Three Weeks in Washington, page 35
part #3 of Titus Ray Series
“I just thought—”
“I’m more interested in how you managed to get them into the U.S.”
Suleiman turned to his right and addressed Zaidi. “That was your assignment, wasn’t it, Rehman?”
Before Zaidi had a chance to respond, Marwan spoke up. “General, if you don’t mind, I’d like to answer that question.”
Although he appeared surprised at this request, the general nodded at Marwan. “Go ahead.”
“What I’m about to tell you may sound disrespectful, but I assure you, I don’t mean it that way.”
Marwan paused a moment, but when the general showed no reaction to his statement, he hurried on. “When I heard about your plan to use Hezbollah recruits in Venezuela to bring the weapons into the U.S., I decided to explore a different possibility, one that didn’t involve using the recruits. My intention was to protect Hezbollah’s exposure should the canisters be discovered beforehand. I also wanted to lessen Hezbollah’s blame after the attack.”
Here was a side of Marwan I hadn’t seen before, but, as I observed the look of approval on Naballah’s face, I realized this was exactly what he was expecting Marwan to do. He wanted him to use his negotiating skills to sell the cartel to the general, even if it meant he had to take the blame for something the cleric had done.
Marwan said, “With that in mind, I contacted a member of the Los Zetas organization, someone who had partnered with us before on a weapons shipment, and he agreed to handle the canisters for us. When he—”
The general immediately cut him off and asked Naballah, “Did you approve of this plan?”
“I did,” Naballah said.
He quickly added, “But it was only after being assured of its success. It seemed a viable option once the Americans had discovered we’d taken possession of the weapons.”
Suleiman gave his attention to Marwan. “So has it been a success? Were they able to get the canisters across the border?”
Marwan nodded. “I just heard from my contact, and the canisters arrived in California yesterday. Right now they’re in transit, but they’ll be in the D.C. area within four days.”
The general addressed Naballah. “What arrangements have you made for the shipment once it arrives?”
“I’ve alerted the Baltimore cell to have a truck available for pickup, and they’ve rented a warehouse where they can store the canisters until you intend to use them.”
The general looked over at Zaidi. “Did you train the members of the Baltimore cell? Are they your recruits?”
Zaidi seemed pleased the general had asked him that question. “Yes, I trained all of them in Venezuela, and I personally recruited their cell leader, Leandro Manolo.”
“Will he follow orders?”
“Without question.”
“Outstanding.” The general gestured over at Marwan and Naballah. “All of you have done an outstanding job.”
Naballah beamed, showering the general with words of appreciation. Following this show of gratitude, he instructed Latif, his financial secretary, to give Suleiman an accounting of the money they’d spent to do this outstanding job.
As Latif went over the numbers, the Grasshopper’s feed started to break up, and Carlton asked, “Trudy, how much time before we lose the Grasshopper?”
“I think that was only a hiccup. Her batteries should last another thirty minutes, and the audio will probably hold out for at least that long.”
Pike said, “That should be plenty of time. Suleiman just told the sheikh he was ready to go over the final phase of the operation.”
“Let’s hope it’s not as final as he intends it to be,” I said.
* * * *
General Suleiman looked intense as he sat on the edge of the sofa and reiterated his desire to strike a decisive blow on the U.S. capital.
“On 9/11, when al-Qaeda brought down the Twin Towers in New York City, I’d just been named commander of the Quds Force. As I watched those images being broadcast and heard the officers outside my office cheering, I vowed one day I would bring that same type of chaos to Washington, D.C. That day is almost here.”
Suleiman reached inside his jacket and withdrew a cream-colored business card. After handing it over to Naballah, he said, “Once you’ve received word the Baltimore cell is in possession of the canisters, call this number. It’s a direct line to Mohammed, and he’ll tell you what to do next.”
Naballah glanced down at the card. Even though the camera on Marwan’s thobe was facing Naballah, it was impossible to see the number written on the back of the card.
After Naballah had given Jamal the card and told him to enter the phone number on his contact list, he turned his attention to the general. “Does this mean you won’t be directing the operation?”
“Mohammed is on-site, and I have the utmost confidence in his abilities. A few months ago, after he acquired the aircraft necessary to mount the attack, we met together in Dubai and finalized the logistics of the operation. Now, it’s simply a matter of getting him the canisters. He’ll take care of everything after that.”
Marwan spoke up. “So your plan calls for an aerial attack?”
While I applauded Marwan’s effort to get us the intel we needed, I was afraid his question might make the general suspicious.
Instead, Suleiman chuckled and appeared to find it amusing. “Did you think we’d be attaching nozzles to the canisters and spraying Washington with nerve gas?”
Marwan shrugged, and the general used the opportunity to give a mini-lecture on how the weapons functioned.
“There’s a disc inside the canister shell which separates two gas cylinders. In order for the gases to mix, the disc must be ruptured. That only happens when the canister is shot from a rocket or dropped from the air. Otherwise, no nerve gas is produced.”
Marwan nodded. “I understand.”
“I know you must have chosen a date for the operation,” Naballah said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have insisted I have the canisters in Washington by Wednesday.”
