Fog of War (Justin Hall # 3) (26 page)

Al-Khaiwani nodded. “You won’t believe it, what I’m about to tell you, but it’s true. The traitor you’re looking for is not a man, and it’s someone who used to be very close to you. Your old boss. Claire Johnson.”

Justin’s eyes grew dark. A big frown appeared on his face. His jaws clenched and so did his fists. “You’re lying, you son of a . . .” He raised his pistol and pressed it against Al-Khaiwani’s temple. He shouted, “Tell me the truth.”

Al-Khaiwani grinned. “This
is
the truth, but the truth hurts. You were betrayed by your ex-Director General. She placed a virus or some kind of software inside your agency’s databases. And she gave us the information.”

“Why? Why would she do that?” Justin shouted, jamming his pistol against Al-Khaiwani’s head.

“Justin, let him talk,” Carrie said, stepping in between them.

“You . . . you’ll have to ask Johnson yourself,” Al-Khaiwani’s said. “I’m telling you the truth. And I’ve got proof. I’ll give you the proof”

“Fuck,” Justin shouted.

He turned around and swore again.

Then he locked eyes with Al-Khaiwani and stepped very close to the man’s face. He could feel Al-Khaiwani’s hot breath. “If I find out you lied to me, I’m going to make you curse the day you were born. The Abu Ghraib tortures would look like a gentle massage in comparison.”

Justin stormed out of the warehouse.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Carrie found him sitting in the shade next to what was left of one of the walls in front of the camp. A man she did not know was with him, drinking from a small metal flask. He was wearing fatigues similar to Yuliya’s. A machine gun was lying at his feet.

“Justin,” she called out at him.

“Hey.”

His eyes had lost some of the earlier flare, but his face was locked in a menacing grin. He was plotting. Plotting revenge.

“How are you?” Carrie asked.

“Hmmm . . . I’ve been better. This is Daniel. Spetsnaz. He came with me and Yuliya. He had our back from the hills.”

“Nice to meet you,” Carrie said.

Daniel nodded. He lifted his flask. “Vodka?”

“No, thanks,” Carrie replied in a soft voice.

Daniel shrugged and swallowed a long sip.

“I’ve got to talk to my partner,” Justin said to Daniel and walked a few steps with Carrie in tow. He looked back to make sure they were at a safe distance, then said, “I can’t believe Johnson did this, betraying us, betraying her country.”

Carrie got closer to Justin. “Nathan is interrogating Al-Khaiwani. I looked at the printouts, the evidence he’s giving us. E-mail exchanges, bank transfers, phone transcripts. At first glance, they look authentic.” She paused and let out a deep sigh of disappointment. Then she added, “But we still need to confirm them.”

Justin stared deep into her eyes. “You really don’t think Johnson is capable of treason?”

“Everyone is capable of great evil. And yes, she has a very good motive to target you. She used to be a woman of great power, control, authority. You stripped her of all of that.”

Justin nodded. “She brought it on herself. But yes, she has the motive and the means. She planted the software right before she left the Service, and she kept track of my moves ever since. She decided to wait for a while before striking, so that it’s harder for us to make the connection. And she gave or sold this intel to the highest bidder, and someone who could take care of her problem.”

“The records seem to indicate she sold it. But we’ve got to look into this at length. With a cool mind. Before we make a rush decision.”

Justin shrugged, then offered her a grin. “No rush decisions, and I’m keeping my cool. I have to take care of some urgent matters before I can turn my full attention to Johnson.”

Before Justin could say anything else, Eliakim and Yuliya came out of the warehouse, followed by Mossad agents. They had put Hamidi in handcuffs. Eliakim spoke to Yuliya for a few seconds. Carrie could not hear their exchange, but Eliakim’s facial expression told Carrie he was not pleased at all. He was frowning, biting his lower lip and shaking his head. Yuliya’s gestures made her intentions very clear. She wanted Hamidi’s head right there and then. Finally, Eliakim raised his hands in surrender and walked away. Yuliya grabbed Hamidi by his left arm, then called out to Daniel. They began to drag a screaming and kicking Hamidi to the back of the warehouse.

Eliakim walked to Carrie and Justin. “They’re executing some Russian justice.” He jerked his thumb behind his back.

Hamidi’s screams had all but disappeared. He must have realized and accepted his fate.

“Disappointed?” Justin asked.

