Gary Ponzo - A Touch of Deceit

Jackson clicked off the projector and turned on the lights. He sat down and kept a careful eye on Nick.

“I’m okay,” Nick said, clenching every muscle that was undetectable. “I need to know everything. Don’t skip a comma.”

Jackson hesitated, then lowered tired eyes. “The CIA had an agent infiltrate the KSF in Kurdistan a couple of months back. Ten days ago he arrived in Toronto with two groups of soldiers, including Kharrazi. He was with the lead group as they were about to enter the United States on horseback. Somewhere in the Canadian Rockies. The agent was with them up until 2 AM Tuesday morning. At that time they were five miles from the border. That’s when Langley lost communications. Kharrazi discovered the plant.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because Thursday morning the agent’s family received a package. The agent’s six-year-old daughter anxiously opened the box she thought was a present from her daddy in Turkey.”

Nick held up his hand to prevent Jackson from finishing the story. He already knew the ending.

Jackson nodded. “That’s right. The agent’s severed head stared back at his little girl.”

Nick covered his face with his hands and took deep breaths. He imagined the look on his niece’s face as his brother’s head was delivered to their home.

“I’ve been going to too many funerals, Walt.”

“Let’s not bury Phil just yet. There’s still reason for hope.”

Nick looked up to catch Jackson’s expression. It was sincere, without pity.

“Why?”

“Because,” Jackson said, “we’ve got explicit directions. There are timetables to be met and corroborating evidence of his health included in the demands. Kharrazi wouldn’t throw those in if he were going to bluff us into believing Phil’s alive.”

“Okay,” Nick said. “Now tell me why we’re just hearing about this plant. Kemel Kharrazi is in Canada with a couple of dozen KSF soldiers-the best trained infantry in the world, and Langley waits until they’ve breached our border before we’re notified?”

Jackson leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “That’s the big question isn’t it? Apparently, Langley felt they deserved an opportunity to bag Kharrazi as he crossed over the border. It’s a gigantic political mess that I’m not willing to navigate right now. Suffice it to say, they gambled and lost. They knew where he was with five miles to go, but Kharrazi is shrewd. He must have taken a more circuitous route. They simply waited too long. Morris admitted as much to me just before you came in. That’s who I was on the phone with.”

“You’re kidding. That asshole actually admitted he was wrong about something?”

Jackson grinned. “You know, I thought the same thing myself.” Then the smile faded and his eyes locked on Nick. “What do you want to do about Phil?”

Nick took a breath and let it out slowly. “Where are they?”

“We don’t know for sure. Surveillance shows them leaving by way of a limousine. Phil seemed to be going under his own will. I’m sure Kharrazi knew just what to offer him. We’ve leaned on every limo company in the city and came up empty.”

“Kharrazi is worth what? Ten billion? He’s got plenty of hush money to spread around.”

Jackson nodded. “Still, we have every runway, train station and interstate covered. The analysts say they’re still in Vegas somewhere.”

“What’s our timetable?”

“Nine AM Eastern time. Rashid needs to be completely free. No tails. No bugs.”

Nick didn’t need to ask what happened if Rashid wasn’t out. He lowered his head and massaged his temple with his fingertips. It seemed like he’d been chasing terrorists forever. Now it felt different. It wasn’t a job anymore. It was personal.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Jackson said. “What do you want to do about Phil?”

Nick looked up. “What about regulations?”

Jackson grimaced. “I’m going to sit here and tell you the details of Phil’s capture, then preclude you from getting involved because of regulations?” He leaned back and folded his arms across his large chest. “I can take the heat. It’s what I do. But I need to know if you’re prepared to deal with what you might find.”

Nick understood. Identifying Phil’s body would not be easy. He nodded. “I have to try and get him back, Walt.”

Jackson reached into a desk drawer and came out with a pair of airline tickets. He slid them across the desk. “The flight leaves at seven. Take Matt with you. I have every available agent in Nevada waiting for you. Meanwhile the rest of the Team will stay here and browbeat every informant we have. Something’s happening out there. Something bigger than Phil and Rashid.”

Nick reached for the tickets and stood to leave.

“Keep in mind,” Jackson said. “There’s a possibility that this is a-”

“Trap?” Nick said. “Yes, I know. Kharrazi’s too sharp to think we’ll release Rashid. He wants me. That’s what the glare into the camera was all about. Phil is just bait. Kharrazi intends to honor Rashid’s threat.”

A modest grin tightened the corner of Jackson’s mouth. He had the satisfied look of a teacher appraising his star pupil.

Nick put the tickets in his jacket pocket and turned toward the door.

“One other thing,” Jackson said behind him.

Nick turned.

Jackson’s grin mutated into something wicked. “Tell Matt, if he gets a clear shot at Kharrazi. . make it a head shot.”

Nick could already see the smile on Matt’s face, and he hadn’t even left the room.

In the heavily-wooded suburb of Hampden, Maryland, Nick opened the front door of his two story house expecting to see his wife’s easy smile. Julie had a knack for seeming excited to see him even when he was precisely on schedule. That surprised expression she first showed off when he knelt down to propose and continued to shine at him every time he came home. As if the mere act of finding his way back home was an accomplishment to admire. How he loved that expression. If only he could find a way to verbalize those thoughts, those emotions that remained hidden deep inside. She had to know, yet the words somehow escaped him.

Nick circled back through the kitchen, then the den. “Honey,” he called.

When he returned to the front foyer, a sound came from upstairs. He leaned over the banister and heard someone sobbing. Nick ran up the stairs two at a time. As he moved toward the master bedroom, he slid the gun from his holster. He could hear Julie whimpering now. His heart jumped as a loose thought ran through his mind. Kemel Kharrazi.

With his gun drawn, he crept up to the doorway of his bedroom and peeked inside. His heart sank. Julie sat on the floor with her back against the side of the bed. Her knees were pulled up into her chest while she wiped away tears with an overused ball of tissue. Without looking up she said, “I just got off the phone with Lynn.”

Nick holstered his gun and sighed. She had just spoken with his brother’s wife. She knew about Phil.

He watched her sniffle with bloodshot eyes and streaks of moisture blotching her face. Her short brown hair was twisted into sharp angles. Yet as distraught as she appeared, all he could think about was how striking she was. Even at her very worst, in her most awkward moment, he adored her. He couldn’t imagine anyone or anything more beautiful. He wanted to tell her right there, right then. But he didn’t.

He sat next to her and gathered her into his arms. He sat quietly while Julie blurted out her sorrowful thoughts in small dosages. “Poor Lynn,” she sobbed. “The kids don’t know yet.” More sobs. “They think he’s just away on business.” Her firm body wilted in his arms.