I said, “Don’t appreciate anything just yet. I don’t trust you. I have some parameters. First, Jennifer goes with you. Is that an issue?”

Without hesitation, she said, “No.” And I knew they’d been conspiring.

“Second, you pinpoint him, you call. No direct action, period.”

She glanced at Jennifer, then said, “Pike, that will depend on him.”

I went to Jennifer as well, almost calling it off. She gave a slight nod. I said, “No. I want your word. No unilateral action.”

She clenched her jaw, staring at me. Finally, she said, “Okay. You have my word.”

I saw Jennifer relax at her statement, then my computer came alive.

“Pike, Pike, this is Knuckles. I got a hit on that second phone. It’s in a two-story flat in Trastevere. Looking at it through optics. Photos coming.”

85

Jacob watched Omar check the placement of the explosive vest. After he was satisfied, Omar said, “How does it feel?”

Carlos said, “Same as it always does. It’s actually a little lighter with the Kevlar ball bearings instead of the steel ones we practiced with in Syria.”

“You need to look natural at all times. People will be studying everyone who arrives. Anything that sets off an alarm in someone’s mind could result in a physical search.”

Carlos nodded, saying, “It’s no different from stealing from a store. They always have people wandering around looking for suspicious characters.”

Omar slapped him lightly on the cheek. “Listen up, both of you. You aren’t taking a candy bar without paying. You’re killing the most revered Christian on Earth. They will be looking, and you need to be flawless.”

Jacob said, “I’ll be there. Don’t worry. Yeah, it’s a killing, but we’ve done things like this before. Devon once walked out of a store with a complete car stereo, and when he was stopped, he convinced the security guard he’d already paid. Trust me, they can remain calm.”

Omar said, “Devon, how does yours feel?”

“Same.”

“Put on your shirts and jackets. Thread the detonating tube down your sleeve, but wait on the neckties until we do final adjustments.”

They did so and Omar had them turn in a circle. He nodded his head in approval. “You can’t even tell they’re in place.”

Devon and Carlos smiled at the praise. Omar said, “Okay, where do you put the detonator?”

In unison, both said, “Right front jacket pocket.”

“And your cell phones?”

“In our hands at all times.”

“And you can remove the blasting caps and initiation chemicals from the phones? You should be able to do that blindfolded by now.”

Carlos said, “Yes, we worked with the real cell phone yesterday. It’s not the same as the blocks of wood we used in Syria, but not that much different.”

“They are charged? Look real?”

They nodded in unison. Omar said, “Remember, you have to make sure that lever on the side locks up. And to both press and release the button. Don’t forget the dead man’s switch. I don’t want to see a picture of you on the news running forward, waiting on it to go off, only to be shot.”

Jacob said, “Our time is running short. We have to meet Father Brimm in less than forty-five minutes.”

Omar said, “First, the videos. The evidence supporting the Islamic State.”

Jacob said, “Omar, we should have done that earlier. You’re going to make a video that most likely won’t even be found.”

Omar said, “They’ll find it. Eventually, they’ll figure out everything we did and they’ll come to this house. Even if they don’t, you and I can speed things up by telling them where it’s hidden. Unless you’d rather make the speech inside the basilica. Be the martyr.”

Omar had called Father Brimm earlier, giving him his fabrication of being sick. He’d asked for the Father’s help with his boys, and Brimm had agreed, telling him that all three were cleared. Which meant Jacob could be back in play with the original plan. Outside of earshot of Devon and Carlos, Jacob had reiterated what he wanted, refusing to take the martyr’s role and stressing the value of the planned diversion. Omar hadn’t fought him then, and Jacob wasn’t going to start the argument all over again now.

Jacob said, “Let’s get it over with.”

Time was running short, but truthfully Jacob didn’t want to watch his friends make a martyr tape. Didn’t want to participate in the macabre ceremony. Even given what he was about to do, seeing his two best friends bragging about killing themselves seemed obscene.

Omar set up the same GoPro camera he’d used in Tirana, Devon and Carlos against a wall, grisly smiles on their faces. The scene reminding Jacob of the forced Christmas photos he’d taken at the school. The ones sent out as postcards for donations, proving the “good” the Christian evangelists did for the downtrodden and misguided.

Standing together, both Carlos and Devon read from a prepared speech, highlighting their detonators and their original, true-name passports. After an enthusiastic denunciation of infidels and the proclamation of infallibility of the Islamic State, it was done. Carlos and Devon’s conversion complete.

Omar left the camera in plain view on the kitchen table and said, “You know where to meet Father Brimm?”

Jacob said, “Yes. Left colonnade outside of Saint Peter’s Square at the first aid station. I looked on Google Earth.”

“And the restroom?”

“Just past security, right side at the facade to the basilica.”

“Remember, don’t ask to use it until you’re through final security. If you do it before, they’ll direct you to one outside of security. And that would do no good.”

“I got it, I got it. We need to go.”

Omar picked up a small duffel bag, the canvas cloaking the final vest. He drew himself up to his full height, his eyes showing fire. Jacob expected him to make a speech, but all he did was shake the hands of both Carlos and Devon.

He said, “Time to make history.”

86

Crammed into the Fiat with four other people, I really did feel somewhat like a clown. I would have driven, or at least called shotgun, but I had way too much coordinating to do. Jennifer was behind the wheel, with Shoshana in the passenger seat acting as navigator. Shoehorned into the bench seat in back with me were Brett and Aaron, all working through the assault.

Knuckles was still in the aircraft overhead, with orders to loiter until I called him again. Retro, with his leg wound, had been given the unenviable task of acting as the headquarters element, doing LTC Alexander’s job with Kurt Hale and the Taskforce.

He’d bitched, of course, but given the stakes of the attack, I needed someone switched-on talking to the Taskforce. I told him he shouldn’t have been a bullet magnet.

I’d thought long and hard about going unilateral on this mission instead of alerting host-nation security forces, and decided it was the only way to solve the problem. I knew I could have passed the target information to Kurt, and he’d in turn get it to the Italians, but the time lag was just too great. In my mind, all I could think about was duplicating the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, with a bunch of Italian police blundering in without the right information, then Omar and Jacob escaping and slaughtering everyone they met on a bid to flee.

I knew the target and the threat they posed. And my team was one of the best on Earth.

I decided to act.

In the middle, Brett held a tablet with the photos taken from our eye in the sky. Knuckles had given a 360 to the target, with multiple digital images showing the building, as well as the roads around it.