, Suzanne. You aren’t at the watercooler with the junior administrators.”

Chastened, she said, “Of course. I’m sorry. But why is he a threat? My understanding was that we were after him.”

Mayes said, “We are, and he knows it. Five years now. That’s why him showing up like this is so problematic. It’s possible his arrival in the area was coincidence, a waypoint towards his final destination, but we have to allow for the possibility that he is here on some sort of an offensive operation.” Mayes added, “It’s what he does, after all.”

Brewer spoke with a tone of astonishment. “That… that would be suicide on his part.”

On the monitor next to the map a new image appeared. A passport photo of Courtland Gentry, wearing a blue blazer and wire-rimmed glasses. The image was at least five years old.

Brewer said, “He looks so… average.”

Carmichael broke into the conversation. “Do you know what this ex-asset is capable of?”

“I admit I only know the rumors. Cafeteria chatter and such. That file has been SCI code word classified,” she said, and then quickly added, “which of course you know, because you classified it.”

“I did,” replied Carmichael.

She added, “If I am to help you, I’ll need to know what we’re dealing with. The more information you can give me, the better.”

Jordan Mayes said, “Here’s what you need to know. The threat is one man, but the threat is real. Gentry was, hands down, the best hard asset in the entire Agency while he was in.”

“And how long was he in?”

“He was with us for nearly twelve years.”

“Ex-military?”

“Negative. His potential was identified at a young age, then he was brought in to a pilot program designed to train exceptional young men for autonomous field work.”

She lifted her pen and put the tip on the legal pad in front of her. She still seemed stunned by the thought of going up against the Gray Man, but she was quickly composing herself and getting down to work. “The name of this program?”

When no one spoke, Brewer glanced up from her pad. The room was perfectly silent and all eyes stared at the pen on the paper.

After a few seconds, she slowly put the pen back down. “I see.”

Mayes broke the silence. “After 9/11 Violator was folded into a rendition and direct action task force in Ground Branch.”

Brewer said, “I’m cleared for SAD ops. Will you tell me the task force’s name?”

Carmichael answered with a wave of his hand, as if it didn’t matter. “Golf Sierra. Run by Matthew Hanley.”

Brewer just muttered, “The Goon Squad.”

“So you’ve heard of them, too.”

“Well, like it is with Gentry, I only know the legend. They were supposedly the best we had.” Brewer glanced quickly around the room. It was evident to all she was wondering why on earth Gentry’s former superior was not present. Matthew Hanley was now the head of the Special Activities Division; surely he was cleared for anything said in this room.

As she was about to bring up this concern, something else occurred to her. “I guess the most important thing you can tell me is why we are after Gentry in the first place.”

She looked to Mayes, but Mayes only turned his head to Carmichael. Apparently Carmichael would determine if she was to be allowed to know this part of the story.

Before Carmichael could speak, a disembodied voice filled the room. “We have Director Aurbach ready on the satellite.”

Mayes told the commo technician to send the feed to the monitor.

The large blue screen on the wall came to life. Menachem Aurbach sat at a desk wearing an open-collared white button-down. The man was seventy-two years old, and he had a thick neck and a thicker gut, but he also was in possession of a ruddy complexion and a coiffed black mane that was only peppered with strands of silver. His visage was tired and sullen, but Carmichael expected nothing else, because as long as he’d known the Mossad man, Aurbach had always looked as if he’d just been awakened from a deep sleep and told that his dog had died.

Carmichael and Aurbach had first met in a bomb shelter in Beirut in 1985, both intelligence officers representing their countries during Lebanon’s insane seventeen-faction civil war. Denny was new at CIA at the time, but he’d already spent over a decade in military intelligence, so he and the rugged Mossad officer worked well together in those instances when CIA and Mossad found themselves in close operational relationships.

