Nelson Demille - The Panther

Chet assured us, however, “We will wear Kevlar and carry our handguns, concealed.”

Brenner asked, “How about Zamo?”

“He will stay with our vehicles close to the ruins with his sniper rifle. Also, our M4s will be in the vehicles.”

Brenner didn’t seem keen on this, but he said nothing.

I really wanted to ask if Dr. Clare was going with us, but Kate might misconstrue my question. Maybe I should cough, then ask.

As if reading my mind, Kate asked, “Is Dr. Nolan coming with us?”

“No,” replied Chet.

Why not?

Chet told us, “It’s too dangerous.”

That’s why we need a doctor, Chet.

Well, no one had anything to say about that, but Chet’s statement certainly put things into perspective.

I said, “I hope we’re taking Howard along to advise us if we’re doing anything illegal.”

Chet replied, “If this was an FBI operation, we’d need six lawyers.”

Touche.

Chet continued, “On our way back from the ruins to the Bilqis Hotel, about dusk, our two vehicles will be stopped by tribesmen in vehicles, and we will offer no resistance as we’re kidnapped.”

Huh?

Chet continued, “We will be taken back to the safe house to await developments.”

Developments? Like what? Having our throats cut?

But Buck assured us, “It’s all a sham, of course. The kidnappers are Sheik Musa’s men. We’ll have our weapons, and we’ll be under the watchful eye of Predator drones armed with Hellfire missiles.”

Great. And who controls the Predators? Chet. And he’s been kidnapped.

Chet clarified that and said, “At the safe house is a van, which is a mobile Predator ground monitoring station, so I won’t actually be with you when you check into the Bilqis Hotel, or at the Marib ruins, or when you’re kidnapped. I’ll be at the safe house, watching the live camera feeds from the drone that is watching you, and the other drone that is watching the safe house.” He added assuringly, “If something happened to me, or to the ground monitoring station at the safe house, then the Predators will pass under the control of the distant ground control station where the pilots maintain satellite radio control of the drones.” He added, “They will, if necessary, use the Hellfires.” He asked us, “Understand? Any questions?”

Lots of questions, but Chet was on a roll so we shook our heads.

Chet continued, “Once we’re all assembled back at the safe house, ostensibly as the kidnapped guests of Sheik Musa, the sheik will get the word to the Al Qaeda operatives in the area that the sheik has a present for them-a team of American intelligence operatives, including Mr. John Corey and Ms. Kate Mayfield, both of whom work for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, and who are both on Al Qaeda’s kill list.” He added, “Buckminster Harris is also known to Al Qaeda, and they would like to question him. Mr. Brenner, I’m sorry to say, is not that important to them, though they’d like to question and kill him as well. And your sniper, Zamo, would make a nice trophy, and they’d like to have his sniper rifle.” He paused, smiled, then said, “As for me, Al Qaeda has never killed a CIA officer, so cutting my head off will make them look good.”

And it might make the rest of us feel good. Sorry. That was not nice. Actually, I was developing some real respect for Chet Morgan. He had balls. He was also crazy, and probably a liar. But very cool, very smart, and apparently fearless.

Chet added, however, “Since I won’t be with you when you all check into the Bilqis Hotel, or go to the ruins and get kidnapped, then I’m not known to be in Marib, and I won’t be offered to Al Qaeda.” He further explained, “Al Qaeda in Yemen equates CIA officers with Predators and Hellfire missiles, and we don’t want to put that into their heads.”

Right. That’s why they’re called spooks. They’re there, but no one can see them. But I was okay with this, and Kate and Brenner seemed to be, too. Buck, of course, already knew this plan.

Regarding the plan, I had a few problems with it, and I asked, “Why would The Panther or Al Qaeda think that Sheik Musa would kidnap Americans if he’s paid to protect Westerners and if he wants Marib to remain a must-see tourist destination?”

“Good question,” replied Chet. He explained, “The sheik has promised Al Qaeda that his tribal lands will be neutral. Tourists and scholars are welcome, but American intelligence operatives are not. They-we-are fair game.”

“Okay. Sounds plausible. But why would Sheik Musa go to Al Qaeda with the six-sorry, five-kidnapped Americans if the sheik is not on good terms with Al Qaeda?”

Chet nodded as though he expected the question and replied, “Money.” He expanded on that. “Al Qaeda believes they have established an accommodation with Sheik Musa, based on money.” He informed us, “Al Qaeda and the sheik negotiated a deal for Al Qaeda to set up their training camp in one of the sheik’s Bedouin camps, so while Al Qaeda doesn’t trust Sheik Musa, they think he can be bought.”

I pointed out, “Sounds like he was bought.”

Chet shook his head and explained to me patiently, “That was our idea, Mr. Corey. Now we know where the training camp is.”

Right. Clever. If true. I asked, “Why don’t we take out the camp?”

“It’s better to watch it.” Chet also let us know, “It appears from Predator observation and from local sources that The Panther never goes to the camp, but if he did, and if we could establish that, we’d have put a Hellfire up his ass a long time ago.”

“Got it.”

“As part of Musa’s neutrality deal with Al Qaeda,” Chet continued, “Al Qaeda is not allowed to carry out any armed operations within Sheik Musa’s tribal territory. But when Al Qaeda kidnapped-and murdered-the Belgians, and made it look like a tribal kidnapping, Musa told Al Qaeda he was pissed off. Al Qaeda denied any involvement in the disappearance of the Belgians, but they gave Musa some money and weapons and smoothed it over. But Musa didn’t believe them, so when he got word of the planned Al Qaeda attack on the Hunt Oil installation, he tipped us off-for ten thousand dollars-and we sent observation drones into the area and relayed the info to the Hunt security forces, who, as you know, were ready for the attack. But Al Qaeda can never be sure who, if anyone, ratted them out-though Sheik Musa told Al Qaeda he was looking into it.”

It was hard to follow the lies and the liars without a scorecard. In the world I lived in, a lie was a deal-breaker-or got you some jail time. In this world, getting caught in a lie meant you needed a bigger and better lie, or at least a nice gift for the guy who caught you in a lie.

Chet said to me, “So to answer your question, Al Qaeda believes that Sheik Musa will make a deal with them, when it is in the sheik’s best interest to do so.” He also added, “The sheik has not canceled the lease on the Al Qaeda training camp-at our request-and Al Qaeda sees that as a positive sign that the sheik is in business to make money.” On that subject, he informed us, “For five kidnapped American intelligence operatives, Al Qaeda will pay the sheik… maybe a hundred thousand dollars.”

“Each?” I inquired.

“No. Together.” He smiled. “Don’t overestimate your worth.”

Right. Life here is cheap.

Chet also told us, “The National Security police were paid about four hundred dollars to do a disappearing act on the Belgians.”

Very cheap.

So, to recap, Sheik Musa was a double-dealing, double-crossing rat fink who was collecting bribes, rent, and retainers all over the place. He’d make a good New York City landlord. And was I supposed to believe that the Al Qaeda attack on the Belgian tourists was a complete surprise to him? Chet believed that. Or said he did. Buck, too. Sheik Musa’s stated goal to make his tribal lands the Switzerland of Yemen-or Arabia Felix-seemed to have some inconsistencies and problems of the sheik’s own making. But this was the Mideast, where nothing made any sense.