Brad Thor - The Apostle

It was a bold plan and Harvath could see a lot of upside in it for the Russians. Al-Qaeda was the primary source of a lot of the radical Islamist trouble they were having in places like Chechnya. Also, if they succeeded and Massoud ending up running the country, the Russians would be able to ask for almost anything they wanted in return. Harvath’s guess was that they would want to pick up on the abandoned pipeline project that had ground to a halt when America had bombed al-Qaeda terrorist training camps after the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Considering the way Russia actively bullied both Europe and its former Soviet republics, like the Ukraine, by regularly cutting off their natural gas supplies, Harvath could only imagine how much influence it would have if it controlled the only pipeline from central Asia straight through Afghanistan to ships waiting in the Arabian Sea. Russia would have a stranglehold on the entire region.

“The Russian chose the American woman carefully,” said Baseer. “He knew about her mother’s relationship with your president and he knew that your president would find a way to get Khan freed from prison.”

“And then what was supposed to happen?” asked Harvath.

The elder held his hands up near his head and shook them as if to indicate that the Russian was crazy. “He expected the Americans to torture Khan until he told them the location of the Lake of Broken Glass. The Americans would then retrieve the diamonds and an exchange would be arranged for the girl. He would also insist on Khan’s release so that Khan could return to Mullah Omar and Sheik Osama and blame the Americans for everything.”

Harvath shook his head. It was an incredibly audacious plan. The downside for the Russians was next to nothing. Their man used his Afghan contacts to do everything. He used his Afghans to locate Khan. He then had them tip off the ANA to Khan’s whereabouts, and then he most likely used Massoud’s men to snatch Julia Gallo.

Then, if Khan was the real deal and there was indeed a cache of al-Qaeda gemstones somewhere in the country, the United States, or more specifically in this case, Harvath, would be forced to torture the information out of him to get the diamonds and trade them for Dr. Gallo’s release.

If the Russian was smart, which Harvath believed he probably was, he would arrange for Khan to be released as far away from where the diamonds were being exchanged for Julia Gallo as possible. Probably on the other side of the country. At least that’s how he would have done it, and then Khan would make his way back to bin Laden and Mullah Omar and fill them in. America would be the bad guy and no one would suspect the Russians or Mullah Massoud of having had any involvement whatsoever in the plot.

And if there were no diamonds, or Khan turned out not to be the right person to help locate them, Massoud and the Russian had a host of options to choose from. They could change their minds and accept the ten million Stephanie Gallo had offered for her daughter’s safe return. They could let Gallo go. They could sell her into the lucrative white slavery market that operated throughout the Islamic world, or simply slash her throat and dump her body by the side of the road. In essence, it was all upside with very little on the down. Harvath had to give the men credit.

That said, they had made one significant mistake. Though keeping prisoners with them in their villages was a Taliban tradition, doing so in this case had been a bad idea. Massoud and the Russian would have been better off stashing Julia Gallo in a deep, dark hole somewhere where only they knew where she was. Because they hadn’t, they had created a lot of problems for themselves, which Harvath hoped to add to.

“Do you know where Massoud and the Russian are now?” he asked.

There was considerable discourse among the elders this time. Harvath sensed in all but Baseer a reluctance to cooperate and give up Massoud’s location. Finally, the chief elder said, “We are not certain, but we think we may know where he is.”

“How many men did he take with him?”

Baseer calculated in his head and then replied, “The Russian left first. We believe it was shortly after he killed Elam Badar. Massoud wasn’t here. He was at a meeting with Taliban commanders in another province. The Russian took the woman, Massoud’s brother, Zwak, and ten of Massoud’s men. They left in three trucks.

“When Massoud returned to the village and heard that they had left, he organized about thirty men and divided them into six trucks. They left the village two trucks at a time to avoid drawing a Predator strike.”

Massoud was smart. If they traveled in too big a group or drove too many people to the same place, they would attract a lot of attention to themselves. “How many of his men did he leave behind here?”

Baseer conversed with his colleagues. “At least sixty,” he stated. “Maybe seventy-five.”

Seventy-five? thought Harvath to himself. That was a hell of a lot more than the “no more than ten” Usman had claimed. That kid either needed a remedial arithmetic class, or he was lying. Harvath felt pretty certain it was the latter. He also wondered if the boy had been lying about delivering food to his flu-stricken relatives. Whatever the case, Harvath was suddenly glad he had taken Asadoulah’s advice and avoided the Taliban buildings that dotted his original route.

“You said you think you know where Massoud and the Russian may be,” replied Harvath as he removed his map and spread it on the rug between himself and the elders. “Please show me.”

Baseer studied the map and asked questions of the other members of the shura before responding. “Here,” he said. “Here is where Massoud will be.”

“What is it?” asked Harvath as he removed a pen and marked the location.

“It is a high summer pasture for animal grazing; very difficult to access, especially this time of year. There will still be much ice and snow there.”

“Can you think of any place else Massoud might have gone?”

Baseer smiled and swept his hands wide. “He has many subcommanders and many allies throughout Afghanistan. He could have left for Pakistan, the Northwest Frontier Province, the Swat Valley.”

Of course, the old man was right. Massoud could be anywhere. Harvath massaged his eyes as he drew his fingers in to pinch the bridge of his nose. His back was beginning to ache again, and he wished he’d brought more Motrin with him.

“But,” said the chief elder, interrupting Harvath’s thoughts, “we don’t think Massoud went to any of those other places.”

“Why not?” asked Harvath.

“Because of the Russian. There are very few places the Russian would be welcome without Massoud. The Russian also was running a very big risk by taking the woman. It was an act of desperation. He needed to go someplace close, someplace safe that he knew he could reach quickly. It would have been someplace he knew. That is why we believe he went to the pasture compound.”

“I thought you said it was very difficult to access.”

“Difficult,” said Baseer, “but not impossible. If I was the Russian, it is where I would have gone.”

Daoud leaned over the map and, after surveying it, pointed just below where the pasture was located and added, “If this is where they went, they would have passed through this village right here.”

Harvath studied the map again. “Which means, someone there would have noticed all of those vehicles passing through.”

The interpreter nodded. “I know this village. It’s not very big. The people there definitely would have noticed.”

For all Harvath knew, it could be a wild-goose chase, but he was inclined to trust the intuition of the village elders. What’s more, their read of how the Russian would rationalize his moves made sense. It was also the best lead they had.