Carmichael and Aurbach had kept the relationship up in the nineties, and then after 9/11 they worked even more closely together. Carmichael became station chief in Hong Kong, then was promoted to head the CIA’s Special Activities Division, a hard-charging unit of paramilitary officers that was called on constantly during the War on Terror. After several years running SAD, he was promoted again, this time to run the entire National Clandestine Service.

As high up on the American intelligence food chain as Carmichael was, Menachem Aurbach had reached even loftier realms in the Mossad, becoming the head of Israeli Intelligence several years earlier.

Denny hadn’t spoken to Aurbach in months, and that meant this would normally be the time for pleasantries about health and family, but Carmichael wasn’t in a pleasant mood. “What do you know, Manny?”

Aurbach spoke in a voice graveled by six decades of smoking. “I know that we owe you an apology. We had access to your man Gentry, but we let him slip between our fingers, and it appears he has escaped into your area of operations.”

Carmichael responded, “The imprecision in your words is a concern. First off, Gentry isn’t my man. He’s my target. And D.C. isn’t my AO. It’s my damn home. CIA doesn’t run ops here.”

Aurbach raised an eyebrow, an act that looked like it took a significant amount of his low energy. “I imagine that will change immediately, in light of what I am about to tell you.”

“Talk.”

“As you know, Mr. Gentry recently saved the life of our prime minister. An inconsequential thing to me, really, as I don’t have a high regard for politicians. But one of my top people was appreciative, and he single-handedly arranged for Mr. Gentry’s escape from Europe. We only found out about this today. It goes without saying that I have detained my officer for further questioning.”

“How did Gentry get out of Europe?”

“Via container ship leaving out of the Portuguese city of Aveiro. We tracked the boat, but by the time we began looking for it, it was already in your Chesapeake Bay. Of course we reached out to your office instantly, but we suspect Mr. Gentry would have had time to make his way off the ship and onto shore.”

Carmichael took his time controlling his fury, then he said, “I take it your man was unaware of Gentry’s importance?”

“He’d been told Mr. Gentry was wanted by the CIA. He’d been warned the man was both formidable and an enemy to both of our nations.”

“And that’s it?”

At the conference table, several people looked at one another in confusion. Jordan Mayes, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by the back and forth between the two veteran spies.

Aurbach said, “He did not know specifics of Gentry’s crimes.”

Carmichael rubbed his eyes under his glasses and leaned back in his chair. “Well, Manny, you’ve handed me one hell of a shit sandwich, haven’t you? I’m not exactly sure how you can help me from over there, other than to shake down that traitor of yours to glean any scrap of intel you can get.”

If Aurbach did not like the characterization of his subordinate, he gave no hint of it on his face, but he replied, “My officer is no traitor to his country. He rewarded the man who prevented the decapitation of our government. Having said that, I will question him personally to find out everything he knows, after giving him some days in solitary detention to soften him up.”

“I hope you are thorough.”

Aurbach’s tired face tightened a bit. “Mossad doesn’t need any tips on interrogation from CIA. I’ll let you know what I find out.” Aurbach leaned a little closer to the camera. “In the meantime… I suggest you lock your doors tonight. I’ve read the after-action reports regarding the swath of destruction this former asset of yours burned through Europe last month. He is quite the talented killing machine. I would not want him mad at me.” Aurbach leaned back with a smile and reached for a button on the desk console in front of him. “My love to Eleanor.” He punched the button and the feed went dead.

Carmichael paid no attention to the others in the conference room. Instead he exhaled, looking off into space. “Fucking Manny.”

One of the analysts at the table interrupted his thought. “Director Carmichael, apologies for pointing this out if it’s sensitive, but it seems clear Aurbach knows more about why we are hunting this target than I do. What does Violator have to do with Israel?”

Carmichael answered in an offhanded manner. “Gentry was involved in an op while working in SAD. Israel came out on the short end of things. Manny knows about it. You do not.” He shrugged. “Not relevant to your operation.”