Suleiman nodded. “The attack will take place on July 11th, one week from today.”
Naballah smiled. “That would make it 7/11, the perfect match for 9/11.”
“That’s true, and while I find the parallel amusing and, to be honest, an added bonus, that’s not why I chose the date. Since I doubt anyone in this room is a student of American military history, I don’t expect you to know this, but on July 11, 1864, during the American civil war, a significant battle took place in Washington, D.C. If the South had pressed their advantage on that day, the U.S. capital would have fallen, and, more than likely, today there would be no United States of America. However, the Confederate general failed to use his most powerful weapon on the city, and, as a consequence, he lost the battle. That failure will not be repeated on July 11th this year.”
“God help us,” Pike muttered.
I felt certain he would.
Chapter 46
The general continued lecturing his audience for several more minutes, demonstrating his extensive knowledge of U.S. history and pointing out what he considered to be America’s many failures throughout the world.
When Trudy announced the Grasshopper’s batteries were nearly depleted, Carlton reluctantly told her to withdraw the tiny drone. Unfortunately, she said we’d probably lose the audio from the purple boxes within the next thirty minutes, and Marwan’s thobe camera wouldn’t last much longer than that.
Shortly after the Grasshopper flew off, General Suleiman ended his lecture and stood to his feet.
It appeared the meeting was over.
Once the general had placed his newly acquired gifts inside his briefcase—including the purple box with the gold nugget inside—he invited Naballah to join him later at the Sheraton for dinner. After mentioning he’d be willing to discuss an increase in the sheikh’s personal budget at that time, Naballah immediately accepted the invitation and personally escorted Suleiman and his deputy to the elevator.
When he returned to the library, he congratulated the three members of his security council on a job well done. Once he’d dismissed Zaidi and Latif, he asked Marwan to remain behind.
When the two men left, Naballah told Jamal, “Get Marwan one of the encrypted phones and make note of the number.”
Turning to Marwan, he said, “You’ll use this phone to call me after you hear from Franco on Wednesday. Jamal has already programmed my personal number into the contact list.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I hear from Franco,” Marwan said.
I thought he sounded very sincere.
The moment Marwan took the cell phone from Jamal, we lost the audio feed and from that point forward, we had no sound to go with the video from Marwan’s thobe camera.
“We’ve lost audio in the library,” Pike said.
Carlton replied, “We’ve also lost the signal from Suleiman’s box, but none of us should complain about the timing. The intel we’ve received has been solid.”
The view from Marwan’s camera showed Naballah speaking to him before he left the library. Pike seemed to think he was telling Marwan he’d done a good job with the general, but since I was lousy at lip reading, especially Arabic, I had to take his word for that.
When Marwan exited the building, Naballah’s driver immediately picked him up at the entrance, and, as they drove out of the compound, Pike and I congratulated each other on achieving our objectives and executing a flawless plan.
However, as it turned out, those celebrations were premature.
* * * *
The moment Naballah’s driver dropped Marwan off at Bakdash, a trendy ice cream shop in downtown Damascus, we heard from Carlton. He’d just arrived at the popular establishment in an EAI van driven by Dave.
“Marwan just entered Bakdash, and I’m right behind him,” Carlton said. “I’ll shadow him until you get here.”
Pike and I were inside the Renault—after having exchanged vehicles with Trudy—and we were headed over to Bakdash as well.
“Is your security detail with you?” I asked.
“I’m equipped with a comms unit, and Dave and Finn are monitoring me from the van. I’ll be fine.”
Bakdash was a noisy, crowded place—more like a disco bar in the States, minus the liquor—and that was precisely why Carlton had chosen it for our meet with Marwan.
It was an ideal spot for determining whether Marwan had picked up any surveillance, which wasn’t an uncommon event after someone paid a visit to Naballah’s headquarters—the Israelis always had the compound under surveillance—and the Bakdash location also offered us an easy exit out of the city.
Our plans were to meet up with Marwan at the ice cream shop and get him out of Damascus as quickly as possible. Although I had a feeling he’d be surprised to see Carlton—Mr. Chessman, as he knew him—I felt certain he’d be glad to have him around, considering he’d already told me Carlton was a much nicer guy than I was.
The Plan of Action (POA) called for Pike to drive Carlton, Marwan, and me to the airport in Beirut—a distance of approximately sixty miles—where the three of us would board a flight to Barcelona.
In Barcelona, we’d be met by Sam Wylie, who would be responsible for getting Marwan to Caracas and reuniting him with his wife and daughter. Once our asset had been handed off to Wylie, Carlton and I would board a flight for Washington.
After I hung up, I told Pike, “Douglas shouldn’t be inside Bakdash without Dave or Finn.”
“We’re ten minutes out, and they’re monitoring him on the security cameras. You’re overreacting.”
Maybe so, but from the moment Marwan had cleared the compound, I’d had a bad feeling.
That feeling wasn’t going away.
* * * *
Pike and I drove along in silence for a few minutes. Once we got closer to the downtown area, I called Dave and asked him about the visuals inside Bakdash.
