Rogue Commander, page 11
part #3 of Titus Black Series
“I’ve had my ass chewed off for the past hour by one security chief after another,” Blunt said. “And they are all pointing fingers at you. According to the FBI, you told Rodgers to leave the asset and encouraged him to join you outside.”
“That’s a load of bullshit,” Black said. “The FBI needs to be looking in the mirror on this one. Our driver went missing.”
Blunt shook his head. “They found your driver with a bullet in his head. Apparently, he’d exited the vehicle, too, in an effort to help fight.”
“I’m not sure I’d trust any of them,” Black said. “But you gotta believe me when I tell you that I followed protocol. And I don’t know what happened to Shields’s coms.”
Blunt’s phone buzzed then came his assistant’s voice. “Sir, Besserman is on line two.”
Blunt sighed. “Thanks,” he muttered.
“J.D., what the hell is going on over there?” Besserman said, foregoing any pleasantries. “Everybody is scrambling to find out what happened out there today. And I hear that one of your men was involved in the escort, and maybe he’s to blame.”
“Well, I’ll put you on speaker and let you hear directly from him yourself,” Blunt said. “He just walked into my office, and I’m trying to sort out this mess and figure out the next steps as well.”
Shields entered Blunt’s office and sank into one of the chairs across from his desk. Black stopped pacing and stood still.
“What happened?” he mouthed to her.
She shrugged. “Technical issues?” she whispered.
“Where did this all go wrong?” Besserman asked.
“Sir, this is Agent Black. I was just explaining to Senator Blunt that there were a series of mistakes, some that, quite frankly, I’m shocked were made.”
“Such as?”
“A terrible route through the city, and one that apparently the hostiles had advance knowledge of. There’s no doubt we were ambushed, contrary to what you might hear from the bureau. In fact, it was textbook.”
“Take me through it,” Besserman said.
“We veered off the main road and onto a side street, for what reason, I have no idea,” Black said. “And then a box van impeded our progress before an armored van boxed us in. Immediately, some men opened fire and pinned us down. We drove straight into a kill box.”
Besserman didn’t say anything.
“Are you there, sir?” Black asked.
“I’m trying to wrap my head around this,” Besserman said.
“If I had to make a guess on this, I’d say it was an inside job,” Black said. “How else would someone know where we were going, especially when we were taking an obscure route that supposedly the driver didn’t even know about beforehand?”
“We can deal with that later,” Besserman said. “Right now, we have to figure out a way to get Al-Sabah back.”
“Get him back?” Blunt asked. “We don’t even know where the hell he is.”
“Not yet, but we do know someone has him,” Blunt said. “The FBI received a ransom call for Al-Sabah about half an hour ago. His captors are demanding two hundred billion dollars for his release.”
“Two hundred billion?” Blunt asked, his eyes widening.
“That’s right, two hundred billion,” Besserman repeated. “And it just hit the media ten minutes ago. Oil prices are spiking as everyone is worried about the supply chain now.”
“What do you know about the ransom?” Blunt asked.
“Nothing yet, but I’ll keep you apprised of any new information. I’ll try to loop you in. But everything seems touch and go right now.”
“Sounds good,” Blunt said. “We’ll let you know if we learn anything new on our end.”
Blunt ended the call and looked at Black. “This is a mess.”
“Whoever is behind this is very well connected,” Black said. “The kidnappers had to know where we were going to pull that off this afternoon.”
“Agreed. I’m trying to get some more information out of my bureau contacts, but I think they’re red-faced right now about this incident and trying to close ranks, while blame shifting.”
“Don’t you let me take the fall for this,” Black said. “Those guys didn’t want me on that escort any more than I wanted to be there. But at least I put Al-Sabah at ease for a few minutes before he was dragged away.”
“On American soil, no less,” Shields said. “He would’ve been wiser to stay home.”
“Apparently so,” Blunt said. “But we need to do whatever we can to rectify this.”
“Are we even going to get a chance?” Shields asked. “I feel like this was sabotaged from the moment we started. My coms stopped working almost as soon as the assault began. That’s just too coincidental for me.”
“Me, too,” Blunt said as he glanced at his watch. “I’m going to work on this more from home tonight and see if I can get answers out of any of my contacts. In the meantime, you see if you can learn anything else about where the kidnappers might be holding Al-Sabah. I’m afraid the more time that passes without us getting a lead, the more danger we’re in of him disappearing for good.”
Black furrowed his brow. “So, you don’t think this is about the ransom?”
Blunt shook his head. “There’s something else going on here; I have this hunch. I don’t know how to explain it. But why would someone go to all this trouble just to capture the Kuwaiti emir. It’s not like the same outfit with enough firepower couldn’t have done this in Kuwait.”
“It’s easier to disappear here,” Shields offered.
“Maybe, but I still think there are other reasons why this occurred on our soil. Stronger media attention? Embarrass the U.S.? Unite the Middle East against us? I’m not sure which of those, if any, could motivate someone to do this other than money. But I just feel there’s got to be more, aside from the fact that two hundred billion seems like a ridiculously large sum that no government is going to pay for one man. As rich as Kuwait is, that would devastate the country.”
