The Tile system claimed a one-year shelf life, but it was operating on low-voltage Bluetooth. You had to be fairly close to the device before it registered. Ours was broadcasting a much more powerful signal, and that, coupled with the size restrictions, gave us a useful life of about forty-eight hours. That was it. Anything more would require a bigger battery, and that would require a bigger beacon. Unlike Hollywood, even the Taskforce couldn’t break the laws of physics.

Jennifer said, “Roger. Got it. Moving.”

Brett came on. “The Internet café is on a street with multiple avenues of approach. We can box it, but if he’s leaving on foot, we can’t cover all the alleys.”

Walking down the stairs, I realized I didn’t have a car to control the surveillance effort. I was supposed to take Jennifer’s car when she entered. I said, “Knuckles, Knuckles, come get me.”

He came on. “I can’t. If I do, we lose the exit to the north. I’m already moving.”

I looked at my phone, seeing the dots showing the team. I said, “Blood, swing right. Pick up Knuckles. Drop him off north of the café, then circle south. Knuckles, leave the keys in the ignition. We’ll be there in five.”

Knuckles said, “Pike, the streets are all one way. We do that, and we’re going to lose him. Blood will have to do a loop, crossing the canal. He’ll be tied up in traffic trying to get back and won’t get in position. Stay Foxtrot. Catch up when you can.”

The call countermanding me was uncharacteristic for Knuckles, and made me rethink my plan. If he said it was an issue, it probably was. But that didn’t alter the fact that I couldn’t control a surveillance effort walking on the sidewalk.

Jennifer came on. “Pike, Pike, this is Koko. I dropped off Aaron. I’m circling around. I’ll be across the river and cut back down the avenue leading to the soccer stadium. I’ll be there in five.”

I said, “Roger all. Meet us there.”

I heard the calls from the team, all trying to find a location that would prevent the escape of the target.

Shoshana, sick of being out of the loop, said, “What the hell is going on?”

I said, “Rashid went to a different Internet café. Your lover boy is in play. Hopefully, we get something.”

Her face turned feral and she said, “We will. If Aaron’s in with him, we’ll get all we need.”

I started jogging up the street, running past the host-nation police guarding our embassy, then paused at the crosswalk for the road leading to the stadium, Shoshana following without question.

Brett came on, saying, “I’ve got a reading from the Dragontooth, but no picture. Is it a false signal?”

I stopped, telling Shoshana, “Call Aaron. Find out his status.”

She did. I waited at the intersection, seeing the soccer stadium in the distance. Jennifer came on. “I’m here. Where are you?”

I said, “Hang on. Stand by.”

Shoshana hung up and said, “He got the beacon on, and got a photo. Coming out now.”

My phone buzzed, and I saw a picture of a middle-aged swarthy man, could be Italian or Mexican. But I knew what he was. I said, “Everyone got it? Blood, you got it?”

He said, “Yeah, I got it, and I’ve got eyes on. Moving south towards the park. I’m on him. Gotta ditch the car, but if I do and he gets picked up, I’m done.”

“Do it. Knuckles, pick up Aaron, then vector on Blood’s signal.”

We crossed the street, headed to the soccer stadium, and Shoshana said, “Are we doing anything for the surveillance, or just getting exercise?”

I realized she was still out of the loop because she wasn’t on our communications net. I filled her in on everything I knew.

56

Rashid continued walking nonchalantly, not hurrying or doing anything that would spike the dozens of security cameras on the bars and stores he was passing. Blloku—or the Block—had been the heart of the Soviet empire in Albania, a section of the city that had housed the communist elite of the regime. Surrounded by vestiges of the old police state, with preserved pillboxes and sections of barbed-wire walls, Rashid understood that others believed the relics showed the death of the old guard, but he held no illusions that the surveillance state had gone with it.

He continued south, crossing streets and keeping a wary eye. He eventually reached a small restaurant outside the gates of Tirana Park, two policeman standing guard. He slowed, watching them as he pretended to wait on the traffic. Clearly bored, they spent more time looking at the women coming and going than for any potential threat.

He skipped across and threaded between them, drawing no attention, but it reminded him to be careful on the return. When they were following Omar.

He walked about a hundred meters and saw two men leaning against a small wooden bridge spanning a creek. His men.

They saw him coming and stood. He took a left onto a footpath, walked uphill fifty meters until he came to a park bench, and sat down, waiting for them to catch up.

When they did, he wasted no time. “Where is he?”

“At the amphitheater. As predicted. He’s inside right now.”

Rashid nodded. “And he came up this path?”

“Yes.”

“Can he leave without using this path?”

Hashim said, “Well, yes. Of course. This park has multiple exits with official stone walkways, and maybe forty more like the one we’re on now. Just dirt paths leading back to the city.”

Rashid nodded, thinking. He said, “Okay, so we have to get close. But not too close. We don’t want to upset the meeting. Just follow him to where he’s staying. I do not want to scare him. Let him do the mission, then follow. Understood?”

Both nodded their heads.

He said, “Can we see the theater from a distance?”

“Yes and no. It’s in a bowl, leading to the lake. From the top, we can see the building he’s in, but if he leaves through the amphitheater, going to the lake, we’ll lose him. We need someone low and high.”

“And you’ve been there? You know where you can spot the exit?”

“Yes. It’s not difficult. There are people all over the area, most just sitting on benches or lying in the grass. It won’t be an issue. The problem will be following him if he doesn’t take the flagstone walkways. If he takes a footpath, we’ll be behind him and he’ll know. We can’t follow him through the woods like that.”

Rashid said, “One problem at a time. You both are armed?”

Hashim said yes, but looked alarmed. Rashid said, “Don’t worry. I don’t expect anything to happen, but I told you, this man is death. He has an instinct. Don’t give him a reason to use it.”

*   *   *

I saw Jennifer patiently waiting outside of the soccer stadium and sprinted to catch up, Shoshana right behind me. I slid into the passenger seat, hearing Shoshana slamming the back door. I looked at the icons on my phone and said, “Get to the front of the park. Stop short of the entrance.”

She put the car in drive without a word and I started working the radio. “All elements, all elements, this is Pike. I’m mounted and headed to the university parking lot. I’ll control from there. Status?”

Brett came on first. “This is Blood. I’m still the eye. He’s inside the park, and he’s meeting two other targets. He’s got a team here, and something’s going down. Stand by for photos.”

Shit.

My phone blipped and I saw two more swarthy individuals. I said, “I want you to be clear: You think he’s operational right now? As in an attack?”

I heard, “Stand by.”

Then, “Meeting’s breaking up. They’re spreading out. Two UNSUBS and the target. All headed separate ways.”

I thought about the ramifications. The park was full of kids and families. Why on earth would he do an attack here? What would it get him? Albania wasn’t exactly on the list of crusader heathen states, being a majority Muslim country. I asked Brett again, putting a lot on his shoulders, “What’s your read? Do we need to close for intervention? Is this a threat?”