Inside his house, Afridi unrolled his prayer rug and turned toward Mecca. He longed to make the Hajj and circle the sacred Kaaba. Until that time came, he would fulfill his vow to visit the relic of the Prophet.
Outside, dark clouds were forming over the mountains. A storm was coming.
CHAPTER 33
Nick looked through the glass of the cubicle in ICU and felt his stomach clench. Ronnie's skin was a pale yellow-brown, like weak sun on a desert plain. A bank of monitors over his head traced the electronic fragility of his life. A bag of clear liquid hung from a rack, feeding into his veins.
"It's a miracle he's still alive."
The speaker was Ronnie's doctor. She was a tall redhead with clear blue eyes and pale skin. Nick guessed her age at around forty. The name tag on her white lab coat identified her as Evelyn Fairchild, M.D.
"Were you with him when he was shot?" she said. "If you're the one who kept him from bleeding out, you saved his life."
"I was there. It wasn't me that saved him."
"One of the bullets just missed the heart and exited his back. A little to the left and that would've been it. Another round destroyed his spleen. We removed that."
"You took out his spleen?"
"What was left of it," she said. "He can live without it."
She waited to see if Nick was going to say anything else. When he didn't, she continued.
"A third bullet perforated the lower abdomen. We had to go in and clean him out. He lost about a foot of intestine but we were able to reattach the two ends. If he recovers, he'll have normal intestinal function."
"If he recovers?" Nick said.
"I won't kid you," she said. "It could go either way. We were able to repair the injuries but his body was badly traumatized. We're keeping him sedated to help the natural healing process."
"Shit," Nick said.
"Yes." She waited for the question she knew was coming.
"When will we know?" Nick asked.
"I can't say. He's stable and his EEG is normal. That's good. He's in excellent condition, aside from his injuries. I don't think there's any neurological damage from hydrostatic shock but we won't know for sure until he wakes up. That's one of the major concerns. I think there's every reason to be hopeful but that's all I can tell you."
Hydrostatic shock was bad news. When a bullet struck a living body, it sent pressure waves throughout the fluid in the tissues. It was hydrostatic shock that knocked down big game when shot. It could scramble the brain.
"Thanks for not sugarcoating it. Can I go in and talk to him?"
Doctor Fairchild nodded. "You can, but he won't respond. Five minutes, no more." She reached into a box on the nurse's station and took out a disposable face mask. "Wear this," she said.
Nick put on the mask and entered the cubicle. It was quiet there, except for the monotonous hum of air conditioning and the beeping of the machines monitoring Ronnie's vital signs. Green and red and yellow digital blips moved across the screens above Ronnie's head.
"Hey, amigo," Nick said.
His stomach twisted into knots as he looked at his friend. He'd never felt so helpless.
"You gotta quit laying around like this. Everybody misses you. Selena said for me to give you a kiss for her but I figured you wouldn't mind if I just told you about it instead."
Nick reached out and took Ronnie's hand in both of his, careful not to disturb the IV needle taped to his arm. The skin was cool, unresponsive to his touch.
"The guy who shot you is history," Nick said. "It turns out somebody else set the whole thing up. We're going to find out who it is and then we're going after him. I wish you could go with us. I wanted you to know we're going to get the bastard."
He squeezed the limp hand. "Stay with us, Ronnie. We need you. We miss you."
Nick felt moisture on his cheek. He wiped it away with the back of his hand.
"I have to go. I'll come back as soon as I can."
Nick got up and left the room. He tossed the mask in a wastebasket as he went out.
He didn't look back.
CHAPTER 34
In Virginia, Stephanie studied the latest satellite intelligence from Pakistan. The troop buildup on both sides of the border with India had increased since the last overpass. The main concentration of Indian forces was in Kashmir. A drive west from Kashmir would threaten Islamabad. Both sides were moving heavy armor to the border. The largest tank battle since World War II had been fought between Pakistan and India in 1965. Three of the four wars the two nations had fought since the partition of India had begun in Kashmir. History seemed ready to repeat itself. What was different this time was that both sides had nuclear weapons.
Stephanie's computer alerted her to a call from Cobra's encrypted phone. An automatic recording began. She picked up her laptop and went into Elizabeth's office.
"Cobra is making a call."
"Let's hear it," Elizabeth said.
Stephanie pressed a key. The sound of the call being dialed came through the speakers. The tone sounded distant. Atmospherics hissed around it. Someone answered.
"What language is that?" Elizabeth asked.
"Hindi, I think. We'll have Selena listen to it."
It was frustrating to hear and not understand what was being said. The conversation lasted less than a minute before Cobra disconnected.
"There were a couple of words I understood," Elizabeth said. "Afridi and Srinagar."
"I heard them too."
"Where's Selena?"
"Everyone's downstairs," Steph said. "I'll go get them."
She got up and went down the spiral stair to the lower level. The stairs opened onto the ops center. To the left were the computers, given a room of their own. To the right were the gym, the armory and the shooting range. Steph heard gunfire and headed to the right.
Nick, Selena and Lamont stood at separate firing stations, practicing with their pistols. Steph picked up plugs from a bucket near the door and stuck them in her ears. Three Sig .40 caliber pistols firing at once made a lot of noise. All three shooters wore noise canceling ear protectors and tinted shooting glasses.
Steph looked down range. The targets were man sized silhouettes. On all three, neat groups of bullet holes had punched through the head and heart areas. The slide on Nick's pistol locked back and he ejected the magazine. As he reached for another, he saw Steph standing by the entrance. She pointed at the ceiling. He waited until the others finished firing.
"Cease-fire," he said in a loud voice. He took off the ear protectors. Selena and Lamont followed suit.
"Elizabeth wants us upstairs," Steph said. "Cobra used his phone. We need Selena to tell us what he said."
"Secure the weapons," Nick said. "We'll clean them later. Let's go hear what this creep says."
Fresh mags went in the guns from force of habit. An empty gun was no more useful than a baseball and harder to throw. The pistols went into their holsters. Everyone went back upstairs.
When they were settled in front of her desk, Elizabeth played the recording.
"Cobra is talking with a man named Ijay. He's giving him orders," Selena said. She listened to the recording, face tight with concentration. No one interrupted. It came to the end.
"Play it again. I think I've got it but my Hindi is a little rusty."
Stephanie played the recording again.
"Oh, boy," Selena said.
"I think he mentioned Afridi," Elizabeth said.
"He did. He told Ijay, whoever he is, that Afridi is planning to visit a mosque in Srinagar next week. Cobra wants Ijay to kidnap him and take him to a safe house."
"How does he know about the visit?"