“That’s a sound argument,” Black said. “We’ll keep looking—and you keep calling whoever you know to find out if there’s more to this. I’m sure we can put everything together.”
“Agreed,” Blunt said as he stood and then strode toward the door. “Let me know immediately if you find anything.”
* * *
SHIELDS RETURNED TO her terminal and opened up a spreadsheet to help her organize the information she already determined to be fact regarding the events of Al-Sabah’s kidnapping. Black helped her piece together a timeline of all the actions each person involved took. In her mind, a picture was starting to form of what happened and who the likely culprit was.
An hour into their reconstruction of the escort, a message popped up on her computer with an email from a former colleague at the CIA regarding a question Shields had asked.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she said aloud as she read the email.
“What is it?” Black asked.
“You’re not gonna believe this,” she said. “I think I figured out who The Ghost is—well, at least one of them.”
Black’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Yeah, I know that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing, but check this out,” she said, pointing to her screen. “I just received this email that confirms my hunch about The Ghost and pretty much fingers this guy.”
“Who is it?”
“Ever heard of a Ranger named Eddie Riley?” she asked.
Black shook his head. “That doesn’t sound familiar. Should it?”
She shrugged. “Maybe not, but I think we need to get intimately acquainted with this guy. From what I can tell, he’s been out of the country more often than not—and he’s done it by using a handful of different aliases.”
“We need to call Blunt,” he said. “He’ll want to hear about this.”
“You don’t think he’ll mind since we’re not poring over Al-Sabah’s disappearance?”
“There’ll be time for that later. Call Blunt.”
“Okay,” she said as she picked up her phone and dialed her superior’s number.
The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.
“Is he not answering?” Black asked.
She shook her head. “No. And you remember the last time he didn’t answer?”
“How could I forget,” Black said. “Try him again in a few minutes.”
Shield nodded. Her mind caught up in a torrent of mixed emotions—capturing The Ghost and wondering if something had happened to Blunt again.
Black’s phone buzzed. He picked it up and scanned the screen.
“Is that Blunt?” Shields asked.
He shook his head. “No, it’s Besserman. He wants me working on a joint taskforce with the CIA and FBI. They’ve located the emir, and Besserman wants me onsite for Al-Sabah.”
“You best get going,” she said.
Black nodded then hustled toward the door, leaving Shields alone with her thoughts. She dialed Blunt’s number again.
He still wasn’t answering.
CHAPTER 19
BLUNT SAT IN HIS CAR while it idled in front of his garage. He pressed a button on the rearview mirror, and the door rolled up. Once it stopped, Blunt eased his vehicle inside and got out. He was in the business of trafficking information, the kind that was difficult to obtain. But he couldn’t help but feel like a fireman, rushing from place to place to squelch another blaze that had ignited with the revelation of a new threatening issue.
He dropped his keys on the kitchen island and shuffled over to his wet bar. After pouring himself a drink, he headed straight for his favorite sitting chair in the den. But he sensed something wasn’t right and stopped.
A reading lamp lit up as he stared at the man sitting in front of him.
“Good evening, Mr. Blunt,” the intruder said as he trained his gun on the Firestorm director.
“What the hell is this?” Blunt asked.
The man nodded at the glass in Blunt’s hand. “You’re gonna need three or four of those if I explained everything to you, though I doubt you’d believe it.”
“You better start talking.”
“I don’t think you’re in any position to make demands of me. In case you missed it, I have a weapon and you don’t.”
Blunt grunted and threw back his drink. “If you were going to shoot me, you would’ve done it already.”
“Look, old man. I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here. So, do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut.”
Blunt smiled wryly. “I don’t know who you think you are or if that gun in your hand has gone to your head, but you’re in my house. And I don’t appreciate you breaking in here and acting like you own it. Now I suggest you get outta here before one of my team puts a bullet in your head.”
The man chuckled. “The file I got on you is dead on. Lots of bravado but little fight. That pretty much sums you up.”
“If you think a few lines in a profile can capture the depth of my skills or measure the resolve I have, you’re a fool.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“I’ll be calling you a dead one if you don’t put that weapon away.”
The man stood, his frame towering well above Blunt. At six-feet five-inches tall, the man smirked as he looked down on Blunt’s six-feet two-inch frame.
“Running your mouth isn’t very becoming,” the man said.
Blunt shrugged. “You think I care about your idle warnings? Like I said, if you wanted me dead, I’d be dead.”
“Relax. I’m waiting on confirmation from my liaison before I pull the trigger.”
Blunt placed his drink on the granite countertop and slid the glass toward the center. “What are you waiting on?”
“I’m a good soldier. I follow orders.”
“And you have orders to assassinate the head of an intelligence think tank?”
“Don’t be coy, Senator Blunt,” the man said. “We both know that your organization does far more than just advise the intelligence community about what to do.”
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. What else do you know about me?”
