He looked at his watch. “I must leave.”
“Tell me first, is this person a man named Pakvar? Do you know that name?”
He looked more worried. “I do.”
“Is that who is after our source?”
He nodded. “I believe so, yes.”
“Do you know where he is? Where we can find him?”
“He is not the type of person you want to find, I should think. But I am aware that he is in Dubai.”
“I need to know where.”
“I will speak with Mr. Gorji. If God wills it, he will provide you that information as well. I do not know Pakvar’s location. Thus, I cannot help you with that today.”
He turned to leave, but then reached for something in his inner suit jacket pocket. “I take it that you wish to continue this conversation with Mr. Gorji?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Then I am to provide you with one more thing, Mr. Manning. Have you asked yourself why we wanted to speak with you in particular?”
“Of course.”
“And what answer have you come up with?”
“I have none. I have no idea why you asked for me.”
“I am told that there are several members of your family that work with classified military matters.”
Chase flushed. He hadn’t expected this skinny bastard to bring up his family. He kept his voice under control. “What’s your point?”
“Mr. Chase Manning, I am authorized to give you one name on this list. A word of warning. Whatever name is on this paper, do not contact this person. If you do, we will not provide you the rest of the names.”
Chase clenched his jaw. “Then why provide us with this name? You can’t expect that we’ll do nothing with it.”
“We expect you to look into the veracity of our claim. If you find that this person is indeed providing classified information to a group outside the US government, then you will know that we are telling the truth. We do not have the means to research this. But you may. However you do this, remember: you cannot communicate with them. This risks alerting the Abu Musa group, and places Mr. Gorji in danger. If we find out that you have communicated with this person, we will no longer provide you the other names.”
He handed him an envelope. “Don’t open it until I leave. Then burn it. We will be in touch.” He walked out of the store, quickly.
Chase’s heart pounded as he opened the envelope and looked down at the single name written in ink.
David Manning. His brother.
Chapter 5
Chase ate dinner alone in his room, waiting. He had texted Elliot an hour after he had finished with Gorji’s assistant. The day had passed without a reply.
The mobile phone that Elliot Jackson had given him buzzed on the night table.
A text message read: Sending a car to pick you up. 15 min.
Chase walked back out of the Four Seasons Dubai and into the dark parking circle. Even after the sun had set, the humid air was still incredibly warm. He waited on the steps of the hotel. The sounds of honking horns and city traffic filled the air. To the east, the white lights of the Burj Khalifa made it look like a metallic rocket about to launch into the hazy night sky.
The sound of high heels echoed on the brick walkway behind him. He turned and saw two large eyes staring at him from behind a headscarf. Beautiful eyes. The eyes of a woman who had worked for the CIA for many years, and had recently been promoted to the number three position in Dubai.
“Hello, Chase.” He could see her modest smile, half-hidden behind the headscarf.
“Hello. I wondered if I would run into you.”
She stood very close to him. Her fingertips crept over his right hand. She stared into his eyes for a moment, neither of them saying a word. They didn’t need to. He wondered if anyone was watching them. Public displays of affection were forbidden here.
She tilted her head ever so slightly. “Shall we?”
“After you, Miss Parker.”
Chase got into the passenger seat of Lisa Parker’s Toyota sedan, and she accelerated onto Jumeirah Road.
He had first met Lisa a few months after arriving in the UAE. He had been called to Dubai Station for a weeklong training session. It was mostly classroom stuff. Briefs on the geopolitical situation. Updates on the regional terrorist cell habits and practices. But there were a few skills improvement classes. One of these was entitled Unarmed Combat Refresh. Lisa Parker was the instructor.
She had gone over hand-to-hand combat techniques, as well as escape and evasion best practices. It was an all-day class, half of which was spent in a rented-out private gym.
Lisa embarrassed a lot of men during those few hours. She was the only female in a group of very macho men. There were five students, four of whom were from the Special Operations Group. The last part of the training called for the men to demonstrate some of the techniques she had taught them — on her. Chase watched her demolish them one by one. She flipped the first guy, a 220-pound former Delta operator, onto his back before he knew what hit him. As each man finished with her, they were allowed to leave. She left them all humiliated and in tatters. And these were men who had a good deal of training and real-life experience in hand-to-hand combat.
Lisa was very good. Chase also found her extremely attractive. Her tight workout attire was distracting, to say the least.
Chase was the last person in the group to go. This also meant that Lisa and he were alone, facing each other on the floor mat, when he made his attempt to take her down.
Chase gave her a sheepish grin. “You know, I just watched you kick those guys’ asses, and I’ve got to tell you, I am one hundred percent positive that they were all much tougher than I am. Would it be possible to just assume that you will whip the hell out of me? If it’s all the same to you, we could call it a day now and go grab a drink or something.”
She smiled back at him. Big, beautiful eyes. “Or something?”
Chase wasn’t sure what to say to that. Was she being forward and showing interest? Or was she offended and giving him more rope to hang himself with?
She said, “Do you know who I am?”
“You’re the toughest woman I’ve ever met is who you are.” He took a step toward her, a playful glimmer in his eye. His senses were heightened, muscles tense. He would try to get close enough that he could get her in a grappling move. Maybe a half nelson.
She stood relaxed, feet shoulder-width apart, hands at her hips. Not a care in the world. “It would be inappropriate for me to be seen out in town, getting a drink with you.”
“Why’s that?” He took another step towards her. Whether she was interested in drinks or not, this might distract her enough that he could get the first move on her before she used any of that judo shit.
“Because I am, I believe, what you would describe as very senior to you.”
Chase began to rethink both of his advances. “I’m sorry if I—”
She dropped to the floor and spun, her leg swinging around and clipping his feet out from underneath him.
He fell hard, landing on his back, the wind knocked from his lungs. She was really quick. As he groaned on the floor, he saw her walking away. He guessed that she wasn’t interested after all. He closed his eyes in pain. Then he heard the heavy metallic sound of a deadbolt lock.
She stood over him. He was still on the floor, stunned. She said, “I’m not interested in drinks. But perhaps I will take you up on the ‘something.’” She kept her eyes locked on his as she crouched down and straddled him.
That was how their very physical and very secret affair began. Chase had asked around about her in the days following. She was a very gifted woman. A rising star within the CIA’s Political Action Group, she had been stationed in Dubai for two years prior to their meeting. She was smart, and spoke several languages fluently. A talented recruiter of foreign assets, she had a knack for getting people to spy for the United States, whether they knew they were doing it or not. And she had earned a lot of respect from the SOG team members for handling herself well in several firefights.