The Eye of Shiva

CHAPTER 34

In Virginia, Stephanie studied the latest satellite intelligence from Pakistan. The troop buildup on both sides of the border with India had increased since the last overpass. The main concentration of Indian forces was in Kashmir. A drive west from Kashmir would threaten Islamabad. Both sides were moving heavy armor to the border. The largest tank battle since World War II had been fought between Pakistan and India in 1965. Three of the four wars the two nations had fought since the partition of India had begun in Kashmir. History seemed ready to repeat itself. What was different this time was that both sides had nuclear weapons.

Stephanie's computer alerted her to a call from Cobra's encrypted phone. An automatic recording began. She picked up her laptop and went into Elizabeth's office.

"Cobra is making a call."

"Let's hear it," Elizabeth said.

Stephanie pressed a key. The sound of the call being dialed came through the speakers. The tone sounded distant. Atmospherics hissed around it. Someone answered.

"What language is that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Hindi, I think. We'll have Selena listen to it."

It was frustrating to hear and not understand what was being said. The conversation lasted less than a minute before Cobra disconnected.

"There were a couple of words I understood," Elizabeth said. "Afridi and Srinagar."

"I heard them too."

"Where's Selena?"

"Everyone's downstairs," Steph said. "I'll go get them."

She got up and went down the spiral stair to the lower level. The stairs opened onto the ops center. To the left were the computers, given a room of their own. To the right were the gym, the armory and the shooting range. Steph heard gunfire and headed to the right.

Nick, Selena and Lamont stood at separate firing stations, practicing with their pistols. Steph picked up plugs from a bucket near the door and stuck them in her ears. Three Sig .40 caliber pistols firing at once made a lot of noise. All three shooters wore noise canceling ear protectors and tinted shooting glasses.

Steph looked down range. The targets were man sized silhouettes. On all three, neat groups of bullet holes had punched through the head and heart areas. The slide on Nick's pistol locked back and he ejected the magazine. As he reached for another, he saw Steph standing by the entrance. She pointed at the ceiling. He waited until the others finished firing.

"Cease-fire," he said in a loud voice. He took off the ear protectors. Selena and Lamont followed suit.

"Elizabeth wants us upstairs," Steph said. "Cobra used his phone. We need Selena to tell us what he said."

"Secure the weapons," Nick said. "We'll clean them later. Let's go hear what this creep says."

Fresh mags went in the guns from force of habit. An empty gun was no more useful than a baseball and harder to throw. The pistols went into their holsters. Everyone went back upstairs.

When they were settled in front of her desk, Elizabeth played the recording.

"Cobra is talking with a man named Ijay. He's giving him orders," Selena said. She listened to the recording, face tight with concentration. No one interrupted. It came to the end.

"Play it again. I think I've got it but my Hindi is a little rusty."

Stephanie played the recording again.

"Oh, boy," Selena said.

"I think he mentioned Afridi," Elizabeth said.

"He did. He told Ijay, whoever he is, that Afridi is planning to visit a mosque in Srinagar next week. Cobra wants Ijay to kidnap him and take him to a safe house."

"How does he know about the visit?"

"Afridi has a viper in his little terrorist band of brothers. Someone betrayed him."

"Why does Cobra want him?" Nick asked.

"He wants to question him. Then he's going to kill him."

"Mm." Harker picked up her pen. "Tells us something about Cobra. Question Afridi about what? Did he say?"

"He wants to know where Afridi got the gold to support Abu Sayyaf."

"The gold?" Nick said. "Not many people even know about that. Did you get Cobra's name?"

"No," Selena said. "Ijay never mentioned it. Anyone Cobra calls on that phone must know who he is. But I have an idea how we might ID him."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Cobra wants to question Afridi in person. He's going to meet Ijay after he grabs him."

"When?" Nick asked.

Selena smiled. "Three days from now."

"You're thinking we spot Afridi and watch for Cobra to try and grab him."

"Yes."

"Why don't we turn the tables on them?" Lamont said. "When Cobra shows up, we do the grabbing. Him and Afridi too."

"Two for the price of one," Nick said. "I like it. What do you think, Director?"

"It has possibilities," Elizabeth said, "but there are two problems that I can see. Afridi is one of them. Our primary objective is Cobra. Afridi isn't the one who put Ronnie in a hospital. As much as I'd like to get rid of him, he's a secondary target and he's bound to have bodyguards. He'll be at a mosque. You go after him there and you run the risk of setting off a riot. Kashmir is always on edge. The whole area could explode with very little provocation."

Nick said, "You said two problems. What's the other?"

"We have to consider the political implications. All we know about Cobra is that he's high up in India's intelligence agency. What do you think will happen if you grab him and he turns out to be important, like Langley's deputy director?"

"That's easy. The shit will hit the fan."

"It will. And eventually it will all land right here, on us."

Nick threw up his hands in frustration. "So what do you want us to do?"

"I want you to observe what happens between him and Afridi. I want you to get pictures so we can find out who he is. Then I can decide the next step."

"He said he was going to kill Afridi," Selena said.

Elizabeth looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Your point being?"

"You don't have a problem with that?"

There was a note of surprise in Selena's voice.

"Why should I? Afridi's group has killed hundreds of innocent people. He's a jihadist who wants to establish an Islamic state in Kashmir. He's demonstrated that he'll do anything to achieve that end. Don't forget, the explosives that blew up the embassy and the AK that shot Ronnie were probably purchased with money that came from him."

"I still think we should at least try for Cobra," Nick said. "He wants to know where Afridi got the money and so do we. If we can take him without a problem, we ought to do it. Cobra's gone rogue. He gave up his protection when he set up those attacks in the Philippines."

Harker considered. "What would you do with him?"

"We need a safe house in Srinagar," Nick said. "A nice quiet place where we can ask him a few questions. He doesn't have to know who's doing the asking."

There was a hard quality in his voice that made Selena glad it wasn't her he was talking about.

"There's no time to set that up," Lamont said.

"Lucas could help." The bracelets on Stephanie's wrist made tiny metallic sounds as she twisted them.

Lucas Monroe worked for the Director of the CIA and was Stephanie's lover. If Langley had a safe house in Srinagar, Lucas could find out where it was. Elizabeth had a good relationship with DCI Clarence Hood. Revealing the safe house location would require his okay. He didn't have to know exactly why she needed the house. In fact, he would probably prefer not to know. Elizabeth made a decision.

"That's a good idea, Steph. You talk with Lucas and I'll call Hood. I'd be surprised if Langley doesn't have a safe location over there."

"Then it's a go," Nick said.

Elizabeth nodded. "Be careful, Nick. Don't create a problem for us. If you succeed in getting Cobra, try not to hurt him."

"What about transportation?"

"I'll get you a Gulfstream. You can take weapons and fly right into Srinagar."

"What's our cover when the Indians want to know what we're doing there?" Lamont asked.

Elizabeth thought for a moment. "We could use the film company ploy."

"Cool," Lamont said. "I always wanted to be in movies."