Ten pm. Zeb and his team still in their office. The remains of a takeout dinner on the table.
His friends had gotten the connection to Malek Ashtar University of Technology, MUT, the moment he spoke it aloud.
The establishment, along with Imam Hossein University, another educational institution, was well-known in intelligence circles. Both organizations had close ties to Iran’s Ministry of Defense. MUT was suspected of carrying out weapons research for the country. Nuclear, chemical, biological, though nothing had been proven.
‘Mostofi going there,’ Broker had shifted uneasily, ‘that’s not a good sign.’
‘It’s been checked out by the United Nations. Several times,’ Chloe blew hair out of her face. ‘And, didn’t Mossad kill that professor?’
‘Nazer,’ Beth confirmed. ‘The man behind Iran’s bio and chemical weapons program. Yeah, the Israelis took him out. Iran doesn’t have any capability now. MUT and Imam Hossein University are closely watched by every Western intelligence agency in the world. They are inspected by independent agencies. There’s no sign that any unconventional weapons research is being conducted there or anywhere else in the country.’
‘Why are they going there, in that case?’
‘Let’s see if Nassour leads us to anything,’ Meghan had said.
That had been some time ago.
Zeb read up on the university, went through the dossiers of Mostofi’s aides yet again and then leaned back. He was closing his eyes when he noticed Beth stiffen. She was hunched over her screen, headphones wrapped around her ears. Meghan tensed a moment later. The elder twin made a circle in the air with her finger, drawing their attention.
‘Nassour’s calls,’ she said shortly and pressed play on her screen.
The first one was an incoming one from a truck driver. Chloe gasped when it ended.
‘But—’
‘There are more calls,’ Beth cut her off.
Nassour’s voice came on. Speaking to a Golzar. Asking his readiness for a mission.
The sisters were taut when they faced Zeb and the others.
‘Hold up,’ Zeb said when Beth was about to speak. ‘I thought we had EMP-ed the cameras and comms at Shahriar.’
‘We did. Suleiman was a passing truck driver it looks like. We’ve got ears on Nassour. We’ll know soon enough what the driver’s got.’
Zeb nodded. We’re good even if he’s captured us on his phone. We were in disguise and don’t look like that anymore. All the vehicles had forged plates.
‘Who’s Golzar in that second call?’ Bwana rubbed his chin, the rasp of his stubble sounding loud in the office.
‘Karim Golzar, Quds Force operative based in Imam Ali Garrison. Has carried out several missions in Israel, Syria, Iraq. I’ve forwarded you his file.’
‘That’s right,’ Meghan’s eyes gleamed. ‘He hooked his phone to his laptop finally. He went to their intranet and downloaded this operative’s dossier. Nope,’ she read the question in Zeb’s eyes. ‘That software isn’t smart enough to read keystrokes. We don’t have his login credentials. We’ve got his calendar too. See.’ She shifted to show her screen.
‘They have a shared calendar system,’ Beth continued. ‘They can see one another’s appointments. Here’s Mostofi’s.’ She punched keys and zoomed in on a week.
‘That’s when he’s making a public speech.’ She pointed to a date.
Zeb stilled when it sank into him.
‘Fourth of July.’