A Murder of Crows (30 page)

The report went on: “While the suspect was out of the country, our forces conducted an extensive search of his flat. Other than standard anti-Israeli/anti-capitalist literature, nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. If he was Bajjah’s money man, he’s doing a hell of a job hiding it. I don’t know where he got the thousand Euros for the French group. Maybe the community center where he works? We’ll keep digging.”

Hicks had been hoping Rahul would find something in Shaban’s flat to prove he was working with the Jabbar network. Bajjah had said Shaban was the network’s money man. There had to be something there.

Hicks toggled to the next screen to review OMNI’s hack of Shaban’s home computer. His online activities were surprisingly mundane. He had paid some bills online and written emails to a few family members. He had even sent an e-card to his cousin in Liverpool wishing her a happy birthday. Hicks suspected it might be code for something else, so he checked the recipient. Shaban did, indeed, have a cousin in Liverpool who was about to turn eight years old. It appeared even Islamic extremists had a sentimental side.

But a further search of Shaban’s laptop hard drive revealed something interesting.

Shaban had pulled a hack of his own. He’d done his best to erase it, but OMNI picked up enough fragments of activity to piece it together.

Shaban had accessed the network of a shipping company based in Toronto called Regent Shipping. Shaban didn’t focus on payroll records or emails, but on the activities of one ship in particular called
The Regent Sea
. He had accessed the company’s internal GPS system to track the location of the ship, which, according to the company’s internal records, had left Toronto four days before. The destination on the manifest was Harwich, England. It was due to arrive the day after tomorrow.

Shaban had not accessed any other information on the company’s servers. Not payroll records or bank accounts. Only the manifest and the list of the ship’s crew.

Why?

Hicks forwarded the results of the hack on Shaban’s computer to Rahul. He attached the following message: “Keep an eye out for any further interest Shaban shows in this particular ship, especially his activities around the time when the ship is due to arrive in England.”

Hicks directed OMNI to conduct its own hack of Regent Shipping’s system. He wanted to view the full manifest of the
Regent Sea
. He wanted to know about the crew and about what the ship was carrying across the Atlantic.

The hack was almost complete when he heard his handheld begin to buzz.

Tali was calling him. And she was calling from her University handheld.
Interesting.

He answered the phone. “This is Professor Warren.”

“This is Dr. Andros,” she replied, using the code to prove she was not in any danger and in a secure place. “I need you to come to my place immediately, James. It’s important.”

Tali had been one of the most calm and capable field agents Hicks had ever worked with. He wasn’t sure if her sniper training in the Israeli Defense Force had made her that way or if her nature had made her an effective sniper. But Tali never made urgent statements, even when they were necessary.

“What’s wrong?”

As she came up with an answer, Hicks went to his desktop and had OMNI locate her handheld’s signal. She was at her apartment. But was she alone? He ordered the OMNI satellite to scan the area for additional secure signals.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “My Uncle has made an unexpected visit to New York and is most anxious to see you. The sooner, the better.” She tried to put a smile in her voice to take the sting out of her words. “You know how impatient he can be sometimes. I’m afraid he won’t be in town for long, so we’d like to know when we can expect you.”

‘Uncle’ was the University term for a foreign agent’s supervisor from their home agency. Tali’s Uncle from the Mossad was a thin, humorless man named Emanuel Schneider. Hicks figured Schneider’s unscheduled visit to New York was due to the email Tali had sent about Bajjah’s death. The Trustee had been right once again.

He wished she hadn’t alerted them. He wished he hadn’t gone to her apartment. He wished Bajjah and his friends hadn’t launched a biological attack in the first place. But all the wishing in the world wouldn’t change a damned thing. Only action could do that.

OMNI’s scan of Tali’s apartment showed Mr. Schneider hadn’t come alone. Three secure signals known to be used by the Mossad were currently being emitted from her apartment. One belonged to Schneider and maybe another to Tali, but most likely to two other people.

OMNI also picked up four additional secure signals on street level in front of Tali’s apartment. Hicks switched OMNI’s scan to a live satellite feed and zoomed in on the source of the signals. They were coming from a van parked across the street.

Hicks almost laughed. A van for surveillance.
Jesus. Why don’t you hang a neon sign on the side?

Hicks knew Tali was aware of the University’s technical abilities, but he had never explained OMNI’s capability to her. She believed her handset was simply part of a secure, closed communications network. Time to use her ignorance against her.

He activated the camera on her handheld device to get a better look at who was in the room with her. “I’m in the middle of a couple of things right now, so I can’t make it over to your place. How about we meet somewhere else a little later on?”

She hesitated. Her device’s camera was facing the fireplace in her apartment. No one else was in frame, but he caught the shadows of two people on the wall.

The OMNI scan was right. Tali wasn’t alone. She was leading him into a trap.

She went on. “We must insist on meeting here, James. It’s safe and secure and we can talk freely.”

There was no way he was walking into a room full of Mossad agents. “Can’t do it now, but I’ve got an idea. Put me on speaker so Uncle Manny and I can chat.” He knew Emanuel Schneider hated to be called ‘Manny.’

“I am afraid this is unacceptable. He insists on seeing you here in my apartment as soon as possible.”

“If it’s so important, you won’t mind telling me why.” He was curious how she’d answer.

He could hear the combination of annoyance and embarrassment in her voice. “Why are you being so difficult?”

“Because I’m busy. Either he talks to me now over the phone or we don’t talk at all.”

Hicks saw the camera feed jump as her handheld was taken from her. She came into frame, looking drawn and exhausted as Emanuel Schneider’s gravelly voice came on the line. “Schneider here. A belated congratulations on your deserved elevation to Dean, my friend. Well deserved, I’m sure.”

