Foreign Influence_ A Thriller - Brad Thor [77]
“That’s right,” said Vaughan. “Based on the calls we’ve made, he hasn’t gotten on any airplanes out of town.”
“But he could have hopped on a bus, a train, or borrowed a car and left.”
“That’s correct.”
Levy took another bite of yogurt. This time, he licked both sides of the spoon afterward. “Why do you think he’s inside?”
Vaughan could feel Davidson’s glance, begging him to notice how Levy was licking the spoon, and he tried to ignore it. “We saw a lot of this stuff in Iraq. They know we won’t come into a mosque unless we’ve got a mountain of overwhelming evidence. Especially in the U.S., it’s political suicide. The mosque is a sanctuary for these guys. We’d never in a million years think of doing in a church or a synagogue what they do in their mosques.”
“Nor would any priest or rabbi put up with it,” added Davidson. “I can’t imagine what my priest would say if I told him, ‘Father, we’re going to go shoot up a girls’ school, plant a few roadside bombs, and be back for lunch. Don’t let anyone into the room downstairs where we keep all of the rifles and grenade launchers, okay?’”
Levy chuckled, though they all appreciated the fact that the reality of it wasn’t that funny. “I guess that’s one of the many differences between Islam and the rest of the world.”
“You can say that again.”
Vaughan looked at the monitor feed for one of the infrared cameras mounted in the van’s side-view mirrors. “In Iraq, we’d know guys we wanted were inside a particular mosque, sometimes we’d chase them right up the front steps, but then we couldn’t do anything. We’d have to wait until Iraqi soldiers got on site.”
“Iraqi Muslim soldiers,” added Davidson for clarification.
“Exactly. We infidels couldn’t go inside. At least we couldn’t lead the charge.”
“Why the hell not?” asked Levy, as he took another bite of yogurt.
“Because nobody wanted it to look like we were waging a crusade against Islam.”
Levy licked both sides of his spoon once more and said, “That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard.”
Vaughan nodded. “I agree.”
“So they think we’ll treat their mosques here in the U.S. the same way we do in Iraq?”
“Up to now, that’s exactly how we’ve treated them. It’s not just hands off, it’s hands way off.”
Levy shook his head. “Political correctness is going to be the death of Western civilization.”
“I hope you’re wrong, but there’s no question that our enemies are using political correctness against us.”
“You can say that again,” replied Davidson. “Muslim ‘honor’ killings are becoming an epidemic in the U.S., but do you think it gets reported by the media? No. Wife and child beatings are through the roof, but the media ignore those as well. Point out what’s wrong with Muslim culture and you’re automatically labeled a racist. It’s like shunning the guy on the Titanic who says he sees water in the forward bulkhead.”
Levy finished his yogurt and placed the empty cup in the bag and zipped the top shut again.
Vaughan checked his watch. “The evening Ishaa prayers will be over soon.”
“Think Nasiri will stick his head out?” asked Davidson.
“You never know. Terrorists make a lot of stupid mistakes.”
“Not this guy,” said Levy.
Vaughan and Davidson both looked at him. “How would you know?” asked Davidson.
“If he’s up to what you think he is, you have to assume he didn’t get his job by being stupid. And if he felt the heat was so intense that he had to flee to the mosque, even a storefront mosque, then you have to give him enough credit that he won’t pop his head out until he thinks he can get away with it.”
Vaughan nodded in agreement.
“Which means,” continued Levy, “that eventually we’re going to have to do more than just sit outside here watching the front door.”
He was right, and neither of the other two men in the surveillance van could argue with him.
“What are you thinking?” asked Vaughan.
Levy tapped two black Storm cases with the toe of his boot and said, “I think we’re going to have to get more aggressive with our surveillance.”
CHAPTER 36
Levy opened the cases and showed