Andy DeCasta leveled the Gulfstream out at cruising altitude. He was alone in the cockpit, and the plane was quiet. The main cabin was darkened, the shades pulled down and the lights turned low. Most of its occupants were asleep in the reclining chairs.
All except for Tanner Wilson.
The OUTCAST leader reclined in his chair, but he wasn't asleep. Instead, he was thinking about the phone call he had made right before the team had left the safehouse for the last time…
They were still in the safehouse's basement when Tanner called Casey and broke the news.
"Say that one more time,” Casey demanded. “I need to make sure I’m hearing you right. "
"The North Koreans were shipping two complete nuclear warheads to the Iranians, suitable for Iran’s new Meshkat cruise missile."
"Shit. How many got through?"
"None, according to Hassan." Tanner eyed the crime lord, who was still tied to the chair, his hands were freed so he could eat his sandwich. Tanner stood in one corner of the small cell, far enough away so Hassan couldn't hear him.
"These two were the first run. But it gets even worse. It wasn't Somalis who hijacked the ship, it was the ICA."
"ICA?" Tanner could hear Casey's wheels turning. "That's the Islamic Caliphate Army, right?"
"Right. Hassan is ISIL's main man in South Africa, funneling money, weapons and recruits to both the ICA and ISIL. The guy running this operation is a Colonel Bakir Riyad. Hassan says Riyad hasn't told him what he's going to do with the warheads, but I doubt he's going to sell them."
"What's SeaStar's role in all this?"
"Aswegen was being paid a lot of money to smuggle goods to Iran, with Hassan acting as middleman and paymaster. When the ship was seized, Aswegen panicked and wanted out."
"And the ICA killed him."
"That's about it."
"What's your next move?"
"We're going to release Hassan with a quarter of a million dollars while we head for Somalia."
"You're going to release Hassan?" Casey's voice rose half an octave.
"He's a hunted man, by both the police and the Iranians, who have a team in town looking for answers."
"So you want to use him to draw off the heat."
"Seems like the best thing to do. But is Hassan is right, we're going to need some technical help, and depending on how many pirates we're dealing with, a few more trigger pullers."
"I'll contact SecDef and see if I can get some assets to back you up. When are you leaving?"
"This afternoon. We're dropping Hassan off in Capetown, then heading for the airport. I promised Hassan I wouldn't call either the police or the Iranians for twelve hours, but our British contact knows of an agent who's in contact with the Iranian team, so as soon as we're wheels up, he'll make a call."
"Think Hassan will escape?"
"Depends on how good he is. Stephen said the Iranian team leader is one of their best field commanders, so the longer Hassan avoids being caught, the better it is for us."
"All right. If I'm going to get you backup, I'd better start now."
"Make sure anybody you send our way knows that my team is lead on this. There’s no room for head-butting."
"I'll make sure they know. Good work so far."
"Until we have the warheads in hand, this isn't over."
"Good luck, Tanner."
Tanner stared at the Gulfstream’s ceiling. After the phone call to Casey they had been gifted with a quarter of a million dollars from Ashcroft, who revealed the money was counterfeit, from North Korea, of all places.
"Damn near perfect," the retired spy had told them. "Passes most counterfeit checks and has almost all the right watermarks and security strips. It would take someone with a lot of knowledge and experience in legal tender notes to tell they're not real. And let’s face it, most people want them to be real. You see what you want to see, so they don’t always get checked too carefully."
While they were preparing, Danielle, now equipped with Hassan's password, cracked the laptop's hard drive and discovered a treasure trove of data. She made copies, gave one to Ashcroft to be sent to Britain, packaged one to send to Tanner's contact in the SAPS, and gave a third copy to a representative from the U.S. Consulate in Capetown.
Naomi drove Danielle and Dante to the airport while Tanner, Stephen, and Liam drove a blindfolded Hassan to a neighborhood near the University of Capetown and released him back into the wild with the counterfeit cash. Then they met Mandlenkosi in a parking lot and traded vehicles with him for the drive to the airport.
Tanner had ordered the others to get some sleep, but he couldn't take his own advice. What was Riyad up to? Detonating the warheads inside Israel, a European country, or even inside the US itself? Putting the warheads on a ship and making a suicide run against a port or another ship? Put the warheads on a plane and crash it into a city?
He didn’t know, but he was certain about one thing. Whatever the plan was, innocent people were going to die unless Riyad was stopped, and the only people who might be in a position to stop him was OUTCAST.
Tanner closed his eyes and tried to rest, but he couldn't shake the disturbing images of nuclear clouds blanketing cities all over the world.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
When Riyad strode onto the Northstar Venture's bridge, Narsai could see that his commander was angry. For a moment, the specter that he had done something wrong rose in his mind, but Riyad's expression wasn't directed at him.
"It appears that the Americans are more troublesome than I thought."
"Sir?" Narsai prompted.
"I received a message from a contact in South Africa. It appears that Kamal Hassan tried to have the Americans killed and failed!" The last word was shouted, startling Narsai and the other two bridge crewmen.
"What happened?"
"Kamal tried to ambush the Americans at their hotel, only it was Hassan's men who were slaughtered. The Americans retaliated by attacking Hassan's estate later that night."
"Hassan is dead?"
"No one knows. They didn't find his body at the estate, but the police did find enough drugs to issue an arrest warrant. Also, the Satan-dammed Iranians are nosing around. If they catch Hassan, or if the Americans question him…." Riyad spat in disgust. "I should have ordered Ilshu to kill Hassan when he had the chance!"
"Hassan doesn't know the plan beyond us hijacking the warheads. He has no idea what they’re for. We're leaving in twenty-eight hours; after that it won’t matter anymore."
Riyad nodded. "Nevertheless, I'm assigning four more guards to the Northstar, and releasing Yabaal of any duties onboard this ship. Between his new toys and the enemy force approaching tomorrow evening, our good general will be distracted."
Narsai’s ears perked up. "Tomorrow evening? How do you know?"
The ICA colonel smiled. "Because I called and told them when to come."
Narsai blinked in confusion. "You called them?"
Riyad grinned. "Yabaal is a thug, but a useful one. But he is easily distracted. One of the easiest ways to do so is to give him a threat to his position, and he will forget everything else. And Yabaal has a lot of enemies."
"Do you think the Americans are going to come after us anyway?"
Riyad's expression darkened. "Only if they have a death wish."
Kabri Dar Airport was outside of the city proper, and consisted of a single runway running east-west. The first thing Tanner noticed when he climbed out of the Gulfstream was how hot and dry it was.
He looked around. The airport was surrounded by a mix of reddish-brown soil and low, green-leaf trees. The airplane had pulled into a siding at the western end of the runway. Except for the runway and a two-story building near what appeared to be the front gate, there wasn't much to indicate the area was inhabited.