Read Online The Widow's Strike by Brad Taylor - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brad Taylor
Tags: thriller
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bombing there last year, only they don’t know what they’ve got. This man is Brigadier General Malik Musavi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force.”
He let that sink in, then continued. “Malik is a very, very big fish. He’s been on the US screen for a long time, conducting all sorts of external operations, including the attempted assassination of the Saudi diplomat here two years ago. He hasn’t been operational on the ground in years. His job is simply supervising external missions from inside Iran.”
President Warren said, “How sure are you?”
Kurt smiled. “Positive. We have his photo from years ago, and he’s traveling under his true name, just with a different occupation. Don’t know why he would do that, but it’s him. No doubt.”
The secretary of defense asked, “What’s he doing? What’s this mean?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. We have no idea.”
“And you want Omega for him? Is that it?”
“Well . . . that’s not my call. Just bringing it to the council’s attention.”
Hearing the discussion, Chip finally spoke up. “But he’s a state entity. An official Iranian general, not some substate whack job with a bomb. It’s outside of the Taskforce mandate.” He turned to President Warren. “Isn’t it?”
Warren took a breath and let it out. “What about that, Kurt? Chip’s right. Expansion of the mandate, isn’t it? You’re not allowed to mess with any official state activities. That’s CIA all the way.”
Kurt said, “Well, it’s not as black and white as taking out a Russian would be. It’s a hell of a lot more gray. The Treasury Department has already labeled the Quds Force as a specially designated terrorist group and frozen any assets they could find, and Iran is on the official US list of state sponsors of terrorism.”
Billings said, “That doesn’t make them a foreign terrorist organization. Your mandate exists within the State Department’s official FTO list, and they’re not on it.”
Kurt said, “Yet. You and I both know there’s a bill in Congress right now to force the State Department to call the Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization, making them on par with al-Qaeda.”
The secretary of defense spoke up. “Enough of the bullshit about lists. You don’t even have a mission. A reason to go after this guy.”
“That’s true, but I do know the guy’s a killer. Responsible for American deaths all over the place, from Iraq to Afghanistan. I don’t know what he’s up to, you’re right, but I do know how to find out.”
“How?”
“Give me Omega, and I’ll ask him.”
12
M alik fidgeted outside the pastry shop, feeling exposed by all of the CCTV cameras around the mall, waiting on the target to arrive. Thinking again that this plan was borderline idiotic. Wondering if he wasn’t about to be part of the second set of Iranians that did some buffoonery on Thai soil.
Their initial attempt had been Friday night—last night—when they’d tried to take him at the nightclubs off of Royal City Avenue but had failed due to the crowds around. The perfect opportunity just hadn’t presented itself, even as the Foursquare intelligence had proven very accurate.
Missing the objective on Friday had caused Malik considerable concern. He didn’t want to wait another week for the boarding school to release the son again. Sanjar, the computer expert, had recommended using a downtown mall called Terminal 21 the following day, Saturday.
Malik said, “A daylight kidnapping? In a mall? No. If it comes down to that, we wait a week.”
“But I’ve studied the mall. Kavi always checks in to a place that sells desserts and coffee on the fourth level. Like clockwork.”
Malik told him to bring up Terminal 21 on his computer and saw the thing was a monstrosity, with every floor named after a different section of the world, from the Caribbean to London. What was worse, it was connected directly to the Asok Skytrain stop,
He let that sink in, then continued. “Malik is a very, very big fish. He’s been on the US screen for a long time, conducting all sorts of external operations, including the attempted assassination of the Saudi diplomat here two years ago. He hasn’t been operational on the ground in years. His job is simply supervising external missions from inside Iran.”
President Warren said, “How sure are you?”
Kurt smiled. “Positive. We have his photo from years ago, and he’s traveling under his true name, just with a different occupation. Don’t know why he would do that, but it’s him. No doubt.”
The secretary of defense asked, “What’s he doing? What’s this mean?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. We have no idea.”
“And you want Omega for him? Is that it?”
“Well . . . that’s not my call. Just bringing it to the council’s attention.”
Hearing the discussion, Chip finally spoke up. “But he’s a state entity. An official Iranian general, not some substate whack job with a bomb. It’s outside of the Taskforce mandate.” He turned to President Warren. “Isn’t it?”
Warren took a breath and let it out. “What about that, Kurt? Chip’s right. Expansion of the mandate, isn’t it? You’re not allowed to mess with any official state activities. That’s CIA all the way.”
Kurt said, “Well, it’s not as black and white as taking out a Russian would be. It’s a hell of a lot more gray. The Treasury Department has already labeled the Quds Force as a specially designated terrorist group and frozen any assets they could find, and Iran is on the official US list of state sponsors of terrorism.”
Billings said, “That doesn’t make them a foreign terrorist organization. Your mandate exists within the State Department’s official FTO list, and they’re not on it.”
Kurt said, “Yet. You and I both know there’s a bill in Congress right now to force the State Department to call the Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization, making them on par with al-Qaeda.”
The secretary of defense spoke up. “Enough of the bullshit about lists. You don’t even have a mission. A reason to go after this guy.”
“That’s true, but I do know the guy’s a killer. Responsible for American deaths all over the place, from Iraq to Afghanistan. I don’t know what he’s up to, you’re right, but I do know how to find out.”
“How?”
“Give me Omega, and I’ll ask him.”
12
M alik fidgeted outside the pastry shop, feeling exposed by all of the CCTV cameras around the mall, waiting on the target to arrive. Thinking again that this plan was borderline idiotic. Wondering if he wasn’t about to be part of the second set of Iranians that did some buffoonery on Thai soil.
Their initial attempt had been Friday night—last night—when they’d tried to take him at the nightclubs off of Royal City Avenue but had failed due to the crowds around. The perfect opportunity just hadn’t presented itself, even as the Foursquare intelligence had proven very accurate.
Missing the objective on Friday had caused Malik considerable concern. He didn’t want to wait another week for the boarding school to release the son again. Sanjar, the computer expert, had recommended using a downtown mall called Terminal 21 the following day, Saturday.
Malik said, “A daylight kidnapping? In a mall? No. If it comes down to that, we wait a week.”
“But I’ve studied the mall. Kavi always checks in to a place that sells desserts and coffee on the fourth level. Like clockwork.”
Malik told him to bring up Terminal 21 on his computer and saw the thing was a monstrosity, with every floor named after a different section of the world, from the Caribbean to London. What was worse, it was connected directly to the Asok Skytrain stop,
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