Chapter Fifteen

Jaliya knocked on the door to her boss’s new office in Kabul before cracking it open and poking her head in. David was at his desk going over some files. “Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute? It’s important.”

He closed the file. “Sure.”

“Not here.”

David gave her a puzzled look for a moment but when she gestured for him to follow her, he got up and crossed the room. “Where are we going?”

“If anyone asks, we’ll just say we’re going to grab some lunch.”

He walked with her down to the lobby of the building the DEA had set them up in. But she didn’t stop there, choosing instead to exit the building and walk half a block down the street to a tiny park before sitting on the wooden bench there.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he sank down next to her.

She didn’t care if it seemed like she was being overly paranoid. “I didn’t feel comfortable talking about this in there.” She nodded back toward the building. “I’ve long suspected that someone on the inside is interfering with our efforts to find The Jackal, and as of this morning I’m more convinced than ever.”

“All right, I’m listening.”

“My team has been analyzing all our data and intel for the past two days. We’re getting close to identifying who he is.”

He frowned at her. “Okay…”

She took a deep breath and pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, showing the pictures of three men. One was the deputy chief of police. One was a suspected lieutenant of The Jackal’s.

And one was a military commander linked to the Afghan army. Colonel Shah.

David looked up at her in astonishment. “Are you serious?”

“It has to be one of them. And as of right now, my gut’s leaning toward him.” She tapped Shah’s photo. And she was listening to her gut on this one because the successful seizure last night had bolstered both her confidence and self-esteem. She was feeling good and more determined than ever to nail The Jackal.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. It’s his men we’ve been sending out to assist with the various teams. He’s been helping coordinate the missions personally—”

“Exactly.”

David fell silent, his shocked expression mirroring exactly how she’d felt when she’d finally realized what had been right under her nose all the time. “But his record is impeccable. Beyond reproach. I vetted him personally after the agency did the initial background check prior to bringing him on board, and when we looked at everything again last week due to this leak, he still checked out.”

“I know. We think something drastic must have changed in his personal life over the past few months.”

David shook his head. “Shit, if it turns out to be him…”

“Yeah.” Hence her wanting to talk about this outside of the office.

He ran a hand over his face. “Okay. You’re still investigating the other two?”

“Yes.”

“So where is the colonel now?”

“Missing.”

He looked at her sharply. “Since when?”

“Since yesterday afternoon. No one’s seen or heard from him since he left Bagram after the noon briefing. I’ve got people trying to find him right now.” Three of her best analysts, working all their technological wizardry tracking phone signals and satellite feeds.

Her phone rang. She dug it out of her pocket, a jolt of energy running through her when she saw the number.

“Barakat. Where are you?” she asked in Dari. Desperation had apparently made him overcome his aversion to working with a woman. He’d contacted her early that morning with a message saying he had information about The Jackal’s whereabouts. They had agreed to meet to discuss it in person but he hadn’t shown up. Probably to save his own skin, since she could offer him protection by bringing him to Bagram where he’d be safe.

“They’re after me.”

She stood, the panic in his voice slicing through her. “Who?”

“The Jackal and his men. They know who I am, and what I’ve done.” He sounded panicked and out of breath, as though he’d been running.

“All right, slow down. Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.”

“No, they could be following you.”

She needed to calm him down. “Barakat, listen to me. I need you to calm down—”

“No! I’m not dying for you or anyone else. I want out. I’m finished with this.”

Think Jaliya, think. “You’re not going to die, Barakat. Not if you let me bring you in. I can protect you.”

“No you can’t,” he spat.

“Then why did you call me?”

“Because I don’t have anyone else. The elders found out I’ve been working with your agency and they banished me from the village last night. I think they’re the ones who told The Jackal where I am.”

Goosebumps broke out over her skin. She pushed Barakat because she was so close to finding the answer, and desperate enough to risk asking. “Do you know who he is? Is it Colonel Shah?”

“I…don’t know. But it could be. I heard his name mentioned last night before I was banished.”

Jaliya closed her eyes, a rush of adrenaline surging through her veins. Yes. “We found evidence against him this morning.” But that wasn’t important now. “You said you had a location. Tell me where it is at least. Tell me so I can get him and make this all go away. Once he’s captured, you’ll be safe.”

Barakat didn’t answer for a long moment. In the silence she made out the sounds of heavy traffic moving in the background. Horns and different kinds of engines. He had to be in Kabul somewhere. Why wouldn’t he let her help him?

