Read Online Retribution (9781429922593) by David Hagberg - Free Book Online Page B

subsidize their military—in a delicate balancing act with India—for the right to continue operations.
    He told Pete as much.
    â€œYou’re right, of course,” she said. “But this is different. I think that someone in the ISI—someone high on the food chain—is funneling money to the Schlueter woman to field assassins to kill the key SEAL Team Six guys who took out bin Laden.”
    â€œWhy?” Mac asked, though he knew the answer.
    â€œBecause we embarrassed the hell out of them.”
    â€œWhat would killing the shooters—or maybe all twenty-four of them who went on the raid—accomplish? Washington would sure as hell sit up and take notice. So would the Pentagon, so would Walt Page, so would the FBI, so would the State Department. Think of it: killing all those guys—even if it could be done, because they’re damned good at close order battle—would cause a firestorm to fall on Islamabad. Or at least on the ISI.”
    â€œNot if it were an arms-length operation. It would give the government plausible deniability. Could be someone they intend to throw under the bus if something goes wrong.”
    â€œThey’d have more ways to lose than gain,” Mac said. He was playing devil’s advocate and they both knew it. But the first rule of operational planning was to poke holes in every detail and keep filling them until they all disappeared. And even then it was the unknown that always seemed to jump up and bite you in the ass—like the crash of the SEAL’s Chalk One helicopter.
    â€œThey want to save face,” Pete said. “They want retribution.”
    *   *   *
    Wolf was sitting at a picnic table smoking a cigarette. When Mac and Pete showed up he got to his feet and tossed the cigarette into the creek. Pete introduced them, and after they shook hands they sat down.
    â€œI understand that you’ve been ordered home,” Mac said.
    â€œI’m supposed to be on the way to Reagan.”
    â€œI’m driving him over,” Pete said. “But we don’t have a lot of time.”
    â€œWe can dig out what we need to know about the Black October Revolution, and Pete tells me that Otto’s already started a file on the Schlueter woman, but it’s not completely clear to me why you followed the shooter out of Germany.”
    â€œWe think that Schlueter has hired a team of five men and one woman—most of them ex–special services—to work as assassins for hire.”
    â€œKSK,” Mac said. They had a good reputation.
    Wolf nodded. “We think we can connect the team to at least four killings, all of them off German soil. One of them in Atlanta. Plus the SEAL in Florida, who I was assigned to follow, his wife and the docents.”
    â€œDo you have minders on the others as well?”
    â€œWe didn’t think that it was necessary. But this hit came as a total surprise to us. To this point the team has targeted only high-profile people. Barnes hardly fit that description. And his wife definitely did not.”
    â€œShe was collateral damage, as were the docents in the museum,” Mac said. “Pete thinks the group might have a contract from the ISI to take out the SEAL Team Six guys who brought bin Laden down.”
    â€œThat’s what she and Otto came up with, but I don’t know if I can sell it to my colonel. We have our own operations in Pakistan. Certainly much more limited than yours, of course, but Berlin would be put in the same position as your government if we actively went after them.”
    â€œIt’s either that or they take out those guys one by one,” Pete said. “The least we can do is warn them.”
    â€œI can just hear what the navy would say, and what the White House would do,” Mac said.
    â€œWe can’t turn our backs on this thing,” Pete said.
    â€œOf course not. One of Schlueter’s people is dead. Can we get