If he broached the hows and whys of his trip to Syria, laying bare his recruitment as a snitch, he would feel the wrath of Jacob. And he’d seen how his friend treated traitors.

He said, “Maybe we should both flee. Maybe you could meet me in Jordan.”

Jacob said, “Maybe so.”

But Hussein knew it wouldn’t happen. Saw the divide growing ever larger between them. Hussein was still clinging to his self-preservation. Still trying to find a way out of the maze of death he’d created.

Jacob was embracing it.

21

For the first time in his career as commander of the Taskforce, Kurt Hale sat to the side as Kerry Bostwick, the director of the CIA, took a pounding. While he would have enjoyed the respite, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man, along with a hefty dose of skepticism as to why he was even in the room. Ali Jaafar Hussein, aka LEOPARD, was turning into a disaster, but it wasn’t a Taskforce problem. This was a mess for the congressional intelligence oversight committees, not for the principals of the Oversight Council.

President Warren shook his head in disgust. “How in the hell did he get from Syria to Jordan?”

Kerry said, “He flew. Some podunk airline from Oguzeli Airport in southern Turkey.”

The secretary of defense said, “How did that happen? I thought you were going to spread his name all over the place.”

Kerry said, “I did, I did. The point was to keep him from coming home. The no-fly list is for people traveling to or from the United States. I can’t help it if a two-bit commuter airline still using paper tickets let him go.”

Billings, the secretary of state, asked, “How did he get through immigration? If you told our allies his name?”

Kerry rubbed his eyes and said, “Once again, that was to prevent him from attempting to come home. To conduct an attack here. Getting out of Turkey from that airport required only a stamp because he has an American passport. I doubt his name was even run. Getting into Jordan required a visa, which he bought at the airport. He was let into the country, but our liaison alerted me, just as I asked. If he’d have tried to board an aircraft to the United States, he would have been stopped.”

President Warren said, “Why didn’t they detain him in Jordan?”

“Because I was afraid of the repercussions. They alerted me, and I thanked them. I couldn’t tell them he was a rogue agent, and I certainly didn’t want them interrogating him. After what happened in Afghanistan with the Jordanian triple agent, if Hussein had said one word about being a US asset, then about beheading someone in Syria, it would be on the world stage. The Jordanians would leak it sure as shit, and we don’t need those complications.”

President Warren said, “So what now?”

Cynically, Kurt wondered if the conversation had been scripted between the president and Kerry. Then realized why he was in the room, even if everyone else didn’t.

Kerry said, “Now we go get him.”

Billings said, “Inside Jordan?”

“Yes. He never reported, but he has information. He can give that up willingly or unwillingly, but he’s going to give it up.”

The SECDEF said, “If you’re going to roll him up in Jordan, why not just do it at the border?”

Billings said, “He’s already through the border, so getting him in Jordan is ridiculous anyway.”

“No, it’s not,” said Kerry, “We have an anchor. We know where his father works in Amman. That’s the only reason he could be in Jordan.”

The SECDEF said, “Then why not just have the Jordanians go get him?”

“The same reasons I said before. I want a clandestine hit. A Taskforce hit. I don’t want anyone even knowing he exists. I can’t do that with CIA assets. We’re too close to Jordanian liaison for an operation like this. Too many equities in play. I stand by my earlier words, but the fact is that we need to maintain our relationship with the Jordanians. They are a staunch ally, and we need their help in the fight. I want to separate this. Keep it clean.”

Kurt heard the words, remaining silent, but already calculating the operational parameters. President Warren said, “Kurt?”

He leaned forward and said, “I can do that. It’s pretty much a textbook operation, and Amman is an easy place to work. We’ve been there many times. As long as you guys are comfortable with me targeting a US citizen, I’m okay with it. It’s a gray line, though. I don’t want to hear any yelling after it’s done.”

President Warren looked around the room, then said, “He cut off a man’s head with a butcher knife. I don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

Kerry said, “You mentioned a team in Istanbul. I was thinking you could redeploy them tonight or tomorrow. Get them on the ground and start working. I’ll give you all the intelligence you need.”

Kurt nodded, thinking, then said, “Yeah, that would be quickest, but I’d like to keep them in Turkey. Their cover is working a natural gas pipeline contract, and that doesn’t translate easily to Jordan. I break them free, and I can’t get them back into Turkey. We might need to pull that trigger later.”

“So you’re saying you can’t do it?”

“No. I’m saying that Jordan has other unique cover opportunities. It’s full of old stuff, all over the country. I already have an established UNESCO world heritage site cover there, and I want to use it.”

Like he was spitting out spoiled milk, Billings said, “You mean Pike.”

Kurt smiled and said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Why him? I thought he was tied up in Nairobi. Surely there’s someone else.”

“There are a lot of archeological sites in Jordan. It’s perfect for his team’s cover. Get him and Jennifer in there, and they’ll have free rein.”

“Free rein to cause an international incident.”

Kurt bristled, and President Warren interrupted. “Enough. We make the Omega call, Kurt decides the operational parameters. So, is it Omega here?”

Kerry said, “Yes, for me. I think it would be best. The quicker we get Hussein under controlled interrogation, the longer we’ll have to determine the inside threats from the Islamic State.”

The president went around the room, and the Oversight Council raised their hands one by one, with Billings being the only dissenting vote.

President Warren said, “Looks like you’ve got your Omega. Get Pike moving.”

22

After waiting much longer than he thought he would, Ali Hussein began to believe his father had decided to ignore him, which brought a sliver of fear. Ringo and his team were supposed to arrive from Ma’an tomorrow, and if he couldn’t deliver, he was sure he’d be discarded, his throat cut, left to bleed out in an unnamed village in the desert.

He glanced around the cavernous lobby of the Grand Hyatt, seeing a woman at the reception desk stealing furtive glances his way. Soon enough, one of the security guards manning the metal detectors at the door would ask him his business, then ask him to leave.

He stood up, thinking he’d go to the restroom just to quell the heat of the glares, when he saw a man coming across the lobby. He stared, trying to remember, peeling back layers of vague recollections from a lifetime ago. Trying to reconcile the person walking with a wrinkled, yellowed photo of his father taken fifteen years earlier. The only one he’d ever seen.

He thought it might be him. When the man looked him dead in the eye, he knew it was. He waited, shifting from foot to foot and running through in his head what he had come to call “The Speech.”

As he got closer, Hussein saw he was well groomed and immaculately dressed, with a pair of crossed gold keys on his lapel.