Titus Ray Thriller Box Set, page 96
part #1 of Titus Ray Series
“Let’s say they do.”
“In that case, I’d like to see the DDO propose a joint task force made up of agents from the Bureau, as well as Agency personnel. I know the Agency has no legal basis for confiscating the shipment of canisters or arresting the members of the Baltimore cell, so the feds could work that end of the operation, while the Agency goes after Mohammed.”
“How would that work?”
I pointed to Marwan’s phone again. “Once Franco Cabello texts the location of the truck carrying the weapons, we’ll pass that information along to the Bureau. We’ll do so with the understanding there won’t be any news releases about the discovery of the chemical weapons or any publicity about the arrests of the terrorists connected with them until we locate Mohammed.”
Carlton nodded. “You don’t want Mohammed to know he’s never going to see those weapons.”
“Right. Mohammed expects to receive a call from Naballah after the canisters have arrived in the area. Once he receives that call, he’ll tell Naballah where the canisters should be delivered. However, Naballah won’t be making that call. Someone from the Agency will be making that call.”
Carlton considered my proposal, rhythmically tapping his finger on his briefcase. “Your plan needs a lot of tweaking, but at least you’ve given me a framework I can use.”
Despite what he said, I knew Carlton loved my plan.
PART SIX
Chapter 48
Monday, July 6
It had barely been a week since I’d last seen Frank Benson, but when I encountered him in Conference Room C on the ground floor of Agency headquarters, I could have sworn it had been much longer.
Benson was part of the Joint Task Force the DDO had hurriedly put together on Sunday once Carlton and I had arrived back at Dulles.
We’d come straight to Langley after receiving a message from the DDO telling the two of us to meet him in his office the moment we landed.
The meeting hadn’t lasted long—at least not the one I was in.
He’d dismissed me as soon as I’d made the pitch to him about letting Operation Citadel Protection continue to play out on the domestic front.
After his curt, “you can go now,” he’d asked Carlton to remain behind.
Later, Carlton had called to let me know the DDO had agreed with my proposal. He’d also told me to be back at Langley the next morning to meet with the DDO and the Joint Task Force he was putting together.
Following his call, I’d gone out to The Meadows and slept for twelve hours. I’d thought about calling Nikki, but I knew I was too jet-lagged to talk to her.
Now, after seeing Frank, I wished I had.
Frank had shaved off his scruffy-looking whiskers, and today he was dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt, and blue-striped tie. I was dressed in more casual attire, and I felt shabby standing next to him.
“I see you survived Damascus,” he said, stirring cream in his coffee with a swizzle stick. “Are things as bad there as I’m seeing on the news?”
“If you’re seeing thousands of refugees and bombed-out buildings, then you’re getting the true picture.”
Although we were standing off to the side, away from anyone else in the room, Benson leaned in closer and whispered, “Nikki’s had a tough first week, but she’s doing a fantastic job. She’s a quick learner, and I don’t believe she’ll have any problem passing the course.”
I murmured something inane like “good” and moved away from him, wondering what I’d been thinking when I’d asked him to keep his eye on her.
The official name of Operation Citadel Protection’s joint task force was Citadel Protection Joint Task Force Inter-Agency Collaboration, but everyone in the room was calling it the Joint Task Force.
It primarily consisted of Agency personnel and FBI agents, but once the meeting got started, two representatives from the Department of Homeland Security showed up.
One of the DHS people turned out to be Carlton’s friend, Arnie, who didn’t look too pleased to see me.
The feeling was mutual.
* * * *
The DDO himself chaired the meeting, but he did very little talking. Instead, he asked Carlton to summarize the intel the Agency had obtained when General Suleiman had met with Hassan Naballah to finalize his plans for mounting an attack on the nation’s capital.
As Carlton outlined the facts, he didn’t mention the intel he was sharing was the result of his own operation, or that the intelligence officer, who had been part of that operation, was sitting in the room.
Once Carlton had wrapped things up by explaining how the gas canisters had already made their way into the U.S., the DDO invited Frank Benson, who was serving as the FBI’s spokesman, to address what the feds had found out about the weapons.
Since the Ops Center had already told the FBI about how the cartel had smuggled the canisters across the border through a tunnel in San Diego, that’s where Benson began.
“At Deputy Ira’s request,” Benson said, gesturing toward the DDO, “we won’t be shutting down the cartel’s tunnel in San Diego until after we’ve secured the chemical weapons. For obvious reasons, we don’t want to alert Los Zetas we’re aware of its existence until then. And, along those same lines, we want to keep a low profile as we try to identify the semi-trailer truck transporting the canisters. At least fifty trucks go in and out of that industrial complex in San Diego every day, so we may not know which one it is until after Franco Cabello discloses the truck’s license number.”
When Benson reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, I figured he was about to lay a bunch of his Egyptian hieroglyphics on the group.
Instead, he read off a list of names and explained these were people in the Baltimore area on the FBI’s terrorism watch list. He said after learning a Hezbollah cell in Baltimore would be taking possession of the canisters, all the individuals on the list had been put under twenty-four-hour surveillance, particularly their cell leader, Leandro Manolo, the person Naballah said he would contact once he’d heard from Marwan.