The analyst said, “It might help us understand why he went to such lengths to protect the Israeli prime minister. That doesn’t fit with what we know about the man.”

“George… no.” There was an annoyed finality in Carmichael’s voice. George just held a hand up in surrender.

Brewer took this all in. She was fascinated to see other Working Group members asking questions about Violator. They were tasked with catching him, but their need-to-know apparently didn’t include details of his former operations.

Carmichael turned to Brewer now, surprising her with the speed of the movement. “Okay, Suzanne. Time to earn yourself a seat at the table. You’ve heard what we’re up against. What do you suggest we do?”

Brewer looked around, and her voice became unsure. “I don’t see any outside entities represented here.”

“Outside entities?”

“Protocol for something like this… a local threat, I mean… is to bring in the FBI.”

Carmichael sighed. Disappointed in her comment. “No Bureau. This isn’t going to be a DOJ dog and pony show. We have one man in the area, we can handle this. What steps do you say we take first?”

She said, “Honestly, if this were Paris, Buenos Aires, even Toronto, we would have more options from an operational standpoint. But D.C. isn’t our turf. I can’t just send a security team in a helicopter over the Capitol and a surveillance team in a van down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Carmichael shook his head. “There are counterintelligence protocols for resources at our disposal. On an ad hoc basis I can bring in various assets, I can order up contracted security with TS clearance. I can call in JSOC operators.”

Brewer was astonished. “JSOC operators? You are talking about Delta Force?”

Mayes corrected her. “They haven’t been called that for years, but yeah, special mission units. Those guys.”

“To run a direct-action mission in the United States?”

“Yes,” Carmichael replied flatly.

Brewer was realizing Carmichael had been right when he said she’d never worked on an operation of this magnitude. “You would need approval from the director, who himself would need approval from the president.”

“I have approval from the director, who has an existing understanding with POTUS involving Violator.” He smiled. “Welcome to the big leagues, Brewer. You want in this program, you’re going to have to get with the program.”

Suzanne Brewer composed herself for a moment, well aware that all eyes were on her. Then she reached out and touched the intercom button. Mayes and Carmichael exchanged a look, surprised that the subordinate was taking such liberties. She was the most junior officer in the room, but clearly she was no shrinking violet.

A communications specialist answered on the intercom.

“Commo.”

“Where are we in accessing local police, D.C. Metro, and civilian camera networks?”

“We’ll be up on all systems by tomorrow at seven a.m.”

“And facial recog?”

“Ready to go. Once we have the feeds, we’ll get to work. It will be a slow process. A lot of cameras for the computers to look at.”

“I understand. Are we monitoring first responder bands?”

“Uh…”

“Do it. Police, ambulance, fire. We need to be on the lookout for anything anomalous in the District involving a single subject fitting his description. If he’s a lone wolf, he might steal a car, break into a building, rob a pawnshop in the burbs. Hell, if he’s been on a cargo ship for that long he might hire a hooker or get himself busted in a massage parlor.”

“We’ll get on it immediately.”

The room was quiet. Then Carmichael looked to Mayes. “All right. I’m sold. Suzanne is in the Working Group, in charge of the tactical operations center. She runs defense, and she is subordinate to you on offense. She sees primary intel on Violator, beginning with everything we know about his actions in the past two years.”

Brewer cocked her head. “You said he’s been on the run for five years.”

Carmichael stared her down. “You get two years. That is plenty of background for you to build a profile of his modus operandi.”

Suzanne Brewer let it go. “Thank you, sir.”

Carmichael addressed the entire table now. “Listen up. Violator has been running from us for a long time. Suddenly he’s right back here in our midst. This gives rise to the possibility he has transitioned from defender to aggressor. That should be extremely disconcerting to you all.”

He pointed a finger at the map. “The quicker we can find him out there, the better. The longer he’s free on the streets, the more time he has to set up an operation to go on the attack.” He shook his head. “We are not going to give him that time.”