“Not much. We wanted him dead or alive. Preferably dead.”

Carrie winked at Eliakim. “So that scene was for her to owe you a favor?”

Eliakim grinned. “Exactly.”

A high-pitched scream came from behind the warehouse, followed by a gunshot, followed by more screaming.

“What’s the damage to your choppers?” asked Justin.

“The first one’s toast. An RPG clipped it well, and the crash totaled it. The second one took heavy gunfire—some of which came from your own AK, if I may say.”

Justin face tightened, and so did his fists. “You may say that. One of your gunners did this to me.” He showed Eliakim his left arm. Yuliya had wrapped a piece of cloth from her shirt over his deep cut. “And one of your bullets almost blew up my head.”

Eliakim nodded. “Friendly fire. I’m glad you’re not hurt too badly. I’ll have one of my agents nurse that wound.”

As close to an apology as he will come,
Carrie thought. She knew Justin would accept it.

Justin’s muscles relaxed. “It would be appreciated.”

“The least I can do. Unfortunately, I can’t take any of you in the helo. It will be a tight squeeze even for my own men.”

Justin smiled, while Eliakim gestured toward one of the men. He ordered him in Hebrew and the man ran toward the helicopters.

“I was actually thinking of giving a ride to
your
wounded men,” Justin said.

“Huh? You’ve got a ride?” Eliakim asked.

“Yeah, two.”

Carrie stared suspiciously at Justin, trying to read him. Justin’s face was calm, and she could not recognize any giveaway signs of bluffing. He had mastered the art of poker face.

“I’m not talking about jeeps or trucks,” Eliakim said.

“Neither am I. Two choppers, which should be here in half an hour or so. I’ve already make the call.”

“We can’t trust the Yemeni government.”

Justin shook his head. “They’re not Yemeni. They’re coming from up north. Najran.” He pointed over the hills.

Eliakim blinked in disbelief. “Saudis? You’re suggesting Mossad assassins climb aboard Saudi helos?”

“It’s your call, but I guarantee you no one will touch a single hair on their heads. They’ll get medical treatment faster and not die along the road.”

Eliakim seemed to think about Justin’s offer. “You have that kind of pull with the Saudis?”

Justin nodded. “One of their princes owes me a favor.”

Carrie smiled.
Yes, that’s true. No bluffing.

Eliakim grinned. “Now I’ll owe you a favor.”

“You will. But your pilot will live. That should be worth your trouble.”

“All right. But I’m also sending one or two men to accompany the wounded.”

“Wise decision. Where’s your warship?”

“What?”

Justin frowned. “Give me some credit, Eliakim. You didn’t fly in those choppers all the way from Israel, did you? And of course you didn’t come from Saudi Arabia. So you have a warship either in the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.”

“You’re right. Our corvette is in the Red Sea.”

“Well, Najran is much closer.”

Eliakim nodded. “I’ll brief my crew. Then, we’ll set up charges to blow up this place.” He walked toward the helicopters.

Justin looked back at the warehouse. Two Mossad agents were busy carrying boxes and other items to their helicopters. Nathan was guarding Al-Khaiwani.

“They’re taking all the intel,” he said.

“We’ll get it from them later,” Carrie replied. “Eliakim owes you a favor.”

“I wouldn’t call
that
a favor. This was my operation before it was theirs.”

A couple of gunshots, followed by bone-chilling screams, cut through the air. Hamidi was not giving up his secrets, at least not right away.

“Your comrades are brutal,” Carrie said.

“They are. But their methods of extracting intel prove to be efficient.”

“I don’t think intelligence is all their extracting back there.”

Another gunshot. Another scream.

Carrie shook her head.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. And Yuliya has an account to settle with that man. He killed her boyfriend.”

Carrie peered deep into his eyes. “You obviously like her.”

“I do. She’s a great operative. Smart. Fearless.”

“Pretty.”

Justin grinned. “I haven’t noticed.”

“Justin, I’m messing with you. I know you only have eyes for Anna.” She tapped him on his left arm with her fist. “So, Saudi Arabia, eh?”

“I couldn’t trust the Yemenis, and Romanov’s exit plan seemed too good to be true.”

“What was his plan?”

“One of the tribes brought us safely here, and they were going to be our exfil as well. Romanov put together a larger team, but we were ambushed in Sana’a. With no backup from McClain, the Saudis were the only remaining option.”

