The Insider Threat (16 page)

J
ennifer heard the British terrorist say, “Why are you sweating so much?”

Then, the scrape of the chair.

She glanced at Pike, but he was already moving, prepping his weapon and talking on the net to the other van.

“Knuckles, kit up. Things are going south.”

“We going in hard?”

“No. Same plan. The Brit is getting antsy and I just want to close the distance. All weapons concealed. Stage on the third floor. Brett leads, Retro takes the rear.”

The conversation continued in the room, accusations of Hussein having betrayed the plan to his father filling the air. Pike slid open the door, telling Jennifer, “Let me know when to enter, but don’t pull the trigger too soon. Worst case, we assault and Hipster could have handled it.”

He nodded at Aaron, and they both stepped out, linking up with the men from the other van. Jennifer watched them jog across the street and enter the apartment building.

They were gone no more than five seconds when the sound of scuffling filled the van. Panting, breathing, a fabric tear, then the words that would alter Hussein’s destiny.

“What the
fuck
is that?”

Jennifer knew the worst had happened.

He’s burned.

“Pike, Pike, this is Koko. Execute. I say again, execute.”

No questions came her way. All she heard was “Roger.” She knew the team was now moving as quickly as possible, completely trusting her call.

She saw Shoshana reflexively squeezing her fists open and closed, her eyes rigidly fixed on the speaker.

She heard Hussein scream, then, “Kill me. Do it. Send me home.”

She felt as if she’d been punched.
We did this. We sent him to his death.
She shouted into the radio, “Go, go, go! He’s killing Hussein!”

She heard a body hit the floor and thought they were too late. She put her head into her hands, ignoring the noise until she heard. “I’ve met her. She’s a Jew. And she’s a greater killer than you. She’s going to carve you up like all the men you murdered.”

She looked at Shoshana, seeing her visage change into that of a dark angel, her knuckles white as she squeezed her fists.

Arabic filled the van and Shoshana stiffened. She looked out the windshield and said, “He’s leaving by the balcony. He’s running.”

Jennifer leaned forward and saw a figure leap from the third-floor balcony to the one on the apartment complex next door. She heard a racket in the room from the microphone, then Pike on the radio. “We’re in. Hussein’s been stabbed. He’s alive, but bleeding out. Room is clear.”

The sound echoed through the speaker in the van, Pike’s voice picked up by the microphone on Hussein. She said, “Pike, al-Britani jumped to the north building. He’s in the wind.”

Shoshana said, “He was telling the team they were attacking today. Now.”

Jennifer snapped her head to Shoshana, and she said, “I speak Arabic. That’s what he was yelling, probably into a cell phone.”

Jennifer heard shouted instructions, the rustling of cloth, then Hussein.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Someone said, “Shh. You’re going to be okay. Lie still.”

Hussein: “It’s because of the white house. I never wanted to go there. Nobody wanted to go there. They did this. Ask Jacob. He’ll tell you about the white house.”

Jennifer cut in, “Pike, Pike, al-Britani is attacking now. He’s on the run to attack. Shoshana heard him tell the team before he fled.”

She heard Pike go robotically calm, and knew they were in deep trouble. The worse the situation, the more relaxed Pike’s voice became, and he sounded like he was ordering pizza now. No yelling. No stumbling over words or hasty statements.

“Roger all. We need to stabilize Hussein, then get him out of here. I’m leaving Brett and Knuckles. Aaron, Retro and I will be at your van shortly. Get a fix on his last known location, determine the avenues of egress and come up with a search plan. I’ll contact Showboat for an update and get him synchronized with Jordanian liaison services.”

Shoshana said, “There he is, up the street!”

Jennifer leaned forward and saw a figure running north. A laptop case bouncing against his back, he skipped through the smattering of people, knocking aside those who weren’t quick enough to move out of the way.

Shoshana slid into the driver’s seat, fired up the engine, put the van in drive, and punched out of the alley, turning the wheel and going fast enough to make the tires squeal in protest.

Flung to the side, Jennifer grabbed the passenger seat for support, shouting, “What are you doing?”

Shoshana tossed her an indigenous hijab, saying, “Put that on. Cover your hair. Nobody will look twice at us.”

Jennifer climbed into the passenger seat and said, “We should have waited on Pike. On Aaron.”

