Jackson leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “That’s the big question isn’t it? Apparently, Langley felt they deserved an opportunity to bag Kharrazi as he crossed over the border. It’s a gigantic political mess that I’m not willing to navigate right now. Suffice it to say, they gambled and lost. They knew where he was with five miles to go, but Kharrazi is shrewd. He must have taken a more circuitous route. They simply waited too long. Morris admitted as much to me just before you came in. That’s who I was on the phone with.”
“You’re kidding. That asshole actually admitted he was wrong about something?”
Jackson grinned. “You know, I thought the same thing myself.” Then the smile faded and his eyes locked on Nick. “What do you want to do about Phil?”
Nick took a breath and let it out slowly. “Where are they?”
“We don’t know for sure. Surveillance shows them leaving by way of a limousine. Phil seemed to be going under his own will. I’m sure Kharrazi knew just what to offer him. We’ve leaned on every limo company in the city and came up empty.”
“Kharrazi is worth what? Ten billion? He’s got plenty of hush money to spread around.”
Jackson nodded. “Still, we have every runway, train station and interstate covered. The analysts say they’re still in Vegas somewhere.”
“What’s our timetable?”
“Nine AM Eastern time. Rashid needs to be completely free. No tails. No bugs.”
Nick didn’t need to ask what happened if Rashid wasn’t out. He lowered his head and massaged his temple with his fingertips. It seemed like he’d been chasing terrorists forever. Now it felt different. It wasn’t a job anymore. It was personal.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Jackson said. “What do you want to do about Phil?”
Nick looked up. “What about regulations?”
Jackson grimaced. “I’m going to sit here and tell you the details of Phil’s capture, then preclude you from getting involved because of regulations?” He leaned back and folded his arms across his large chest. “I can take the heat. It’s what I do. But I need to know if you’re prepared to deal with what you might find.”
Nick understood. Identifying Phil’s body would not be easy. He nodded. “I have to try and get him back, Walt.”
Jackson reached into a desk drawer and came out with a pair of airline tickets. He slid them across the desk. “The flight leaves at seven. Take Matt with you. I have every available agent in Nevada waiting for you. Meanwhile the rest of the Team will stay here and browbeat every informant we have. Something’s happening out there. Something bigger than Phil and Rashid.”
Nick reached for the tickets and stood to leave.
“Keep in mind,” Jackson said. “There’s a possibility that this is a-”
“Trap?” Nick said. “Yes, I know. Kharrazi’s too sharp to think we’ll release Rashid. He wants me. That’s what the glare into the camera was all about. Phil is just bait. Kharrazi intends to honor Rashid’s threat.”
A modest grin tightened the corner of Jackson’s mouth. He had the satisfied look of a teacher appraising his star pupil.
Nick put the tickets in his jacket pocket and turned toward the door.
“One other thing,” Jackson said behind him.
Nick turned.
Jackson’s grin mutated into something wicked. “Tell Matt, if he gets a clear shot at Kharrazi. . make it a head shot.”
Nick could already see the smile on Matt’s face, and he hadn’t even left the room.
Chapter 5
In the heavily-wooded suburb of Hampden, Maryland, Nick opened the front door of his two story house expecting to see his wife’s easy smile. Julie had a knack for seeming excited to see him even when he was precisely on schedule. That surprised expression she first showed off when he knelt down to propose and continued to shine at him every time he came home. As if the mere act of finding his way back home was an accomplishment to admire. How he loved that expression. If only he could find a way to verbalize those thoughts, those emotions that remained hidden deep inside. She had to know, yet the words somehow escaped him.
Nick circled back through the kitchen, then the den. “Honey,” he called.
When he returned to the front foyer, a sound came from upstairs. He leaned over the banister and heard someone sobbing. Nick ran up the stairs two at a time. As he moved toward the master bedroom, he slid the gun from his holster. He could hear Julie whimpering now. His heart jumped as a loose thought ran through his mind. Kemel Kharrazi.
With his gun drawn, he crept up to the doorway of his bedroom and peeked inside. His heart sank. Julie sat on the floor with her back against the side of the bed. Her knees were pulled up into her chest while she wiped away tears with an overused ball of tissue. Without looking up she said, “I just got off the phone with Lynn.”
Nick holstered his gun and sighed. She had just spoken with his brother’s wife. She knew about Phil.
He watched her sniffle with bloodshot eyes and streaks of moisture blotching her face. Her short brown hair was twisted into sharp angles. Yet as distraught as she appeared, all he could think about was how striking she was. Even at her very worst, in her most awkward moment, he adored her. He couldn’t imagine anyone or anything more beautiful. He wanted to tell her right there, right then. But he didn’t.
He sat next to her and gathered her into his arms. He sat quietly while Julie blurted out her sorrowful thoughts in small dosages. “Poor Lynn,” she sobbed. “The kids don’t know yet.” More sobs. “They think he’s just away on business.” Her firm body wilted in his arms.
“It’s okay,” he whispered.
“I’m so sorry, Nick.” She looked up at him with big Bambi eyes. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
Nick pulled her closer and she dug her wet face into his chest. He caressed her cheek with his fingertips. It was strange to see her so distressed, she had such a strong personality and so few low points.
“Who is it?” she asked. “Who has Phil?”
Nick chewed on his lower lip. He could feel her stiffen in the silence.
“Nick?”
His reluctance was only making it worse. He whispered, “Kemel Kharrazi.”
She gasped. “In America? How could that be?” She twisted in his arms and looked up at him. “Nick, what’s going on? Tell me right now.”
Amazing, Nick thought. She saw the big picture immediately. She was always right there with him. Never a step behind. For an investigator like Nick, it was rare too be followed so closely.
“I’m not sure, sweetie.”
“You know something, though.”
An open-ended question. Just like a good interrogator. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook, so she sat and waited for his response.
Nick took a breath. “Kharrazi is in America with a squad of soldiers.”
When he stopped there, she said, “Well he certainly didn’t go through the trouble of sneaking into the country with a platoon of followers just to kidnap Phil Bracco.”
Nick shrugged. “He’s not your typical terrorist. He’s a Georgetown graduate, extremely bright. Maybe too bright. You know what they say about people with skyrocket IQ’s,” he said, looping his index finger around his right ear.
She just stared.
“All right,” he said. “Kharrazi wants us to release Rashid Baser in exchange for Phil.”
She pulled back and examined Nick’s face. “You’re serious?”
Nick nodded.
“He can’t be that naive?”
“No, he isn’t.”
“Then what’s it all about?”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s what I’m going to find out.”
Julie suddenly looked horrified. “You’re going to Vegas?”
Nick didn’t respond. He wanted to soften the blow, but she was too quick for him.
Julie wiped her eyes, then stood up and brushed off her lap, as if to wipe away her vulnerability.