So you’re telling me we risked all of this for nothing? The Taskforce couldn’t get anything off of the computers that will give us a handle on Lucas?”
Kurt read my expression from the VPN and said, “No, no, it wasn’t for nothing. We did get an incredible treasure trove of information related to Hezbollah operations, including apparently a possible operation in the Netherlands. We just didn’t get anything specific for Lucas. There were over a thousand names in the system you hacked.”
“Run the names through all the airline databases leaving Lebanon in the last three days. He’s in there somewhere. We get a match, and we’ll follow up.”
I knew I was grasping at straws, but didn’t want to let it go. We’d barely made it out of the Dahiyeh last night, with several more bits of high adventure before we had linked up with Jennifer and the van, to include Jennifer having to subdue a civilian in the apartment stairwell. I didn’t want to believe all of that work had been for nothing. Bringing the team in, attacking the heart of Hezbollah, and getting out by the skin of our teeth. It made me seethe.
“Pike, the names are in Arabic. We can’t run them all against every database. We’d end up with a hundred false positives. We did scrub the list for phonetic spellings of English names, but that list is still in the hundreds. We don’t even know why they’re in the database. They could be targets or on the payroll. There’s just no way to tell. Give the analysts more time. They’ll come up with something.”
“We don’t have time. The envoy’s only got a few more days before he reaches Qatar, and he’s in very real danger if Lucas is after him. What about infidel? Any of those names cross-checked with the term infidel?”
“Unfortunately, no. Infidel is in there, but the cross-check wasn’t on the data you brought back.”
Dammit. Should have stayed until we had everything from the hard drive. I knew that was just twenty-twenty hindsight talking, and I’d made the right call. Then I remembered what he had said earlier.
“What was that about a hit in the Netherlands?”
“Nothing much. Something to do with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Apparently, Hezbollah was looking at an operation against the STL, but they’ve been talking about that for years. We did a scrub, and the only thing remotely related is the death of an investigator in a gas explosion. The police have already closed the books on that one, though. They did a thorough investigation because of the nature of her work and some strange forensics they discovered, but they found absolutely no linkage to anyone related to Hezbollah. None.”
Because they’re looking for the wrong race and religion.
I said, “The case officer here thinks Lucas was a hired gun for outside work precisely because he wasn’t tied to Hezbollah by ideology and he was Caucasian. Run those phonetic names against the flight records leaving Amsterdam to Beirut for three days after the death of the investigator. Is that necked down enough? There can’t be more than a couple dozen flights, and no way would Lucas have hung around. If he had anything to do with the explosion, and he’s in that list of names, he’ll pop.”
I saw Kurt turn and yell at someone behind him. He wrote instructions on a piece of paper, handed it to a man outside of camera range, then returned.
“That won’t take but a few minutes. But you’re really grasping at straws.”
I smiled. “Better than nothing. We got a team here ready to go.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Even if this does pan out, I need to get Council approval before you guys go hot-rodding after Lucas.”
“I know, I know, but we need to prep now. We’re going to need equipment because we’re flying commercial. Can you get a bundle ready to drop? If we don’t get anything on Lucas, it won’t go anywhere. We don’t need Council approval for that.”
Kurt said nothing. I could tell he thought the entire thing was wasted effort and that I was just wishing for a break. Getting a bundle operational was a lot of work, much more than simply building it. In addition to the equipment, Kurt would have to start planning flights to a bunch of tentative drop areas, including both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which meant diverting aircraft and building covers for their operations. I pressed him.
“Sir, I know it’s a long shot, but-”
Before I could finish, he turned from the screen and took a sheet of paper. I held my breath while he read it. He said something to the analyst offscreen, pointing at the sheet. He nodded and returned to the VPN.
“I don’t know how you come up with this stuff. Two names matched. Both Canadian citizens. One leaving within twelve hours of the gas explosion, one three days later.”
Yes.
“Run those two names against Beirut flights for the last forty-eight hours. See if either of them were here and left.”
The analyst returned in seconds, and Kurt said, “One name. Canadian. Left yesterday, headed to Dubai.”
Bingo.
“Send me the data, and get me Oversight Council approval to go to Dubai.”
“Wait. This is pretty thin. I’m not sure I can convince the Council to let you go. Hell, I’m not even sure I’m convinced. You’ve got your company-supposedly working in Syria-which has mysteriously acquired three new employees in Lebanon, who will now all trek to Dubai. I’m not sure the evidence is worth the risk to exposure.”
“Sir, come on! Yeah, it’s risky, but whether that’s Lucas or not, something is going on against the envoy. You know it and I know it. There’s still a couple of threads here that don’t make sense, starting with the computer bomb that Lucas gave me. The guy who was killed doesn’t match the description of the man that was supposed to conduct the meeting, and it still makes no sense for Lucas to kill him in the first place. We need to go with what we do know, which is that a host of people seem to want the envoy dead, with Lucas at the top of the list. And he’s in Dubai. The only good thing is that he’s working with the old itinerary, so we have some time to play with.”
I saw Kurt wince, and said, “Right? We have time to play with before the envoy gets to Dubai?”
“No. The decision was made to keep his itinerary the same. He’ll be in Abu Dhabi in three days, and Dubai the day after that.”
“Who’s brilliant idea was that?”
“State Department. The trip is too important, and changing the schedule would risk offending the very people he’s going to see. It was carefully chosen.”
“Well, that’s just great. Your call, sir.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll brief the Council, and I’ll put on a log-tech for your equipment requirements, but you still only have a name. How are you going to find Lucas?”
“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.”
“Don’t figure anything out before I get approval, understood? No more operational activity.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. We can’t do anything more in Lebanon anyway.”
While Kurt was getting a log-tech on the line, I caught movement behind me and saw Samir poking his head in the door. I quickly turned the screen blank and said, “What’s up?”
His face was ashen, like he’d just been told of a death in the family.
“I need to speak with you. Urgently.”
I turned the computer over to Knuckles and followed him out to the den.
“What’s going on? You look spooked.”
“My niece has been taken by Hezbollah. They want to talk to me about the deaths of their leadership. They suspect I had something to do with it. I told them no, and now they’ve captured her as leverage.”
Holy shit. I could see why he looked like he was going to puke. If he went into Hezbollah-land, he wouldn’t be coming back out. At least not in whole pieces. But he couldn’t leave his niece to the same fate. Even so, it had nothing to do with me. He had his entire clan to help him out.
“I’m sorry to hear that. We’ll be leaving soon. We can go right now if you need your house for a war council.”
“That’s not why I’m telling you. I’m not going to my people. They’ll go berserk. Probably just capture some other Hezbollah in reprisal. They don’t have the skill to help, and this could turn into a shooting war very easily.”
I said nothing, his words sinking in. He wants me to help.
I held up my hands. “Samir, I can’t do anything over here. I don’t-”
“I need surgical skill. I need to get her back without unnecessary bloodshed. Your skill. This has all happened because I helped you. Please. I will turn myself in and convince them I had nothing to do with the killings, but I want you to get her back.”
Kurt’s last command was still echoing in my head. “Samir, I really have no authority to do what you’re asking. I can’t risk my men and possibly start another Lebanese civil war. I’m sorry.”
“She’s nineteen, Pike. A university student. She knows nothing of war.”
Jennifer had entered the room and had heard the last part of the conversation. She was staring at me, waiting to hear what I would say.