Full Black - Brad Thor [143]
We stand ready to serve in Allah’s great and just cause, wrote Karami.
I bet you do, thought Standing. Why was I not told about the Mufti’s nephew? The Mufti of Jihad was the pen name Aazim Aleem had been known by throughout the Muslim world for his sermons on jihad.
It took Karami a moment to type his response. To his credit, he didn’t lie. You should have been told.
You’re damn right I should have been, was what Standing wanted to say, but instead he wrote, Where is the nephew now?
We do not know.
If the authorities have him, how much of a danger will he be to our operation?
That we also do not know.
Standing was further tempted to ask what the hell they did know, but then Karami added to his last transmission saying, We must assume he knows everything the Mufti himself knew.
So, Karami wasn’t a complete fool after all. I agree, typed Standing.
We stand ready, the terrorist stated again.
Standing typed the words Orange and Yellow, then hit Send.
When?
Orange is to happen Monday, replied Standing, who had been wrestling with the timing for the follow-up. He needed the orange attacks to get extensive, deep coverage before the next attack. It was a gamble, though. If Aazim’s nephew knew everything the uncle did and the Carlton Group broke him, he’d be lucky to see any more attacks.
And yellow? Karami asked.
Wait forty-eight hours after the orange events have been reported. Then you may launch yellow.
Insha’Allah, we will be much more successful this time.
Insha’Allah, Standing agreed before ending the conversation and exiting Skype.
The Chinese seemed almost to have designed this next wave of attacks with him in mind. Not only would it help further push the United States into a state of incredibly disruptive chaos, but he had even found a way to profit by it. America was indeed an incredible country.
CHAPTER 63
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
After leaving the Carlton Group offices, Harvath had driven straight home, taken a quick shower, shaved, and fallen into bed. He wasn’t going to be any good to anyone if he didn’t get some rest.
When his phone rang, it drew him out of a very deep sleep. Fumbling blindly over the nightstand, he felt around until he found his BlackBerry. Without opening his eyes, he activated the call and brought the device to his ear.
“Scot, it’s Nicholas,” said the little man from up in Reston. “I think I found something.”
“Have you been to sleep at all?”
“No. Listen, you asked me to look into connections between Standing, Ashford, and the attacks.”
“What did you find?” asked Harvath.
“Remember the bomber in Chicago, the one who blew himself up several weeks ago before he could take down that building above the Amtrak tracks?”
“One hundred North Riverside Plaza. Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, I was looking at all of the dots on the map again, trying to figure out what they all meant. Then I threw Standing into the mix and that’s where I think I found something.”
Harvath continued to lie there with his eyes closed. “Keep going.”
“The unrestricted warfare plan calls for terrorist attacks that not only sow fear and cause massive loss of life and property damage, but also do dramatic economic damage, right?”
“Right.”
“James Standing has also called for economic damage to the United States. In fact, he has been quite vocal about it. That got me thinking. If he’s the driving force behind all of this, the guy who put up the money to finance hijacking the blueprint from the Chinese, would he be bold enough to try to turn a profit from all of this?”
“I don’t think Standing got rich by being stupid.”
“You obviously haven’t had much exposure to bankers,” said Nicholas. “I have.”
“You’re saying they’re stupid?”
“No, not stupid, they’re aggressive; very aggressive, and they’re smart as hell. They’re risk-takers to the nth degree, and James Standing