Klinkman had met them in Hamburg, after they had travelled separately by car through Sweden and Denmark. Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, neither of their cars was subjected to more than a visual check at reduced speed, at either the Danish or German border. Introduced in 1985, the Schengen Agreement gradually abolished border controls throughout the European Union, making it possible to drive from Stockholm to Spain without ever displaying a passport or enduring customs searches. If you held a passport from a non-Schengen Area country, all you had to do was gain admittance to the European continent, legally or illegally, and you could travel freely without question or fear of discovery.
Once Petrovich's team landed in Stockholm a few days earlier, they were more or less guaranteed access to the rest of Europe. Of course, the matter of their involvement in a running gun battle on the streets of Stockholm had the potential to complicate this freedom, but once they escaped the city, they saw no sign of an enhanced security presence in any part of Sweden.
Klinkman had arranged for them to return their rental cars in Hamburg and take possession of two used vans, which they drove to Frankfurt. One van, with darkened rear windows, would be used by the assault team. The windowless, second van gave Sanderson's Electronic Warfare (EW) team a private cargo area to turn the van into a mobile electronics suite.
Three members of this newly formed group had joined them in Frankfort, having arrived from various parts of Europe. Utilizing laptop equipment and wireless technology worth five times the amount of their van, they had easily hacked into Frankfurt's Deutsche BioMedizinische (DBM) database, sending the data to the CIA. Although theoretically unnecessary in this case, since most of the cyber work could be done from the U.S., Sanderson wanted to put this team in the field alongside the clandestine operatives. Apparently, Berg hadn't argued with the idea, since it would provide one more layer of separation between his agency and German authorities should the unthinkable transpire. Berg seemed to be all about these layers, which Petrovich could appreciate. All of his own layers had been peeled away recently, leaving him completely exposed.
The electronic warfare team had another goal that had been cautiously revealed by their team leader, "Luke." The Frenchman had disclosed the fact that they would try to hack the CIA's system and either download the terrorist databases or install a backdoor that they could access later. Sanderson didn't want the team constrained by nervous decision makers when national security matters were at stake. Daniel had no doubt that the electronics team had been given orders to go deeper than just the terrorist databases. Sanderson never passed up an opportunity to expand his influence, and if the CIA let their collective guard down for a second while linking with Luke's team, the general would take full advantage of the situation. Sanderson never ceased to amaze and disgust Petrovich.
"There's the apartment block. Lots of shady-looking faces around here. Are you sure the van won't disappear? That would pose a real fucking problem," Farrington said.
"It's not like the States. You don't find the same level of crime. There are plenty of rougher, all-white neighborhoods further west," Hubner said.
"I don't want to have to walk him to the nearest U-bahn station if our van disappears," Farrington replied.
"It won't be a problem," Hubner muttered.
"I still think we should deal with him in his apartment. Fewer variables," Klinkman said.
"This is a tightly knit immigrant community. Word will get around fast and eventually make its way to the real police, who will be quick to respond. There's no federal police bureaucracy working in our favor. We need to get Sahil into the van as quickly as possible," Hubner said.
Hubner was right. No broad federal law enforcement agency existed in Germany, so they couldn't flash federal badges and buy time like in the U.S. or Russia. Nearly all law enforcement tasks fell under territorial German State Police, which were administered separately by each region. The only federal police apparatus in Germany was the Bundespolizei (BPOL), which didn't include any specialized units that would typically conduct an urban-based raid. Most BPOL units served federal internal security or border supervision roles.
They had thought about posing as members of Germany's counterterrorism forces, GSG-9, a specialized branch of the BPOL, but decided against the idea. The mere suggestion of a GSG-9 operation would raise every law enforcement alarm in the region. Their hastily provided identification badges indicated that they were members of the Hesse Landeskriminalamt (LKA), or State Investigative Bureau, which made enough sense to silence most curious onlookers. The LKA specialized in investigating and preventing politically motivated crimes. Four bulky LKA investigators dragging a young Muslim man into a van wouldn't be the most unusual law enforcement spectacle seen in this neighborhood.
Daniel glanced around at his surroundings as the van pulled into an empty space next to a large, green, graffiti-covered dumpster on Idsteiner Strasse. The northern Gallus neighborhood was dominated by rows of long, nondescript, three-story apartment blocks, each extending at least one hundred meters from Idsteiner Strasse. If Sahil's apartment was at the end of one of these blocks, they might have to reposition the car. The van was parked in front of a low hedge between two of the buildings. Beyond the hedge lay a grassy courtyard, which was outlined by a continuation of the hedge and covered with rectangular clothes-drying poles. Spaced closely together, the poles resembled crudely erected, miniature soccer goals. Only a few were still adorned by drying laundry this close to sunset and presented another possible complication upon exit with their man. Entrance doorways to both buildings were visible on the outer edges of the long courtyard, spaced evenly down the entire block.
He shifted nearly all of his attention to the apartment building on the left side of the courtyard. 85 Idsteiner. Upon arrival, he had noted that the target building featured no balconies on either side, just bare-faced walls containing small windows. They wouldn't have to post someone in the adjacent courtyard to prevent a jumper. The target's apartment designation was 2F, which they had presumed to mean second floor. Counting doorways, the apartment was most likely located halfway down the building, which meant a long transit dragging a feisty terrorist. They didn't have much time to spend in the apartment, but he wasn't opposed to spending a few precious moments convincing Sahil that resistance would be met by severe, unthinkable pain. He glanced behind him into the cargo hold area at a large black nylon bag. He wouldn't need the contents of this bag to convince Sahil. The bag could wait for later, when they had more time.
Farrington patted Klinkman on the shoulder and turned to face Daniel and Hubner.
"All right. Let's do this. I want to be out of here within five minutes. Daniel and I will handle any law enforcement interference."
He locked eyes with Daniel.
"Use your compressed air pistol first. You'll have five separate shots. Each dart will instantly paralyze your targ—"
"I'm familiar with the effects," he interrupted bitterly.
"The darts will not penetrate a ballistic vest. Your best bet will be to hit an arm or leg," Farrington said without changing his expression.
"Or the face," Petrovich added.
"Don't shoot for the face. You'll puncture an eye. At twenty-five meters, the air pistols are extremely accurate. Don't shoot for the neck either," he said, maintaining the emotionless face.
Petrovich had at least expected a smile considering the fact that Farrington had zapped him with the same neurotoxin two years ago in the middle of Georgetown University, but this was Farrington's first operation as team leader. Petrovich would play a support role and observe. If Farrington performed as expected, Sanderson would detach Petrovich, leaving Farrington in charge of European operations. Daniel had every intention of making sure Farrington succeeded. He wanted to put as much of this behind him as possible and get back to Jessica.