Nouri was perspiring profusely now, but David was not yet done.
“But I suspect that won’t be the worst of it,” he continued. “My guess — and it’s just a hunch, I admit — is that what will really enrage the Mahdi is the pictures of you at the Buddha-Bar in Dubai.”
Nouri’s knuckles went white as he gripped the arms of the chair.
“You were being followed, Javad. We watched you arrive in Dubai last Wednesday. We know the Mahdi sent you to prep for the meeting with President Farooq. We have copies of all your receipts. We have pictures of every place you went. We have pictures of every person you met with, including the — how shall I put it? — scantily clad women. We have pictures of you holding those Smirnoff and Absolut bottles and video of you pouring those young ladies drink after expensive drink. And it will all be here, on your hard drive. Then VEVAK will get a discreet call with an anonymous tip about your whereabouts, and thugs from the secret police will descend upon this place and report everything they find to Imam al-Mahdi. Oh, you’ll deny everything, of course. You’ll profess your loyalty to the Mahdi and to Allah. And all these files I’m talking about won’t be obvious at first. Asgari’s men will have to do some digging into your computer. But they’ll find it. I guarantee you they will find it all. And given all the evidence, do you really think they’re going to believe you? Especially when they find an e-mail from you to me, warning me that the Mahdi has two more nuclear warheads that he’s preparing to use?”
At that, Nouri’s grip on the armrests actually began to loosen. The more David said, the more the life seemed to drain out of the young man.
“Now, listen carefully,” said David, careful to stay behind and to the right of Nouri. “I’m going to take this gag off your mouth. You scream, you call for help, you make any sudden moves, and I blow your kneecap off. Got it?”
Nouri took a deep breath, then exhaled and nodded.
“And yes, the pistol is equipped with a silencer, just in case you were wondering.”
“What else?” Murray asked Eva, not sure he really wanted to know but having no other choice.
“A few more things,” she replied. “First, Mohsen Jazini is now the acting defense minister and commander in chief of all Caliphate armed forces.”
“Says who?”
“The Mahdi personally, in a phone call to Jazini,” Eva said. “I’m forwarding you the transcript.”
“What about Faridzadeh?” Murray asked.
“He’s out.”
“Why?”
“The Mahdi didn’t say. Just told Jazini he was, quote, ‘impressed by your memo and want you to start executing the first section immediately.’”
“That’s odd.”
“It is, but there’s more.”
“What?”
“Okay, second, I’ve got a strange set of intercepts here that I don’t quite know what to make of, but they’re… I don’t know exactly. They’re giving me the willies.”
“What do they say?”
“One is of the Twelfth Imam talking to President Mustafa in Syria,” Eva said. “He tells Mustafa to start killing all the Jews and Christians in the country.”
“Why?” Murray asked. “The man has already slaughtered more than thirty-two thousand people over the past eighteen months.”
“I know, but that’s what he said,” Eva replied. “And when Mustafa said Syria wanted to join the Caliphate, the Mahdi told him Syria could join the Islamic empire but couldn’t yet join the war against Israel.”
“Why not?”
“He didn’t say exactly, but he did say he was sending Mustafa some special guests and that they should be well cared for.”
“Who?”
“Again, he didn’t say. Not on that call. But there were several other calls that didn’t seem so important at first but might be. It seems the Mahdi is in touch — indirectly, mind you, but in touch nonetheless — with the IRGC hit team that took out President Ramzy in New York. He told Darazi to order the hit team to travel from Venezuela through Cyprus and Beirut to Damascus and await instructions there.”
“You think the Mahdi is planning to assassinate Mustafa?” Murray asked.
“No.”
“But you think this hit team are the ones the Mahdi told Mustafa to prepare for?”
“Mmm, no, I don’t think so,” Eva replied.
“Then what?”
“I don’t know,” Eva admitted. “I really don’t. The ‘special friends’ the Mahdi referred to seemed like people at a higher level, at least to me, but I can’t tell you why. It’s just… it was the adjective he used in Farsi for the word special. It means, you know, very special, like a VIP or a high-ranking official or someone very close to you, someone in the family. I’m not sure. I’m going on instinct here, Tom, but something’s going on in Syria. I wish I could tell you what, but I can’t. But I think we should start putting more attention on trying to figure it out.”
Murray shook his head. “Look, Eva, we’ll do what we can, but we can only do so much at this point. Our top priority is finding those two warheads. Right now I’d say our second-highest priority is trying to thwart this deal between the Mahdi and the Pakistanis. I need to brief the director on that ASAP and make sure he briefs the president and the National Security Council. That could shift the entire balance of power in the next twenty-four hours. That’s an awful lot to do in a very short period of time. Don’t get distracted by Syria. They’re not in the war. The Mahdi told them not to get into the war. We need to keep our eye on the ball.”
“But, Tom, what if—?”
“No,” Murray said, cutting her off. “It’s a rabbit trail. We can’t afford any diversions right now. Please, Eva. I need you to stay focused. And I need you to rally the other translators and keep them focused as well. This thing’s coming to a head, and I’m counting on you.”
Torres and Fox readied their weapons as David began to remove the gag from Nouri’s mouth, leaving the blindfold on. Nouri made no sudden moves.
“Would you like some water?” David asked his prisoner.
“Yes, thank you,” Nouri replied.
But David wasn’t ready to give Javad Nouri anything just yet. “How about you answer my questions first?” he said.
“Please, Reza, I haven’t had anything to drink since the hospital,” Nouri replied.
“No, I want you to talk first,” said David, taking a long drink of cold bottled water in front of Nouri and making sure the man could hear him enjoy every refreshing drop. “Where are the warheads?”
“I thought you and your people were listening in on everything we’ve been saying,” Nouri said. “Why bother even asking me?”
“Because we know the warheads exist. We know the Israeli attacks destroyed six of the warheads but somehow missed two. We know your boss is planning to use them. But we don’t know where they are currently.”
“I don’t know either.”
“You’re making a mistake, Javad.”
“No, really, I don’t,” Nouri replied. “Why would they tell me?”
“Because you are the Mahdi’s most trusted advisor.”
“That’s the Ayatollah, not me.”
“Hardly,” David said.