The two men weren’t friends and never had been. Schneider had been a bureaucrat from the IDF who had found his way into the Mossad through patronage, not competence. But what Schneider lacked in ability, he made up for in appearance and ambition. He was tall and thin and still had most of his hair even though he was on the north side of fifty. He wore custom shirts and suits made from London’s finest haberdashers. He looked and acted like a spy, which was one of the many reasons why Hicks had never fully trusted him. And neither did the CIA, hence his Mossad unit’s awkward relationship with the University.

“I found myself in town for a couple of days,” Schneider went on, “and I believe it might be a good idea for us to chat.”

“So chat. You’ve got my full attention.”

Schneider hesitated. “This is the kind of chat best conducted while sitting across from each other.”

Hicks saw no reason to keep fencing with him. From the camera on her handheld, Hicks could see Tali was holding her head in her hands. She looked like hell. Schneider had obviously put her through a lot already.

Time to do the same to him. “Depends on what you want to talk about.”

“The nature of things,” Schneider said. “Details about certain operations and agreements between our two organizations.”

“Meaning Bajjah.”

Schneider forced a laugh. “Perceptive as always, James. Yes. We’d like to get clarification on what happened to our prisoner and why.”

At least all the cards were finally on the table. “I’ve already given Tali a full briefing on what happened. I know how thorough she is, so I’m sure she has already passed the information on to you.”

“I want to hear it from you.”

Hicks obliged. “Bajjah died during questioning and we cremated him afterwards. He gave us some raw information we’re currently researching and, as soon as we have a full picture of what he told us, we’ll give you a detailed report. Tomorrow or the day after at the latest.”

“It seems like an inordinately long time to wait for results from an organization with your abilities.”

“I’ve been Dean for a little more than twenty-four hours, Manny. Things are a little more hectic around here than normal. But I promised Tali we’ll get you the report as soon as possible, and I’m making you the same promise. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but under the circumstances, it’s the best we can do.”

Schneider sucked his teeth. “What a shame. I’m surprised to hear the new Dean of the University could not make an exception for old friends with long memories.”

Hicks normally enjoyed a veiled threat as much as anyone, but today was not a normal day. “The University’s memory is as long as the Mossad’s, Manny. The University also has connections and influence much older than your country. You should remember that when making polite threats.”

“I have no intention of forgetting,” Schneider countered. “If anything, our long association is the reason why I have given you the courtesy of contacting you about our Bajjah concerns first before I contacted my colleagues at the CIA. Or the NSA, or even the DIA.”

Hicks wasn’t surprised Schneider had gone for the jugular so soon. Emanuel Schneider believed that when diplomacy failed, be vicious. “Revealing our long association would be as dangerous for you as it was for me, my friend. Those agencies would trust you less than they already do.”

“Normally I’d agree with you,” Schneider allowed, “but circumstances changed. I’ve heard many things about a remarkable young man they have working for them right now. A man named Stephens, who is making great progress hunting down the mysterious man who snatched Bajjah right out from under their noses.” Schneider laughed. “It would be a shame if Stephens learned who took the Moroccan and why.”

“I guess Tali didn’t tell you everything. Stephens tried grabbing me yesterday and failed. He failed again today, too. If you’re looking for a horse to back, you’d better keep your money on me.”

“There are others in Washington—and elsewhere—who would like to know who took Bajjah and why. They know it was you, but they don’t know who you are or why you took him. And, until now, the University hasn’t even been brought up in conversation. I can make sure all stays as it has always been as soon as you give up this ridiculous fiction and tell me the real reason why you killed Bajjah.”

“I didn’t kill him. He died during questioning.”

“So you told Tali. She is a marvelous field agent, but she is, ultimately, only a field agent. She focused on the event of Bajjah’s death itself whereas I had the luxury of distance from the information. I focused less on the event and more on the reason.”

Hicks’ gut tightened. Schneider might not have been much of a field agent, but he wasn’t a fool. He was rumored to do the New York Times crossword puzzle each morning in pen. He prided himself on solving problems. “Bajjah died because we hit him with too much current at the wrong time. It happens.”

“Yes it does, but it’s also convenient in how his death coincides with your elevation to Dean and all the increased attention Stephens has placed on you and on the University. A terrible coincidence and none of us believes in coincidence, do we?”

Schneider didn’t give Hicks a chance to respond. “I know your interrogation methods, James, or should I say, the methods of Roger Cobb. And while I despise him as a human being, there’s no denying he is a first-rate interrogator. I don’t doubt Bajjah is dead, but I don’t believe Roger accidentally killed him, either. I believe you intentionally executed him to keep us from talking to him because he gave you something valuable. I want to know what that something is.”

Fucking Schneider.
“You’ve got a suspicious mind, even for our line of work.”

“No, only a logical one, for if Bajjah had died during questioning, why didn’t you tell us immediately? Instead, you refused to answer Tali’s messages and only told her a version of the truth when she pulled it out of you in her own inimitable way. Once I decided you must have intentionally killed him, I began to ask myself why. Why didn’t you want us to question Bajjah?”

Schneider paused.

Hicks stayed silent. The bastard was getting close enough to the truth on his own. No reason to help him.

Hicks heard Schneider snap his fingers. The Israeli had always had a flair for the dramatic. “And that’s when it hit me. The only thing worth the risk of drawing our ire was if Bajjah gave you someone important. Some like, say, Jabbar or someone who could lead you to Jabbar or someone close to him. Tell me, James. How did I do?”

Hicks knew denying it at this point was useless, but the truth could be dangerous right now. Shaban was the only lead he had to Jabbar and a poor lead at that. If Schneider knew about Shaban, they’d try to abduct the kid. Rahul’s people wouldn’t let that happen and a lot of people would get killed. The operation would be blown and it wouldn’t take long for the other agencies to piece it all together.