The First Commandment

CHAPTER 76

The DCI nodded. “His name is Philippe Roussard. A sniper by training, he was also known as Juba. Before we caught him, he’d made quite a name for himself in Iraq; over one hundred confirmed kills of American service personnel.”

“That’s who’s killing my friends and family?” responded Harvath, searching his memory banks for the names and coming up empty.

Vaile nodded again.

Harvath’s anger was rising once more. “I can’t fucking believe this. You know who the hell this guy is and still you’re not doing anything to nail his ass to the wall.”

Vaile didn’t want to get into a pissing match with Harvath, so he changed the subject. “Did you know that I had a nephew who was killed in Iraq?”

“No, I didn’t,” replied Harvath, trying to get his temper under control. “I’m sorry.”

“For obvious reasons, our family and the Marines kept the relationship secret. As it turns out, Roussard was the one who killed him. He had no idea, of course. My nephew was just another infidel crusader to that scumbag; another American notch on his rifle butt.

“Even in death we kept my nephew’s relationship to me hidden. The last thing we wanted to do was hand the insurgency such a high-profile victory, especially since Juba, or Roussard, had reached almost mythical status for being untouchable and able to kill anyone he wanted.”

“Of course not,” said Harvath, sorry for the man’s loss, “but at the risk of sounding insensitive, where do I and the people I care about fit into all of this?”

“The name Roussard doesn’t ring any bells with you, does it?” asked Vaile.

Harvath shook his head.

“I guess it makes no difference. As long as the president intends to honor his side of the bargain, I have no choice but to bring you in.”

“But what if I can get to the people responsible for all of this before you do?”

“Personally,” said Vaile as he stood, “I don’t think any of this is about kids, school buses, or conditions at Gitmo. I think somehow it is all about you, and I’d like nothing more than for you to hunt down and kill every last one of the people responsible.”

There was a long pause in which Harvath sensed there was something else the DCI wanted to say.

A moment later, the man spoke. “But my personal opinions don’t really matter much in this case. Professionally, I’m bound to carry out the orders given to me by the president of the United States. I’d recommend you start doing the same, but something tells me we’re well beyond the point of that doing any good.”

“We are,” replied Harvath.

Vaile walked the couple of steps to the steam room door and then, with his hand upon it, turned to look back at Harvath. “In that case, there’s something you need to see.”