The Vatican Knights

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Laces of red stitching had formed within the whites of Shari Cohen’s eyes. Not even her fourth cup of coffee was strong enough to drive away the exhaustion, as she operated on compulsion and willpower alone. The only thing that kept her motivated was her direct communication with national and international intelligence agencies, including the DST from France, the SIS from Britain, the BND from Germany, the AISI from Italy, the SVR and FSB from Russia and, of course, Mossad. Not a single moment was wasted.

“So now what?”

Shari turned to Paxton, whose face sported the beginning of a new beard. “Go home,” she told him. “Get some sleep.”

“And miss the biggest day of your career?”

She immediately picked up the undertone of sarcasm. “Look, this wasn’t my call, okay? So get over it. If you can’t, then take it up with the attorney general or deputy director.”

Paxton stared her down for a brief moment before turning away. “I’m just tired,” he said. It was a poor cop out, but he didn’t care.

Shari glanced at her watch; it was 6:15, a new day.

The conference room staff, in communication with Mossad throughout the night, remained at full force. The emailed encryptions given to Shari regarding the Soldiers of Islam were at best incomplete.

According to the compiled dossiers, the Soldiers of Islam were only marginally capable of any type of military sophistication. Although they did spend time training in al-Qaeda camps, they were primarily groomed for their computer expertise. Their central purpose was to search for soft spots in the American defense system and then relay those weaknesses to their superiors for possible exploitation.

Paxton saw the wheels turning. “Got something?”

Deep lines of deliberation creased Shari’s forehead. “The Soldiers of Islam,” she said, “or at least what we know of them, doesn’t make any sense.”

“How so?”

“You read the files, the dossiers. These guys are computer geeks. They hardly have the military capacity to take out the president’s Special Security Force.”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe Mossad doesn’t have all the answers?”

Shari shook her head. “Mossad is legendary,” she said, “and thorough. I don’t think these files are incomplete. I think we have everything there is to know about the Soldiers of Islam.”

“Meaning what?”

She chewed softly on her lower lip for a moment before answering. “I don’t know; I’m not sure. I just don’t see these guys, outnumbered as they were, taking out such a highly trained force. I just don’t.”

Paxton leaned forward and rubbed his raw, fatigued eyes. “Well, apparently they did.”

Shari wasn’t totally confident in this assessment.

Paxton loosened the knot of his tie and undid the top button of his shirt. “Maybe you should head home for a bit,” he told her. “I’ll call you if we hear anything.”

“Sure you don’t want to go home?”

“Positive. There’s no point in both of us falling asleep on the job, right?”

She feigned a smile. “I guess.” She gathered the files and placed the recently-burned CD into its jewel case.

“Where’re going to need those,” he said.

Shari shook her head. “I’m going to the DHS Building to see if they can help me with these encryptions.”

“They’re just dossiers.”

She smiled out of cordiality. “Maybe. But ask yourself this question: why are there encryptions in these dossiers?”

Paxton agreed with her in principle. Encryptions exist solely for highly-sensitive information, and dossiers are open biographical histories of certain subjects — not exactly top-secret material.

“Shari, you need to take a break. I can handle this.”

“I’m sure you can, Billy. But I’m still in charge.” She gathered the files and the disc before heading toward the door. “Call me if something comes up.”

And then she was gone, moving rapidly toward the elevators at the end of the hall.

Paxton immediately got on his cell phone, punched in a speed-dial number, and waited for a response. When the line was picked up on the other end, Paxton spoke in a tone that was flat and emotionless. “We may have a problem,” he said.

“And what would that be?”

“Cohen is starting to think that something’s wrong. She took the files and the encrypted CD from Mossad. She plans to take the disc to DHS for them to break it down.”

“There’s nothing in those files worth worrying about,” the voice said. “And I don’t think there’s anything on the CD to lead her in any specific direction, either. But destroy the backup disc, just in case. If she discovers anything from the CD in her possession that we need to worry about, we’ll deal with her then. Let’s just play this out.”

“Understood.”

“Is she still there?”

“She just left.”

“Then get moving.”