CHICAGO
I don’t get it, Marwan. Are you trying to tell me that you trust him more than you trust me?” asked Abdul Rashid.
“It is not a question of trust, Shahab,” replied the older man. “It is a question of loyalty.”
They were sitting in the lobby of the Chicago Marriott on Michigan Avenue. Rashid was drinking a coffee, Marwan a Diet Coke.
“So what are you saying? That I should swear allegiance to Aazim Aleem?”
“As long as you are loyal to me, that’s all I care about.”
“How do we make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes that the brothers in Europe have made?”
“That’s not something you need to be concerned about,” said the older man.
Rashid set his coffee down and leaned forward. “I don’t even know what our plans are after Chicago.”
“And you’re not supposed to know. It is-”
“For my own good and the good of the operation,” said Rashid, finishing the man’s sentence for him.
“As long as you follow my orders, everything will go according to plan.”
“And whose orders do you follow? Aleem’s? I’m not exactly comfortable with the fact that he may be our supreme leader.”
“Don’t concern yourself with matters beyond your control.”
Rashid glanced around to make sure no one was listening to them before continuing. “Marwan, look at us. We’ve spent half the day surveilling hotel lobbies. Do you have any idea how crazy this is?”
“Circumstances have dictated that we change our methods.”
“Circumstances? What circumstances?”
Marwan took a sip of his Diet Coke and looked at his watch. “You will know this afternoon.”
“What’s happening this afternoon?”
“Insha’Allah, the final attack in Europe. Then it will be our turn.”
The young man lowered his voice. “Can I speak honestly with you, Marwan?”
“I should hope you always do.”
Rashid smiled and bowed his head. “Always. But I am concerned.”
“I’ve told you that you worry too much.”
“Maybe, but you made me operational director of the Chicago event. I helped train the recruits and do the planning. Now, you and Sheik Aleem want to throw all of our planning and all of our training out the window. That worries me.”
“It shouldn’t,” replied Jarrah.
“But it does. We have this operation perfectly planned, everything. Then, all of a sudden, you want to switch us to a Mumbai-style event.”
“Straying from what is comfortable is often stressful.”
“Marwan, it would take us months to get our men properly trained.”
“We don’t have months,” said the older man. “We only have two days.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said.”
Rashid looked at him. “It’ll never work.”
“You must have faith. There is great wisdom in what Sheik Aleem has suggested.”
“I’m sorry, Marwan-”
The older man smiled and cut him off. “Let me finish. I have decided that the original event will continue as planned.”
“But-”
Marwan raised his hand to quiet his protégé again. “As a contingency, and hopefully to strike even greater terror into the hearts of our enemies, we will follow Sheik Aleem’s suggestion.”
Rashid shook his head.
“Sheik Aleem wants you to be in charge of both.”
“I am honored.”
The older man looked at him. “You should be.”
“But changing everything at the last minute will make success nearly impossible.”
“With faith in Allah, nothing is impossible.”
“Of course,” replied Rashid, “but where am I supposed to find men in two days with weapons experience who are willing to be Shahid?”
“Do you have faith in Allah?”
“Of course I do.”
“Good, for He has already provided you with everything you need.”
Rashid’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“Allah has already given you six Iraqi National Guardsmen.”
“Your thugs at the mosque?”
“They are not thugs. They are exceptional instruments if wielded properly.”
“I thought they were just muscle you used for security.”
The older man shook his head.
“You should have told me about their backgrounds.”
“At the time, you did not need to know. Now that you do know, perhaps you will treat them with more respect.”
Rashid rubbed his mouth with the palm of his hand and said, “While we’re talking about respect, let’s talk about where I fit into the bigger picture.”
“One step at a time,” he replied as he changed the subject and gestured toward the second story of the atrium that overlooked the lobby where they now sat. “Aleem has suggested the men work in three teams of two. I think that is a good idea.”
“But two of your National Guardsmen were shot last night, remember?”
“They will be fine. One of them we will put up there, on the second floor, to act as a sniper.”
“That’s not really the plan, is it? We’re not just going to pick four hotels with the best fields of fire and turn the guardsmen loose, are we?”
“Why not? Anyone can walk into these hotels. There is no security whatsoever. Our men only need to make it as far as the lobby.”
Maybe it was the fatigue that caused him to take a moment to catch on. “Mumbai was a combination of bombings and shootings. It turned the entire city upside down. Police, fire, ambulances; none of them knew where to go. It was mass chaos.”
Marwan smiled, “Very good, Shahab.”
“I should have thought of that.”
“Yes, you should have. You have been focused on the success the brothers had in Bali and the 7/7 bombings in London. You must remember to always ask yourself, how can we do better. Mumbai was definitely better.”
Rashid nodded. “So three teams means three hotels?”
“Come, Shahab. You’re not thinking big enough. This is Chicago. The hotels sit side by side. The men will go from one hotel to another and then to another and another still. As our bombs rip through the city, the police will be overwhelmed.”
“And then what?”
Marwan removed a ten-dollar bill from his wallet and set it on the table. “You concentrate on succeeding in Chicago. The rest of the plan will take care of itself.”