Path of the Assassin

CHAPTER 45

This is, without a doubt, the mother of all bad ideas, said Harvath to himself as he and Meg Cassidy crept around the outer edge of the oasis toward the tent. Meg had convinced Morrell of her plan in no time. Of course it wasn’t a very tough sell. It seemed Morrell would sacrifice anybody and anything to accomplish his mission.

Harvath had gone along with Meg’s idea for one simple reason. If they had chosen to stay back and annihilate the tent from a distance, there would been no way of confirming that they had actually taken Hashim Nidal out. Sure, everyone inside would be dead, but what if Nidal had had a change of heart at the last minute and had sent someone else to conduct the meeting in his place? The other thing that bothered Harvath was that he was not so sure Nidal was who everybody thought he was.

It only took Harvath about two seconds longer than Morrell to realize that they didn’t have any other choice, and so he made his way with Meg into the darkness.

They were under cover of the two sniper teams the entire way. Their circuit took a painfully long time and was made even worse by the intermittent wind that kicked up enormous clouds of sand.

They had been creeping around the edge of the lush oasis, using the thick groves of palm trees for cover, when fifty meters away from their objective, Harvath held up his hand for Meg to stop. With two fingers, he pointed at his own eyes and then motioned toward the front of the tent. Meg shook her head No. It was no good. She wouldn’t be able to identify Nidal from this distance, not even with their night scopes. She wanted to be closer. She signaled Harvath that they should sneak nearer to the tent. Harvath immediately shook his head. Negative. They were already much closer than he had wanted to get.

Harvath indicated that they would stay where they were and wait. With two short abrupt movements, he again pointed at his eyes and then at the tent. Meg got the picture, but she didn’t like it. She again shook her head No. Harvath didn’t care what she thought and he firmly pointed to the ground at their feet. He was lowering from his crouched position to his knees and preparing to lay in behind a clump of tall oasis grass when Meg took off. It was the last thing Harvath had expected.

He engaged his throat mike and whispered, “Meg! Damnit! Get back here. You’re going to get killed!”

Meg either didn’t hear or didn’t want to hear, because she kept moving at a running crouch closer toward the tent. Harvath had no choice but to go after her.

“What the fuck is going on down there?” rasped Morrell over his earpiece, but Harvath didn’t pay any attention. His only thoughts were on stopping Meg before she went too far.

She was no match for him, especially in the soft sand. She had swung out toward a pile of discarded crates when Harvath caught her around the waist and tackled her to the ground.

“What the hell’s the matter with you?” snarled Harvath as he rolled her over to stare her in the face.

“With me?” whispered Meg. “What’s the matter with you? I told you I couldn’t see anything from where we were. I had to get closer.”

“And I told you no.”

“We’re here now, so let’s make the best of it.”

“No way. We’re getting out of here.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” said Meg as she rolled over and prepared to get back up.

“The hell I am. We’ve got absolutely no sniper support here.”

“We don’t need it. We’re safe here. If we can get over behind those crates, I can get a good view of Nidal when he leaves the tent. Then the sniper team can take him out. Nobody will be looking for us over there. Once the shooting starts, we’ll sneak back out and around the oasis.”

“That plan is almost as bad as coming down here in the first place.”

“But it will work.”

“It might work,” said Harvath.

“It will,” replied Meg. “Trust me.”

“Trust you? Taking off like you did, you just lost my trust. From now on, you do exactly what I say. You understand me?”

“Does that mean we’re staying?”

“Are you going to do what I say?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’re staying.”

Meg thanked Harvath, but he ignored her as he quietly radioed to Morrell their new intent. Morrell didn’t like the fact that Harvath and Meg were where the rest of the team couldn’t see them, but he agreed with their plan nonetheless.

Harvath signaled to Meg to remain completely quiet as they silently crawled forward toward the stack of discarded crates. Halfway there, first one, then several figures began to emerge from the tent. Harvath didn’t need to tell Meg what to do. She froze, then slowly brought the night scope up to her eyes. The men had exited the tent between gusts of wind and, believing that the sandstorm had passed, did not bother covering their faces.

“The party is breaking up,” said Harvath quietly into his throat mike to the rest of the team.

“Copy that. Awaiting your ID,” responded one of the sniper teams.

Harvath crawled over so that he could lie right next to Meg. He was angry that they hadn’t been able to make it to the cover of the crates before the men began exiting the tent. “How’s the view?” he whispered into Meg’s ear.

Meg rocked her outstretched hand from side to side as if to say, So, so, and then pointed her thumb straight down. Her voice barely a whisper, she leaned toward Harvath and said, “I’m getting backs of heads and the occasional profile. This is no good. We’ve got to get behind those crates.”

Harvath didn’t like it. It was too risky. Though they were halfway there already, it still seemed a long way off. What’s more, they’d be that much further away from the oasis and the fire support the sniper teams could lend them if they were seen. But, Harvath knew they had no choice. Scot tapped Meg on the shoulder and indicated for her to quickly follow him, which she did.

Men were now filing out of the tent at a steady clip, and the eyes of the armed guards were busy surveying the entire area. With the night scope again pressed tight against her face, Meg peered out from behind the crates and focused on a tall man in a striped robe as he exited the tent and looked around. When the man unknowingly glanced in their direction, Meg could see his eyes. It was him! Hashim Nidal. As Meg was about to engage her throat mike and call in the target, she was struck hard with the butt of an assault rifle against the back of her head and everything went black.