“If you require anything, just call,” Harcourt said. He logged off the computer system and followed Cromwell out.
Russell reached for the phone on the credenza and dialed Beckmann. She heard the other end engage, and Jon Smith’s voice poured through the receiver.
“Please give me some good news.”
“Smith? Why are you answering Beckmann’s phone?”
“He’s busy hot-wiring a car.” Russell heard Beckmann’s voice in the background, muffled by the roaring of a vehicle’s engine as it revved.
“What’s he saying?”
“He’s saying I shouldn’t have told you that. Apparently he’s not supposed to be committing auto theft on foreign soil. I haven’t known your officer long, but he appears to break a lot of the CIA’s rules. Kind of reminds me of you in that way.”
Russell smiled. “I rarely break rules. Merely bend them.” She heard Smith’s snort of disbelief through the phone. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Tell him I’ve got new orders. Go to the train station after all. Oman Dattar’s escaped. We think he may leave by train and we’d like some eyes on the station.”
“I’m going with him. Two extra eyes could make the difference.”
Russell hesitated. She had no control over Smith, he was free to go or stay, but she knew from Harcourt’s pointed question about Smith’s status that she wouldn’t be able to extend CIA protection to him without at least a tacit understanding between her organization and his military superiors. She decided to let him go and request emergency clearance for him should the need arise.
“Would you recognize him if you saw him? Or should I send a photo to Beckmann’s phone?”
“I know Dattar very, very well. I assisted with a UN contingent of doctors to contain the cholera outbreak in the Pakistani region that he controls. He initially refused to allow treatment for anyone that he deemed an enemy. That included infants and small children. I persuaded him otherwise.” Russell was intrigued. Few people were capable of persuading Dattar to do anything he didn’t want to do.
“Persuaded him? How?”
“A gun, a rotavirus, and duct tape were involved. I’ll give you the whole story sometime. He hates me and promised retribution. You can believe that if I see him I’ll do my best to detain him.”
“But try not to risk blowing Beckmann’s cover. Just keep Dattar in your sights and transmit any coordinates to me. I’ll arrange for the local authorities to handle the recapture.”
“I assume a red notice went out?”
“Any minute now.” Wendel stuck her head through the conference room door and waved a hand at Russell.
“Hold on.” Russell put her hand over the mouthpiece. “News?”
Wendel nodded. “Two more bombs. One took out a famous restaurant near the city center, and a second at the train station.”
Russell pointed to the map on the screen. “Can you switch that up to show them?”
“Of course.” Wendel tapped on the computer keyboard and Russell’s prior photo of the Rotterdam port was replaced with a detailed map of The Hague. She highlighted two areas.
“Can you send that screen shot to Beckmann’s phone?”
Wendel punched a few more keys and the image was copied and sent.
“I’m afraid there’s more news.” Russell spoke into the phone. “Two more bombs just exploded. One downtown and the other at the train station. I’m sending a map with the locations to you now.”
“Dattar’s got to be involved in this attack,” Smith said.
“I agree. Watch your backs, both of you. He’s not to be messed with. He’s lethal.”
“The next time I get him in my sights, he’s going to wish he’d never been born. I’m out.”
Smith hung up.
9
Smith crawled into the passenger seat of the vehicle that Beckmann had managed to start. It was a black Lincoln town car complete with consular plates. The leather seats were remarkably plush and comfortable, and Smith felt his body ease into them.
“Let’s see which ambassador’s car you managed to steal.” He fished in the glove compartment while Beckmann maneuvered onto the road. He pulled out a slim leather document holder that contained several folded pieces of paper.
“With any luck it will be the US envoy to the Netherlands,” Beckmann said. “Then it won’t be theft. Merely borrowing.”
Smith opened the papers. “Drive carefully, it’s owned by North Korea. We get stopped driving a stolen North Korean diplomat’s car and we’ll spark an international incident.”
“That explains it,” Beckmann said.
“Explains what?”
“The poor maneuverability. This car must be armored. No North Korean diplomat would settle for less.”
“Armored. I like that. Just what we need tonight,” Smith said. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the screen. Klein was calling.
When he answered, he heard Klein say, “You’re alive! Excellent.”
“I’m in a stolen North Korean ambassador’s car with an officer of the CIA.” When Klein didn’t respond immediately, Smith said, “Are you there?”
“Yes. I was just considering the implications of that sentence. All I can say is that I’m extremely pleased that you survived, and I have orders. It appears as though the terrorists may be in search of some of the biomaterial and a research report that your fellow scientists brought to the conference. In particular, bacteria stored in the hotel’s safe.” Smith glanced at Beckmann, who seemed focused on driving. Even so, Smith took care with his response.
“Not anymore. I saw them remove three coolers of biomaterial. I didn’t see any research papers, but they could have found them, stuffed them under their shirts or in a backpack and I wouldn’t have been the wiser. I checked the safe after they’d left, and only jewelry remained. No reports either. What’s in those containers?”
“Various bacteria. Some recently discovered and all antibiotic resistant, as well as a version of H5N1.”
“Avian flu,” Smith said. “That’s a nasty virus with a terrible survival rate, to be sure, but bird flu is not easily transmissible from human to human. Most often bird to human and then in very unique circumstances.”
“But we just learned some alarming news. A group of scientists in the Netherlands have managed to mutate H5N1 so that it is airborne transmissible, and they acknowledged that one of the attending scientists at the convention was going to make an announcement about the research. They’re concerned that he brought the mutated version with him.”
“Where is this scientist?”
“He was staying on the fourth floor. They just found his body.”
“And the research?”
“His thesis and report were also in the safe.”
“What kind of scientist deliberately mutates a virus and then carries a report on it around on his person?”
That got Beckmann’s attention. He glanced at Smith with a frown on his face and then swore in German under his breath.
“A scientist searching for fame,” Klein said. “I have a question for you. What are the rules for carrying around hazardous biomaterial? Doesn’t it have to be locked down in a lab?”
“There are a lot of workplace safety rules for employees that handle the material, but surprisingly few rules regarding security. Avian flu, the nonmutated version, only needs to be kept locked because it’s not easily transmitted. The hotel safe would suffice.”
“And if it’s mutated?”
“Perhaps then it would be considered biosafety-level 4 and the rules would be much stricter, but it’s not easy to mutate a virus,” Smith said. “If what they say is correct and if they have the nonmutated version in the cooler, it will take some work to alter it, even with a road map provided by the scientist. That should buy us some time,” Smith said.