Shaw took a breath, and then looked up. ‘We’ve given finding the AIJ safe house top priority. The weapon needs to be prepared, and it’s possible that these so-called ‘suicide time-bombers’ are still there. We’ve been cross-referencing everything we have on both Quraishi and al-Hazmi, trying to triangulate a possible location.’
‘And it looks like Quraishi is definitely the man we’re after,’ Dorrell interjected. ‘Our sources in Saudi Arabia tell us that he took off before he was brought in for questioning, he’s now officially on the run and listed as the most likely candidate for the Lion, the leader of the AIJ.’
Shaw nodded. ‘Well, we entered what we have on file for him, including voice recordings, into our system, and a little while ago, we received a hit — a conversation between Quraishi and a second man, who we believe to be Amir al-Hazmi. The conversation was in an unusual Arabian dialect, and also used code words to mask the meaning of the conversation, but our analysts believe that Quraishi was checking on the progress of his operation.’
‘Do we think the bombers are still there?’ Eckhart asked.
Shaw shrugged. ‘We can’t be sure,’ he said uneasily. ‘We traced the origin of the call to a payphone at a bus station in Riyadh. Quraishi obviously didn’t want to use a cell phone, as he would think that all his numbers would be monitored, and he probably didn’t have access to his voice modulation software — you know, the one he’s been using to change his voice when he makes those AIJ videos.’
‘You think it’s him in the videos?’ Abrams asked.
Shaw nodded. ‘Our analysts have studied the body language — now we know to compare it with Quraishi — and they’re eighty percent certain it’s the same person.’
‘Have we shared this with the Saudi authorities?’ Olsen asked.
‘We’ve told them about the pay phone location,’ Shaw said, ‘just in case they can nail Quraishi, but we’ve got to assume that he’s long gone by now.’
‘What about the other location?’ Dorrell asked with anticipation. ‘The place the call was made to?’
Shaw smiled. ‘I think we’ve got it,’ he said. ‘We managed to trace the call to Mecca, one of the world’s holiest cities and one of the reasons we get so much stick for being there in the first place. From satellite photos it seems to be a walled compound in a residential area. Rented in a private name, but we’ve traced the money back and it seems that payments are coming from accounts operated by Abdullah al-Zayani, the suspected financier of the AIJ — who we’ve still not managed to locate, by the way. It also appears on some of the other cross-checks we’ve been doing, calls that we’ve since traced between Riyadh — we suspect from Quraishi — and Amir al-Hazmi.’
‘So,’ Abrams said slowly, ‘you believe that this compound is where the weapon was taken by al-Hazmi, and where the suicide bombers are to be injected?’
‘All but certain of it,’ Shaw said.
‘Have we informed the Saudi authorities?’ Abrams asked next. ‘Can we get them to move in? Secure the place before the bombers leave?’
Dorrell shook his head. ‘I’m not sure that would be a good idea,’ he said. ‘The trouble is, the country is a mess; people work for these organizations, but often hold very different opinions and loyalties. Look at Quraishi himself, for example. We simply don’t have any idea how many people he’s got working with him in the Saudi government. If we tip them off that we know about the compound, they might contact al-Hazmi and then everyone would be gone, just like that.’ Dorrell snapped his fingers. ‘And then we’d have no chance whatsoever.’
‘Do we have anybody there?’ Abrams asked next. ‘Anyone we can trust?’
Heads turned as Olsen exhaled slowly. ‘We do have a man who’s been working with us there,’ he said uneasily. ’In an unofficial capacity, at least.’
‘Go on,’ Dorrell said.
‘Mark Cole,’ Olsen replied. ‘The Asset. He’s the one who gave us the take on al-Zayani and Quraishi in the first place.’
‘Where is he now?’ Abrams asked quietly, and she watched as Olsen’s shoulders slumped regretfully.
‘That’s the problem,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid we don’t exactly know.’
5
Dorrell was back in his sixth floor office at CIA headquarters in Langley, deep in thought, when the call came.
It was Francis Stevens — although he only got patched through under a code word, Dorrell knew exactly who it was — calling from Riyadh.
Stevens was responsible for the CIA safe house in the Saudi capital. Even though Saudi Arabia had good relations with the US, sometimes precautions still needed to be taken — which was why the CIA maintained safe houses in almost every city in the world. They were havens where agents could escape to if something went wrong; secure locations where kidnapped targets could be stored and interrogated before being taken elsewhere; places where operations could be planned and staged from. Some had never been used — perhaps would never be used — while others got used far too often for comfort.
The safe house in Riyadh fell somewhere in the middle; some years saw it used frequently, others rarely. For the past few years though, it had been very quiet, and Dorrell’s instincts were immediately aroused by Stevens’ unexpected call.
‘There’s a man here,’ Stevens said.
‘Who?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Stevens said cagily. ‘He wasn’t on any of the lists I’ve got, and I wasn’t told to expect anyone.’
‘Did he use the correct protocols?’ Dorrell asked next, trying to reign in his hope.
‘In a way.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, he used code words I didn’t recognize,’ Stevens said. ‘But I checked back, and they’re ones we used to use, but years ago.’
Dorrell felt his heart skip a beat. ‘Where is he now?’
‘He’s in the reception area. Off the street, but not inside yet.’
‘Bring him in,’ Dorrell ordered. ‘Immediately. And then get him on the phone to me right away, understood?’
‘Yes sir,’ Stevens replied, and Dorrell was pleased to hear the sound of the connection being broken as the safe house manager raced to his task.
He breathed a sigh of relief, sinking into his leather chair.
The man at the front door could only be Mark Cole.
So al-Hazmi was in Mecca, Cole thought as he replaced the receiver, his conversation with Dorrell recently finished.
The voices of John Eckhart, Bud Shaw, General Olsen and President Abrams had also been patched through during a hastily-arranged conference call, and it was clear that his arrest for treason was going to be overlooked — momentarily, at least. But it was interesting that it was just this small select group that he was addressing — obviously some other members of the National Security Council might well still harbor less positive opinions about him. But for the president and her closest advisors at least, now was not the time to pursue such things.
Mecca made perfect sense, of course; it was the holiest destination in the Arabian peninsula, and Quraishi would doubtless feel that it would please Allah to launch his operation from there. The American military presence in Saudi Arabia was felt by many to be a defilement of the holy land, and it would seem poetic justice to launch the attack against the so-called ‘Great Satan’ from the nation’s holiest city.
Cole had remembered about the Riyadh CIA safe house from his days as a covert operative for the US government. Such places weren’t meant to be used by deniable operatives, but Cole had nevertheless memorized their locations and security procedures — just in case. And after escaping from the chaos surrounding the Al Faisaliyah Center, he had made his way straight there.