Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen [97]
“Yes, but she’ll kill me if they interfere unless she’s at death’s door. That will be their orders.”
“Let me know if that satellite comes up aces. Catherine was worried that Rakovac may not keep to the time she set him.”
“Which would be one big headache for me.”
“But you can make it work?”
“I’ll deal with it.” He hung up.
Rakovac got up from his desk and strolled over to the window to look out at the garden. He was feeling the exultant blood surge through his body. The sun was shining brightly, and it was a good sign that all was going to go well.
Of course it would. Killing Catherine was the last piece in the scenario that he’d toyed with for the last nine years.
“Ali Dabala just phoned,” Russo said behind him. “He wants to know why you’ve canceled Philadelphia. He said he wanted Philadelphia.”
“He wants the whole world. Or at least the entire Christian world.”
“He said that the city has historical significance for the Americans. He mentioned the Liberty Bell.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Screw the Liberty Bell.”
“He was very adamant. He wants Philadelphia. Why did you cancel it?”
“Because the baggage handler who was going to do the handoff on the explosives proved unstable. I had a report he was about to break. I couldn’t get a safe substitute at this late date.”
“Unstable. That’s very dangerous,” Russo said. “What if the man—”
“I took care of it. They won’t find the baggage handler’s body and the air strikes can go on as planned. I just eliminated Philadelphia from the agenda. Ali Dabala doesn’t need Philadelphia. The operation is going to go off like clockwork. He has enough cities to make him a big man in Islam.”
“Is that what I’m to tell him? He’ll want to talk to you.”
“I’m going to be busy today. Take the flack. That’s what I pay you for.”
“You’re treating me like a servant.” Russo was frowning. “I’ve been very loyal through the years. I’ve done you favors. I’ve given up a lot for you.”
He stared at him in disbelief. The whining son of a bitch. “And taken a lot in return. You’ll get your payoff as soon as I get mine. Tell Dabala the rest of the cities are golden, and I’ll give my teams in the target cities the go-ahead tomorrow on schedule.” He turned to face him. “Our Catherine has decided to take charge of her fate. She said she’s left the safe haven that Duncan and Quinn provided for her. I’m a bit skeptical, but we’ll see if it turns out to be true. She’s going to be at the Danilovsky Market this afternoon to show me that she’s done as I asked and gotten rid of Duncan and Quinn. It’s almost as if she was throwing down a challenge.” He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Why don’t you have Borzoi take a few men to go and greet her? She’s extremely competent. It will be amusing to see if they can do the job.”
“You want her brought here?”
“I’ll make that decision when I see if they’re able to do it.”
“You said she didn’t have help.”
“As far as I know. Again, we’ll have to see.”
He turned back to the window as Russo left the study. The excitement was growing higher. Tonight. All the years, all the hatred and fear. It was going to end tonight.
You’re so close I can almost touch you, Catherine. How frantic you must be.
And desperate if she left the protection of her friends to expose herself in that market.
He liked the taste of her desperation. It had a bittersweet, coppery flavor.
Like blood.
Chapter
15
“Two o’clock, Helder,” Joe said on the phone to the NSA satellite-control agent. “Don’t be a second late. I don’t know how long she’s going to be able to hold him on the phone.”
“It won’t take us more than thirty seconds to zero in and make the trace,” Helder said. “Our satellite is much more sophisticated than your law-enforcement methods. We’ve got everything developed down to a fine state of science.”
And the men who handled the information gathering of those satellites had developed a fine state of arrogance, Joe thought in annoyance. He glanced down at the dossier on Helder that Venable had provided