Jihad

CHAPTER 14

“They want to kill the driver,” Marie Telach said, pushing the microphone of her headset away from her face. “What do you want to do?”

Rubens stared at the screen, which showed the feed from Tommy Karr’s Volkswagen as he drove through the streets of Istanbul. It had been many years since Rubens was in Turkey, but at least from what he saw on the screen, little had changed. Past and present bumped up against each other in a dusty jumble. Minarets rose over cascades of domes, but what drew the eye were the billboards for credit cards and Western cigarettes.

“How long has the driver been with Asad?” asked Rubens.

“He met Asad and the bodyguards just over the Syrian border. The CIA has nothing on him, not even a name.”

This didn’t mean that the man was unimportant. The CIA was notorious for its ignorance.

“If he’s to be of any use, he would need to see that they wanted to kill him,” Rubens told Telach.

“That’ll be tricky. We’ll need to use the backup teams.”

The Red Lion operation was a Desk Three venture, but the Deep Black field team was too small to insure success in the event something went wrong. Several teams of backup surveillance people and resources like small 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.”