FATAL eMPULSE (36 page)

Shakeela nodded. Alena said, “Now you understand why this is so significant.”

A thought crept in that gave him a chill. “Wait a minute. Jack told me that only a handful of people knew about this aspect of the president’s trip.”

Alena seemed puzzled. “So? What are you…?”

“That’s right, Alena. If only a few close people to the president knew about this trip to the Golan Heights and the significance of those dates, then how did the Iranians and Syrians know about it and begin planning months ago? It could not be coincidental that they planned their attack at about the same time.”

The others remained silent. Nothing needed to be said. This new information just corroborated what they recently discovered—a giant hole had been ripped in the security net surrounding President Chambers. This attack would be unleashed on the very day that the Israelites celebrated their salvation from others who tried to exterminate them.

Did Iran and Syria plan on trying to finish what Haman started thousands of years earlier?

They had three days to find out.

March 15
Tehran, Iran

A
tash drummed his fingers on the desktop, waiting for his call to go through to Kadar Hanano. At times, Atash wondered who was using whom in this arrangement. It was time to balance the scales, to give Hanano information from the other side. Time to earn the man’s trust. Atash’s Muslim Brotherhood contact, Mohamed Abul Fotouh, had just phoned with information that he could barter with.

Information on the Americans spying in Damascus. Information that Hanano would drool over.

Hanano finally came on the line. “I am in a meeting. Please get to the point, my friend.”

“Of course. Time for both of us is very precious.” Atash paused, making sure the information he passed on would not reveal those he needed to protect right now. “I have received information from sources in your country that the Americans and Israelis may be staying at a hotel near the airport.” He gave the location and the names they might be using. “I believe you might want to watch them for a few days. They might lead you to others.”

“If this information is correct,” Hanano said, “my country is indebted to you.”

“We must stand together—your country and mine—against our common enemies. May Allah be praised.”

After Hanano ended the conversation, Atash sat back and thought about how he hoped the events over the next few days might unfold. If Hanano’s secret police took care of the Americans and Israelis and let Raed continue in this conspiracy, then they would be fighting against each other, and the Jews would be antagonized enough to attack Syria. It would be like beating a wasp’s nest, watching the Israelis attack. Once again, Israel would receive the wrath of the international community already bent on pointing an accusing finger at that country. Iran could quietly move in and pick up the pieces left of Syria.

Using a burn phone he’d toss after this call, Atash would alert Raed that a message would be waiting. He must be careful. He was sure by now Hanano and his security police had Raed’s phones tapped and monitored. He would run this call through a program that distorted his voice. Raed knew that from now until the attack, Atash would be using these types of phones and communications in a mutually-known code.

Atash made the phone call and then opened up the e-mail account shared with Raed.

“Move the package closer to the target. Do not let him touch the merchandise until date of launch.” He read the message over once and then closed the account, leaving the message as a draft. Raed should access the account shortly, read the e-mail, then delete it.

That taken care of, Atash moved on to the next order of business.

Alena watched the monitor as Max gathered their things. “You double-check this GPS thing?”

“Hey, if it doesn’t work, blame the Americans,” Max hissed across the room. “Gerrit slipped it into Henderson’s computer case when you guys bugged the place, figuring the scientist would take it with him if they moved to another location. Now, we get to see if it works.”

She watched Henderson take his computer and slide it into a protective vinyl case where the chip had been hidden. “He’s taking it with him. If the chip works, it will save us a lot of work.” She put in a call to Gerrit, leaving a message to contact Jack with the updated information. Jack wanted to know when Henderson and his guards-turned-captors moved to a new location. “Here we go.”

One guard opened the door, stuck his head out, and looked both ways. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, the burly gunman motioned them to follow. The second guard shoved Henderson forward, causing the scientist to cry out in pain. Raed’s kicks must have done some damage. “They’re on the move, Max.”

“Okay.” He emerged from the back bedroom. “Let’s give them a few minutes and then get to our car. I’ll use the laptop to see if this GPS system will actually feed us their direction of travel.”

