Escape (38 page)

"You think killing the prince in the United States gets the revolution rolling?" Jojola asked.

"Could be at least part of it. But his death could also be damaging to the economy. He runs one of the world's biggest hedge funds, which means he controls hundreds of billions of dollars. Kill him and it could really shake up the market."

"You also said that Khalifa was ranting about blowing up the Metro," Tran pointed out. "So does that mean they're going to assassinate the prince by blowing up a subway car when he's on it? I didn't know guys like him rode the subway."

"They don't," Lucy said. "At least not this one. I've spent the past two weeks or so with him, and it's limos all the way."

Grale asked, "What happened to Miriam?"

"She's very brave," Lucy replied. "I was worried about her going back, but she insisted. Otherwise, she thought that the others might change the plan and we wouldn't know as much as we do now. So we worked out a little play. The next day she asked to see the imam, who apparently has a thing for her. She burst into tears and 'confessed' that the day before she'd gone to meet a lover who lives in a back-alley walkdown in the Lower East Side. Some man had apparently tried to rape her in an alley but was stopped and killed by her lover."

"They believe her? Malovo isn't easy to fool," Karchovski said. "Apparently," Lucy giggled. "Of course, we helped the story along. Today she left the mosque in the early afternoon to meet her 'lover,' our own John Jojola, though considerably cleaned up from his current appearance. She was, of course, followed, but this time we made sure her trackers saw her embracing John at the entrance to the alley. They then scooted off to John's pad for a couple hours of carnal knowledge."

"I taught her the basics of chess," Jojola said.

"Very basic if you taught them," Tran laughed.

"And the imam's reaction to her confession?" Grale asked.

"Anger," Jojola said. "He told her that as the wife of a martyr for Allah she was disgraced and that in any decent country, she would be stoned to death for her transgression. However, she remains as the receptionist for the time being."

"Did Khalifa blurt out anything about where this attack on the prince is supposed to take place?" Jojola asked. "Or when?"

Jaxon reached inside his coat and pulled out a VCR tape. "Not much. But I do have this, and maybe we can put our collective heads together after we see it."

"What is it?" Tran asked.

"This is an Al Jazeera news special starring Muhammad Jamal Khalifa shortly before the attack on the Third Avenue synagogue. It was inside a package mailed to Imam Jabbar at the mosque. Miriam had just started her new job as the receptionist and was bringing in the mail when she recognized her husband's handwriting on the envelope. She took a considerable risk to keep the package and its contents, and then an even greater one to get it to us. I tried to tell her that the United States owed her. But she said, 'No, I owed it to my faith.'"

"The only thing she asked is that if it helps, she and her family be allowed to remain in the country," Lucy said. "Seems like a small enough request." Jaxon crossed the room to a VCR player and television. He inserted the tape and turned on the set, which blinked to life, showing a white wall covered with green writing.

"What's it say, Lucy?" Jojola asked.

"The writing is Arabic. A few of the characters aren't quite right but it's a pretty common invocation, roughly equivalent to 'In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.'"

A young black man with a scarred face appeared on-screen. He took a few self-conscious moments to arrange himself, and then bent over to pick up something out of the camera's view. When he stood up it was to strap himself into a heavy vest.

"Greetings my brothers in jihad," Jamal Khalifa said, reading from a note before looking up and into the camera. "I am Muhammad Jamal Khalifa and today, with the blessings of Allah, with whom all things are possible, I will offer myself in jihad against the Zionists. It was my wish to join my mujahideen brothers on the day the gates of Paradise open. I was to take part in the great plan with Tatay, while The Sheik accomplished the fatal blow to the Enemy of God, may Allah be pleased with them. It is my hope that with Allah's help, we would change the world for the glory of Allah. However, because of my own weakness, I will no longer be with you, may my brothers in jihad forgive me."

Jamal barely got through the last sentence before his voice cracked. He quit talking before letting out a long sigh and resuming his speech. "I atone for my sins through this action against the Zionists, committed in the name of Allah and His messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in order to inspire you to complete your tasks."

