The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) (13 page)

De Niro nodded his understanding as he turned to lead the men back to the horses.

“
Fair enough, consider this the green-light to get started.”

Francis jogged to catch up to him.

“
But Cris, what about The Watchman and the Big Brother install and ramp-up with the staff there – which gets priority?”

De Niro winked at Ricci and Santappia as the three of them watched Francis struggle to mount his horse. Once the computer genius steadied himself, he simply answered.

“
Both!”

Chapter 11

The Offices of Zamani Import-Export Corporation

Lower Midtown Manhattan

New York, New York

6:00p.m., Monday, June 27, 2011

Aref Sami Zamani sat behind his large ebony and Carpathian elm desk when his Skype®
⁵
phone rang.

(In Farsi) “Yes?”

“
This is Payam. I am sending you the intel on the man De Niro now.”

On cue, Zamani heard the soft ringing tone of an email entering his Inbox – Subject: De Niro. There was nothing written in the body of the email just an Adobe Acrobat® file attached. Zamani opened the attachment and started reading a full dossier on De Niro as he spoke.

“
I have it. Things went well in Tehran. Our leaders have given us permission to move ahead with the wedding. As the infidels concentrate on Cordoba
⁶
, the celebration will be great in
Antioch
.”

“
Understood, what are your orders?”

“
You see where this man De Niro lives?”

“
Yes.”

“
Go there with your men and perform reconnaissance. I want to know all there is about the level of security at …Estancia De Niro, as it is named. I hope to be able to provide you with details about De Niro’s movements and the movements of his children. I want you and your men to remain there and ready an infiltration plan. I may need you to interrogate him before eliminating him. Placing a gun to his children’s heads may inspire him to be more forthright with you. Have the plan ready by the time of the wedding. I don’t want to take the chance that he survives the bomb and our men. He and his agency are too much of a potential threat. I don’t want Cris De Niro around after
Antioch
”

“
Understood”

Zamani’s Executive Assistant, Bahman Fard had been standing at the other end of Zamani’s desk.

“
Sir, our leaders have allowed you to name our holy actions in the west, but why did you choose
Antioch
?”

Zamani smiled and leaned back in his chair, pleased with his subordinate’s question.

“
Fard, how knowledgeable are you of history, of the holy battles fought by those of our faith during the Crusades?”

Fard hesitated then replied with meekness.

“
I am ashamed to say, not as knowledgeable as I should be sir.”

Zamani blinked his eyes as a sign of condescension.

“
You are not alone. It is sad that so many of the true believers are so ignorant when it comes to the history of our faith and of the many heroic battles fought in the name of Allah.”

Fard bowed his head in embarrassment as Zamani leaned forward and spoke as a professor would to a class of students.

“
In 1268 Baibars
⁷
besieged the city of Antioch which was badly defended by the Christian knights and abandoned by most of its inhabitants. The people of the city begged Baibars to spare them if they surrendered but the knights would not give up the city. The knights were led by a man named Simon Mansel, who was Constable of Antioch. Mansel was captured in the failed cavalry attack against the Muslim army and Baibars ordered him to command the knights to surrender, but they would not.”

Zamani stood up and looked out the window behind his desk. He peered down at the Midtown Manhattan crowds walking to and fro below, as he continued.

“
The Christians have never changed, Bahman. Even after over 700 years, their weak peoples beg for mercy and want to surrender while their stubborn and arrogant leaders and their armies try and fight hopeless causes.”

Fard stepped up next to Zamani and joined him looking down at the crowds of people.

“
What happened then?”

The question made Zamani smile.

“
Baibars secretary described it in a letter. He wrote, ‘
Death came among the besieged from all sides and by all roads: we killed all that thou hadst appointed to guard the city or defend its approaches. If thou hadst seen thy knights trampled under the feet of the horses, thy provinces given up to pillage, thy riches distributed by measures full, the wives of thy subjects put to public sale ; if thou hadst seen the pulpits and crosses overturned, the leaves of the Gospel torn and cast to the winds, and the sepulchers of thy patriarchs profaned ; if thou hadst seen thy enemies, the Mussulmans trampling upon the tabernacle, and immolating in the sanctuary, monk, priest and deacon ; in short, if thou hadst seen thy palaces given up to the flames, the dead devoured by the fire of this world, the Church of St Paul and that of St Peter completely and entirely destroyed, certes, thou wouldst have cried out "Would to Heaven that I were become dust!
’”
⁸

Zamani smiled at the look of shock and amazement on Fard’s face as he continued.

“
Baibars reneged on his pledge to Antioch’s inhabitants. Instead of sparing them, he ordered the gates shut and massacred everyone in the city. It is thought that 17,000 Christians were slaughtered and another 100,000 enslaved in that holy siege.”