Benson sat down and the DDO addressed the group.
“As Douglas just told you, the head of the Quds Force in Iran, General Suleiman, appears to be the mastermind behind this attack. We believe his asset, a man he’s identified as Mohammed, is, in fact, Walid Khouri, a Jordanian photographer who arrived in the United States ten years ago. I’m sure some of you may have heard of him.”
Carlton gestured over at Katherine. “I’ve asked Ms. Broward, the head of our Strategic Analysis Division, to provide you with the data showing why we’ve come to the conclusion Walid Khouri is Mohammed.”
Katherine was dressed in her lawyer-looking black suit today. She appeared more subdued than the last time I’d seen her, and it was difficult for me to tell if this was because of the group she was addressing or the sobering topic under discussion.
At any rate, there was no smile for me today.
As she briefly outlined the biographical facts on Khouri, I noticed Benson was listening to her intently, and, once she got to the part about Khouri’s recent overseas trip, I saw him pull out his fact sheet on Reyes Valario and Walid Khouri.
Katherine said, “Khouri was recently in Dubai for a fashion shoot, and we believe he met with General Suleiman to receive his final instructions for the attack at that time. When Khouri returned to the States, a large sum of money was deposited in his Swiss bank account, and a few days later, he made contact with a Hezbollah recruit from South America, a college student at the University of Arkansas by the name of Reyes Valario. As I’m sure you’re all aware, Valario has been identified as the shooter in the Navy Yard incident.”
At this point in her presentation, I was surprised to see Katherine smile. I was even more surprised when Benson turned out to be the recipient of that smile.
She nodded at him. “Thanks to a very thorough investigation of Valario by an agent at the Bureau, we have a much better understanding of why Walid Khouri and Reyes Valario were in contact.”
She picked up a thick plastic binder with CLASSIFIED stamped across the front of it. “Two days ago, the National Security Agency released the transcripts of the conversations between Khouri and Valario. I’ll summarize those for you now, but if anyone wishes to read the conversations in their entirety, they’re welcomed to see me after the meeting.”
Outside of Benson, I seriously doubted anyone would take her up on that offer.
She said, “The transcripts show Khouri directing Valario to join the Razorback Century Club. This is a loosely organized collection of hobby clubs in Fayetteville, and some of the hobbyists provide their members with hands-on training in their field of interest.
“In their very first conversation, Khouri orders Valario to join the Aviation Club. While it’s obvious a third party has initiated the contact between the two men, Valario still comments on the strange nature of the assignment. He argues with Khouri about how the club is connected to his desire to die for the cause of Islam.
“That’s when Khouri tells Valario he wants him to learn to fly a UAV—he actually calls it a drone. Besides learning to fly the drone, he also needs to know how to equip it with a couple of cameras for taking aerial photographs. Then, Khouri directs Valario to call him immediately after completing each lesson and tell him what he’s learned.
“Khouri explains how he plans to mount a camera on a drone he’s recently purchased and use it to record a video of Valario and Alejandro Lovato carrying out their suicide mission at the Washington Navy Yard. He tells Valario he’ll broadcast this video on the internet to a worldwide Jihadi network of followers once he and Lovato have become martyrs.”
Katherine picked up the binder and read an excerpt from the conversation Valario had with Khouri moments before he entered the Navy Yard. In it, Khouri talked to Valario about becoming a selfless hero who would be defending Islam against the corrupt crusaders.
Katherine said, “He told Valario being martyred would send him to paradise immediately, where—I’m quoting here—good deeds erase bad deeds and jihad is the best deed of all.”
Before Katherine sat down, she said, “Just to be clear. The FAA found no evidence there was a drone anywhere in the area when Valario and his partner entered the Navy Yard for his suicide mission.”
When Katherine finished, Benson spoke up. “If I might add just a postscript to Ms. Broward’s report?”
The DDO nodded at him.
“I’ve recreated the timeline of Khouri’s activities the day of the shooting, and, if my calculations are correct, he was engaged in a wedding photo session on June 22, so there’s no reason to believe he even tried to use the drone that day.”
The DDO said, “That’s not surprising. It was probably never Khouri’s intention to use the drone for the suicide mission. I imagine he’s saving it for something more significant, like taking pictures of gas canisters being exploding over the capital.”
I asked, “What evidence do we have that Khouri even has a drone?”
Although the question needed to be asked, the DDO looked at me as if I’d committed a faux pas by asking it. Evidently, his agenda called for only the major players on the Joint Task Force—those wearing the suits and having long titles after their names—to be given the opportunity to speak.
Arnie cleared his throat and gestured at the DDO. “I believe I can answer that question.”
Arnie was wearing a sports coat, so I wasn’t exactly sure how he fit in with the DDO’s agenda, but he was allowed to speak anyway.
“I’m Arnold Dawson with Homeland Security,” he said. “The Director has appointed me to serve as the liaison between DHS and the Joint Task Force for this operation.”