“Marwan’s thobe camera isn’t working anymore, but I’ve tapped into their CCTV security cameras. Is there something specific you wanted me to take a look at?”
“Nothing specific. Has Douglas made contact with Marwan yet?”
“No, it looks like he’s still doing recon of the place.”
“Give me a buzz if you see anything unusual.”
As soon as I hung up, Pike returned to a subject he’d brought up with me earlier.
Namely, he was in disagreement with the POA.
“The plan is just all wrong,” he said. “I should be flying back to Langley with you and Douglas. You could use my help ferreting out that cell in Baltimore or checking up on this Walid guy.”
“You know it’s up to the Bureau to locate the Baltimore cell. As for Walid, I’m not sure how the DDO will handle him, once he hears what the general had to say today.”
“I know the feds will be in charge of the sleeper cell, but I thought I might talk to the DDO about doing an interview with Walid Khouri. I could contact him, tell him I’m doing a piece on famous photographers, and see what turns up.”
“How would interviewing Walid help us determine if he’s Suleiman’s asset in Washington?”
“The general implied Mohammed was in possession of a plane capable of carrying the chemical weapons, and that he had an organizational structure with the means to do it. If Walid Khouri is really Mohammed, then there has to be some evidence of that at his residence or his place of business.”
“So you’re saying if you could get an interview with Khouri, you’d have access to those places? Just like that, he’d give you the keys and tell you to take a look around?”
“You’d be surprised at what people will do when they think someone has the means to make them famous. At the very least, I’d be able to snoop around his house without a warrant.”
“Good luck with selling that idea to the DDO.”
“I believe I could make him understand. It would just be a matter of—”
A call from Dave interrupted Pike’s argument.
“You said I should call you if I saw anything unusual happening at Bakdash.”
“And?”
“Well, this isn’t really anything unusual, but a guy just sat down at the table with Marwan. They appear to know each other.”
“Describe him.”
“I captured a still shot of him. I’ll send it to you.”
“Where’s Douglas? Do you see him anywhere?”
“Not right now, but I saw him a few seconds ago. He was on the other side of the room from Marwan.”
“Keever and I should be there in a few minutes; we’re not more than a mile away. Send Finn inside to locate Douglas and call me as soon as he does.”
When I hung up, Pike said, “Marwan has lots of friends in Damascus. It doesn’t surprise me he ran into one of them in there.”
I took one look at the photograph Dave had sent me, and then I turned the phone around and showed it to Pike.
“Do you still think I’m overreacting?”
The camera had captured a full-face photo of Naballah’s assistant, Jamal Isa.
* * * *
Bakdash was located near the end of a city block, with a large public parking lot on the west side of the building and a smaller employee lot on the east side. A narrow walkway ran behind the building and connected the two lots.
Although there was only one door into Bakdash, there were two exits out of the building; one on the west side and one on the east side. Both of them accessed the respective parking lots on each side.
As Pike pulled into the west parking lot, Dave called me back.
“Finn is inside the building trying to locate Douglas, but it appears Marwan and his friend are headed toward the exit door on the east side.”
After a quick consultation, Pike agreed to drop me off at the back of the building, so I could head over to the east parking lot on foot, while he drove around the block and entered the lot from the other direction.
Before slipping into the alleyway behind Bakdash on the west side, I removed the Makarov from my holster. Then, I raced along the back of the building to the other side.
As I approached the corner of the building, I heard two people talking, so I flattened myself against the outer wall and cautiously edged my way forward.
When I peered around the corner, I spotted Marwan and Jamal standing next to a late-model Mercedes sedan.
They appeared to be arguing.
I crouched down and made my way past the first line of cars, until I arrived on the other side of the Mercedes.
I heard Jamal telling Marwan to get inside the car.
Marwan said, “If Sayyed Naballah wanted to see me, why didn’t he send a car for me?”
“It was just easier for me to come and get you.”
“You’re lying to me, Jamal. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“After you lied to Hassan you’re calling me a liar?”
“I didn’t lie to him.”
“Oh, but you did. Samira’s birthday is not next Wednesday. Her birthday is August 15. I saw it on the computer.”
“You have information about Samira on your computer?”
“Not on my computer; on Hassan’s computer. I’m required to keep his database up to date, and when I recorded the number of the cell phone he gave you, I noticed your daughter’s birthday isn’t next week.”
“When you told the sheikh, what did he say?”
“I didn’t tell him.”
Marwan appeared to take this as a good sign, and hurriedly offered an explanation of his actions.
“Thank you, Jamal. I realize we don’t know each other very well, but if we did, you’d understand why I need to go to Caracas. My family means everything to me. I even relocated them to Caracas to keep them safe from the war. Now, I miss them and want to see them again. What I said was true. I can carry out my responsibilities in Caracas as well as I can here.”
While I thought Marwan’s answer might satisfy Jamal, I was still puzzled as to why he’d followed Marwan to Bakdash in the first place.
Suddenly, Jamal’s voice took on a much harsher tone. “If your family means that much to you, then you’ll be willing to compensate me for keeping quiet about the lie you told the sheikh.”
