Read Online A Murder of Crows by Terrence McCauley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Terrence McCauley
Tags: Fiction
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infrequently are. In killing the prisoner, I assume you are fully prepared to reap the whirlwind of the Mossad’s discontentment?”
Hicks had considered that, too. “I am, sir.”
“Is fulfilling your promise to a mass murderer worth risking the alienation of an important ally to our cause? Since Bajjah is close to death anyway, why not hand him over to the Mossad to satiate their thirst for revenge?”
Hicks knew Tali would be furious with him. She may even quit and go back to work for the Mossad full time. The risk was enough to make him consider the consequences of killing Bajjah, but not enough to change his mind. “True, but I’m confident once we give them the information we’ve gathered on Bajjah’s network and we inform them of his connection to Jabbar, their rage will be short-lived.”
“The Mossad does not have a reputation for simply letting things go, James. Agent Saddon even less so. I have heard she is as deadly as she is alluring. It will take a great amount of effort to mitigate their disappointment.”
Hicks understood the point the Dean was making. I’m not saying no. Convince me to say yes.
This was his chance to make his pitch about leverage. “Any mention of Jabbar by Bajjah and the Israelis will move heaven and earth to find him. But, if Bajjah is dead, we can control their response by redacting anything from our report that might spur the Israelis to act unilaterally to take out Jabbar’s network. If we control the flow of information, we control the situation.”
Hicks had never heard a smile before, but he thought he heard one in the Dean’s voice when he said, “Congratulations, James. My thoughts exactly.”
Hicks was glad he was pleased because he decided now was an excellent time to bring up the problem of Stephens and the Barnyard. “This way, we can use all of the Bajjah/Jabbar information to barter with Stephens and the Barnyard, maybe use it as leverage to get them to leave us alone and end their investigation of us. We give them what they want, they go away.”
“More solid reasoning, James, but I have already decided the University must address the threat posed by the Bajjah/Jabbar network itself. We will topple this organization in-house.”
Hicks looked at Roger to see if they had heard the same thing. They must have because Roger looked as confused as Hicks felt.
Hicks decided the Dean must have misspoken without realizing it. During their first meeting two weeks before, the Dean had announced he was suffering from terminal brain cancer. The disease must have finally begun to impact his mind because what he had said was complete nonsense.
Hicks didn’t want to embarrass him by correcting him. “Understood, sir. I’ve already directed OMNI to do a deep dive into the lives of all ten men in Bajjah’s network. We should have a detailed packet on each the men and their immediate associates by tomorrow morning at the latest. You can count on being able to pass along our information to the relevant agencies via standard back channels by noontime. It should give us the leverage we need to get the Barnyard to back off.”
The Dean’s response was immediate. “James, did I stutter?”
“No, sir.”
“I already told you we will be handling the Jabbar matter in-house. And by ‘we,’ of course, I mean you will be handling it. We will not be sharing the Bajjah/Jabbar information with any other agencies. The University will bring down the Bajjah and Jabbar organizations on our own.”
The countless hours he had spent overseeing the Bajjah interrogation had finally paid off, leading to solid, actionable intelligence on a known terrorist organization. They had always handed this kind of information to the bigger agencies who were better suited to stop such threats. The Dean was in an excellent position to use the Bajjah information as leverage to stop The Barnyard and the others from encroaching on the University’s autonomy.
But the Dean didn’t want to do
Hicks had considered that, too. “I am, sir.”
“Is fulfilling your promise to a mass murderer worth risking the alienation of an important ally to our cause? Since Bajjah is close to death anyway, why not hand him over to the Mossad to satiate their thirst for revenge?”
Hicks knew Tali would be furious with him. She may even quit and go back to work for the Mossad full time. The risk was enough to make him consider the consequences of killing Bajjah, but not enough to change his mind. “True, but I’m confident once we give them the information we’ve gathered on Bajjah’s network and we inform them of his connection to Jabbar, their rage will be short-lived.”
“The Mossad does not have a reputation for simply letting things go, James. Agent Saddon even less so. I have heard she is as deadly as she is alluring. It will take a great amount of effort to mitigate their disappointment.”
Hicks understood the point the Dean was making. I’m not saying no. Convince me to say yes.
This was his chance to make his pitch about leverage. “Any mention of Jabbar by Bajjah and the Israelis will move heaven and earth to find him. But, if Bajjah is dead, we can control their response by redacting anything from our report that might spur the Israelis to act unilaterally to take out Jabbar’s network. If we control the flow of information, we control the situation.”
Hicks had never heard a smile before, but he thought he heard one in the Dean’s voice when he said, “Congratulations, James. My thoughts exactly.”
Hicks was glad he was pleased because he decided now was an excellent time to bring up the problem of Stephens and the Barnyard. “This way, we can use all of the Bajjah/Jabbar information to barter with Stephens and the Barnyard, maybe use it as leverage to get them to leave us alone and end their investigation of us. We give them what they want, they go away.”
“More solid reasoning, James, but I have already decided the University must address the threat posed by the Bajjah/Jabbar network itself. We will topple this organization in-house.”
Hicks looked at Roger to see if they had heard the same thing. They must have because Roger looked as confused as Hicks felt.
Hicks decided the Dean must have misspoken without realizing it. During their first meeting two weeks before, the Dean had announced he was suffering from terminal brain cancer. The disease must have finally begun to impact his mind because what he had said was complete nonsense.
Hicks didn’t want to embarrass him by correcting him. “Understood, sir. I’ve already directed OMNI to do a deep dive into the lives of all ten men in Bajjah’s network. We should have a detailed packet on each the men and their immediate associates by tomorrow morning at the latest. You can count on being able to pass along our information to the relevant agencies via standard back channels by noontime. It should give us the leverage we need to get the Barnyard to back off.”
The Dean’s response was immediate. “James, did I stutter?”
“No, sir.”
“I already told you we will be handling the Jabbar matter in-house. And by ‘we,’ of course, I mean you will be handling it. We will not be sharing the Bajjah/Jabbar information with any other agencies. The University will bring down the Bajjah and Jabbar organizations on our own.”
The countless hours he had spent overseeing the Bajjah interrogation had finally paid off, leading to solid, actionable intelligence on a known terrorist organization. They had always handed this kind of information to the bigger agencies who were better suited to stop such threats. The Dean was in an excellent position to use the Bajjah information as leverage to stop The Barnyard and the others from encroaching on the University’s autonomy.
But the Dean didn’t want to do
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