She nodded, snatched up her bag, and made for the front door. About five minutes elapsed before they locked the door behind them and walked out into the street. Winding through the market, they made it to their car several blocks away. Once inside, Max took the wheel and handed the laptop over to her. “I’ll start heading in the direction we think he will take, and you fire up the computer and call out the coordinates.”

As he pulled away from the curb, Alena opened it up and hit the power button. Watching the system kick on, she began setting up the controls to track the microchip’s GPS readings. As she waited, she dialed Gerrit and gave him an update. Hearing traffic noises, she asked, “Are you calling from the car?”

“Yeah, we’re on our way to the hotel. Shakeela left her things there. After that, we’ll stop by the farmhouse. Hey, when you hang up, could you give Max’s guys a call regarding your direction of travel? Maybe they can give you some assistance if needed.”

“You bet. See you back at the farmhouse.” She hung up and dialed one of the unit members. From now until the end of the mission, they’d be using the farmhouse as their headquarters.

The program activated. Mapping coordinates emerged on a gridded screen that laid out Damascus and the surrounding area. Instead of city streets and roadways, she saw a general outlay of the city, with a cluster of blinking red dots. Each dot had a number attached. If the computer user needed to know who represented the flashing dot, they only had to click on that dot and a name and location appeared. “We got a read on everyone.”

The first two blinking dots leaving Old City she did not need to identify. Those were live feeds she and Max broadcasted from the embedded microchips under their skin. Jack Thompson coordinated with U.S. military to dedicate a series of predator drones over specific areas. Between the drones and satellite feeds, a second-by-second live feed had been transmitted to Jack and Colonel Perlman in Tel Aviv and to Frank Collord in the United States. And if the user had an encrypted laptop like hers, they could follow everyone’s travel like she was doing right now.

A cluster of dots between the city and the airport marked the Sayeret Mat’kal soldiers holed up at the farmhouse. Soon, those dots might be on the move. One single dot was moving from the city toward Damascus International Airport.

Scott Henderson.

Raed’s men must be taking the scientist closer to the An-26 aircraft cluster on the heavily-guarded military ramp. Everything seemed to be coming together. She and the others just had to find out which aircraft the Syrians intend to use before they launched an attack in the next seventy-two hours.

That left two more dots on the grid—Gerrit and Shakeela. Alena followed their dots as they approached the hotel. They came to a stop, and then one dot moved toward the hotel while the other dot must have stayed with the car. She shifted her attention back to Scott Henderson and his single blinking dot.

March 15
Damascus, Syria

A
s they neared the hotel, Shakeela turned in her seat. “Why don’t you drop me off and head for the farm? I want to pack, get cleaned up, and change clothes. I’ll give you a call when I’m ready to leave.”

“Fine with me,” Gerrit said. “Just keep your cell phone turned on in case I need to reach you.”

“Thanks.” She motioned toward the parking lot. “Drop me off out here and I’ll walk in from a different direction, just in case there’s any surveillance on us.”

He pulled into the parking lot and let her out near the back of the lot.

She watched him drive away, made sure her phone was turned on, and stuck it in her back pocket beneath her coat. Walking between the cars, she studied the front of the hotel, looking for anything suspicious. So far, she saw nothing that looked out of the ordinary.

She quickly crossed an access road between the parking lot and the main building, making it appear as if she was heading for a side entrance. This angle allowed her to see into the lobby area while keeping some distance. As she was about to round the corner of the building and lose sight of the front, several men emerged from the lobby, one of them carrying a handheld radio.

Shakeela pressed herself against the wall, between two towering bushes. One of the men seemed to command respect from the man with the radio. She ducked down, rounded the corner, and ran for a break in the wall that would allow her to see the front of the building while still remaining hidden by shrubbery and a partial wall.

Once she reached her destination, Shakeela slowly raised herself above the waist-high wall and peered through a thick-leafed bush that towered above her. She got a good look at the man standing ten feet away.

