Use of Force

CHAPTER 69

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Harvath stated.

“I’m not kidding you,” said Argento.

“Why don’t we just save ourselves the time? We can walk right up to the front door and ask them to shoot us.”

“I think you’re overreacting.”

Harvath shook his head. “If I was overreacting, you’d know it. Trust me. What I’m giving you is the truth.

“Which is exactly what I have given you,” the Italian countered. “I don’t like it any more than you do. It is what it is.”

“What it is, is bullshit.”

“You need to listen to me. My men and I didn’t join the Carabinieri to be the same as the Mafia. We joined because we are better men. We don’t want to beat them by their rules. We want to beat them by ours.”

“With all due respect, sometimes you need to re-evaluate the rules.”

Argento didn’t disagree. “I don’t mind bending a few here and there,” he said. “But as bad as those men are, they are still Italian citizens. The law exists to protect all Italians. Even the worst of us.”

Harvath liked Argento. He was a good guy. But here, he was totally wrong. “And if I ignore the ground rules?”

“Come on, don’t be stupid.”

“I’m serious. What happens if I ignore them?”

“The CIA snatched a Muslim Imam off the streets of Milan and rendered him to Egypt, where he was tortured. Every CIA operative involved was tried in absentia and found guilty. Prison terms and big money judgments were handed down. What do you think the Italian courts will do to you if you harm Vottari or any of his people?”

“Define harm,” said Harvath.

“Shoot,” the Italian replied. “What do you think will happen to you and your team if you shoot even one of them?”

“No one even knows that we’re here.”

“I know you’re here,” Argento stated. “My men know you’re here. My pilots know.”

“So?”

“So who do you think I called last night from the safe house in Palermo? Where do you think my file on Vottari came from? I had to call the lead N’drangheta prosecutor himself to get that. I woke him up in the middle of the night and everything.”

Harvath was right back in the position he had been earlier with Lovett, vis-à-vis Ragusa. To climb to the next rung of the ladder, someone else had to become involved. As soon as that happened, the operation, not to mention its operators, were exposed. It was no longer fully covert.

“Then you tell me,” said Harvath. “How do we make this work?”

“Believe me, that’s all I have been thinking about. If Vottari or any of his men turn up dead, I’ll be the first person they look at. Same thing if he goes missing.”

“And yet you didn’t have any trouble pulling Ragusa, his girlfriend, and the two bodyguards off the street for a little while.”

“Because he had already given up Vottari,” Argento replied. “He’s never going to admit to what happened. He’ll scare the woman into silence and his men have no clue what went on in the apartment. Even if they did, they wouldn’t say anything or he would have them killed. I don’t have to worry about him running to the press or trying to file an action against me.”

“Let’s figure out then,” said Harvath, “how to put La Formícula in the same position.”

“There is no getting to La Formícula, though, if you and your team cannot agree to abide by the ground rules.”

“Every operation has to have rules of engagement. I understand that. I also understand that your ass is on the line with this. But so is mine. I am responsible for my team. I can’t put them in a situation where they are unable to protect themselves. That’s just not going to happen.”

Harvath was at his wit’s end.

“May I?” Lovett asked, pointing at Argento’s computer.

The Italian nodded and slid it the rest of the way toward her. Turning to Harvath, he said, “You understand that this is not personal. I have much discretion in the execution of my missions. But this is one area in which I do not.”

Harvath did understand. If their situation were reversed, he’d probably be taking the exact same position. Unless you were operating completely on your own, absolutely unaccountable, there were going to be restrictions you had to deal with.

These, though, were a little extreme, if Harvath did say so himself. With these rules of engagement, they were never going to make any headway against the Mafia. They’d always be left behind, trying to catch up.

Glancing over at Lovett, he saw that she had pulled up a bunch of additional photos from Vottari’s file and had them side by side.

“What are those?” he asked.

“Pictures from his Facebook account,” she replied.

“The Ant is on Facebook?”

“Yup. Even uses his real name.”

Harvath shook his head. Everybody was on social media. Why not a mobster in his thirties?

The pictures showed Vottari partying with friends and pretty women, having a good time.

Looking closer, he noticed something. “Do the couches in these photos look similar to you?”

Lovett increased the photo size. “They do actually.”

The photos had not been full screen captures. Harvath wanted to see them in their original state — the way Vottari had posted them.

Turning to Argento, he asked, “Do you have Facebook on your computer?”

“I don’t do Facebook,” the Italian replied.

“Done,” Lovett replied, handing her cell phone to Harvath. She did do Facebook.

Via the app on her phone, she had pulled up Vottari’s account. Harvath scrolled through the photos until he found the one he wanted. La Formícula had even been kind enough to tag the location in his post.

“Ever heard of a place called The Beach Club in Reggio Calabria?” he asked.

Argento nodded. “It’s a big disco, not far from where we were at the airport.”

Harvath handed the phone back to Lovett. “That’s where we’re going to nail him.”

“How do we even know when he’ll be there?” the Italian replied. “There’s nothing in his surveillance that suggests a pattern.”

“We’re going to bait a shiny hook and put it right in front of him.”

“How?”

Harvath smiled. “Don’t worry. I have the perfect guy for it.”