That meant Arnie was pretty high up on the food chain over at DHS, but since he was friends with Carlton, I’d already figured that out.
“Our office began looking into Walid Khouri as soon as we received evidence his phone number was associated with the shooting at the Navy Yard. Since we knew the Agency was examining his background, and the Bureau was concentrating on his association with Reyes Valario, we looked into his bank transactions, his tax records, and his property acquisitions. As far as we’ve been able to determine, there’s no record of his having purchased a drone.”
“What about an airplane?” Carlton asked. “General Suleiman said Mohammed was in possession of an aircraft capable of delivering the chemical weapons.”
“Then Walid Khouri may not be Mohammed,” Arnie said. “He doesn’t own any kind of aircraft.”
“Are you certain of that?” Katherine asked. “We know he’s provided aerial shots for some of his commercial clients before.”
“While that may be true, his business records are pretty clear. He doesn’t own any kind of aircraft.”
Katherine said, “My office has also examined his business records, and what seems clear to me is that he knows a lot about creative accounting and encryption technology. Hidden in those records could be evidence he’s in possession of a drone, or an airplane, or any number of suspicious items.”
Arnie disputed her statement, and the DDO allowed them to argue the finer points of their respective analysis for several minutes. By the look on the deputy’s face, he was enjoying their spirited interchanges.
Finally though, he put a stop to their bickering by asking Benson if the FBI’s surveillance on Khouri had turned up anything suspicious.
Benson shook his head. “The guy leaves his townhouse around eight o’clock every morning and heads over to his studio. He goes out for lunch every day with someone on his staff or a client, and sometimes, on his way home from work, he stops by the construction site where his new studio is being built. He plays golf one morning a week, and on Friday afternoons, he plays tennis. He never attends a mosque, and he doesn’t associate with any Islamic groups.”
Although I wasn’t sure anyone else had noticed, Benson had delivered this information without referring to his notes, which made me wonder if he had assigned himself to one of his own surveillance teams.
I could think of only one reason Benson would be doing this kind of grunt work himself—he must have discovered something about Khouri that wouldn’t fit into one of his puzzle boxes.
I decided to ask him about that.
Chapter 49
After the members of the Joint Task Force had been given their respective assignments, they were issued temporary passes to the Ops Center, where in two days, Operation Citadel Protection would go live in RTM Center C.
The protocol called for the FBI to move in and take possession of the canisters as soon as Cabello sent a text to Marwan’s phone identifying the truck stop on I-95 where the weapons could be found.
The FBI’s actions would be broadcast—via Agency drones—in real time to the RTM Center, and all the task force members would have front row seats to this action.
The DDO instructed Carlton to have personnel available—namely, me—in case Cabello suddenly decided to call Marwan instead of texting him.
Since Marwan had told us Cabello was paranoid about security and refused to talk on an unencrypted cell phone, I knew Carlton didn’t really expect that to happen, but he assured the DDO he had that scenario covered anyway.
While the DDO was transparent about the role he was expecting the FBI and DHS to play in securing the chemical weapons, he was less candid about how the Agency was planning to handle Walid Khouri.
When one of the feds asked him about when a subpoena would be issued for Khouri’s arrest, the DDO brushed him off and said he was still working out the details of how Khouri would be handled.
Seconds later, the DDO adjourned the meeting without allowing any further discussion.
* * * *
After the meeting had broken up, I caught up with Benson in the corridor outside Conference Room C. When I walked up, he was looking down at a message on his cell phone.
“Got a minute, Frank?”
“What’s up?” he asked, slipping his phone inside his suit jacket.
“That’s what I was wondering. Have you filled in all the boxes on your diagram of Walid Khouri yet?”
“I’m confident he’s Mohammed, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m in agreement with that assessment, but we both know there’s no evidence connecting Walid to the chemical weapons right now. While it’s definitely his voice on the phone with Valario, a good lawyer could easily get those conversations thrown out of court.”
As expected, my remarks caused Benson to pull out his diagram. As he was unfolding it, I got a text message from Carlton telling me to meet him in his office as soon as possible.
Benson pointed to the rectangle containing Walid Khouri’s name. “What I find interesting is that every time Valario called Khouri to tell him what he’d learned about flying the UAV, the GPS coordinates show Khouri was always at his construction site. He was never at his studio. I’m bothered by that anomaly.”
“I’m going to take a wild guess here and assume you’ve been following Khouri when he goes out to visit his new studio.”
He smiled. “Yeah, that’s right. But there’s no way to get inside there without being noticed. I’d need a warrant to do that.”
Same old Benson. Still the cautious type.
“Let me give this some thought, Frank. I might be able to come up with some way we could get in there and check things out. Right now, though, I’m headed upstairs to see Douglas.”
“That’s funny,” he said. “So am I. When you walked up, I’d just received a text from his secretary asking me to stop by his office.”
I didn’t see anything remotely funny about that.
* * * *
When Sally Jo ushered us into Carlton’s office, we were directed over to the left side of the room where there was a small conference table with four leather chairs around it.