Kadar Hanano. Head of intelligence.

Shakeela blinked. Why was Hanano here? Simple—he knew that she and the others must be staying here. If so, there must be surveillance on the hotel. If Hanano knew they were here, so did the Iranian and others. Someone blew their cover.

Hanano motioned toward the parking lot. “I want you and the others to stay here until the Americans show up. Capture them or shoot them—I don’t care. Just do not let them leave. I cannot have them meddling in our plans.”

The man with the portable radio nodded. “We will keep watch, sir. I will call as soon as we have eliminated them.”

Hanano patted the man on the shoulder. “Good. In the meantime, I’m heading back to the Unit. The Iranian has sent me the plans for the launch. We need to prepare so that our own plan is ready in time. As soon as I have the details, I’ll give you a call and send relief. I need you by my side.”

Gerrit jammed on the accelerator as he raced toward the hotel. It had been hours and Shakeela had not reported in. She didn’t answer her phone. He quickly dialed Alena. “I’m just pulling up to the hotel. Do you have her on the screen?”

“Yes I do. But this is strange. She is nowhere near the hotel.”

“Where do you show her?”

“Southwest of your location and moving away. Do you need me out there for backup?”

“Not until we know more. I’m going to see if she left anything behind. When I couldn’t reach her, I had Willy do a trace on her phone. He just sent the location and it’s here at the hotel. Somehow she must have gotten separated from her cell phone.”

“That does not sound good, Gerrit. Maybe she has been arrested.”

“That’s why I want to check the hotel, then I will start heading toward her GPS location.” He pulled into the hotel lot and parked. “I am going to try to locate her phone and then check our room. I’ll be in touch. Keep tracking her direction.”

He terminated the call and walked through the parking lot using the locator Willy sent to his cell phone. Traveling the same direction he saw her take, Gerrit neared the hotel. She either turned and walked toward the front lobby or headed toward a side entrance. As he stood for a moment to figure which direction to take, he saw two men leave the hotel, both equipped with portable radios. By the way they walked, eyes searching back and forth, they were either cops or military in plainclothes.

He dashed toward the edge of the hotel, where he could position himself out of sight while still watching the two men. Peering through the bushes, he saw the two men spread out and searched the area. They walked between the parked cars, giving new arrivals a hard look before continuing their search.

As he turned to leave, Gerrit glanced down and saw two impressions in the recently cultivated soil at his feet. It was a woman’s shoe print. About Shakeela’s size. He rounded the corner to take the side entrance when he spotted a dark plastic object on the ground. Shakeela’s cell phone. She might have dropped it on the way into the hotel.

Had she been kidnapped? Is that why she dropped her cell phone? He moved back into the shadows of the parking garage as the two men continued their search. Gerrit watched the two men slowly work their way through the outer lot before returning to the lobby. Once they were inside, he dashed toward his car and quickly dialed Alena.

“I found Shakeela’s cell phone. I can’t tell whether she left it of her own free will or whether she has been taken. Leaving her cell phone behind tells me she might have been taken after a struggle. She still on the move?”

“Yes, she is moving in the same direction as before.”

“I’m in my car now. I’m going to put you on speakerphone.” He slid behind the wheel, propped up the cell phone, and hit the Speaker button. “Okay, I’m on the move.”

Silence for a moment, then Alena’s voice came over the phone. “They took a road north of the farmhouse and began driving…just south of the town of Set Zaynab. They are continuing almost due south now.”

“Okay.” Gerrit recalled every detail of his study of the map of this area. “Have they reached a place called Kherbet Al-Ward?”

“Just passing it.”

Gerrit jammed the accelerator. “Look to your southwest and find the little town of Al Horjelah.”

“Got it.”

“Have they turned in that direction yet?” He caught his breath, waiting for her reply. It seemed like minutes before she responded.

“They just turned on a road that heads due west. I believe…yes. It runs right through that town. Why?”