"There's already been a protest from the Turkish government," Elizabeth said. "President Rice is not happy."
"He'd be a lot less happy if those cops had opened fire," Nick said. "It's a good thing that Turkish sergeant had more brains than balls."
"You have a gift for words, Nick."
"Selena thinks ISIS is hoping we'll lead them to the Grail. I think she's right. They're following us, that's why they keep showing up. Someone smart is directing them. If we could figure out who that was and take him out, it would make things a lot simpler."
"There aren't many in ISIS with the authority to send these men after you. But pinning down who it is and where he is might be difficult."
"We recovered a phone at the monastery. Maybe there's something on it that will help."
"Give me a minute," Steph said. She entered commands on her keyboard. "Go ahead. I'm ready for transfer."
"Stand by."
They waited for Nick to connect the phone to his unit.
"Transferring now."
The contents of Nawabi's phone scrolled onto the wall monitor.
"Got it," Stephanie said.
"See anything offhand?"
"There are three calls to the same number, no text messages. I have to run it through the computers. I'll let you know if I find something."
"Good enough. Maybe we'll get lucky and can drop a missile on the son of a bitch."
"One can always hope," Steph said.
"Are you sending us to Malta, Director?" Nick asked.
"Not yet. There's not much point without knowing where to start. Stephanie is searching records from around the time of the siege of Malta."
"When was that?"
"1565 CE," Steph said. "The battle was the turning point in the struggle between the Christians and the Muslims for control of the Mediterranean. I've started looking but don't expect too much."
"You think it's a dead end?"
"It could be. To make it more complicated, the Knights didn't go to Malta right after they left Rhodes. There's a period of about eight years before they got there."
"Where were they in between?"
"They wandered around Europe. France and Italy, mostly. The Pope gave the Hospitallers holdings he'd seized from the Knights Templar."
"Great," Nick said. "Then the Grail could be anywhere in Europe. It might never have gone to Malta at all. The only thing we know for sure is that the Hospitallers had it on Rhodes before Sulemein defeated them."
"We can assume it's not on Rhodes anymore," Elizabeth said. "The Knights wouldn't have taken a chance on it being captured."
"Maybe it's time to call off the search," Nick said.
"Not yet. Let's see what Stephanie comes up with. In the meantime, stay on the base. I don't want to give the Turks any excuse for arresting you. They can't bother you there."
"Copy that."
"That's all for now, Nick."
Elizabeth ended the call.
Stephanie said, "He has a point, Elizabeth. About finding out which of those ISIS thugs is looking for the Grail."
"While you're looking for some indication of where the Knights might have taken the Grail, I'll look at current leadership of the caliphate. There are only a few key players at the top. We've managed to eliminate some of them but they're like cockroaches. You kill one and another takes its place."
"Do you think we'll ever be able to defeat them?"
"We can defeat the organization. I don't think we can defeat the ideology, at least in our lifetime."
"That sounds hopeless, Elizabeth."
"I don't mean it that way. But it's going to be a long time before the fanatics fade back into the woodwork. Until moderate Muslims take back their religion, we're at war."
"That's not a popular view."
"Realism never is," Elizabeth said.
"Most people don’t like realism, not when it comes to something they can’t control. They want to believe everything is okay."
"That’s the heart of the problem," Elizabeth said. "Everything isn't okay."
CHAPTER 43
Clarence Hood saw it was Elizabeth calling on his private line and felt his heart jump a beat. There was something about her that made him feel awkward, an unusual experience for one of the most powerful men in Washington. It had been a long time since he'd been attracted to someone the way he was to Elizabeth. That the attraction seemed mutual was surprising to him. Clarence Hood was not a man most people wanted to get close to.
"Elizabeth. I'm glad you called."
"Good morning, Clarence. This isn't a social call. Is there a chance we can meet today? It's about one of our mutual concerns."
Hood thought about his day and who he could put off or shuffle to a different slot.
"I'll make time. It's a little before ten now. Would eleven here be convenient?"
"Perfect," Elizabeth said. "I'll see you then."
I wonder what's on her mind?
Hood pushed the button that summoned his secretary. He preferred the old term to 'personal assistant.' Personal assistant conjured up images of someone who might help you up the stairs or lead you to the bathroom, if you required such services. Since his secretary was male, no one could accuse him of sexism, although he wasn't sure that was still true. It was hard to keep up with all the social changes taking place.
The secretary entered the room. "Yes, Director."
"Adrian, cancel my appointment with General Hutchins. Give him my apologies and reschedule him. Director Harker will be here instead."
"Yes, sir."
After his secretary left the room, Hood got up and went to an antique sideboard that had once belonged to Abraham Lincoln. He drew a mug of coffee from a shining silver urn and added cream. He'd given up on sugar some time ago.
He still had five minutes before his next appointment. Back at his desk, he sipped coffee and thought about Elizabeth. If she wanted a meeting, there must be some urgency to whatever it was she wanted to talk about. Otherwise it could've waited until this evening. They were having dinner together again at a Georgetown restaurant they both liked.
There were a lot of things they both liked. She was the only person he felt he could confide in. His position as DCI required a public façade of certainty and confidence, but with Elizabeth he didn't have to maintain that fiction. She understood the burden of his work, as he understood hers. She was perfectly suited to her job. He knew he'd have a difficult time doing what she did. It was one of the reasons he admired her.
At the stroke of eleven, Elizabeth came into his office. Hood rose to greet her.
"Thanks for making time," Elizabeth said. "I thought it would be better to talk in person rather than over the phone."
"At the risk of sounding like a cliché, I can always make time for you. Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"I'd love one."
He poured the coffee and handed it to her. They sat down at a table near a row of windows facing out into Virginia.
"I want to talk about ISIS and what my team has been doing."
"I know about the incident in Turkey," Hood said.
"I assumed you would. They were following leads on the Grail that took them to the monastery. An ISIS team showed up and things went badly after that."
"The Turks seem to think that your people murdered a monk and several unidentified men."
"Yes, they would say that, wouldn't they? The country is slipping into the hands of the fundamentalists. By now, they know perfectly well who those men were. Of course they're not going to admit it."
"You sound angry, Elizabeth."
"I am angry. I'm tired of my team taking the blame for the incompetence of self-serving politicians. In this case, the so-called president of Turkey."
"He's a problem," Hood said. "We have nukes over there."
"We're going to have to pull them out," Elizabeth said. "The whole region is destabilizing." She took another sip of coffee. "We could talk about this for hours but that's not why I'm here. I need your help finding out who it is in ISIS that's after my team and the Grail."