Read Online Retribution by Anderson Harp - Free Book Online

fatigue . . . I may be saying too much .
    â€œPeople get hurt all the time in this new world. Why should it really matter, to me or you?”
    Scott wasn’t surprised by Parker’s bluntness. Parker really had no reason after Korea to trust him. But Parker wasn’t going to do this mission for Scott no matter what he said. William Parker accepted a mission for his own reasons.
    This mission would not be an easy sell, but as he looked around the room, he felt certain that Parker would buy it. The great room was perfectly furnished with the finest art, rich leather chairs, and sterling silver lamps with white silk shades. There was even a single freshly cut red rose in a crystal vase. However, there was not one photograph—not a single photo of family and friends, no pictures of children on swings, or aged, kindly parents. For Scott, this confirmed his initial hunch: He had William Parker.
    â€œHave you ever heard of an Iranian operation called Operation Intekam?” Scott took another sip of the Dalmore.
    â€œNo.” Not a complete truth. Something about the word struck a chord in Parker. Intekam? He let the word play in his mind as he turned the glass in his hand.
    â€œThere is a Saudi named Yousef al-Qadi. He didn’t seem very important. He had plenty of money and got out of Harvard with a MBA back in the mid-eighties. But he kept a low profile. Until recently.”
    â€œWhy now?” William Parker watched his guest lean back in the thick leather chair. He could see the fatigue in Scott’s eyes.
    â€œHis name keeps coming up. We think he is making his move.”
    â€œMove?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œTo what?”
    â€œWe don’t know, exactly. In a word, jihad. At some time, fanatics like him always make their move. A desire to be remembered, to be revered—who in the hell knows? We do know that he is charismatic, egotistical, absolutely ruthless, and fully capable of anything. He’s the next generation.”
    â€œSounds right for the part.”
    â€œBut this guy’s got ambitions that make others look like pikers.”
    Parker shook his head in acknowledgment as he swallowed the Scotch. It had a smoky flavor with a sharp, stinging feel as it went down his throat. Parker was more a bottled-water man than a Scotch drinker. He preferred the high from the physical exhaustion of running ten miles to a drink.
    â€œAnd he has a particularly hard Muslim from Grozny who’s known to do his dirty work.”
    â€œThat probably describes several.”
    â€œYes.”
    Scott moved his glass in front of his body. His eyes wandered to the ceiling.
    â€œIntekam and Yousef are connected. We didn’t discover the Intekam operation until some time after the bombing.” Scott moved his hand to his cheek, stroking it several times, his eyes moving up and to the right. “And we didn’t know of Yousef ’s involvement until much later.”
    Parker waited for Scott to continue.
    â€œIntekam was Lockerbie.”
    â€œThe CIA didn’t know of Intekam until later?” Parker asked the question with a specific purpose.
    â€œDid we know of Intekam until later?” Scott repeated the question. “No, absolutely not.”
    A lie. Parker knew the liar checklist from his days as a prosecutor. There were other signs. Scott’s hands were turned down. Parker looked directly at his eyes. Scott looked away, again up and to the right. His body language was stiff. He repeated the question and got the same response. Scott hit every box on the liar’s checklist. His body language was absolutely clear.
    â€œSo what’s the point?”
    â€œYousef is on the path to be much more in the Muslim world. He is protected by the Pashtun tribes in the mountains of Pakistan. The Sherani clan treat him like a sheik. No.” Scott hesitated. “Even more. He could have a man’s child executed in front of him with a point of the