Leroux watched several videos that Therrien had put up on the main displays demonstrating how it worked, and he cursed as his head shook. “That’s brutal. And it doesn’t look like something you assemble in a basement.”

  “No, this is Iranian. It’s manufactured. It’s not your typical IED that just anyone can throw together. It’s too precise.”

  Leroux spun in his chair. “Iranian?”

  “Yes. They were assembling them in Iran, then smuggling them across the Iraqi border to kill our troops.”

  “Wait a minute, are we saying these were made by the Iranian government?”

  “That’s what the intel says.”

  “Is there any way to know whether it came from Iran directly, or came through Iraq, just a remnant of what was going on there?”

  Therrien shook his head. “There’s no way to know for sure, but I can’t believe that over a dozen of these things would have been left over. Those things would come across the border and those bastards would use them right away. I just can’t see them holding on to so many for years.”

  “Agreed. The question now is, is this an Iranian Government operation, a rogue operation by Iranians, or someone supplied by them? Whoever it is, I think we can safely eliminate Jason Harper as being behind this. Sonya, get a team to track the footage of those bomb sites. This thing looks pretty heavy. There has to be footage of them being planted. With this being timed to the minute, I’m willing to bet they weren’t in-country long. I wouldn’t be surprised if they arrived in the city today and were put in place within minutes of being detonated. They wouldn’t want to risk any of the devices being discovered.”

  “On it,” replied Tong.

  Leroux sent a message to Morrison, updating him on the possible Iranian connection as the door hissed. Half a dozen additional staff entered to assist the growing operation. Leroux turned in his seat. “Randy, why don’t you take charge of tracing those bombs? Use the supplementary assets.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  “Sir, the plane the professors are on has just deviated from its flight plan,” said Tong.

  Leroux spun in his chair to face the main displays as Tong brought up a map showing the approved flight plan in blue, a red line indicating the actual flight path deviating south of Athens. “Okay, people, this is it. The Hellenic Air Force should respond within several minutes, but that will result in nothing since the Greeks aren’t about to shoot it down if it stays at altitude. My guess is they’re going to take the shortest route to international airspace then head for their destination. Where is Delta?”

  Tong zoomed the map out to include North and Central Africa, a red dot shown. “They’re about an hour and a half away from being in position, if we’re assuming North Africa’s the destination.”

  “And how long until the target reaches the North African coast?”

  “Roughly the same. Depends on where they’re heading. Egypt is closer than Morocco.”

  “So, this is going to be close. Contact Bragg. Let them know we don’t have a destination yet. We need to know how much fuel that plane has in case it needs to circle for a while.”

  Tong gestured toward the screen. “Sir, the Greeks are scrambling fighters now.”

  “Put it on speaker. And pray they know there are hostages on board.”

  53 |

  Unknown Location 41,000 feet

  There would be no more escape attempts. Laura’s upper body was lashed to her seat with a blanket. James was beside her, similarly restrained, still unconscious, and though he said he was fine before the second hit, she knew him well enough to know he was lying for her benefit. They had been through a lot over the past few years. Shot, stabbed, scraped, bruised, and the only thing neither of them had never recovered from completely was the loss of her ability to have children.

  But blows to the head could have cumulative damage, and God knows they had both been cracked in the skull too many times to count. Was this one time too many? He had been out cold for at least half an hour, and her pleas to untie him, let him lie down, for an ice pack, for anything that might help, had been met with a gun pressed to her forehead, along with the warning that if she didn’t shut up, she’d never have to worry about him again.

  It had silenced her, though not their captors. The argument in the rear of the plane continued, occasionally punctuated with another smack as frustrations grew and Vida continued her stony silence.

  An announcement came over the PA system, something said in what she was convinced was Farsi. Whatever it was silenced the angry men and had them all rushing for window seats. The clock at the front of the cabin indicated they had been flying for almost two hours, and the stars told her they had been heading generally south. It suggested they should be over Greek territory, which made sense. In order to not attract attention, this plane would have had a flight plan probably filed days ago. If she and James hadn’t intervened, no one would likely know that Vida and her team were on this plane, so they would have done everything by the book until they had to leave European airspace.

  It was just another indication of how well planned this was. This was military or government level precision. And if they were speaking Farsi, it meant the Iranians were behind this. But why? It didn’t make any sense. If the Iranian government managed to get away with it, they would have $22 billion. A country like that would burn through it in no time. It would make no material difference to their day-to-day lives. Yet if they were found out, any sympathy they might have around the world would be lost to anybody but the most diehard of zealots. Stealing from the poor? It was indefensible.

  She paused at a thought. Could it be the charities? Could it be a specific charity that they didn’t want to get any money because they worked against the Iranian government? It was a possibility, though still, preventing some charity from getting $100 million that was working against the fundamentalist regime couldn’t possibly be worth the risk. No, only a fool would think stealing from hundreds of charities in an effort to block only one would be a wise move.

