Habib Nassour hurried out of Mostofi’s office. Pulled out his cell phone and checked that he was alone in the hallway.
‘Golzar,’ he said when his man came on the line. ‘Get back here. From now on, you’ll be staying with me. No, don’t argue. That’s what the boss and I have decided. Yes, it’s related to that shooting in Fereydoun. Yes, we need to work out when you’ll be injected with USX-74.’ He laughed. ‘I know, that’s a mouthful. Let’s call it USX.’
He hung up and dialed his security detail and ordered them to have more people and be alert. He looked at the photographs in his hand, his fingers absently tracing the twins’ faces. What were their names? Meghan and Beth Petersen.
Habib Nassour didn’t like to be made to look like a fool. He was proud of himself and Quds. He worshipped Siavash Mostofi, his boss.
Agha thinks Carter is the best. I will prove him wrong. I will give him the American.
A plan began to form in his mind.
‘I didn’t expect to see you so soon,’ Reza Zarhagi smiled at his visitors.
Zeb and the twins were in Naeem’s, in the same private dining room where they had met the previous day. The Iranian survivor had shown no expression when they showed up in their disguises.
‘Nargess,’ he had kissed Meghan on the cheek, ‘I know that’s you underneath. I can guess who the others are.’
‘Have chai,’ he filled their cups with beverage from a flask. ‘Your other friends didn’t come?’
‘No, they’ve got other work.’ Zeb sipped his drink. The remaining operatives were on Kamali Street, each of them maintaining a perimeter. Zarhagi doesn’t need to know that.
‘How can I help?’
‘You said you have networks everywhere.’
‘Not everywhere, but in many places, yes. Where do you want to get to?’
Beth slid MUT’s layout across to him.
The soldier studied them for a moment. ‘This is MUT, yes?’ he asked after a while correctly recognizing the main campus even though the plans bore no identification.
‘Yes.’
‘I have someone there.’ Zarhagi nodded. ‘I can get you inside. It won’t be—’
‘We don’t want to get inside. We want to know what’s here.’ She brought out another layout, one that Meghan and she had made after Zeb’s surveillance trip.
‘How familiar are you with the campus?’
‘I haven’t been inside myself,’ Zarhagi shrugged, ‘but I know it well. Many students are part of the protest movement.’ His eyes narrowed when he studied the hallway the younger twin was pointing at. He frowned and went back to the other plans and rubbed the fingers of one hand as if he could magic an answer.
‘I know that hallway. It leads to a conference room.’
‘Are you sure?’ Zeb pressed him.
Zarhagi rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. ‘No one has been inside, there. We suspected it to be a secret lab, but we never found anything. There is tight security, soldiers, who stop any unauthorized access.’
Zeb traded glances with the twins. We came across those guards, too.
‘You think there’s something else happening there?’ Zarhagi’s bushy eyebrows came together as he surveyed his visitors.
‘Mostofi’s been there twice that we know of. Along with his aide, Nassour.’
‘Quds could have meetings there.’
‘We didn’t see any other military presence,’ Zeb replied.
‘You think it’s a lab?
‘We want to know for sure what’s behind those doors.’
‘Nazer’s dead. If there was biological or chemical weapons research, the students would know.’
‘Would they?’
Zarhagi looked away and frowned heavily. ‘No,’ he sighed. ‘If Mostofi’s leading such a program, and there’s no one else in Iran who would take charge … he’s a smart man. He knows how to run such operations. Right in front of everyone. Alright,’ he nodded his head decisively. ‘I will find out.’
‘You will go yourself?’ Meghan gaped at him.
‘No,’ he smiled. ‘I am a dead man, Nargess. Have you forgotten? I will see who we have there and get them to find out.’
‘It’s urgent.’
‘You are meeting me so soon. I figured it would be.’
‘It’s risky,’ Zeb warned. ‘You know what Mostofi is like.’
Zarhagi flexed his fingers, drawing their attention to them. ‘I know. First hand.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ Beth asked him. ‘You know how dangerous it is. The students, whoever you have in MUT. They could be tortured and killed if found. You don’t know us. We could be anyone.’
A small smile played on Zarhagi’ lips as he rocked back in his chair. ‘I had to learn to judge people quickly, after …’ he held his mangled hands up. ‘It was a necessity. I found what my gut told me was a good indicator. You are right. I don’t know you. But I have been observing you since we met. We are on the same side, that’s clear even though we may not be from the same country. Yes,’ he laughed softly, ‘your Persian does not fool me. We will do this for you, or for anyone who is fighting Mostofi and his organization. Overthrowing the Supreme Leader, changing the way our country is governed—,’ he grimaced. ‘A lot of students talk about that. I know that will not happen in my lifetime. Quds is a more realistic target.’ He got up, looked at the plans again and memorized the hallway. ‘I will get back to you, Nargess,’ he told Meghan and opened the hidden door to let them out.
‘You think he’ll find out something?’ Beth asked once they were back on Kamali Street.
‘He’s our best chance,’ Zeb replied. He looked in the direction of Special Street. ‘What do you think Nassour will do after that attack?’
‘He’s Quds.’ Chloe, in his earpiece. ‘There will be a show of force. He’ll send soldiers to threaten everyone in Fereydoun. Maybe beat some people up.’
‘Why don’t we go see?’