The Fusion Cage

XXXVII

‘We don’t have any record of those individuals passing through the airbase at this time ma’am.’

Special Agent Hannah Ford leaned against the security gates at Nellis Air Force Base and flashed her most winning smile at the soldier manning the gate house, let him catch a glimpse of her cleavage.

‘We know that a C–5A Galaxy aircraft departed Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base four hours ago and landed here,’ she said. ‘We also know that two fugitives with support from at least one government department of the intelligence services made it aboard that aircraft. All I want to know is where they went after that, or in what vehicle they were travelling.’

The soldier remained impassive.

‘I don’t know what to tell you ma’am,’ he replied. ‘I have no record of them passing through this airbase, and no amount of eyelash fluttering is gonna change that.’

Hannah’s winning smile evaporated and she pushed off the gate. ‘You know that hiding fugitives is a federal offence?’

The soldier shrugged. ‘Yes ma’am, but knowing nothing about it isn’t. You have a nice day.’

Hannah turned and stormed away from the gates of the airbase back to the pool car where Mickey was waiting for her. She yanked open the door and slumped into the passenger seat.

‘Never heard of them?’ Mickey hazarded.

Hannah scowled but said nothing as she covered her face with her hands, took a deep breath and then pushed her hair up and away from her face.

‘Warner and Lopez get out of that car somewhere near Richmond, and then we lose track of them. All we do have is the license plate of the vehicle they were seen arriving in, which was hired and later found abandoned outside a civilian airfield, and the occupants seen entering that field. The only aircraft that left that field in that time frame is a C–5A for Nellis, from where they’ve disappeared. Damn it, none of this makes any sense. Warner and Lopez arrived at the hotel in a vehicle! Why the hell did they steal another one?’

Mickey shook his head.

‘We’re chasing our tails here, Hannah. In my time at Quantico we were trained to track killers, to monitor suspected terrorists, to assist local law enforcement. Nothing I’m seeing here bears any reference to that. As far as I can make out, we’re chasing a bunch of lunatics across the country and have no idea, for sure, if they’re even criminals.’

‘Defense Intelligence Agency,’ Hannah said. ‘That’s what officer Morton said they’d claimed to be working for, right?’

‘They claimed to be working for, being the operative statement. Hannah, these people are likely con artists, frauds. Nothing they’ve said can be taken at face value.’

Hannah leafed through a folder that contained everything they had on the current case, and found herself once again looking at an image of Mary Meyer.

‘Why is nobody looking for this woman?’ Amber asked. ‘Her husband is now dead and she’s been missing for just as long, as has their daughter, Amber, who also showed up at the hotel with Warner and Lopez in tow.’

‘I don’t know,’ Mickey replied wearily. ‘They could be in Europe by now. This is a waste of time, Hannah. You’re just chasing this because you think that any success you have will piss Jenkins off.’

‘That’s not true.’

‘Why are we here then?’

Hannah looked at Mickey for a moment, and then shrugged. ‘Because it might piss Jenkins off a little, obviously.’

Mickey sighed at the sight of the tiny smile touching Hannah’s freckled face. ‘I don’t know why I follow you into things like this.’

‘Because you know it stinks,’ Hannah replied, ‘just like I do. They’re all here, and they’re up to something. Whatever it is, I can’t just let it go — there’s also a homicide to think about, remember?’

‘Again, according to Ethan Warner, who then takes off before we can question him about how he knew there was a second person on the scene.’

‘The DNA profile will take a while to figure out, but we know the blood wasn’t Stanley Meyer’s. Warner was right, so why would he then take off, and why the hell is he being held up as a suspect in the case? He wasn’t there, can’t have been.’

‘And yet he knew somebody else was present at the scene,’ Mickey pointed out. ‘So he must be connected to the murder somehow.’

Hannah rubbed her temples wearily, her back still aching from the commercial flight that they had taken in order to pursue her wild hunch that they had all been missing something important that would tie all of the disparate threads together. Warner. Lopez. The Meyers, and the unknown killer she felt sure was …

Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket and she answered instantly.

