In the Company of Liars

ONE DAY EARLIER
THURSDAY, APRIL 15

Jane McCoy looks at the envelope on the conference table. It was removed from a larger package that was addressed to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The envelope has been scanned for fingerprints and revealed a thumb, index, and ring print. The prints have been checked against every fingerprint database in the federal government, as if they didn’t already know. The prints are a clear match for Ramadaran Ali Haroon.

On the back of the envelope Ram Haroon’s signature is scribbled across the sealed fold, so that if anyone were to open it, it would be obvious. The FBI has opened the envelope, of course, and the note inside has been translated. Which means that the FBI has had to purchase the exact kind of envelope used-not a difficult chore-and they have their best man practicing Haroon’s signature so that they can seal this back up and send it to its destination with an “authentic” signature. Their man will have to sign Haroon’s name adequately and also imitate his handwriting on the front, where the lone word “Mushi” is scribbled.

She looks at the message, translated to English:

My dearest Mushi:

Much progress has been made. Anticipated date is middle of May. Arriving in Paris on June 1. Will deliver in person.

I am honored to have been chosen.

“Mushi” refers to Muhsin al-Bakhari, the top lieutenant for the Liberation Front. One of only four people who speaks to their leader, whom they call the Great One.

“Haroon’s speaking straight to theshura majlis,” says Special Agent-in-Charge Irv Shiels. Shiels knows these people, having spent more than a decade in the Middle East with Central Intelligence. That, presumably, is why the Bureau is handling this. The CIA is no fan of the Bureau-the feeling is mutual-but Shiels knows the Liberation Front as well as any of them, so the CIA is largely deferring to Shiels and the counterterrorism squad in the field office here, at least for the part of this operation that involves Ram Haroon. The story goes, Shiels fell in love with a field officer over there and wanted to settle down back in the states, back in this city, where he grew up. So he switched to the Bureau and quickly became special agent-in-charge.

McCoy understands the nerves in Shiels’s voice. Theshura majlis is the four-person consultative council that advises the Liberation Front’s leader on matters of religion, finance, war operations, and the like. Muhsin al-Bakhari is the head of the council, making him the CEO, so to speak, of the Liberation Front. Haroon is communicating directly with al-Bakhari, meaning the mission is one that the Libbies are taking seriously.

The Liberation Front does not like layers of bureaucracy. It is not a small, tightly wound group with a firm organizational structure. Rather, it is a series of loosely banded clusters throughout the world, many of them lying dormant while they await their instructions. Most disturbingly, the Liberation Front has focused recruitment on youth-rebellious, impressionable, idealistic children and young adults-both because they are the future of any rebellion and because they escape detection more easily. College kids protesting on campuses will not draw as much attention, because they have always protested. The best estimates are that the average age of suicide bombers and perpetrators of violence is twenty-one. The Libbies’ strategy, as far as the U.S. government can tell, is to recruit and indoctrinate these young people and then leave them to their own devices until the time comes. Then, in quick succession, they are given their instructions and execute the plan. The less time between formulation and execution, the less chance for mistakes or second thoughts.

For something like what the Liberation Front has in mind here, the fewer people in the loop, the better. At this point, before they even have the formula, the general thinking is that only a handful of people in the Liberation Front even know what is happening. That, McCoy assumes, is why Haroon signed his name over the seal on the envelope. It is not so much that they fear the U.S. government reading the letter; they don’t want whoever will receive this letter and deliver it to al-Bakhari to read it.

“Sir,” McCoy asks, “how is this going to play out?”

Shiels’s lips sink into his mouth, his eyes narrow. “We don’t need to know,” he says, smiling at her as if they have a mutual complaint. Beyond the scope of the local FBI office’s job, he means. “My guess? If he’s really delivering this to al-Bakhari, they’ll follow him there. And all bets are off. It’ll be Rangers, I assume. They’ll ambush the lot of them and hope to get al-Bakhari alive.”

“Sure.” If their surveillance of Ram Haroon leads them to Muhsin al-Bakhari, the U.S. government-Army Rangers, Shiels is predicting-will proceed with full force. The United States has been searching for al-Bakhari for years. It wouldn’t be a place for bystanders. “And what if he doesn’t deliver to al-Bakhari?” she asks.

“Then, we may not catch the big fishes. Haroon will perform his faithful service and the Libbies will probably kill him.”

“They’ll kill him?”

“He’s of no use to them, Agent. Not for intel, at least. He’s been to the States. He’s documented. Maybe not with his real name, but nevertheless.” Shiels gets out of his chair. “However this turns out, Ram Haroon’s days as an undercover operative for the Liberation Front are almost over. And I’m sure he knows that.”