Khalifa looked into the camera and shouted, "Warriors of Islam,
Sayick
awaits you. Slay the infidels! Destroy the Metro. Slay the Great Satan! God is great!
Allah-u-Akbar!
I will wait for you at the gates of Paradise!
Allah-u-Akbar!"

Khalifa started to move out of the picture but remembered something. Gone was the anger, replaced by sadness. "I leave you with no regrets, but I want to say 'I love you,' to my wife, Miriam, and my son, Abdullah, may Allah watch over them both." His head dropped and he walked out of the picture frame, then the tape went dark.

Jaxon ejected the tape before turning back to the others. "Any thoughts?"

"Chilling," Lucy said. "But I guess it means that Khalifa's attack on the synagogue was his idea—that somewhere along the line he messed up and got cut out of the main event."

"Main events," Tran noted. "It sounded to me like there's something with this Tatay, but the 'great blow' will come from The Sheik."

"There's the other guys who were training with Khalifa," Lucy pointed out. "Maybe they're all preparing to put on vests and blow themselves up in different places?"

"Maybe," Jojola said. "But hard as it is to imagine, I think I agree with Tran..."

"... uh-oh, well, scratch that theory; if Jojola's for it, it's got to be wrong," Tran teased.

"... as I was saying before the Worthy Oriental Gentleman ..."

" ... Watch it Pocahontas ..."

"... interrupted me, it even sounds like this Tatay, The Sheik, and maybe Ajmaani are intending to go to Paradise, too."

"Ajmaani-Malovo would never kill herself," Karchovski interjected. "She's no coward, but she also doesn't believe anything is worth dying for ... except maybe money."

"Then just Tatay and The Sheik?" Jojola said. He looked at Jaxon. "What do you think?"

"That's been troubling me, too," Jaxon said. "My information is that this sheik isn't about to blow himself up either. He's into ruling on Earth, not being fed grapes by virgins in heaven. But I don't know about this man Tatay."

"It's not actually a name," Lucy said.

"What?"

"I guess it could mean something else to these people, but
Tatay
means 'Father' in Tagalog, one of the main languages of the Philippines. I think it's somebody's nickname."

"That somebody is Azahari Mujahid." All heads swiveled to look at Ivgeny Karchovski.

"The Caller?" Jaxon asked.

"That's what he's sometimes called by intelligence agencies," the Russian acknowledged. "But his followers refer to him as 'Tatay,' or, as Lucy said, 'Father.' And now that message about STM-17 that my cousin passed on makes sense."

"Okay, now I'm really confused," Lucy said.

"It would not mean much to most people," Karchovski said, "but because of my family's ... business ... I recognized it as Russian ship registration.

STM-17 is also called the Star
of Vladivostok,
which is also known to me. It is 243-ton cargo vessel that belongs to one of our main ... competitors, the Tazamov family, who use it for smuggling. We had heard that they were forming a partnership with Islamic extremist groups, and this confirms it."

"Terrorists are buying ships?" Jojola asked.

"There is nothing they are not buying if it fits their aims," Karchovski said. "But they are careful that ownership cannot easily be traced to them. In the business, it is called 'ship laundering,' which is similar to money laundering in that they use a series of false companies to disguise the true ownership. This ship still flies the Russian flag, and its captain answers to the Tazamovs, but apparently they are in on this plan."

"How does this relate to Tatay?" Tran asked.

Ivgeny laughed. "Are you accusing a Russian of milking a story for all it is worth?" he said. "I am offended."

"That was not my intention, my friend. Do continue at whatever pace you desire. I am a Buddhist, you know, and we have great patience, even if it takes all night."

"I get a hint," Karchovski said with a laugh. "I will speed up my talking. Since receiving this information, I put a full effort into tracking the whereabouts of this ship. Two weeks ago, the Star
of Vladivostok
left Hong Kong bound for New York. Friends in Manila report that the ship made an unexpected visit to the Philippines, where it put into port barely long enough to dock ... or pick up a passenger ... before putting back to sea."

"You think this Tatay, or Azahari Mujahid, is on his way to the United States to take part in this attack?" Lucy asked.

"Makes sense," Jaxon said thoughtfully. "The Philippines is a hotbed for Islamic extremists linked to Al Qaeda, especially new converts."