“I know that you were a corrupt politician when you served on Capitol Hill.”
Blunt raised his eyebrows. “And who told you this? Did you get that information out of one of those files of yours?”
The man picked up his phone and eyed the screen. “Don’t worry. I’ll end things swiftly for you as soon as I get the word.”
CHAPTER 20
AN HOUR LATER, Black reunited with his new associates from the FBI two blocks from a warehouse building in an industrial district outside the beltway. Still smarting from Black’s comments after the shootout, Rodgers shook his head as he sneered at Black.
“You know you’re taking the blame for this, right?” Rodgers said. “How’s it feel to know this is going to spell the end of your career once the president finds out about it?”
“Probably not as bad as it feels to know that people are dead because of your mistakes earlier today.”
“That’s not how I saw it.”
“Of course not, but that doesn’t change reality. You screwed up, and now we’ve tumbled into a diplomatic nightmare. The president might blame me, but he won’t once he learns the truth as opposed to the sanitized version you’re peddling.”
“Knock it off,” said an old guy in a suit, who introduced himself as Special Agent in Charge Tom Lanning. “We’re all on the same team here, so stop pointing fingers. Let’s just fix this.”
They were joined by a team of CIA agents assisting with the rescue operation. Another older man in a suit barged onto the scene and started directing the mission.
Black wasn’t keen on the idea of entering into another gunfight with Rodgers and instead volunteered to provide help from the surveillance van.
“That’s fine,” Lanning said. “But as soon as we get Al-Sabah out of there, I want you right there as one of the first faces he sees. He obviously has a strong affinity for you.”
“Maybe not after what happened earlier today,” Rodgers quipped.
“You’d be wise to keep your mouth shut,” Lanning said, pointing at Rodgers.
The operatives piled into four SUVs and drove the short distance to the warehouse where Al-Sabah was being held. Black entered the van and took the only empty seat in front of a bank of screens.
“What are we looking at here?” he asked as he picked up a coms device and adjusted it to his head.
“Agent Norton,” a man said as he offered his hand to Black. “And that is Agent Williams.”
Black introduced himself to Norton and Williams, a woman who didn’t say a word as she studied the images flashing in front of her.
“What you’re seeing here are all the stationary cameras we’ve been able to gain access to as well as the body cams on the agents preparing to enter the building,” Norton said. “There aren’t any cameras inside the warehouse that we were able to tap into, so we’ll be relying on the POV of the agents to provide us with an accurate picture of what’s going on.”
Black nodded as he scanned the monitors. After a few minutes, Rodgers’s voice thundered over the coms as he announced that they were preparing to enter the facility. Based off all the intel they’d gathered beforehand, there appeared to be at least a couple gunmen, though nothing could be confirmed. The windows to the outside were opaque, and the agents who’d been tasked with scouting out the place only reported seeing silhouettes of the gunmen.
Black keyed in on Rodgers’s body cam as he took the lead in charging into the building. As his team neared the door leading to the room where they believed Al-Sabah was being held, everyone approached stealthily. Rodgers held up his hand, counting down until a pair of men with a battering ram bashed the door in. The agents flooded into the room to clear it of any hostiles.
Rodgers’s cam zeroed in on a man bound and gagged in the corner of the room who appeared to be the Kuwaiti emir. A couple men rushed over to the ruler and untied him. The moment the handkerchief came out of his mouth, Al-Sabah went on a tirade, demanding to know how such a thing could happen on American soil.
“This is disgraceful,” the emir said as he glared at Rodgers.
“I apologize for the inconvenience, sir, but—”
“Inconvenience?” Al-Sabah said, throwing his hand in the air. “You call this an inconvenience? I’m lucky to be alive. I would expect this to happen in Egypt or Libya or Saudi Arabia—but the great United States of America? Unthinkable.”
Rodgers remained patient. “I can assure you that we’re doing our best to find out who was behind this and in order to capture them.”
“Don’t try to patronize me and act like you care. I came here to discuss how we could stop this very thing from happening in our region and then it happens to me here. Apparently, I was wasting my time all while putting my life at risk.”
Black couldn’t blame Al-Sabah for venting his frustration. The whole attack should’ve been avoided—and likely would’ve been if the FBI didn’t have someone who’d infiltrated their ranks. As Rodgers scanned the room, Black noticed something in the corner.
“Rodgers, look over in the far back corner,” Black said over the coms. “I think there’s something over there.”
“Come on, Black,” Rodgers said in a hushed tone. “You’re just trying to justify your inclusion on this detail. Don’t worry, the Kuwaiti emir will be out shortly and you can reminisce about your time together in the Middle East.”
“This isn’t a joke. There’s something over there. Please go check it out.”
Rodgers sighed and turned toward the corner, but didn’t take a step closer. “Happy now?”
“I won’t be happy until you march across the room and get a closer look for me.”
Rodgers growled before heading straight toward the area he was directed to go by Black. The FBI agent hadn’t taken more than six steps before Black had seen enough.
“You need to get out of there right now,” Black said. “That’s a bomb.”
