"You look like someone dragged you through an alley," she said.
"Good morning to you, too. Or is it evening?" He turned and went to a basin in the corner and splashed rusty water on his face and waited for his brain to start functioning. Selena handed him the tea and took the one chair in the room.
It was early morning. Sounds of vendors calling out on the street below filtered past the curtains on the windows. A fan rattled on the scarred dresser. He sat on the bed. The springs sagged. Hilton and Marriott didn’t need to worry about the competition here. He blew on the tea.
Selena put the cardboard box on the bed. She reached down and adjusted her skirt. "What do you think they're going to do? What would you do?"
"Get wherever I was going as fast as possible and out of sight."
"Would you drive all the way down here?"
"If the pickup point was somewhere nearby."
"If they're meeting a ship they could be anywhere on the coast." She ran her fingers through her hair. "We don’t know much, do we?"
"No. Guesses are all we've got unless Steph spots them again." He looked out the window. "These terrorists. They’re like a nest of vipers. The only thing that will stop them is killing them."
"That’s not a popular view in some circles."
"Yeah, well it may not be popular, but a viper’s a viper. You can make up compassionate excuses for why it wants to strike, or talk about how it wouldn’t hurt you if you didn’t provoke it, but if it threatens you, you kill it."
"I don’t think there’s a lot of time to find these particular vipers."
Nick stood and began pacing back and forth in the small room.
"I think they'll go as far as they can on improved roads. They'll avoid security checkpoints or roadblocks. They're well organized. They probably know where those are. On the roads they blend in. Staying anonymous is more important than speed."
Carter stopped pacing. "We can’t cover everything. Let’s make some assumptions."
"Assume away."
"Assumption number one is they're making for the coast to offload to a ship somewhere. Like Steph said. Number two is that it sounds like this operation has been planned for some time. So there’s some kind of timetable for pick up and delivery of whatever they've got. If I were planning something like that, I’d factor in extra time to make sure delays didn’t throw off my schedule."
She nodded. "Makes sense. What’s assumption number three? You have a three?"
"Number three follows on two; if they left extra time, we still have time to intercept that shipment."
"If we can find it."
He paced. "If I’m them, how do I stay out of sight until it’s time for the transfer to a ship off the coast?"
Selena picked it up. "Avoid populated areas and places where there’s a military presence."
"Like borders and big cities."
Selena nodded. "Yes. I’d head overland before I got to the capitol. Steph said there’s increased security here and random roadblocks on the paved roads. The coastal road is the only route north and south and one of the few that’s paved."
"Which way would you go?"
She thought about it. "North. Senegal isn’t far to the south. That means border patrols, check points. Definitely north."
"Let's look at the map."
She reached into her bag and pulled out a road map of Mauritania. She spread it out on the bed. It wasn’t much of a map. There were only a few roads in the whole country.
"How far north?" he asked. Standing next to her, he felt her heat. Her scent was strong, sweat and a hint of something darker. He stifled the urge to pull her to him. This wasn't the time for that.
"I wouldn't go all the way," she said. "Same reasons not to go south. Heavy patrols and army the closer you get to Western Sahara. Relations between Mauritania and Morocco are bad up there."
"If I wanted to sneak out to a freighter off shore, I’d keep out of sight until it was time to make the transfer. Look at these islands past this spur of land, here." He put his finger on them. "This looks like a good spot. Places to hide. Access to the ocean. The rest of the coast seems wide open, exposed."
"We’re only going to get one shot at finding them, Nick."
"We have to make a choice. I say we head there."
Selena considered the map. "Let's get Steph to task surveillance on the area. Maybe we’ll get lucky."
Carter called Stephanie and filled her in.
"I think you're right," she said. "Up north. I can get you up there fast."
"How so?"
"I've made some arrangements. We're getting cooperation from Langley. I don't know why, but I'll take it. I think they know more about that shipment than they're letting on. Anyway, you'll fly up there. You'll be met with a vehicle and weapons. You'll be picked up after you signal for extraction."
"That's outstanding, Steph."
"I'm beginning to see how Elizabeth worked these things out. Watch your ass out there, Nick." She signed off.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
It was late afternoon the same day. The plane set them down in the desert a good distance north of Nouakchott, three kilometers from the coast. Carter's false beard itched. His back was sore and stiff. He wore a loose, sand colored shirt that fell to his knees, baggy pants and a skull cap that felt tight on his head. Selena had cut his hair and dyed his skin a light brown. As long as he kept his mouth shut, he'd pass.
They were met by a black man with a Toyota pickup. He didn't give his name. Carter didn't ask for it.
"There's a security roadblock, ten kilometers north," the man told them. "Before you get there drive west to the beach and follow it north. That will get you past the checkpoint. The tide's out, you can go a long way."
They dropped him at the road, where he climbed into a waiting car and went south. They headed north five kilometers, then turned west toward the coast.
At the Atlantic they turned north again and drove along the beach. The sun sparkled off the golden expanse of the ocean. A few ships were visible on the horizon. A constant roll of long swells broke on a deserted beach that looked like a brochure of unspoiled paradise.
In almost any other part of the world, a beach like this would be lined with tourists and hotels. But not here. Here it was worth your life to sunbathe.
Carter drove and thought about Africa. The colonial governments hadn’t left much behind when they pulled out. Mostly they'd left a legacy of exploitation and deep resentment, ripe soil for the seeds of radical Islam to take root.
Selena wore her scarf over her head. She'd put on sunglasses that hid her violet eyes. Carter longed for his Ray-Bans.
There was no sign of any government or army presence. There were no people on the beach. In spite of the natural beauty, the landscape felt hostile and suspicious, as if it were waiting for something to happen. Nick figured that was what the psych doctors called projection, but it didn’t change the feeling. He put his hand on the AK stashed next to the door.
They were in Indian Country. John Wayne wasn’t coming with the U.S. Cavalry to bail them out if they were attacked.
They came to a headland jutting out into the ocean like the prow of a great liner and followed a track to the top. They stopped, got out and stretched. No one was in sight. The sun formed an orb of reddish gold descending into a bank of black cloud on the horizon. Soon the light would be gone, but for the moment the view was breathtaking.