Zamani sat again at his desk prompting Fard to take his seat at the other end.

“
I chose the name
Antioch
for our great campaign out west because I intend on doing what my predecessor Baibars did seven centuries ago. We will attack an American city with what they most fear; a nuclear bomb and then we will close the gates to that city and kill all the survivors of the blast. Even as we speak, our fighters and the former Spetsnaz mercenaries we hired will soon pour into the United States – to deliver our wedding gift. Then we select our target. Of the six cities our leaders have chosen, one now jumps out to me. This man Cris De Niro lives in it, Las Vegas. I believe I can persuade our leaders to not only allow me to pick the name for this great campaign, but also the target.”

“
What about this man De Niro, sir? Is he that much of a threat to us?”

Zamani hit the “forward” button on the email that Payam had sent him about De Niro, forwarding it to Fard. An instant later, Fard’s iPhone made the familiar sound of receiving an email.

“
I just sent you all the intelligence that Payam dug up on our friend Mr. De Niro. I sent Payam and his men out to his house to prepare a home invasion. I will have them interrogate him to find out if he has any other powerful allies that we should know about. Then they will eliminate him. I want you to find out all you can about this counter-terrorism company he just purchased in Virginia. You ask me if this man is that much of a threat to us, Fard. A man with his wealth, that lost his wife on 9/11 and who now owns a counter-terrorism firm… and we find him parked outside Park51!”

Zamani banged his desk furiously.

“
I told our leaders that Cordoba could backfire on us. While Bin Laden concentrates his efforts on Westerners in European cities, our plans in the United States are moving forward unfettered. I’m afraid that the level of our success here and overseas has made our leaders begin to underestimate the Americans. AMERICA IS NOT EUROPE! They will only be pushed so far! We thought because we could use their system of laws against them that that would be enough. Some of our leaders thought that the Americans would just stand around and watch us humiliate them because we have the legal right to do so. I reminded those in Tehran and Pakistan that the BRITISH thought that too and so did the JAPANESE!”

Fard remained quiet, allowing Zamani to compose himself.

“
If you want to know the truth, Bahman, I worry more about a man like De Niro than I do about the entire United States government. The United States can be such a foolish nation. With their political correctness, they value an individual’s freedom over the security of their country and we laugh as they do. That’s why we can live and work here and hide right under their noses without them having a clue of what we’re doing. While they claim victory for finding a Pakistani immigrant with a car full of explosives in Times Square, I and others of the faith plan their systematic destruction.”

“
It is men like De Niro that have the means and the intelligence to uncover the truth about who their real enemies are. They are not bound by rules and laws like the government agencies are … and he did not strike me as one who is … politically correct. Now he invests in a counter-terrorism firm. His turning up at Park51, troubles me. The timing of it is too close for us to take any chances with him. We must proceed under the assumption that this man is a threat. While Payam will give me leverage over him personally, I want you, Bahman, to find a way to infiltrate his company ...”

Zamani searched for the name on his screen.

“…
The Watchman Agency
. Perhaps there are some dissenters inside his agency that are not pleased with their new boss. Use whatever means you need, but I want someone inside his firm as our ally, as soon as possible!”

“
Yes sir.”

Fard exited Zamani’s office and while on the elevator to the building’s lobby, used an iPhone app to book a one-way, first class flight to Virginia.

Chapter 12

Executive Conference Room

The Foster Lafayette, Pentagon City

Arlington, VA

8:45a.m., Sunday, July 03, 2011

Les Pastak looked at his watch as he entered the luxury hotel …
good I’m early
.

Searching through the contacts in his phone, he tapped his finger on one and a moment later his call connected.

“
Larry, its Les. I’m here at the hotel. Hold on a second …”

Pastak asked the cordial, young lady at the front desk where he could find Mr. Bahman Fard and after looking at her computer screen she gave him directions to a small conference room located down one of the corridors. Pastak headed to it as he resumed his phone conversation.

“
Okay, tell me again, this guy Fard is who … they’re an overseas security firm …British …okay and you know for sure that they’re looking for someone to head their U.S. operations … Larry, you made sure they know not to call The Watchman to check on me, right …good, you told them how much I’m looking for … good, plus an expense account, right … sounds good … okay, I’m standing outside the door, let me go, thanks.”

Pastak turned his phone off, so he couldn’t be traced then he straightened his tie and knocked on the conference room door before entering.

“
Mr. Fard … I’m Les Pastak.”

“
Welcome, Mr. Pastak, please … sit down, anywhere is fine.”

Pastak took a seat directly across from Fard who was sitting with a manila folder opened in front of him, in the center of a small conference table, facing the door. Fard pretended to be reading something contained in the folder; then he closed it and flashed a subtle smile.