Stephen Leather - The Long shot

“I remember the bombing, but I didn’t realise that Iraq was behind it,” said Howard.

“That’s the way Saddam wants it,” said O’Donnell, quietly. “It’s revenge he wants, not publicity.”

“Which brings us to the target,” said Mulholland. “Bob Sanger has already put the Secret Service’s Intelligence Division on full alert. But are we sure that the President is the target?”

Howard sat back, his hands on his knees. “I don’t know, Ed. I just don’t know. I haven’t had time to put together a comprehensive list, but the British Prime Minister is over here in a few days, the Prince of Wales is here on a Royal visit next month. A number of British politicians and business leaders are coming, and many of them could be a target. Most of the visiting politicians are from the Conservative Party, and several of the businessmen are in defence industries.”

Mulholland nodded. “Tell me about these computer experts you have over at the White House,” he said.

Howard explained about Andy Kim’s work on the computer model of the assassination.

“Have you thought about inputting different targets into the program?” asked Mulholland. “Could we do all the British VIPs?”

“We’ve thought about it, but there are time constraints, and who do we put forward as targets if it isn’t the President? We don’t have the resources to run the model for every visiting dignitary, even if we restrict ourselves to the Brits. And what about other American possibilities? We could consider every member of Congress as a potential target. There are just too many names. And who says it’s a politician? There are plenty of likely targets in the military who Saddam would like to see blown away.”

Mulholland nodded. “What are the time constraints you mentioned?”

Howard explained about the telephone tap and that Lou Schoelen had told his mother everything would be over within two weeks. When he told the group about identifying the television station from the Star Trek episode, they laughed.

“Outstanding,” said Mulholland.

“Inspired,” added O’Donnell, slapping his own leg.

“So, we know the hit is going down on the East Coast, and that it’s going to go ahead within the next two weeks. What are our options?” asked Mulholland.

“We could cancel all the President’s public appearances for the next two weeks,” said Howard.

“He’d never agree to that,” said Mulholland.

“In view of the circumstances. .”

Mulholland shook his head. “I’ve already run the idea by Bob Sanger — his view is that Presidential security is already one hundred per cent, there is nothing more that can be done short of putting him in a nuclear shelter.”

“We could put out a press release saying he had a medical problem,” suggested Howard.

“That’s certainly been done before, but the view from the White House is that the President can’t run for cover every time we uncover a conspiracy,” said Mulholland. “If we did that, he’d never leave the White House. I gather there’s an element of pride, too. If Saddam Hussein is behind this, the President doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of showing that he’s afraid.”

“What about putting them on the Ten Most Wanted List?” asked O’Donnell, his voice low as if frightened of intruding.

“Who? The snipers or the terrorists?” asked Mulholland.

“I thought the snipers,” said O’Donnell. “If they know we’re on to them, they might get cold feet.”

“In which case they might try again some other time,” said Howard.

“Cole’s right,” said Mulholland. “Plus, it’s Carlos who’s planning this, I’m sure, and if the snipers back out he’ll get others. This Rashid woman sounds like she’s got personal reasons for being involved, so she’s unlikely to be scared off. But we could put Bailey and Hennessy on the list. Carlos, too. They’re wanted terrorists.”

“And what would we put on the wanted poster?” asked Howard. “We don’t have fingerprints, and they haven’t committed a crime in the US.”

“There was Bailey’s attempt to buy the missile in LA,” said Sullivan. “There are legitimate reasons for the FBI being interested in Bailey and Hennessy.”

“Hardly justifies putting them on the Ten Most Wanted, though, does it?” asked Howard. “You’re going to get a lot of questions from the media, too, especially if we let it be known we’re searching for Carlos. I assume we’re not going public on why we want these people.”

“That’s for sure,” said Mulholland. “But we could just push the terrorist angle. Cracking down on the IRA as part of a joint operation with the British.”

“It’d be a first,” said Howard. “The media would be sure to start asking questions. And I doubt if it would get results quickly enough. You have to remember the two-week deadline.”

“What about the British?” asked O’Donnell. “Are we bringing them in on this?”

“What are your feelings, Hank?” said Mulholland.

O’Donnell shrugged. “Relations aren’t exactly cordial between the Bureau and MI5 at the moment,” he said. “Too many cooks, you know?”

“But we’re keeping them informed, right?”

“There are information memos in the system, but not red-tagged,” said O’Donnell. “We’ve told them that Bailey and Hennessy have been seen, but we haven’t told them about Carlos yet. I hadn’t thought it necessary at this stage.”

“Do you have any thoughts as to why the IRA have teamed up with Carlos?” asked Mulholland. O’Donnell chewed the inside of his lip thoughtfully and Mulholland smiled. “Just shooting the breeze, Hank. Nothing written in stone.”

O’Donnell nodded. “At this stage of the investigation, anything has to be conjecture,” he said slowly. “If you were to press me, I’d say that the IRA is smoothing the way for Carlos, that he’s in charge and they’re arranging passports, driving licences, hotels, the infrastructure that would be required by an operation of this nature. Carlos hasn’t operated in the United States before. As far as we’re aware, this is his first time in the country. The IRA, however, has a long tradition of involvement in the US. Much of their fund-raising is done here, and the US is often used as a safe haven when things get too hot for them in Ireland. The Irish community also networks better than almost any other minority group. There are legal networks offering jobs, advice and support, but there are underground networks too, supplying weapons and counterfeit papers. Carlos wouldn’t be able to plug into those networks, but Hennessy and Bailey would.”

O’Donnell’s views were greeted by a succession of nodding heads. Mulholland cracked his knuckles, the small explosions echoing around the office. “It goes without saying that the capture of Carlos would be a major coup for the Bureau. However, I agree with Cole that we can’t launch a manhunt for Carlos without facing some pretty awkward questions from the media. And as he pointed out, going after the snipers won’t get us anywhere. Lovell and Schoelen appear to be nothing more than hired guns. Bearing in mind the time constraints, I think we should go all out to find Bailey and Hennessy, on the assumption that they are with Carlos. But Carlos is our prime target. And I mean target, gentlemen. Whether we apprehend him dead or alive isn’t the issue.”

Mulholland looked over at Sullivan. “Frank, you’re going to have to put pressure on your informers — find out where Hennessy and Bailey are, what ID they’re using, who they spoke to, the works. Put the squeeze on anyone who’s overstayed their visa or who’s working here illegally. Anyone who doesn’t co-operate gets put on the next Aer Lingus flight back to Ireland. And I want you to contact all our offices in those cities with large Irish communities and get them to put feelers out. Don is going to be coming with us to Washington, but I’ll assign you all the manpower you need.” Mulholland saw that Howard wanted to speak. “You have something in mind, Cole?” he asked.