Shoshana faced her, and Jennifer saw the dark angel again. The killer she’d seen once before, in Germany. Right before she’d slit a man’s throat. She said, “He’s not going to escape his destiny.”

*   *   *

Exiting the building, still talking to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander, I saw only one van in the alley. Empty.

What the hell?

“Sir, I have to get back on the team net. I’ve got a developing situation. Keep me abreast of the Jords. I don’t want a gunfight to go bad.”

“Gunfight? You’re out of it. Let the Jords handle it.”

“I will, I will.”

At least I hope I will.

I manipulated my smartphone, getting back on the team internal. “Koko, Koko, this is Pike. What’s your status?”

“We’ve got al-Britani in sight. We’re tracking him. He’s running north, about a half mile from you. He just went east, deeper into the neighborhood.”

“Damn it, Koko, I told you to sit tight. Showboat’s spinning up the CIA. This neighborhood is going to be locked down in about thirty minutes with Jordanian security. He’s not going anywhere. Our job is done.”

“You need to tell that to Shoshana. She’s driving.”

I turned to Aaron. “Call Shoshana. Pull her off before she does something stupid.”

He began dialing and Brett came on.

“Pike, Hussein’s KIA.”

“What?”

“He bled out. The knife wound must have nicked an artery. Nothing I could do.”

I closed my eyes and took a breath. For all practical purposes, I’d killed him. By all accounts, he deserved it, but on this operation he was my asset. My responsibility. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d really wanted to help.

Something to think about later.
As I had many times in the past, I compartmentalized the damage and continued the mission.

“All right. Sanitize the body and sterilize the room. Get anything related to him, then leave it for the Jords to sort out. Get down here ASAP.”

“What’s going on?”

“Shoshana’s on the warpath.”

J
ennifer heard Shoshana say, “I got it, Aaron. I’ll just track him then feed his location to you. I won’t do anything rash.”

There was silence. Shoshana said, “Aaron? Aaron, you still there?” Then, “Who is this?”

Jennifer saw Shoshana’s face grow rigid. She said, “Pike, don’t tell me what to do. The mission takes priority.”

Pike said something and Shoshana glanced Jennifer’s way, saying, “I won’t get her killed.”

Jennifer could hear Pike’s voice from across the cab of the van, shouting into the phone. Shoshana hung up on him, tossing the cell in the back. She said, “Your little lover boy seems to have a soft spot for you.”

Jennifer glanced at the phone and could only imagine the rage Pike was experiencing now. She said, “It’s not just me. He has a soft spot for anyone on his team, especially when unnecessary risk is taken.”

Shoshana smirked and said, “Oh no. It’s you. He reeks of it, so much so he’s willing to put the mission behind your safety.”

Jennifer thought of past operations when she’d come within a hairbreadth of dying, all on Pike’s orders. Then of Aaron. How he reacted to Shoshana. “He’s no different from your team leader.”

Shoshana scoffed, saying, “There’s a big difference. Aaron doesn’t control me.” She gazed out the windshield, then sat upright. “That fucking Pike. I lost the target while talking to him. Where is he?”

Jennifer leaned forward, as if getting closer to the windshield would help. They’d entered a street lined with vendors selling fruits, vegetables, and other things, the going slow. She caught a glimpse of the laptop bag and said, “He’s no longer running. He’s just up ahead. See the rainbow awning? Look left. He’s pretending to shop.”

Shoshana did and said, “He’s close to the hive. He’s thinking of the operation. He’s making a plan before he meets the team.”

She pulled into an alley and put the vehicle in park. “Time to go. Keep your head covered. Walk steadily and don’t make eye contact.”

“No. We go nowhere. We’ve necked down the location enough for the Jordanians. They’ll handle it.”

Her radio came alive with an exasperated Pike. “Koko, Koko, status?”

She said, “I’m here. We think we’re within a block radius of the terrorist team. The Brit is still on the move, but he’s no longer running.”

Pike said, “I’ve got your location on my phone. Sit tight. No action. Keep eyes on, and we’ll relay location to the Jords.”

Jennifer looked at Shoshana and said, “Roger all. Sounds good to me.”

“Jennifer, don’t let that nutcase Shoshana do something. She wants a scalp, but we’ve gone beyond that. Our mission is done. She gets caught, and it might unravel us. She won’t listen to Aaron. She might to you.”