  Yet Iran had proven time and again they were fools. Blind devotion to any cause or belief too often resulted in idiocy, especially in the heat of the moment. Yet the facts staring her in the face, no matter how much her logical mind dismissed the idea that anybody could be so stupid, were that $22 billion had been stolen, bombs had detonated in a coordinated attack that had brought down power and communications infrastructure, helicopters and planes had been employed in the escape, a general had been referenced, everyone was speaking Farsi, and a reference to a betrayal of Vida’s country, all pointed to a government, and likely the Iranian government.

  She tensed at the thought. The Iranians never hesitated to torture or kill, and had a particular hatred for Western women. She glanced at James, still unconscious, the blood trickling from his forehead now stopped. She returned her attention to the window and whatever it was outside that had everyone excited, then gasped as a fighter jet blasted past them, the Hellenic blue and white of the Greek flag emblazoned on the tail.

  Her heart hammered at what might be about to happen then she drew a deep breath, calming herself as she dismissed her fears. Their altitude was displayed underneath the clock. There was no way they were a threat to anybody at this altitude. She could think of only two reasons why the Greeks would be responding like this. One was that they were aware of who was on this plane, and the second was that the plane had deviated from its flight plan. She couldn’t imagine the Greeks shooting them down unless the aircraft were to reduce altitude and potentially become a risk to buildings below.

  But if the plane, clearly over Greece, had no intention of landing, then just what was their final destination?

  54 |

  Outside BBG International George Town, Cayman Islands

  Jack—just Jack—peered at the laptop screen, flipping through four different drone feeds, examining the bank building from various angles. It wasn’t a substantial edifice as you’d expect back stateside, though the briefing notes indicated the amount of money that went through this institution daily was stunning. Dirty money was being laundered here by shady governments, corporations, and criminal organizations, yet proving it was challenging.

  Due to privacy laws and banking laws, corrupt governments and corrupt officials of honest governments, getting the information needed to stop the dirty money from moving around the world was difficult, which was one reason the CIA had an active program to hack these institutions. It was a constant battle of thrusts and parries with, unfortunately, the most corrupt of banks having the most robust security.

  And the bank Langley had tasked him to get inside had detected their digital intrusion two weeks ago and purged it, and all Langley had managed to accomplish since then was a tap that could access nothing but the most basic data about the account in question. He could be going to all this effort for nothing. The bank account could be empty, and it should be if you weren’t a complete idiot. Parking $22 billion in an account was insanity, but the brains in Virginia were convinced something was going on where this somehow made sense.

  He had been activated, briefed, and equipped within half an hour. The CIA had weapons and supply caches in every country globally, and every major city in those countries. Quite often, those were inside embassies or consulates, other times safe houses or stashed with local contacts. There had been a knock at his hotel room door soon after leaving the beach, and a local had delivered two duffel bags containing everything needed for the op.

  He activated his comm. “Control, this is Rawhide. I’ve got two security guards on patrol outside. Confirm that, over.”

  “Confirmed, Rawhide. We’re showing the same, over.”

  “Any luck accessing their security feeds?”

  “Negative. It appears to be all self-contained.”

  Jack tapped an icon on the screen and all the camera positions Langley had spotted were highlighted with their cones of coverage displayed. “Control, confirm that there’s a blind spot on the number two side.”

  “Confirmed, Rawhide. It’s a sliver, but if you suck it in, you should be able to make it. They had a bit of a windstorm last week that must have shifted one of the positions slightly.”

  “Copy that. I’m heading in now.” Jack closed up the laptop and climbed out of the SUV he had rented for his stay. He strode across the street with purpose, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He crossed in front of the bank, ignoring it, and turned the corner to the left side of the building. He spotted where the gap should be, then cleared his throat, signaling Langley he needed guidance.

  “Ten more paces,” said the voice in his ear, monitoring everything from one of the mini-drones hovering overhead he had deployed. “Guards are at the three-four corner. Turn right in five, four, three, two, one. Turn right.”

  Jack pivoted on his heel, 90 degrees, then walked across the grass, directly toward the wall of the bank.

  “Adjust left ten degrees.”

  He steadied his heart that threatened to race out of control. Once he was within a few feet of the wall, he’d be safe, the cameras positioned to catch people approaching, not already there.

  “You’re clear.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief then hugged the wall as he prepared for the next phase of his plan. “Location on the guards?”

  “Guards are on the number three side, approaching the two-three corner.”

  He tapped the frame of his glasses then slid his finger down the side as feeds from the various drones flashed by. He headed for the corner in question as the approaching guards appeared on the inside of the lens. He gently lowered the duffel bag to the ground and retrieved two stun guns, then pressed his back against the wall. The two men reached the corner then rounded it. Jack stepped forward, emerging from the shadows, and pressed a weapon against each of their chests, the crackling of electricity pleasant if you weren’t on the receiving end. Both men yelped in shock then collapsed to the ground, still shaking. He pulled them into the shadows, then bound and gagged the portlier of the two before removing the shirt and hat from the other one closer to his size. Tucking the shirt into his black pants that resembled the standard guard’s uniform, he then fit the hat over his head and removed the building pass from the man’s belt.