“He’s overseeing a shipment tonight,” he said finally. “I heard he’s going to smuggle it over the border north of the Khyber Pass.”

Her heart beat faster. “When?”

“After midnight.”

“Do you know where—”

“I’ve told you everything I know,” he snapped. “Now just leave me alone and don’t contact me ever again.”

The line went dead.

David was beside her, watching her intently. “It’s Shah,” she said, only a tiny part of her questioning whether Barakat was telling the truth. The fear in his voice had been all too real, as was his reluctance in telling her. And all their evidence backed it up.

He cursed under his breath. “No one else can know outside of our agency team. It’s too risky—we can’t afford anyone to leak it. I’m not going to lose Shah now.”

Before she could respond, her phone rang again. This time it was one of her analysts. “Tell me you’ve got something on Shah,” she said.

“Got a ping from a security feed at an airstrip north of the city.”

Shit. The bastard must have figured out that they were onto him and escaped the city. “Where did he fly to?”

“He didn’t.”

“What?”

“He dropped a woman and kid off. Loaded them onto a private jet at noon, then drove away.”

That didn’t make any sense. Shah was unmarried, and had no close relatives that they knew of. “Who were the woman and child?”

“We’re working on it.”

“Where’s the plane heading?”

“Turkey to refuel, then Portugal and on to Mexico.”

Mexico? “Where?”

“Veracruz.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. My God. The Venenos. Shah must be working with them directly somehow. “Who is the plane registered to?”

“A private company based out of London.”

“Alert our people in Veracruz. Have them intercept the plane when it lands. I want to know what the woman and kid are doing there.”

“Will do.”

She hung up and told David the latest. “I need to contact Commander Taggart,” she said, dialing his number. He was the only one who could green light a mission based on this intel. “Barakat said there’s a shipment going through near the Khyber Pass tonight, and Shah is supposedly going to be there in person.”

“Taggart.”

Just hearing his voice on the other end of the line made her feel better. She quickly relayed the update and conversation with Barakat and started back toward the office building, her mind whirling.

David was right beside her on a call of his own when she finished with Taggart. “We’re meeting him at Bagram in two hours. FAST Bravo is being placed on alert right now,” she told him.

He nodded and covered the bottom of his phone with one hand. “Then let’s get a move on.”

Yes. They were finally going to nail this sonofabitch.

****

In the frigid darkness Zaid gripped his weapon and waited for the command to disembark as they descended toward the LZ. Cold air rushed in through the helo’s open starboard side door as they neared the ground. Seconds later the Blackhawk went into a low hover. The door gunner and crew chief verified that the area was clear, then the chief tossed the fast rope out the door.

Everyone knew the mission. They all knew the terrain and the topography through this part of the Spin Ghar Mountains, along with possible hiding spots for enemy fighters and likely ambush sites.

But as he waited for the order to insert, Zaid thought about Jaliya.

He hadn’t seen her in a few days but she’d been on his mind constantly. Her smile, the way her eyes sparkled or flashed, and those sweet sounds she’d made as she’d come against his tongue and fingers.

Though he’d sworn to avoid any romantic entanglements while he was over here, she’d gotten to him, and the thought of letting her go now was unbearable on every level. He’d been trying to figure out a way to convince her to take a stab at a long-distance relationship with him, but in all honestly he wasn’t sure how it could ever work long-term, with him only coming to Afghanistan once a year for four months.

He had no idea how many more years she was going to serve over here, but she was young and had a long career ahead of her. And when he was here with his team, they were bounced around from place to place, often not staying for more than a few days in one spot.

Sometimes she had business in D.C., though. That was better than nothing, and worth a shot because God knew no other woman he’d met could compare with Jaliya. She was a woman worth fighting for.

Good thing he was a warrior at heart, as well as a lover.

“Radio check,” Hamilton said through Zaid’s earpiece, pulling him back to the present.

The team checked their equipment and checked in with Taggart back at the TOC at Bagram. Jaliya was there watching. She and her team had been working on intel for this op all day and feeding it to them at the FOB.

He liked knowing she had eyes on him and the others for the duration of the op. He just hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat of the disastrous op by the SF team.

Zaid didn’t want to die. He wasn’t some reckless cowboy who took stupid risks during a mission. He wanted to live a long, full life, and he wanted Jaliya by his side throughout the rest of it.

But if for some reason the worst occurred and his number came up tonight, he didn’t want her to see it happen.