"That might be difficult."
"It has to be a top-tier leader. There aren't that many of them. Al-Baghdadi is very careful about who he trusts. Whoever it is has followed my team ever since Sweden. He must have operatives at Incirlik or he couldn't have known where they went."
"A spymaster."
"Yes."
"ISIS has been getting better at gathering intelligence," Hood said. "It feels as though someone new has taken the reins. Before it was more random, it had more of a hit and miss kind of feeling to it. Now it's beginning to take on an aura of professionalism. Someone is responsible for that."
"That was my thought also," Elizabeth said. "If we could identify him, perhaps he could be eliminated."
"My, Elizabeth, you better hadn't let some of those senators who don't like you hear you say that."
"I'll never understand why we have to dance around the issue when a key terrorist figure has been identified. Nothing stops them from murdering as many people as they can. Why are we supposed to think twice about taking them out?"
"I can't answer that one," Hood said. "It doesn't make any sense to me."
"I was hoping you could try and find out who this person is. I'm doing the same but you have more resources than I do. Once we know who he is, something can be done to disrupt his operation. It will hurt ISIS, at least for a while. Plus it will get some of the heat off my team. Nick recovered a phone in Turkey with three calls on it."
She took out a piece of paper with the numbers written on it and gave it to him.
"I'll put Lucas on it."
"Sometimes I think the relationship between Langley and the Project is quite incestuous. As though we were literally in bed together."
As soon as she said it, Elizabeth blushed.
Hood laughed. "That was fun the other night, don't you think?"
"Yes it was," Elizabeth said. She smiled at him. "We should change the subject. Have you learned anything more about that bomb ISIS is supposed to have acquired?"
Hood's expression grew serious.
"Yes, enough to make me worried. We're certain they found the enriched uranium Saddam was stockpiling. They may have plutonium as well."
"That's terrible news. But surely they don't have the technology to make a bomb that combines the two."
"Not in the sense that they could use the plutonium to make a bigger bang. But they could make a very dirty bomb. Think Chernobyl."
"Why haven't I seen this in the CRITIC briefs?"
"Because the DNI doesn't think it's credible."
"Are you serious?"
"Our Director of National Intelligence thinks I'm overreacting. He can't quite believe that a bunch of ignorant barbarians like ISIS could be sophisticated enough to build a nuclear bomb, much less deploy it. He doesn't want to distract the president with rumors."
"You have to go over his head."
"I will. Just as soon as I have definite proof."
"Let me see what Stephanie can pick up. She's been working on developing a new program for analyzing voice patterns and phrases and combined it with a translation program. ISIS is savvy when it comes to phone conversations, but someone might make a mistake."
"I like the idea," Hood said. "It fits right in with looking for our spymaster in the caliphate. But even if we find him, we might run into a problem."
"You mean we might not get the go-ahead to take him out?"
"I've never understood why the White House hasn't taken on ISIS in any meaningful way. During the last few months Rice has become more and more unfocused. I think something is physically wrong with him. Perhaps some aftermath of the assassination attempts."
"You think he's losing it?"
"I wouldn't go that far, but I see a power vacuum forming. Part of it's because of the election. He's distracted and the people around him aren't willing to make unpopular decisions. Nobody wants to rock the boat. They're all worried about their political future."
Elizabeth looked at her empty coffee cup. "After this election, you and I may be out of a job."
"The thought had occurred to me," Hood said. "It depends on who wins."
"If ISIS succeeds in building a nuclear bomb it won't matter who wins," Elizabeth said.
CHAPTER 44
Two days had passed since Nick and the others had returned to the base at Incirlik. Elizabeth and Hood had narrowed the list of ISIS leaders who could be searching for the Grail to three possibilities. At the same time, Stephanie had been searching through thousands of records from the sixteenth century, looking for anything to indicate where the Grail had been taken by the Knights Hospitallers.
She'd found nothing. She came into Elizabeth's office to tell her.
"I give up," she said.
"You give up what?"
"On finding anything about where the Grail went after Rhodes, assuming it was ever on Rhodes in the first place. There isn't much hard information about the Hospitallers during that time period. They moved all over Europe for years before the king of Sicily gave them Malta. As far as Malta goes, I looked through everything I could find. There's nothing at all about the Grail or anything like it."
"You're certain."
"I admit, it's frustrating. But I can't find something that isn't there."
"I was afraid it would come to this, sooner or later. It's amazing we managed to trace it as far as Rhodes."
"Even that isn't certain," Stephanie said. "What if that monk was lying?"
"We'll never know, will we?"
"Are you going to bring the team home?"
"Yes. There's no point in sending them to Malta now."
"They'll be glad to… oh!"
Stephanie doubled over, clutching her bulging abdomen with both arms. Elizabeth got up and went to her. She put her hand on Stephanie's shoulder.
"Steph, what's the matter? Are you all right?"
"I don't know."
A sudden rush of liquid ran down Stephanie's legs.
"Your water broke. The baby's coming. "
"But it's not time yet!"
"I'm afraid it is. I'll drive you to the hospital. It's quicker than calling an ambulance."
They went out to the parking lot and got into Elizabeth's Audi. Elizabeth called ahead to the gate for her escort. She was met by two black GMC suburbans at the entrance to the compound, each manned by four men from her security detail. One of the vehicles went ahead, one behind. They sped toward Alexandria and the hospital.
They were moving fast, doing more than seventy, weaving in and out of heavy traffic with strobe lights flashing. Stephanie was talking to Lucas on her cell phone when the lead vehicle blew a front tire. The suburban veered right, then hard left. It tipped onto its side and rolled, bouncing into the air. The truck struck a gray compact and sent it spinning across three lanes of traffic.
A massive chain collision began, cars smashing into each other in every direction. Elizabeth swerved to avoid the suburban and struck a delivery van in the outer lane. Her fender crumpled into the tire and shredded it. The Audi went down on the rim, sending a stream of sparks by her window.
She fought the wheel for control.
The car back ended a motorcycle caught in the middle of the chaos. The rider was hurled onto the pavement. Elizabeth wrenched the wheel over to avoid running over him and slammed sideways into the back of a pickup truck. The car crumpled in a shrieking chorus of tearing metal and breaking glass.
As she lost consciousness, Elizabeth heard Stephanie scream.
CHAPTER 45
Nick and Selena were quartered in housing reserved for visiting officers. It was functional and well used, decorated with the same government furnishings and boring colors Nick had seen a thousand times in his career. Interior decor was not a military specialty.