Brad Taylor - Enemy of Mine

He held out a wad of Qatari rials. The porter looked at the money with suspicion.

“Why? Why do you want me to do this?”

“Look, I’m a businessman from America. I told you that. People over here don’t like Americans, and I just want to make sure nobody is out to get me.”

The porter smiled, like he’d heard a child telling a ghost story, and said, “You have nothing to worry about here. This isn’t Iraq.”

“Well, it’s worth money to you if you’ll do it.”

Lucas saw him shrug. “Okay. Your money is fine with me. I tried to tell you it wasn’t necessary.”

They made the turn at the roundabout, and Lucas surprised the porter by bailing out of the door the minute the vehicle slowed to a safe speed. Lucas watched him continue on, then backed up into a pile of construction debris, squatting down and looking for the black man. What he saw was the Caucasian pass by, the one who’d glanced away in the airport hours ago. And he was following the porter.

Not paranoid after all. All he needed was the time it took the CIA men to reach his hotel. Forty minutes max. He hoped the porter could pull off a goose chase that long.

He took off at a sprint back toward the roundabout.

Decoy called me as soon as the plane had landed, saying they were on the ground and moving. Lucas had shown no interest in the State Department weenies on the flight, but that was to be expected. It wasn’t like he was going to slap a bumper sticker on his luggage saying, “I’m out to kill someone.”

Need more information on what those boys are doing.

When his update was complete, I said, “Okay, both you and Brett have vehicles staged in the rental lot. Spots thirty-five and forty-six. Keys are in the ignition. We’re staged out front and can trigger, but you need to hurry.”

“Roger all. Moving.”

“Put your phone in surveillance mode. I want to know what’s going on.”

Taskforce cell phones worked like every other phone in the world, but had the ability to do group conversations, like a conference call, something that I’d been missing for the initial surveillance of Lucas in Dubai. The problem was it ran the battery down that much quicker. If we had to go dismounted, away from the car chargers, we’d only get about two hours before we lost all comms. I hoped that would be enough. I could feel the endgame coming. Which was good, because Brett and Decoy had been conducting a two-man follow for days. Sooner or later, Lucas would pick them up. If he hadn’t already.

I had both Jennifer and Knuckles with me in the small pay lot right out front of the baggage claim exit. I would have liked to use them constructively, but couldn’t see how, since Lucas would spot them. At least we could see everyone who left. My bet was Lucas would flag a cab, and the make and model would be crucial to relay to Decoy and Brett for the follow. I told Jennifer to keep eyes on and dialed Kurt on my Taskforce phone.

“Sir, we’re set, ready to go. Lucas has paid some interest on the two State guys. Can you find out what they’re up to? They have a classified dip-pouch with them. I’m wondering if that’s the target. If Lucas plans on nabbing the information they’re bringing to embarrass the U.S. or maybe sell it. I need to know what’s in the pouch.”

I expected some delay, some further questions. All I got was, “They have a dip-pouch?”

I could almost hear the wheels turning in Kurt’s head. “Yeah. A Halliburton case with the orange cover.”

There was another pause, then, “Holy shit. Pull off Lucas. Get on the State guys. Get some protection on them.”

“What? I can’t do that. I’m already positioned to trigger Lucas. The couriers were met by diplomatic folks to transfer the pouch. I have no idea where they are, and I can’t get through security at the airport with any speed. If I break down the trigger to find them, I’ll lose Lucas. What’s up?”

“The pouch contains diamonds. A shitload of diamonds for a covert transfer to the Palestinian Authority. This isn’t about the peace conference. It’s a fucking robbery.”

Jennifer’s comment in Dubai came full force: He’s pure evil. I find it hard to believe he’d do something that was morally just if no money were involved.

“Sir, I can’t get to the diamonds, but I’m on Lucas. I’ve got him.”

“Pike, he’s got a plan. Being on him may not be enough.”

“Call the State guys. Get them to stay in the airport until I can resolve this.”

“Working that now, but I doubt I can get their cell numbers soon enough. The best I’ll be able to do is warn them, but they’re going to leave the airport.”

Jesus. Jennifer was right. There had to be money involved. No way would Lucas have prevented the assassination of the envoy for any greater good. Should’ve dug. The connection had been staring me in the face.

Jennifer tapped my arm, and I saw Lucas exit the airport, moving to a beat-up Ford instead of a taxi. Great. He has help too.

“Sir, Lucas is on the move. I’ll call you when I can.”

“Pike, so you know, I didn’t get Omega for Qatar. I didn’t even try. I sent Blaine on my own authority.”

“And?”

“And I’m giving you Omega. If you can’t capture Lucas, kill him. If it comes down to it-if it goes bad-you followed orders. My orders. You thought the Council had approved. But I’d rather you didn’t get compromised.”

Wow. Talk about pressure. “Roger all. Gotta go. But you’d better get the president ready for some drama in Doha. Either from Lucas or from me.”

I put the phone in surveillance mode and passed the make and model of Lucas’s vehicle, getting a confirmation from Brett and Decoy that they were set. Knuckles asked, “What was that all about?”

“Kurt thinks those guys are carrying diamonds worth a shit-ton of cash, and Lucas is trying to take it.”

Jennifer said, “What? This all happened over money? He’s just trying to rob the U.S.?”

“Yeah, apparently.”

Her jaw clenched, and she squeezed the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. I pretended not to notice, feeling the same way.

I said, “Get out into traffic. He’s far enough ahead that we can leave, and I don’t want to be forced to play catch up if we’re needed.”

We started shadowing the pathetic little two-man surveillance effort, monitoring the radio traffic between Decoy and Brett. We reached a roundabout, and Brett came on.

“My heat state just jumped. I was forced to get directly behind him or lose him, and he pulled the visor mirror down. He’s looking at me now. I need to pull off.”

Decoy said, “I got him. I’m at your seven o’clock. Let him go.”

I could feel the surveillance breaking down. With Brett burned, Decoy had about two turns before he’d have to pull off too. Especially if Lucas was actively looking. I said nothing, letting them use their own judgment.

We continued down the Corniche, getting a play-by-play from Decoy, with Brett shadowing one road over. They made the roundabout next to the Sheraton and continued west. I looked at my map and saw they were paralleling the diplomatic quarter. Here we go.

I cut in to the net. “Keep your eyes out. Keep him in sight. He’s next to the diplomatic quarter. This will be it.”

A minute later, Decoy came on. “We got a problem. I’m still on the car, but there’s only one man in it. The driver.”

You sure? Lucas is foxtrot now?” I couldn’t believe we’d missed someone exiting the vehicle.

“Yeah. I was a couple of cars back, slowed down by the roundabout, and when I caught back up, he was gone. I didn’t see him dismount, but he’s no longer in the vehicle.”