Chapter Six

 

 

December 16

ECS Vienna Station

Austria

 

“Justin, you’ve asked me this before, and I thought my answer was clear. Of course, I had no idea of al-Nueimi’s past; otherwise, I would have included that intel in his file.” Claudia tapped the folder on the dining table, perhaps a little harder than she intended.

Justin held her eyes and gave her an ever so slight nod. “Claudia, no one is accusing you of anything or even implying any wrongdoing. I’m trying to understand how it happened that we’re in the dark about so many things about al-Nueimi. My earlier question dealt with how did we miss it, and why didn’t we look for more intel. I just . . . I don’t want this to happen again.” He shrugged and looked at Vale.

Vale leaned forward and opened his mouth to speak, but Claudia jumped in, “I followed the protocol when assessing a potential asset. Background checks, database searches. I talked to the CIA, MI6, Mossad, everyone I thought might have something helpful.” Claudia shook her head, and her ponytail swung over her shoulders. “I collected everything and discussed it with Vale and Dolina.” She gestured toward Vale. “We dug deeper, rechecked everything, then I went to Moretti, who approved the op.” She ended in an irritated voice and folded her arms across her chest.

“We didn’t check with the SVR. In hindsight, we should have,” Vale said.

The left side of Claudia’s mouth curled up in a snarl. “Yeah, hindsight.”

Vale ignored her comment. “But yes, with limited resources in Iraq and Syria, it’s difficult to have a complete picture of any asset’s past. Especially when they claim ISIS connections.”

Claudia leaned forward. “Yes, how do we determine their involvement? Do we call ISIS HQ in Raqqah, and ask to talk to their HR people, to confirm the role of an alleged driver and car mechanic? We can’t check these people fully. We have to take them at their word, unless we have contrary evidence, which we didn’t. Well, until along came the Russians.”

Justin nodded. He had not expected Claudia’s sarcastic reply, but perhaps he should have, considering her hot-tempered Spanish personality. He still was not sure if Claudia had made a mistake she was not willing to admit or if there was something else at play. Her record had been flawless up to this point. But there was always a first time. He drew in a deep breath then said, “Yes, the Russians. How did it happen that the SVR found out about the asset?”

Claudia brushed back a few hair strands, then looked at Justin with weary brown eyes. “I’m . . . I’m not really sure about all the specifics, since I only heard about it today, a couple of hours ago. But I’m sure there’s a lot at play in the background about which we’re unaware, especially with the involvement of Russians in general and the SVR in particular. As far as I know, the SVR was actively looking for al-Nueimi, considering what they knew about him and his involvement in attacks against Russian military troops operating in Syria.”

“Attacks?” Justin said.

“Yes, that’s SVR’s assertion.”

Justin frowned. “I thought there was only one ambush.”

Claudia gave Justin an uncertain look. “One attack, two attacks; what’s the difference?”

“Smirnov mentioned only one attack; that’s why.”

Claudia shrugged. “My mistake. I thought it had to be several significant attacks for al-Nueimi to be of such high importance to the SVR. Otherwise, if they were going after everyone who fired a round against Russian soldiers, they would be hunting down every Syrian.”

Justin peered deep into her eyes. He found something unsettling in her reply, but he just could not place his finger on it. Is she hiding something? What is she hiding? “Did you talk to the SVR after Vale told you about my meeting with Smirnov?”

“Yes, I did,” Claudia replied without hesitation.

“Whom did you talk to?”

“Krestiyev, Arkady Krestiyev.”

Justin cocked his head. “Hmm . . . Krestiyev. How do you know him?”

Claudia shrugged. “I’ve met him a few times. The SVR was looking for some intel on a CIA op in Mosul. Back in November, the CIA’s Special Activities Division ran a series of assassination ops, hunting for confirmed ISIS high-level commanders. One of them took place in Mosul, and the SAD teams were mostly successful.”

“What did the SVR want with the CIA op?”

“I’m not sure. I promised Krestiyev nothing, but I did some digging around, mostly because I was curious.”

“And?”

“I found no connection between the CIA ops and SVR.”

“Anything that would tie the CIA targets to al-Nueimi?”

Claudia shook her head.

“What about his aliases?” Vale asked. “He used the names of al-Joubori and al-Essawi.”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to check the files. It’s been a while, so I don’t remember if one of those names came up in any of the reports.”

Justin nodded. “Okay, so what did Krestiyev say to you?”

“Not much. He didn’t want to admit it at first, but then he said they had followed me. They knew al-Nueimi was hiding in Vienna, and suspected I was in touch with him.”

Justin glanced at Vale, then returned his eyes to Claudia. “I’m not following. Why would the SVR suspect you would lead them to al-Nueimi?”

“I . . . I have no idea. I asked Krestiyev the same question. He didn’t give me a straight answer. Something about having a hunch that al-Nueimi was trying to exchange intel for the safety of his wife and his family.” She paused for a second, then dropped her eyes to the table. She shook her head for a moment, drew in a deep breath, then said, “My theory is the SVR had another source that was keeping tabs on al-Nueimi. Perhaps he had spilled the beans to a relative or a friend, someone he thought he could trust. The SVR got wind of it, and that led them to al-Nueimi and to me as well.” Her voice grew low and carried a clear hint of regret.

Justin thought about Claudia’s explanation for a moment. “So you’re telling me Krestiyev and the SVR are telling us the opposite of what’s really going on? Instead of you leading them to al-Nueimi it was the other way around?”

Claudia lifted her eyes slowly. “Yes, exactly. Look, I know I didn’t do a perfect job in this case. Everyone makes mistakes, right? But it’s more likely the asset said or did something that tipped off the Russians. After all, the SVR can’t follow all foreign agents operating in Vienna.”

Justin said, “You’re right. It doesn’t make sense. Smirnov said it was a coincidence the SVR operatives ran into you, but Krestiyev claims they were following you. Someone is not giving it to us straight.”

“Yes, but why would Krestiyev say they followed you?” Vale asked.

“Maybe it’s because he thinks it puts them in a better light; it makes them appear smarter, greater, better. I don’t really know.” Claudia shrugged and her tone of voice took on a hint of frustration.

“It could be any or all of those reasons,” Justin said. “But it’s not important. We can’t do much about the past. If it’s true the SVR was following you, we need to be extremely careful, especially since we’ll have Krestiyev working with us.”

“Did Moretti agree to the SVR’s request?” Claudia asked.

“Not yet, but I’m sure he’ll accept it. He didn’t see a problem with it.”

Justin reached for one of the documents in his folder when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then answered it, “Yes, Carrie.” He listened for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face. “Yes, good, very good. Yes, we’re heading out right away. See you at the airport.” He ended the call, then stood up. “We’ve got to go. Al-Nueimi has been spotted in London. We’ll link up with Carrie and Dolina at the airport.”

“I’ll call Krestiyev,” Vale said.

“How about I tell him we’re a step ahead of the SVR?” Claudia said.

Justin noticed the fiery look in her eyes, burning with the great desire to rub the CIS’s success in Krestiyev’s face. “Sure, go ahead. Tell him to meet us in London. We’ll give him the coordinates once he gets there.”

“I’ll do that with pleasure, Justin.” Claudia reached for her phone and dialed Krestiyev’s number.