“Everyone had been hoping the Green movement would topple the regime from within, but it’s clear they’re done. They have no leader, no real power. The only realistic alternative to Khorasani is Aryanpur. He was in a power struggle with Khorasani before we even approached him, he was with Khomeini in the revolution, and he’s had some religious training, enough to be accepted as Supreme Leader at least…”
Amato paused again. Mark looked at his watch. Three minutes had passed. He could still hear the distant shouts of firemen.
“We made a deal with Aryanpur. If he seized power, we agreed to drop all trade restrictions and invest heavily in an oil pipeline, to be built by the Revolutionary Guard, from the Caspian Sea, across Iran, to the Persian Gulf. It’s the shortest way, it’s the way that always made sense.
“In return Aryanpur agreed to get rid of Iran’s nuclear program and drop the China pipeline and defense agreement. Stopping the pipeline was a no-brainer. That was why he’d agreed to meet with us in the first place, because Khorasani had sold the construction rights to the Chinese, cutting him out.
“Anyway, the deal was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out how to get rid of Khorasani. And that’s where the enriched uranium came in.”
Mark just shook his head as Amato revealed that an American Intelligence Support Activities team was about to stage a bungled nuclear attack on a US aircraft carrier and that an elite Qods Force unit, controlled by Khorasani, was being set up to take the blame.
“Three days ago, Aryanpur leaked that Khorasani had this rogue nuclear unit on his hands. The army has been going ballistic ever since because they’re terrified of a retaliatory attack.”
“This bomb,” said Mark. “Don’t tell me you actually built it?”
“It’s just a big tube, gun-style detonator. We jury-rigged it with Iranian penetrator bombs, stuff that’s easy to trace. It won’t work, but when it becomes clear that the Iranians tried to nuke one of our aircraft carriers, there’ll be a cry for war.
“That’s when Aryanpur will act. The Revolutionary Guard was set up to guard the Islamic Revolution itself. Aryanpur will declare that Khorasani’s reckless command of Qods Force has threatened the revolution. He thinks the Assembly of Experts will accept his leadership.
“Once Aryanpur’s been installed as Supreme Leader, he’ll probably be as faithful to the Islamic Revolution as the Chinese are to communism. It’ll be a new Iran. Not perfect, but a country we can do business with.”
Mark was all for seeing Ayatollah Khorasani tossed out on his ass, but it occurred to him that the one constant in Iranian — American relations was that whenever Washington came up with a plan to gain the upper hand — whether it was installing the Shah, or backing Saddam Hussein in the Iran — Iraq war, or selling the mullahs arms in 1986—it somehow always wound up making things worse.
74
Decker vaulted into the surveillance hole.
“Daria’s gone. I did a complete perimeter sweep. There was a car outside the farmhouse. It’s gone too.”
Amato cradled his head in his hands.
Mark said, “We need to double back, pick up the Iranian who’s down, and interrogate him.”
“Firemen already grabbed him,” said Decker.
“You’re sure the second guy on my team doesn’t have her?” asked Amato.
“Your second guy was trying to track me, not Daria.”
Mark turned to Amato. “Why do you care so much what happens with Daria?”
“None of your damn business.” But then Amato appeared to think better of it and said, “I know her parents in Washington, they both work for the State Department.”
“So you’re just a good Samaritan, a guy who’s had a change of heart?”
“A man like you wouldn’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t.”
“She was never supposed to have been a target. No one in the MEK or CIA was. That was all Aryanpur, trying to cover his ass so that when he assumed power no one but Ellis and me would know how he did it. He started killing everyone.”
“Not Minabi.”
“Ellis insisted she be spared, but he’ll kill her soon too. I tried to help Daria by sending Campbell to warn her, by the way, and I tried to get someone to help her in Esfahan.”
“And you did this because she was the daughter of friends.”
“Believe what you want.”
Mark stared at Amato for a moment. Showing that kind of sympathy was the way a normal person might act. But Amato hadn’t gotten to where he was in life by thinking like a normal person.
“You’re full of shit, dude, but whatever.”
“I want to help find her.”
“That much I believe.”
“Aryanpur will have her killed, but probably not before his men interrogate her, to find out who else she’s told about the stolen uranium. We still have time. I’ve severed all my ties to Ellis and the Security Council but Aryanpur doesn’t know that. There’s a chance he’ll tell me where his men are taking her.”
“You’re telling me you could pick up a phone and talk to General Aryanpur? Like now?”
“It would take more than a single call.”
Mark thought about that for a moment.
Amato said, “Sooner or later — probably sooner — people in Washington are going to figure out that I’m not playing their game anymore. When that happens, those two ISA soldiers working for me out there are going to be ordered to take me into custody. Let me call Aryanpur before everything goes to hell.”
“You’re not using a cell phone until we’re in a car, moving fast enough that we’ll be hard to intercept even if we’re tracked,” said Mark.
Decker had the Hyundai stashed nearby. Mark got in the driver’s seat, Decker sat right behind him, and Amato sat across from Decker.
Mark turned right when he got to the main road. After a mile he handed his cell phone back to Amato. “You’re up.”
Amato fumbled the phone because his hands were still cuffed, but he eventually managed to dial the right number. Following a long wait, he spoke in Farsi for a minute and then hung up. “Someone will call back.”
They were hurtling east, on a dark road that led through farmland. Both of Mark’s hands were tight on the steering wheel. “You speak Farsi well,” he said, as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Ever been to Iran?”
Amato took a long time to answer. “A long time ago. Before the revolution.”
“Not during?”
“I saw some of it.”
“You deal with the hostage situation?”
“I got out just when that hit.”
“What were you doing there in the first place?”
“It’s really not relevant.”
It was dark outside and even darker in the car. Mark glanced in the rearview mirror. Amato’s face was little more than a sinister black shadow.
“Daria had an uncle — Reza Tehrani, he was Minabi’s advisor. I believe you know him.”
Amato didn’t respond. Deep in thought, Mark let the car drift toward the shoulder.
“Watch the road,” said Decker.
“Just for the record, I know why you’re here,” said Mark. “I know who you are.”
Mark glanced in the rearview mirror just as Amato flashed him a nasty look.
“Daria’s uncle is dead,” said Amato. “Aryanpur had him killed two days ago.”
75
Mark’s cell phone rang and Amato answered it. After five minutes of heated conversation in Farsi, he clicked the phone shut and announced that he’d been talking to Aryanpur. “Daria’s being flown out of the country.”
Mark took his phone back and shut it off. “Can you stop them?”
“I said we had a team here that could interrogate her. But Aryanpur doesn’t trust us when it comes to interrogations. He’s having her taken to an offshore base in the Caspian, on Neft Dashlari.”