‘Tell me you’ve got something.’

‘I’ve got something.’

The excitement in Special Agent Emma Granger’s voice made Hannah sit up straight in her seat and switch the phone onto conference as Mickey glanced across at her.

‘Tell me.’

‘There’s a common theme in the travels of Stanley Meyer and this Ethan Warner guy,’ Emma reported. ‘I’ve been reviewing CCTV footage from any locations that we can be certain they have travelled through within reasonable time — frames, and then cross — referencing those with … ’

‘Stop pulling my chain, Granger, what have you got?’ Hannah snapped impatiently.

‘A Saudi security specialist,’ Emma replied, ‘by the name of Assim Khan. I’m sending a picture over to you right now.’

Hannah looked down and saw an image of a Middle — Eastern looking man, his hair graying slightly at the temples and a broad jaw beneath dark eyes.

‘What’s his story?’ Mickey asked.

‘Former Saudi Special Forces,’ Emma replied. ‘He joined a Saudi firm that specializes in security but is suspected by the CIA of being a front for assassins for hire. Assim here has been implicated in a number of hits over the years but nothing’s stuck.’

‘What’s his connection to Stanley Meyer?’ Hannah asked.

‘Assim was hired by Seavers Incorporated to provide security during a visit to Saudi Arabia by none other than Ethan Warner and Nicola Lopez. I managed to find out that the Saudi’s suffered a major military setback in the desert while Warner and Lopez were in the Kingdom but off the radar, lost an Apache gunship to militants and apparently are now trying to extradite Warner and Lopez back to stand trial.’

‘They shot down an Apache gunship?’ Hannah asked in amazement. ‘What the hell for?’

‘Who knows with these two,’ Emma replied. ‘Their names are all over files attached to the Defense Intelligence Agency, but they’re so redacted that I can’t make head nor tail out of them. At one point or another, the CIA has had an interest in the pair of them, and so has the National Reconnaissance Office.’

‘Who the hell are these guys?’ Mickey uttered in amazement.

‘Assim,’ Hannah pressed. ‘Why is he so important?’

‘Because he’s here,’ Emma replied, ‘in America, or more precisely, he landed an hour ago in Las Vegas. More than that, I’ve got images of him showing up in Virginia at the hotel. Assim Khan may be our guy, and get this, since he showed up in the country, Huck Seavers and his family have vanished.’

Hannah and Mickey exchanged a glance.

‘If Assim’s the killer, then he’s probably targeting either Warner and Lopez or the Meyers,’ Mickey said.

‘Or Huck Seavers and his family, or even all of them,’ Hannah agreed. ‘Do we have a fix on Assim Khan yet?’

‘He hired a vehicle from a rental place down on the south side,’ Emma informed Hannah and passed on the registration. ‘Do you want me to alert the local field office and get you some support. Jenkins is still in the office and I’m sure she’d clear you to…’

‘Keep Jenkins out of the loop,’ Hannah snapped. ‘Contact the Las Vegas office and inform them of everything you just told me but keep local law enforcement out of it for now other than a BOLO for the rental vehicle. Any of them locates him, they’re to pass it on to the field office. I don’t want forty squad cars with screaming sirens letting this guy know we’re onto him.’

There was a long pause on the line. ‘Jenkins will be pissed at you cutting her out.’

That smile appeared again on Hannah’s face as she replied.

‘Let her get as pissed as she likes, this one’s slipped through her fingers because she was all for shutting it down. Send my number to the Special Agent in charge down here and I’ll liase directly with them. Let’s see if we can’t close this guy down before he kills any more Americans.’

Hannah shut off the phone and turned to her partner. ‘Any time, Mickey, you’re welcome.’

‘Damn, how the hell do you manage stuff like this?’ Mickey uttered as he pulled out of the air base’s gates.

‘I got a nose for trouble,’ Hannah replied gleefully as she looked at the image of Assim Khan on her phone. ‘Let’s hope this guy does too, and we’ll let him lead us right to everybody else.’