Don Pendleton - Gathering Storm

“It’s a point worth noting,” Brognola said.

Calvin James stood to fetch a cup of coffee.

“They’ll be voting Saddam back into power next.”

“May not be as wild as you think, Cal,” Price said. “Not Saddam Hussein, but members of his old regime may be trying to get sympathizers into the ruling party, even if it has to be by the back door. That came from our Israeli sources. They have confirmation on ex-fedayeen behind troubles on the Gaza Strip. Stirring things up among the Palestinians.”

“I wondered when that bunch would stick its head over the parapet again,” McCarter said.

“We knew the fedayeen wouldn’t just fade out of existence,” Brognola said. “They cut and run, but they’re still out there. They won’t quit. Not as long as there’s even the remotest chance they might be able to get back into power again.”

“Bit like the Nazis.”

“David has a point,” Brognola said. “Look how long they carried on after WWII. Even though they were scattered all over the globe, they plotted and planned their comeback. Okay, it didn’t amount to much in terms of retaking power, but they still recruited believers and kept the old guard protected while they were able.”

“The Nazis had a lot going for them,” Encizo pointed out. “Look at the money they had salted away. That gave their organization a lot of clout. Enough money can buy you a lot of power.”

“We’ve already seen an example of Khariza’s fedayeen shopping for weapons,” Brognola said. “This was small-scale dealing. I figure they’re using money they managed to haul out of Iraq once the war started to go against them.”

“Small change,” Kurtzman said. “Cash they kept around for emergencies.”

“The money recovered in Iraq is nothing to what the regime hid over the years,” Brognola said. “Now that we have intel that Razan Khariza is on the scene, it suggests he and his crew are making moves. The big accounts have enough cash in them to buy a couple of small countries. If the fedayeen get their hands on those they’ll have finance to run a war. But until they get their hands on the real money, they are going to use every means available to them. Beg, steal or borrow, Razan Khariza isn’t going to sit back and wait. Hence the weapons deal Phoenix interrupted.”

“What kind of money are we talking about?” Manning asked. “How big does it go?”

“I doubt if anyone knows exactly just how much money the regime salted away over the years,” Brognola said. “It’s common knowledge that the money came from a variety of sources. In the region of $2 billion was literally stolen from the shah of Iran some years back. Then there was oil revenue. Kickbacks on deals. Money siphoned off aid programs. Back-door deals. The regime had backing from investors who helped them negotiate special terms. Even banks chipped in. We’ve had figures of $30 billion in total, but the stuff is so spread about we may never know the actual figure.”

Kurtzman opened one of his files.

“Money was handled by agents, brokers, companies created so that cash could be made to vanish. The regime made extensive use of electronic cash transactions. They were able to move it back and forth across the globe. In effect, the cash was being laundered.”

He brought up an image on one of the large wall screens.

“From Iraq to London. Across to South Africa. Hong Kong and Japan. Even Russia. Down to the Balkans.”

“Looks like it’s done some traveling,” James said. “Aaron, isn’t it possible to follow the electronic trail?”

Kurtzman sighed. “Not as easy as it sounds. The way the money has been pushed around lessens the chances of tagging it. Each transaction weakens the electronic trail. One big chunk would be broken up and distributed among a number of recipients. They would push it further along the path. Some would be put into legitimate businesses. It’s like shuffling a pack of cards before you deal. There’s no way of knowing where a particular card will show up. By the time the cash comes together again, no one knows where it originated.”

“The whole system was designed to conceal what was being done,” Brognola added. “And to make it difficult for what is being attempted now. M-I6, Mossad, CIA, they all have teams out looking for the regime’s missing billions. One thing we did come up with. Aaron put names and faces through the system—Saddam’s agents, his brokers, whatever you want to call them. Key individuals have disappeared. Others we know have died in suspicious circumstances. The conclusion is they were killed by regime hit men as a way of guaranteeing their silence, preventing them giving any information as to where the money might be.”

“If Khariza was such a big noise,” Manning asked, “how come he doesn’t have access to at least some of the cash?”

“Small amounts, no problem,” Brognola said. “But he’ll need the big money to broker his main deals, the kind of money he can’t get without access to the right accounts.”

“Our friend from Mossad, Ben Sharon, has a contact who might be able to give us some guidance,” Price said. “His name was mentioned in Rasheed’s organizer.”

Brognola nodded. “Aaron.”

The screen image changed to show a head-and-shoulders shot of a man in his forties—black hair, clean-shaven, a lean face, bright eyes staring directly at the camera.

“Ibn el Sharii. According to background checks, he was part of Khariza’s staff,” Kurtzman said. “Big Saddam loyalist until the regime had his brother executed as a traitor just before the war. Something about him having been caught in meetings with pro-Western groups. Rumor has it Khariza carried out the execution personally. Insider information tells us that Sharii took the news badly. He realized his own time was running out, so he got out of Iraq before he went the same way as his brother. Before he left he set up a virus in the computer program where the access numbers and codes were stored. The moment anyone tried to access the system to get the account codes, the virus would just corrupt the whole thing and wipe it completely. Sounds like he wanted to leave the regime something to remember him by.”

“Giving the finger to the fedayeen isn’t a good way to stay healthy,” James said.

“Maybe Sharii decided he didn’t have anything more to lose. He stayed low, out of sight in Europe, finally reached London. It was a Mossad agent who spotted him there. Sharon connected the information Abe Keen sent to us with Sharii’s knowledge. Mossad agreed to let Sharon follow through with us because we’ve worked with him before. Mutual needs, really,” Price said. “One more thing. Khariza still has plenty of sympathizers out there. People who agree with his aims. Groups who want us to suffer. They’ll give him help with what money and equipment they can, and they’ll point him in the direction of anyone who he wants to get his hands on.”

“Thing is, you’re right,” Blancanales agreed. “There’s a whole world of help out there for someone like Khariza.”

“They’ll be crawling out of the bloody woodwork,” McCarter said. “Sad thing is, we’ll have people from our own countries ready to help, too.”

“They have their beliefs as much as we do, David.”

McCarter glanced at Brognola. “Don’t I know it. All I’m saying is it makes it harder for us to get to the right people.”

“Aaron has got some more intel for you,” Brognola said. “It should give you background on the missions you’ll be assigned once he’s through. Barbara has logistic details and backgrounds for cover identities. This is up and running, people. The way things are accelerating, we have to start in top gear. It’s obvious the opposition is operating in a number of different areas, so we have to cover what we can. We’re going into this with minimal information. You know my feelings on that, but the President has the bit in his teeth and I can understand his motives. Situations can change fast, and if we don’t stay on top we could be too late if the main event comes out of left field. I know this is throwing you in without much background. It means you’re going to have some location changes. Can’t be helped. Let’s find out what Khariza is up to. Go for anything that might give us answers. The President has given this to us because he knows we’ll locate and terminate without interagency rivalry or internal agendas getting in the way.”