Trying to talk without giving anything away to Shoshana, Jennifer said, “Okay. But if
they
attempt to execute, and I’m still here, what do you want me to do?”

“Take her down.”

Shoshana opened the vehicle door and said, “Come on. We’re going to lose him.”

In one fluid motion, Jennifer dropped the phone and withdrew her Glock 30, the long tube of the suppressor making it unwieldy in the close confines of the van. She pointed it in a two-handed grip and said, “We wait. As Aaron ordered.”

Shoshana’s face grew dark. She slammed the door closed and said, “You fucking Americans. It’s all about the orders. Never about the true mission.”

Jennifer said, “Shoshana, just sit back. Trust me, it makes me sick to do this to you. We have equities in play.”

Shoshana said, “That terrorist you’re letting go cut the head off a man. Of many men. You’re happy with him in a Jordanian prison? Do you know who else was in a Jordanian prison? Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The fucking spawn of the Islamic State. The man who cut the head off of Daniel Pearl and murdered more American soldiers than anyone else.”

Jennifer said nothing, watching the dark angel appear. For the first time, she felt real fear, knowing that Shoshana was going to push. Force her to shoot. And she knew she couldn’t. She wasn’t so sure about Shoshana.

Without warning, Shoshana lashed out, slapping one hand on the weapon and whipping an elbow at Jennifer’s head. Instead of fighting for control of the pistol, as Shoshana expected, Jennifer dropped the Glock, ducked her head forward, and wrapped up Shoshana’s arms.

The fight was short but brutal. Shoshana landed two well-placed elbows against Jennifer’s head, wanting to strike, to maim, something that was the anchor of Krav Maga. Jennifer was all about control, and this she did.

She launched her legs against the footwell and drove Shoshana into the back of the van. They hit together, and Jennifer wrapped up her thighs with her legs, then scrambled for an arm bar that would rip out Shoshana’s shoulder socket. Shoshana went berserk, raining down blows on Jennifer’s head with her free arm until Jennifer saw stars and started to black out. She fought through the pain, ignoring the punches and methodically working her position just as Pike had taught her.

She saw the opening, felt an elbow tear into her scalp, slamming her head into the floor of the van . . . and then she had the bar. She twisted her body, hunching her hips and bringing Shoshana forward, into her deadly embrace, and she felt the joint lock set deep. Perfectly positioned.

Shoshana slammed a fist into Jennifer’s skull one more time, and she stretched out, dragging the arm with her, stressing the socket to the point of irreversible damage. Shoshana screamed, slapping the back of Jennifer’s thigh.

Jennifer let up slightly, breathing heavily. She blew bloody snot from her nose and said, “We go nowhere.”

K
nowing she was trapped, Shoshana went rigid and let out a keening wail, sounding like a wounded animal, then went limp, sagging into the floor of the van and giving Jennifer complete control.

She closed her eyes and said, “You’re letting him get away. You’re going to allow that murderer to go free. Why did you care about catching the American so much, but not al-Britani? Why do you fight me?”

Maintaining her position, not relaxing at all, Jennifer saw an actual tear in Shoshana’s eye. She said, “Why do you strive so hard to butcher like them?”

Shoshana wiped her eye with her free arm, no longer fighting. She said, “Because they’re evil. They aren’t human. They tossed aside all humanity when they embraced the ideology, then set about killing. I’m no more like them than a hog farmer is. Yes, I butcher, but like the farmer, it’s for a greater good. We’re both killing a beast, but the hog is a much greater sacrifice.”

Jennifer felt her hands slipping in Shoshana’s sweat. She regained her hold and said, “You can’t kill them all.”

Shoshana scoffed. “You are so naïve. I hate that philosophy. Of course I can’t kill them all. When a policeman arrests a rapist, do you say,
You can’t arrest them all
? I can only kill the ones I can reach, and I’ll gladly do so, just like the policeman.”

Jennifer let that settle, then said, “Tell me the truth: Would you have killed me? To get to him?”

Shoshana looked at the ceiling of the van for a moment. She said, “No. No, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” She gave a bitter laugh and said, “It’s a weakness, I suppose.”

“Weakness how?”

