“Some kind of a warehouse where the police took the unexploded car bomb. Believe it or not, there was nothing in their report about the explosives, their type, amount, the way in which they were packed and wired, nothing.”
“Really?”
“Yes, do you find that strange too?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s strange. Did they do forensics?”
“They say they did, but there’s not a single word about it in the report. At least, on the one the colonel gave us. Anyway, I’ll tell you more when we meet.”
“All right. Give me a shout when you get to the place.”
“OK. See you later.”
“Be safe.”
“You too.”
The traffic light changed. The GMC rounded the corner and entered the traffic circle.
“That was your partner, I imagine?” Nour asked.
Justin nodded. “She just landed at the airport, and she’s going to meet us at the warehouse, this evidence lab of sorts.”
“Is your partner an expert on explosives forensics?”
“She knows more than I do. She studied it for a year or so, before deciding it wasn’t for her.”
“What exactly do you expect to find?”
“Anything there’s to be found. Right now, I’m very suspicious why the police left out any information about the car bomb and its explosives. We don’t even know their type, composition, blast range, nothing.”
Nour shrugged. “Maybe you’re overanalyzing it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, look at it from the Libyans’ point of view. The bomb didn’t go off. The police detained the wannabe suicide bomber and deactivated the bomb. OK, so they didn’t include a few details.”
“These may be important, which can lead us somewhere else.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he said without conviction. “You don’t trust the colonel at all?”
“Do you?”
“It depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“His interests. Here, he wants to close this case. It’s clear who sent the suicide bombers. The Alliance claimed responsibility for it. Their targets and their motives are also clear. The colonel thinks it’s time to move forward. They’ll start moving against the Alliance and increase security for my President. Everyone’s happy. Other than the terrorists, but the colonel wasn’t trying to please them.”
Justin shifted in this seat. “What do you think about that?”
“Pretty good plan. Personally, I’d like to know the details of their operations against the Alliance and how many troops they’re planning to commit to our convoy. Hopefully, we’ll get some of those details later. But, I do agree, the ultimate goal is to protect my President and the G-20 Summit, which is only three days away.”
Justin nodded. “Well, let’s dig up some facts and see what we can piece together.”
“What leads does your partner have?”
“Huh?”
“You said earlier your partner had some leads you were planning to examine. Care to share?”
Justin hesitated. “Yeah, sure, after I receive a complete briefing.”
Nour squinted. A slight frown appeared on his face. “I have a feeling you’re not leveling with me.”
“You’re right,” Justin replied, “I’m not at liberty.”
“Oh, don’t give me that. We’re on the same team.”
“We are? Do you give me everything you have?”
“I tell you what you need to know.”
“Yeah, and so do I.”
An awkward silence followed for about a minute. Nour’s eyes were glued to Abdul’s car. Justin fiddled with his BlackBerry.
“Look,” Nour said at some point, “we both want the same thing. It will be easier to get it if we worked together, rather than each following our own leads.”
“Agreed.”
“So?” Nour invited Justin to speak with a gesture of his hand.
“There may be more at stake here than meets the eye. Carrie, she’s my partner, has learned that another player has a horse in the Alliance’s dirty game.”
“Who?”
“That’s classified. CIS agents only.”
“Fair enough. What does this player want?”
“We’re not sure, but anything we may discover in the explosives and during this investigation may be crucial to uncovering his plans.”
“It may be the Israelis,” Nour wondered, “they often seem to be pulling the proverbial strings.”
“So I’ve heard,” Justin replied with a straight face, “sometimes it’s true, and then, sometimes it isn’t.”
Chapter Sixteen
“You’re sure this is it?” Justin asked, as Nour pulled into an almost empty lot, the size of a city block, surrounded by a large space of wasteland. A grayish, two-story warehouse stood to the north, the only building probably within a mile radius. Two apartment buildings towered in the south.
“Of course,” Nour replied. “See where Abdul parked?”
Justin glanced to his left. Abdul opened the driver’s door and stepped outside, talking on his cellphone.
“This used to be a training facility for police recruits before they moved to their new complex, about ten blocks that way.” Nour pointed to the south, beyond the apartment towers. “I wish Abdul would have said we were coming here,” he added, reaching for the black folder in the back seat. “Let’s go.”
“Give me a second to phone Carrie our location.”
“OK.”
Nour browsed through the report’s pages, while Justin placed his call. A minute later, as Justin was pocketing his smartphone, Nour produced an embassy personnel badge, similar to the one he had slipped Justin earlier. “For your partner.”
Justin picked up the badge. Underneath the bald eagle, the engraved name spelled Carrie O’Connor.
“Since we’ve started to level with each other.” Nour stared at the cloud of disbelief veiling Justin’s face. “I thought she may need this.”
“How did you know she was coming here when you had this made?”
“Sorry, buddy, but that’s classified. Embassy personnel only.”
Justin rolled his eyes and shook his head. A smart guess, he thought. “Just Security Consultant?” he pointed at the badge.
“She doesn’t have the same rank as you in the CIS, does she?”
“No, but it’s almost the same.”
“Let’s go now.”
They jumped outside into the morning heat, the dry, hot air assaulting their exposed faces.
“You were struggling to keep up there at one point,” Abdul said to Nour after flipping shut his cellphone. A curtain of sweat draped his forehead.
Justin wondered if Abdul’s car had no air conditioning but refrained from embarrassing him by asking the question. The outside temperature had risen to eighty-seven degrees, according to the GMC’s thermometer; however, the asphalt mirrored the simmering sunbeams bombarding the parking lot.
“Didn’t want to run a red light or flatten any pedestrians,” Nour replied.
“I just got our clearance from the lab security.” Abdul headed toward a small side door of the warehouse. “Ismail, the ballistics expert, will assist us.”
“I don’t think that would be necessary,” Nour replied.
“Colonel’s orders.” Abdul shrugged at Nour’s objection and gave Justin a sneaky wink. “Ismail is very good at his job and will be very helpful to you.”
Justin understood Abdul’s cue. Ismail was someone Abdul trusted.
“We have a new man, I mean woman, joining our team,” Justin said.
“Has the colonel authorized her presence here?” Abdul asked.
Justin noticed an ounce of mischief in his voice. Abdul’s sweaty face showed plain annoyance, rather than a true concern about procedures.