Full Black - Brad Thor [90]
“What about the names Chase gave us? Karami? Sabah? Some Sheikh from Qatar?”
“It’s all in the blender. We just have to see what we get out.”
Harvath turned to Carlton. “How about any IDs of the cell members Chase took out in the safe house?”
“We’re working on that,” said the Old Man. “We’re also working on seeing if their forensics teams uncovered anything from the apartment building across the street where the explosion happened. For the moment, the Swedes are being very tight-lipped. They suspect the involvement of a foreign intelligence service and until they feel they’ve figured out who it was, they’re not talking with anyone.”
“I assumed you would have already helped them out with that.”
“It’s in the works. Trust me. Subtlety is a delicate art. It requires patience.”
“These guys, though, could begin lighting up American cities this morning,” replied Harvath. “There’s got to be something else we can do.”
“What you can do is go home and get some rest,” said the Old Man. “I want you ready to move as soon as we do hear something.”
Harvath was wiped out. He knew he needed sleep. Draining what was left of his cup, he stood up. “As soon as we hear from Iceland with the medical assessment on Mansoor, I want somebody to call me. They need to start interrogating him as quickly as possible. We have to access his cloud.”
“In the meantime,” said Carlton, “we’re working every other angle we have.”
“We still don’t have anything on who targeted my car in Yemen with that RPG, though, do we?”
The Old Man shook his head. “No. Not yet.”
“Obviously,” interjected Nicholas, “someone didn’t want the U.S. interrogating Aazim Aleem.”
“Obviously,” replied Harvath. “Whoever was responsible for having Aazim killed didn’t want him revealing either who he worked for or what the scope of his operation was.”
“There’s one thing that bothers me about all that. Whoever hijacked the unrestricted-warfare plan was running Aazim via whatever cutout the Chinese had established, ostensibly the Sheikh from Qatar. We don’t know if the Sheikh is a real person that members of the network have ever met with, or if he’s some disembodied figure who only communicates through emails or telephone calls.”
“What are you getting at?” asked Harvath.
“I don’t think Aazim was taken out to prevent him from revealing who gave him his marching orders. He couldn’t give away intelligence he didn’t actually possess.”
“So then he was targeted to prevent revealing the scope of his operation.”
“That’s what bothers me,” said Nicholas. “You and Chase were sitting at an outdoor café within sight of your car when it exploded. You said the RPG came from a rooftop a block or two away?”
Harvath nodded.
“Why silence Aazim? Why not simply aim the RPG a couple of degrees in the other direction and take out you and Chase at the café? In the ensuing chaos, Aazim could have been released from the trunk and then spirited away, disappearing yet again.”
Both Harvath and the Old Man looked at Nicholas. He had made an excellent point. “Don’t get me wrong,” he added. “I’m sure whoever was running Aazim didn’t want him interrogated. But it would have made more sense to kill you. The fact that he’s dead means that he either made someone very angry or had outlived his usefulness.”
“Or both,” said Carlton.
“Or both,” agreed Nicholas. “But with Aazim gone, there’s definitely tension and uncertainty within the network. I think that’s why this Karami character wanted Mansoor brought to Sweden. Maybe he doesn’t trust the Sheikh from Qatar. Maybe he wanted to pump Mansoor for as much information as possible. If that’s true, then maybe we can find a way to exploit the upheaval and use it to our advantage.”
“That’s a good idea,” replied Harvath as he said