“It was the right move. Let me guess, Prince Fouad bin Al-Farhan.”

“Correct. He has the power to dispatch two Black Hawks to northern Yemen at short notice. After we saved his nephew, he feels he’s still indebted to me.”

“He is. By the way, how’s his nephew doing?”

“For a little boy, pretty well. Still has nightmares about what happened on the airplane, but overall, he’s good. At least, that’s what Al-Farhan told me.”

“Where are you going after Saudi Arabia?”

“Home. I’ve got to brief McClain. We need answers about Johnson, the bad intel on our Somalia mission and those assault rifles we found with al-Shabaab terrorists.”

Carrie swallowed. “Uh, about McClain. Keep in mind you’re a rogue agent. He will not be happy to see you. Not after he hears about this battle.”

Justin shrugged. “He sent me to find the traitor, and I did. He disagrees with my methods; I disagree with his.”

She wanted to remind him that McClain was their boss, but she saw Yuliya and Daniel coming out from the back of the warehouse. Daniel was limping quite badly now, occasionally stopping and shifting his weight to his good leg. Yuliya helped him once, so that he could climb over a collapsed part of the wall.

“Quite a party you were having back there,” Justin said when they came over.

Daniel sat down with difficulty on a pile of rubble. Yuliya rubbed her left hand. A large blood stain covered the front of her vest, and blood splatters had hit her neck and face.

“That son of a bitch thought he was tough. I almost broke my hand on his jaw.”

“But you
broke
his jaw,” Daniel said. “On the third try.”

“Well, I wanted him to talk.”

“Did he?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, he did. They think they’re tough, unbreakable, but they all talk. They all break.”

Yuliya wiped some of the blood from her face with her sleeve.

Justin kept his gaze on her. “What did he say?”

“He told us about some arms deals he was planning to close over the next month. Mostly illegal, as it was his practice. He also knew where Romanov’s money went, the money stolen from the safe house. And he admitted it was Houthis behind that attack.”

Carrie blinked. She was in the dark about most of Justin’s moves after they parted ways in Kenya.

Her face must have shown her thoughts because Justin said, “The safe house of Yuliya’s team in Sana’a. The house was raided, and the money vanished. A lot of good men died. I’ll tell you the whole story later.”

Yuliya nodded.

“And you’re going to find the money and the people who have it?” Justin asked.

“We will. Romanov wants the money, and I want revenge.”

A low shriek came from the back of the warehouse.

Justin said, “Hamidi’s still alive?”

“Yeah, but he wishes he were dead. He’ll bleed out in an hour or so. Earlier, if he’s lucky.”

Daniel cringed and let out a low groan.

“How’s the leg?” asked Carrie.

“It hurts at times, but it will heal.”

“We’ve got two choppers coming in. We can take you to a hospital,” Justin said.

Daniel shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’ll have some pills and this.” He pulled out his flask and drew in a sip of his vodka. “My personal doctor, Doctor Smirnoff,” he said and laughed.

“You’re sure? Don’t want you to lose your leg.”

“I’ve had worse, Justin. I’m Russian. A little pain never hurt anyone.”

Daniel let out a nervous laugh, which turned into a dry cough.

“So, this is good bye?” Justin asked Yuliya.

She stepped closer to him. They eyes locked for a moment in a friendly gaze. Yuliya smiled. “For now. Look me up if you’re ever in Moscow.” She put her hand on Justin’s shoulder, then pulled him near for a hug. “The two of you,” she added after the embrace, looking at Carrie. “Here’s my contact information.” She gave Justin a small piece of paper.

“I might take you up on the offer,” Justin said. “I’m not sure about Carrie,” he added, looking at her. “She doesn’t like the cold.”

That’s a polite way to put it,
Carrie thought. She smiled. “Oh, I can make an exception for Justin’s friends. Nice meeting you, Yuliya.”

“Likewise.”

Daniel stood up and Justin walked over to him. They exchanged bear hugs. Daniel whispered something to Justin in Russian and when he returned to Carrie he had the vodka flask in his hand. “A memento,” he said.

“
Do svidaniya, dorogaya,
” Daniel called out to Carrie, as he stumbled toward the warehouse. Yuliya waved, then followed him.

Justin said, “That means—”

“Good bye, darling,” Carrie said. “I know a few words, Justin.”

He smiled. “What’s with the exception? You’re really thinking of going to Moscow?”