Protect And Defend

The man from the CIA stepped forward and extended his hand. “Minister Ashani, thank you for coming all this way.”

“Mr. Ridley,” Azad said in perfect English, “you have traveled much further than I.” He shook the man’s hand.

“That’s true,” Ridley replied, “but we still appreciate you making the effort.”

“I appreciate Director Ke

“Who’s that?” Ridley asked.

For a moment Ashani toyed with the idea of telling the American spy the truth. Mukhtar was on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists. The man from the CIA probably had the ability to call in an air strike on very short notice. It would have simplified his life greatly if the man were dead, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Ashani instead chose to ask a question of his own.

“I trust Director Ke

Ridley kept his eye on the other man and watched as the police vehicles began to move. He hoped whoever Stilwell had hired was getting shots of the man. “Yes. As soon as I tell her we are on the way she will move.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to speaking with her.”

31

Director Ke

Stilwell escorted Rapp through the security checkpoint and they found Ke

McDonald had flown in with Ke

McDonald wanted to arrange transportation through General Gifford and one of his Stryker brigades, but one of the negotiating points for the Iranians involved military units. If they saw any American military perso

Rapp was tempted to scrap the entire plan, and put her in the backseat of one of Stilwell’s beat-up sedans, but it wasn’t his call. In an effort to reassure McDonald he explained that he and Stilwell would be directly across the street during the entire meeting. He went over the arsenal that Stilwell had assembled and told him if anything went wrong they would be able to bring a significant amount of firepower to the fight.

“All you have to do, Mac, is get her to the meeting and back to the base. I checked out the entire neighborhood with Stilwell last night. He’s got the thing wired. He’s had lookouts posted since seven this morning. Four of them. Two blocks away in every direction. He knows the owner of the café, and he’s got a half dozen Kurds on standby. These guys know the neighborhood. Who belongs there and who doesn’t. If anything doesn’t seem right they’ll let us know.”

“What do you think of the route?” McDonald asked as he pointed at a map with a red line showing the roads they would take.

Rapp studied the options. On the bright side, they were only five miles from the airport. The only worry was the directness of the route. “I think you made the right call. You could take her north and across one of the bridges but it would double if not triple the length of time you’ll have her on the road, and you still have to get her back to this main road, which, Stilwell told me, is like the Indy five hundred with bombs.”

“I know. I was already briefed by the base commander. He put sniper teams out last night and has a bomb unit on standby.”

Rapp looked at the map again. “I think you’ve got the right idea here. Limit her exposure. Get her from point A to point B as quick as you can.”

“All right.” McDonald studied the map. “This isn’t like Washington.”

“No,” Rapp said, “it sure as hell isn’t.”

The door to the communications trailer opened, and Ke

“Good morning, boss.” Rapp checked out her outfit. She was wearing a pair of black hiking boots, a pair of jeans, and a formfitting black jacket called a manteau. A black hijab was draped around her neck and shoulders. Ke

Ke

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“You look tired.” She studied him with a frown.

Rapp pointed at her and looked at McDonald. “She’s like my big sister. Does she ever tell you that you look like crap?”

McDonald smiled. “Nope.”

“I didn’t say crap. I said tired.”

“You meant to say crap…you’re just too polite.”

“Well…you look really tired. You have dark circles under your eyes and you…” Ke

“Yes, I’ve been smoking. That’s what people do over here. Everyone smokes. That’s how you fit in. Otherwise you look like a politically correct American and then they either shoot you or kidnap you, which is a hell of a lot more hazardous to your health than a few smokes.”

“Good point,” Ke

“What’s gone on since last night?”