  “Control, status?”

  “You’re still clear, and it appears nobody is aware you’re there.”

  “Copy that.” He grabbed the duffel bag and rushed along the side of the building toward the front. The next part would have to be done quickly. Langley had a detailed layout of the building, last updated a year ago. Though that helped, he had no idea how many guards were inside. If this had been a planned op rather than a last-minute emergency, they would have been monitoring all day for the shift change. Unfortunately, he was going in cold. It could be one guard, it could be ten, though he doubted it.

  He strode to the front door, slid the pass through the reader, the click and buzz indicating he had access. He hauled open the door then crossed the ornate lobby, no expense spared at making questionable clientele comfortable. A guard stationed at the security desk looked up and his eyes bulged. Jack drew a weapon from his belt and fired. A tranquilizer dart embedded itself in the man’s chest. He slumped in his chair and Jack swung over the desk then checked the internal camera feeds shown on several monitors.

  “Control, Rawhide. I’m in. One guard down, non-lethal. Internal camera feeds show two other guards in the hallways, only one in the way. Heading to the server room now.” Jack snapped transmitters onto the back of each of the monitor cables, giving Langley access to the internal security feeds. He made for a side door and swiped his pass, then headed down a corridor leading to a set of stairs to the basement.

  “Rawhide, Control. You’ve got a guard five meters down the corridor you’re about to enter, facing away from you.”

  He continued down the stairs as he drew his stun gun. “Copy that.” He swiped the pass, the click and buzz causing him to cringe.

  “He knows you’re there.”

  “Copy that.” He pushed the door open a sliver, holding it with the toe of his left shoe. “Is he coming my way?”

  “Affirmative. Five meters, four, three, two.”

  Jack shoved the door open and surged through, jamming his stun gun against the chest of the surprised man. He dropped in a puddle of his own urine and Jack stepped back before it got on his shoes.

  “Anyone else in the vicinity, Control?”

  “Negative, Rawhide. You’re clear.”

  With the floor covered in urine, there was little point in dragging the body out of sight. If another guard saw the mess, they would raise the alarm regardless. He zip-tied the man then jogged down the corridor.

  “Next door on your right.”

  “Copy that.”

  He swiped his pass and shoved the door aside, entering a room with an impressive array of hardware. He headed for the rack-mounted console and took a seat. Unzipping his duffel bag, he hauled out several pieces of equipment and connected Langley to the system.

  “Control, Rawhide, confirm status, over.”

  “We’re in. Stand by.”

  Jack sat quietly, closing his eyes and relaxing his entire body. He could leave now if they were assured the access wouldn’t be interrupted by some sort of communications failure. However, if something did go wrong with the connection, all of this would have been for naught if he were to leave too soon. He just hoped Langley didn’t take too long.

  A male voice cut in, the entire operation to this point run by a woman. This one he recognized as the big man himself, Leroux.

  “Rawhide, Control Actual. Abort immediately! I say again, abort immediately! Leave the hardware in place. Just get your ass out of there now!”

  55 |

  CIA Headquarters, Operations Center 3 Langley, Virginia

  “Who the hell are they?”

  “No idea,” replied Child as they watched four men exit an SUV that had just screeched to a halt moments before.

  Leroux leaned closer. “Did we trip a silent alarm?”

  “There’s no indication of that.”

  “Aborting as ordered,” came Jack’s voice over the comm. “What’s going on?”

  Leroux pointed at Tong, who took back over as Control.

  “Four unsubs just arrived in a single vehicle. They’re heading for the main entrance now.”

  “You are aware, Control, that there is no rear exit to this building?”

  “We are aware, Rawhide.”

  “Control, I need to know who these people are. Are they just security doing their job, or are they hostiles?”

  “We’re determining that now, Rawhide. Suggest you seek cover.”

  “Roger that.”

  Leroux cursed as the four men pulled weapons, one of them shooting out the glass of the front doors, confirming this definitely wasn’t a security team responding to an alarm. He snapped his fingers at Tong, who was way ahead of him.

  “Rawhide, Control. New arrivals are confirmed hostile, all armed. One has shot out the front entrance glass and they’re making entry now. Lethal force is authorized should you deem it necessary.”

  “Copy that, Control. Is my task to escape, or to prevent them from gaining access?”

  “Stand by, Rawhide.” Tong turned to Leroux and shrugged.

  “Do we have anything on them?” he asked as he turned toward Child.

  Child’s eyes bulged at what was on his screen. “Holy shit, boss. That SUV is registered to the Iranian consulate.”

  Leroux cursed. This all but confirmed it was Iranians behind this. Why, didn’t matter. That was a debate for when this was over. Yet if they were there, it had to be to gain access to the account. Something was going on that they didn’t understand. If they hoped to retrieve the money and gain leverage that might help free the professors, they had to steal the money themselves.

 

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