“It’s not us directly,” Zalinsky assured her. “We tipped off the FBI, they got a court order, and they’ve been keeping an eye on her.”
“But why? I don’t understand.”
“Look, I don’t have time to go through it all now. I’ll fill in the blanks for you later. The bottom line is, Tom let it slip that David works for us. Marseille signed a nondisclosure form, but Tom’s worried she might say something anyway.”
“Let it slip?” Eva asked, incredulous. “How is that possible?”
“Just call David and brief him ASAP.”
“Fine,” Eva said. “But you owe me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything. I promise. Apparently, there’s history between them. I’m not exactly sure what. But I get the sense it’s just flared back up.”
Eva was speechless. Zalinsky was right. She’d had no idea, and she wasn’t thrilled about it either. She hadn’t felt such a strong flash of jealousy in years, and the intensity caught her by surprise. Still, she figured, she was the one in direct contact with David, not Marseille.
“Anytime,” Eva said coolly. “I’m all ears. In the meantime, I’ll tell David about his mom when I call him.”
“No, not right now.”
“Why not?”
“We can’t distract him,” Zalinsky argued. “There’s too much on the line. Let’s get through the next few days and see where we are.”
Eva strongly disagreed but kept silent.
David’s phone rang.
He stepped out of the icy shower — the Delvar Hotel apparently didn’t have any hot water that morning — and checked the caller ID. It was Eva. He grabbed a towel and took the call. She quickly briefed him on each of the four men she had identified so far.
“And the fifth?” David asked.
“No idea, but I’m guessing it’s just another MP.”
“Then why wouldn’t his personnel records be in the files we got from Saddaji?”
“I’m just telling you what I know,” Eva said. “But look, I’m sending you back still images of guys we’ve identified for certain. The rest, my friend, is up to you. And I don’t need to remind you that—”
“—the clock is ticking.”
“Sorry — guess that’s why they pay you the big bucks.”
“Oh, right.”
“Getting any sleep?”
“Hardly.”
“Well, take care of yourself. I’ll say a prayer for you.”
“Thanks, I’ll take it,” David said. “By the way, where are my guardian angels?”
“I heard they just landed at Desert Alpha about fifteen minutes ago and linked up with their local contact and got their vehicles. They’re actually moving faster than expected. They should be to you in less than three hours.”
David could tell by her tone that she was trying to encourage him. But at that moment, the news had just the opposite effect.
“We don’t have three hours.”
Jalal Zandi was startled awake by the shrieking ring of his mobile phone.
He rolled over, checked his watch, and took the call.
“The cakes arrived safely,” said a voice that was electronically muffled.
“Good,” he said, trying in vain to rub the fatigue out of his eyes. “Get them ready for delivery.”
“We’ve already started.”
David got dressed quickly and headed down to the lobby.
He was going through caffeine withdrawal and hoped the desk clerk either had made a pot of coffee or could point him in the right direction posthaste. Fortunately, even before he got off the elevator, he could smell the answer. He reached the first floor and made his way directly to a small table where a fresh pot had just finished brewing. He poured himself a large cup, tossed in a few sugars for good measure, then noticed that the hotel actually had a gift shop and that it was open. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed it a few hours earlier, but then he’d had other things on his mind. He went in, bought a local newspaper, and sat down on one of the forty-year-old overstuffed chairs in the lobby to wait.
About twenty minutes later, a young man in his thirties wearing khaki pants, a blue dress shirt, and a black leather jacket stepped off the elevator and rang the silver bell at the front desk. He was unshaven but well built, about five feet ten inches tall, with closely cropped hair. David recognized him instantly but took a quick check of the still photos Eva had sent just to make sure. Slowly the barely awake clerk padded out from the back room.
“Yes?” he groaned.
“I want to buy some gum, and I need some petrol for my truck,” the young man said.
The clerk mumbled something about the gift shop and gave the young man directions to a gas station “two blocks down that way and one block to your left.”
David stood, folded his paper, gulped down his coffee, and nodded politely as the young man headed into the gift shop. The moment the man was out of sight, David moved quickly down the side hallway toward the exit. Seeing the room service tray still in the hallway, he scooped up a used steak knife as he passed by and then bolted for the parking garage.
It was still early. There were only a few cars on the street and no one in the garage.
After verifying that there were no security cameras in the garage, David headed directly for the black SUV, then plunged the knife into the right rear tire several times. Within seconds, the tire had deflated. Next, David walked over to his Peugeot, opened the trunk, tucked the steak knife into a side pocket of his suitcase, and placed the suitcase on the floor by the front passenger seat. Then he grabbed the tire iron out of the trunk and pried off his license plates, first in the back and then in the front. He stuffed these in his suitcase as well and returned to the open trunk.
Soon the young man in the leather jacket came strolling into the garage. He was whistling until he saw the flat tire; then he started cursing up a storm.
“What’s wrong?” David asked innocently, preparing to close his trunk.
The man pointed to the tire and just stared at it, cursing some more. David walked over to take a look.
“Need some help?” he asked, approaching the man from behind.
Still grumbling, the man turned toward David. Just then, David sucker punched him in the face full force with the tire iron in one violent motion. The man flew back against the SUV, and David smashed him over the head with the iron, sending him crashing to the pavement, bleeding and unconscious.
David looked around. There was still no one in sight, but that might not last for long. He checked the guy’s pulse. He was still alive. Then he quickly looked inside the guy’s coat and, as he’d expected, found a holster with a silencer-equipped pistol. He removed the pistol and tucked it into the back of his own trousers. He picked the man up, carried him over to the Peugeot, and set him in the trunk. He quickly fished through the guy’s pockets, removed his wallet, car keys, room key, IRGC ID badge, mobile phone, and an extra magazine of 9mm ammunition, and put all those in his own pockets. Satisfied that the young man was picked clean, he closed the trunk and locked it. Then he got in the car, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking garage, heading east on Route 62.
47
David put on his Bluetooth headset and speed-dialed Zalinsky.
He got Eva instead. “Where’s Jack?”
“In a meeting.”
“I need him, fast.”
“He’s in with Tom. They don’t want to be disturbed. Jack told me to take your call. Where are you?”
“I’m heading east toward a town called Alamdasht. I saw a dusty side road not far from there. I have a guest with me.”