Shoshana waited a beat, then said, “You call me a butcher, but some in the Mossad would say differently. I was ‘discarded’ to the Samson team because I refused to take out a Palestinian. He wasn’t a terrorist, and our information was wrong.”

Now genuinely interested, having had moments of doubt while working with the Taskforce, Jennifer said, “If I let you up, are you going to fight?”

Shoshana turned her head in surprise. She said, “No.”

Jennifer released her. Shoshana sat up, rubbing her shoulder.

Staring intently at her, Jennifer asked, “How did you know? How were you so positive the intelligence was wrong?”

“I’m honestly not sure. I just
feel
it. I can tell. On that mission I . . . I slept with him.” She looked to see a reaction from Jennifer. When none appeared, she said, “It was a honeypot operation. He was designated a target, and I allowed him to go free.”

“How, though? How did you
know
?”

Jennifer felt her weird, penetrating gaze for a moment, then Shoshana said, “You’re afraid. Afraid of harming someone innocent.”

Jennifer hesitantly nodded and Shoshana said, “I just do. I saw that Hussein had blackness in him, but it wasn’t of his choosing. I saw he was telling the truth. I see
you
for what you are. You and Pike. I know he thinks I’m some crazy assassin, but I don’t kill what doesn’t need to be destroyed.” She faced Jennifer. “And al-Britani needs to be destroyed. Don’t listen to your boss a thousand miles away. Listen to your heart.”

Jennifer said, “It’s not that simple. There are rules. Complications with the operation.”

“It
is
that simple.
You
make it complicated. This man beheaded at least four people. Cut off their heads with a knife. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Our world is gray, but this is black and white.”

“What if your intelligence is wrong?”

Shoshana smiled. “I don’t need to sleep with this one. I felt it as soon as he appeared on the balcony. I
know
.” She became agitated, saying, “He kills without any remorse, and he’s going to kill again. Right now. We can stop it. The Jordanians won’t have this place under control before they’re gone.”

Jennifer felt her conviction wavering. Shoshana pressed, “Did you see what was on his back? A laptop. There could be enormous information in that thing.”

Shoshana’s eyes were boring into her, and she thought,
Jesus. She’s reading me right now.

Shoshana scrambled to the front of the van and began surveying the street, saying, “We’ve wasted five minutes beating each other up. Maybe he’s still here.”

Jennifer said, “Shoshana, no. We wait on Aaron and Pike.”

“He’s still there! He’s meeting with someone. He’s talking to another man.”

Jennifer crowded forward and saw al-Britani in close conversation with a young man wearing a faded nylon jacket, stabbing his hand in the air to punctuate a statement. The man clapped al-Britani on the shoulder, and they turned to walk down the street.

Shoshana said, “Let’s find the bed-down. Just locate them. Then we can decide, but sitting here is letting them get away.”

Jennifer decided to punt. She keyed her radio. “Pike, this is Koko. What’s your status?”

“Loaded up now. We’re about four minutes out.”

Jennifer relayed the information, and Shoshana said, “Four minutes is an eternity.”

Jennifer felt the pressure like never before, now understanding what Pike went through on operations. The Lost Boys video popped into her head. The grisly, obscene killings. She watched the back of al-Britani walking away, glimpses growing smaller as he faded between people in the crowd.

She felt Shoshana’s hand on her arm. She turned, and saw pain etched in Shoshana’s face. A physical thing, making her wonder what had happened in the past.

“Please. Don’t let him get away.
Please
.”

She realized that Shoshana was waiting on her decision.
Because I voluntarily released her. She promised she wouldn’t fight. And she could. She could leave right now.

Teetering on the brink, Shoshana’s words pushed Jennifer over the lethal edge of a decision. The fact that Shoshana valued her promise over the incredible desire to deliver justice to al-Britani meant more to Jennifer than anything she had said before. It was enough.

Jennifer said, “Okay, but no killing. Location only, right?”

Like a time-lapse video, Jennifer watched the dark angel blossom, spreading throughout Shoshana’s body. She pulled a suppressor out of a bag and screwed it onto an old 9mm Browning Hi-Power. She lifted her shirt, exposing a belly holster. She stowed the weapon and opened the door.

Alarmed, wondering if she’d made a mistake, Jennifer said, “Shoshana? No killing.”

The dark angel stepped out, her earlier promise met. She said, “That’ll all depend on him.”