"This doesn't make a lot of sense. How confident are you in the Imam's information?" Sharpe said.
"His babysitters are fairly certain he's telling the truth, though I agree that something doesn't add up."
"Either way, Ms. Stewart, by now True America has to realize that Mr. Muhammad uncovered the truth. I doubt very much that they would agree to meet with him," Sharpe said.
"You're absolutely right," she said and paused before continuing. "He's not going to try and set up a meeting. He'll threaten to expose Al Qaeda's collaboration with True America. The Imam hasn't coughed up any big picture details, but I think it's fair to assume that True America had a hand in funding this operation from the very beginning. He can use Grime's name to establish some credibility. Say that he has additional assets that have managed to track some of their operatives. You'll release news of the last cell being captured, so the Imam's desperation will make sense. He has no more virus in his possession, so he'll expose them if they don't give him ten canisters to continue his mission against the Infidels. Something convincing like that."
"They'll never give him the canisters. He's dead if they can draw him out of hiding," Sharpe said.
"Huh," Mendoza muttered, drawing a strange look from Sharpe.
"You're starting to get the picture, Agent Mendoza. The calls will be traceable. The location is a logical fit for where the Imam might hide. We sit and wait for them to send a team to eliminate the Imam," Stewart said.
"Since I haven't been arrested yet, is it fair to assume that you're interested?"
"Intrigued is a better word. I can't put undercover FBI agents in a situation where they are guaranteed to be attacked," Sharpe said.
"You don't have to. Our undercover team will cover ground zero. Trust me, they're a lot more convincing undercover than your people. The FBI can provide sniper support and SWAT backup. If True America takes the bait, you'll be able to start pulling at True America's threads. Sooner or later, you'll start to unravel their cover."
"What do you think, Frank?" Sharpe asked, turning to Mendoza.
"I was really hoping you wouldn't ask me that," Mendoza replied.
"All of your bases will be covered on this one. How well do you trust Kerem Demir, your investigative lead?" Stewart asked.
"Implicitly. He's a loyal agent," Sharpe said without hesitation.
"I'm not talking about loyalty. I'm talking about doing you a favor and keeping it quiet."
"I don't like where this is going," Mendoza said.
"All I'm suggesting is that you have him prioritize the analysis of the cell phones recovered in Bayonne. A few calls were placed to a market on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. Several dozen shops on that street cater to the massive Muslim community in Kensington. If I were the Imam, this would be a decent place for me to hole up and plan the next move."
"These guys are careful. Why would they make a call to a physical location that could jeopardize the safety of the Imam?"
"Why would the original World Trade Center bombers try to get their deposit back for a rental van that they exploded in the attack? I think you might be giving these people a little more credit than they deserve. One of the terrorists in Bayonne was carrying a cell phone that should have been destroyed prior to arriving at the safe house. Not to mention the fact that eight out of the ten terrorist cells associated with this plot were taken down by True America."
Sharpe shook his head slowly as his eyes narrowed. He sat down at his desk and typed a message.
"Done. The cell phones have been given the highest priority. What else does Sanderson have up his sleeve? I assume the anonymous tip about the safe house in Bayonne was graciously provided by your organization?"
"The Imam gave us the location, which we immediately passed on to your task force. Sanderson's efforts are focused on helping you move the investigation forward."
"As you can well imagine, I don't trust him any more than I trust the Imam. He's a master manipulator and an engineer of chaos. If I sense at any point that he's playing a game here, I'll pull the plug on your organization's participation and detain everyone until I sort it out. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly. Just think of where your investigation stands right now compared to last night. This is the kind of progress you can expect to continue making with Sanderson's support."
"When can we expect the Imam to fall into our lap?" Mendoza asked.
"When he's no longer useful to the investigation," Stewart said blankly.
"Very funny. Why do I get the distinct impression that Hamid Muhammad will never be seen again?" Sharpe asked.
"Do you really want to see him sipping tea in an interrogation cell?"
"Not really," Mendoza mumbled.
"Neither does Sanderson. You don't need to worry about the Imam. He's our problem. It's better that way. How long until Agent Demir comes up with the Brooklyn location?" Stewart said.
"I have a videoconference with the White House situation room in two hours. I'd like to include this in my briefing. He'll send the data directly here for analysis. If I haven't seen anything in thirty minutes, I'll have O'Reilly request it, if she hasn't already."
"Why didn't you send the request directly to O'Reilly in the first place?" Stewart asked.
"Because if I had sent her this request while meeting with you, she'd put two and two together before you walked out of the door."
Callie Stewart nodded. "I'll notify Sanderson. He'll contact our team at the field office in Newark and—"
"And the rest of the team you concealed from me?" Sharpe said.
"They'll get to work scouting the location before this becomes official. Lines of sight for your stakeout teams, optimal sniper positions, avenues of approach, all that. They should have most of it figured out by the time your first units arrive on the scene. The Imam should place his first call by mid-morning at the latest, so your people will need to hustle. If True America traces the call, they could have people on the scene within minutes."
Mendoza started to say something, but stopped before uttering a word. Sharpe flashed him a look, which she recognized immediately.
"Don't get any crazy ideas, gentlemen. The Imam will not be present at the site."
"I never said—" Mendoza started.
"You didn't have to," Stewart interrupted, heading toward the door. "Woman's intuition. Which reminds me…you might want to consider bringing O'Reilly in on the secret sooner rather than later. She'll become a liability if she discovers that you cut her out of the loop."
"O'Reilly isn't your concern," Sharpe said.
Stewart raised an eyebrow in response to his comment and exited the office, displaying a half smirk. Upon leaving, she stared up at one of the larger flat-screen displays near O'Reilly's workstation. Through her peripheral vision, she could see Agent Hesterman tracking her movement toward the stairs, which meant that O'Reilly was trying to be discreet. O'Reilly had the potential to become a massive problem if not handled correctly. They needed to bring her in at the ground level on this one.
Sanderson had identified O'Reilly as the other potential player on the task force. She had conspired with Sharpe two years ago to pass highly classified information to a less than scrupulous field agent, in an ill-fated attempt to turn Jessica Petrovich against her husband. Jessica had played Special Agent Edwards in order to steal the agent's computer and password, granting Sanderson's crew full access to the task force's database. What she did to Agent Edwards afterward went down in FBI history as a textbook case of how not to interact with a witness under any circumstance.
Sharpe's only luck that day stemmed from the fact that Edwards had been given a relatively high dose of a date rape drug, and couldn't remember much beyond his alcohol laden, expensive dinner with the femme fatale. The uproar surrounding Edward's thoroughly incompetent and embarrassing screw up lasted long enough for O'Reilly to remove the incriminating emails from the inside. In Sanderson's opinion, O'Reilly would support Sharpe on a slight divergence from procedure, or a major one if the end justified the means and it didn't directly endanger other agents.