‘You ran these faces through our database?’ Mostofi squinted at the printouts that Nassour presented to him the next day.
‘Yes, agha. I got these photographs from the trucker, blew them up but found no match.’
‘They look like sisters.’
‘Twins, agha,’ Nassour bit his lip. Rage flooded him at the thought of how easily he had been played.
‘Mossad has started using more and more women operatives,’ Mostofi murmured, still hunched over the images. ‘Remember that woman, Layla Hadar?’
‘Yes, agha.’
‘What about the other missiles?’ he sat back and pushed the images away.
‘Nothing on those, agha,’ Nassour said apologetically. ‘No cameras, no witnesses, we didn’t get any luck there.’
‘Keep looking. Is that your man’s file?’
‘Yes, agha,’ Nassour handed him Golzar’s file. ‘You won’t need to interview the other men once you’ve read my man’s accomplishments.’
‘So confident of him?’
‘Agha, you know I am one of the best killers in Quds.’
‘Yes,’ Mostofi acknowledged. ‘That’s how you came to my notice. However, you had brains too, which was why I pulled you from the field.’
‘Karim Golzar is better than me.’
The Quds boss raised his eyebrows. That was high praise. ‘We shall see,’ he said dismissively. ‘Make arrangements for tomorrow. For Kharg,’ he called out as his aide was leaving.
‘Yes, agha.’
Mostofi didn’t reach for Golzar’s file when he was alone. He picked up the photographs and examined them again.
He turned to his screen and logged into his system. Accessed a directory that only he and his aides had permission to access.
It was the file on the Agency. He flicked through Carter’s photograph and that of the others. Broker, Bear, Bwana, Roger, Chloe, Beth and Meghan their names were burned in his memory. There. The sisters. His eyes flicked from the screen to the printouts on his desk. No, there was no similarity.
They would have used disguises, if it is them.
He called Nassour on his cell. ‘You ran facial recognition on those photographs?’
‘Yes, agha. Like I said, nothing turned up.’
Mostofi hung up. Nope those women weren’t Carter’s twins.
They wouldn’t dare enter Iran. I’ve got our country sealed tight. Besides, the Americans would have been spotted at the airports. No, he was very sure these women were Mossad and Carter and his crew were in the US.
Still, it didn’t hurt to make one last check. That was why he was the most successful counter-intelligence head in the world.
He logged into a website on his laptop, a dating site and browsed through the profiles until he found one. Scanned the photographs and transferred them to his laptop. Uploaded them to the message he was typing.
‘Are these your friends?’ he asked. ‘It would be great to party with you and them.’
The reply came an hour later.
‘Yes. Parvin and Mahya are just two of my friends. I have more. We’ll have one grand bash when I return.’
Mostofi pursed his lips and blew his breath. His plant, the Iranian clerk in Mossad, had come good. He wasn’t surprised that the man had confirmed the identities of the kidon. His agent had been feeding him critical intel for several months. It looked like he had inserted himself into a position of trust despite his low rank.
He was both relieved and miffed. Glad that the women weren’t Agency operatives. The Americans would have been formidable opponents. They could have screwed up my plans. He was disappointed at the same time. Carter in Tehran … he would have turned the entire city, heck the whole country upside down to find the man. He would have trapped the American and would have then taken his sweet time in capturing him, torturing and finally killing him.
He reread the message and reached for his phone.
‘Parvin and Mahya, those are their names,’ he barked at Nassour.
‘How did you find out, agha? So soon?’
‘I have my ways,’ he said airily. ‘They are not working alone. It looks like they have a team with them.’
‘I suspected something like that, agha. I think I can find them today. I will return to Grand Bazaar in the evening.’
‘What is it Habib?’ he commanded when his aide hesitated. ‘Spit it out.’
‘I have got my team, agha, however, I would like to use Karim Golzar as well tonight. To capture them. You can see how he works … I mean, you won’t be there—’
‘Do it. Relieve him from his base and use him. But, only for this. He should return to Imam Ali after tonight. As it is, he’s getting an advantage over the others.’
‘Thank you, agha. We won’t let you down.’
Nassour hung up after his boss ended the call. He had nearly blurted the sisters’ second name. That would have raised awkward questions from Mostofi. If he found out I had chai with them … he shuddered. No. The Quds commander would never find out about that.
He called Golzar.
‘Karim,’ he said, his tone official.
‘Yes, agha,’ the operative recognized his voice.
‘Get to my office by three pm.’
‘Today, agha?’
‘Yes. I am working out of the Presidential Administration Building. I will have a security pass made for you.’
‘Is this about that mission, agha?’
‘No. But this is just as important. And, come in your uniform and sidearm. No civilian clothes. I will instruct the base commander to relieve you.’
‘I’ll be there, agha.’
Nassour made more calls and put together a team of six crack operatives. That’s eight of us including Karim and me. That would be enough.
Those women might be Mossad, but they hadn’t come across the best of Quds.
Shall I rape them after capturing them? He toyed with a pen as he thought about it. He and the other aides had often joined their boss in torturing prisoners, many of whom were women and children. They suspected that Mostofi raped some of his captives as well, but hadn’t seen that.
I will have my fun, he decided. His loins stirred at that.
They deserved it, for making him look like a fool.