"Converts?" Jojola asked. "I thought the Philippines were Catholic?"

"Yeah. Generally speaking, the Philippines are heavily Roman Catholic. However, we've been noting a phenomenon that's been growing among Catholic migrant workers who leave the Philippines to work in the Middle East. A lot of them return home as Muslim converts. For some, it's just a way of increasing their job prospects in countries like Saudi Arabia, where employers legally discriminate against Christians. But quite a few have responded to the imams who point out that the Philippines was a Muslim country for centuries before the Spanish colonialists took over in the sixteenth century and forced Filipinos to convert to Christianity or be put to the sword. It's the same rhetoric that is finding a place with some African Americans, like Jamal. Christianity is the religion of their oppressors, and Islam is their native faith."

"Which is only half true," Lucy said. "Muslims practiced slavery long after it was abolished in the West, and it still exists today in places like the Sudan and, though hidden, Saudi Arabia."

"Nevertheless, Islam resonates strongly in the Philippine migrant community," Jaxon continued. "The Spanish were never able to completely eradicate it in the Philippines. I believe the latest figures for native Muslims are somewhere around 8 million. But about a quarter million more are converts, and most of these worked as migrant laborers in the Middle East and got their brand of Islam from the more militant imams at the madrasahs. They also tend to be more zealous than native Muslims in an effort to 'prove' themselves. Groups like Abu Sayyaf, which has been responsible for terrorist bombings and murders in the Philippines, sprang from that ideology."

"And Azahari Mujahid is one of these?" Jojola asked.

"As a matter of fact, he worked for many years in Saudi Arabia," Karchovski replied. "When he returned to the Philippines, it was as a convert and agitator who started his own group, mostly to protest the presence of the U.S. military in the Philippines."

"They locked him up for a while," Jaxon added. "And Philippine prisons are not nice places. Treat a dog bad enough for long enough and it will turn mean. When Azahari Mujahid got out of prison, he was ready to ramp it up a few notches, especially after he merged with Abu Sayyaf. You might remember a few years back when a ferry was blown up; several hundred people died. And then there was the Regent Hotel bombing in Manila."

"Leveled the place," Tran said. "He and his pals took over a floor, killed everyone working there, and then planted his bomb against the ceiling and supporting structures to bring the whole thing down, one floor pancaking down on the floor beneath it. Hundreds of people were crushed. And the sick bastard stayed around to watch it happen. He actually uses a telephone pager as the trigger device—dials the number from his cell phone and 'boom.' That's where he gets his other nickname, 'The Caller.'"

"You seem to know a lot about him," Lucy said. "You an admirer?"

Tran swore at her in Vietnamese. "Hardly. I owned that hotel. I owe this bastard."

"If he's made a name for himself in the Philippines, why come here?" Jojola asked.

"We wondered the same thing," Karchovski said. "My people in Manila say that the rumor on the streets is that he's been ill; in fact, he disappeared for a while, presumably to get medical treatment."

"Gee, that's too bad."

"Yes, a shame. A few more calls to certain friends in the Russian Embassy revealed that they believe he's left the Philippines again. They'd presumed for more medical treatments, but now I think he doesn't plan on getting well."

"Maybe he's dying and now he's on a kamikaze mission," Jojola said. "Do we know what this guy looks like?"

Jaxon shook his head. "As far as we know, there aren't any photographs of him, not even from his time in the Philippine prison system. All we know is that he's ethnically Malaysian."

"Where's the ship now?"

Karchovski looked at his watch. "It's 11 p.m. The Star
of Vladivostok
is due to dock in approximately six hours."

"Where?" Jaxon asked.

"Brooklyn shipyards," Karchovski spat out angrily. "At a dock controlled by the Tazamov family. Apparently the word is out—no one is to inspect this ship or inquire about the passengers."

"Confirms a message your cousin got from a little birdie at the mosque," Jaxon said. "Wednesday and Brooklyn."

"Maybe we should pay this ship a visit when it puts in to port," Jojola suggested.

"Maybe. But we need to be careful. As you've already pointed out, there may be two or more 'main events.' We might get Azahari Mujahid, but we don't know what else is planned, and we don't want to tip the others off until we do."