Chapter Twenty-One

 

 

December 18

ECS Vienna Station

Austria

 

The team stopped in Vienna to prepare for their snatch-and-grab operation. Justin tasked Carrie and Vale with studying the Zaatari refugee camp, learning everything about its layout, population, and security forces. Dolina and Claudia were in charge of securing the necessary operational gear and of infiltration and exfiltration from Syria and Jordan, as well as transport while in those countries. Things had not gone exactly as planned the last time Justin and Carrie were in Jordan. The fearsome Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate was known to hold grudges for a very long time and avenging the wrongs committed even after apologies or restitutions. So Justin decided to enter the country from Syria, especially since the camp was less than ten miles away from the border.

Justin and Arkady delved into the intelligence collected for this operation, reexamining everything to see if they could uncover something that had been missed or ignored the first time around. They paid special attention to al-Nueimi’s aliases and a host of his associates in Vienna, the rest of Austria, and Switzerland. Claudia had taken a first pass at analyzing their ties to al-Nueimi, but she had been pulled into another crisis, and the search had been put on the back burner. After the team tracked al-Nueimi to London and then Stockholm, no one had taken a second look at these files.

Justin had another reason for bringing Claudia and Arkady into the same team and in the same room. There was something about the two of them that did not quite fit. Justin had no real reason for his suspicions, so he wanted to observe their interactions. So far they had only exchanged the occasional word when asked or to put in their two cents about different aspects of the operation. Maybe it’s nothing, and I’m imagining things. Then, maybe they’re very good at keeping things secret.

Justin drew in a deep breath, then said, “Claudia, I’m looking at one of your reports from the time al-Nueimi had just arrived.”

“Okay.” She stopped typing on her laptop and looked at Justin, resting her chin on her hands.

“You wrote about combing through the background of the bakery owner, Yilmaz, and other regulars at the café and the Lebanese convenience store.”

Claudia nodded.

“Very detailed; great job.”

“Thanks.”

“How much follow-up was done, especially on those gaps you identified, like phone numbers and immigration records?”

Claudia shrugged. “Not much, not that I know of, anyway. We had contacts through our liaisons with Labor and Foreign Affairs, but nothing came out of it.”

“Arkady, what about the SVR?”

“Huh? What?”

“Oh, you weren’t following.” Justin looked at Arkady sitting to his left. “What did the SVR find about al-Nueimi’s Vienna contacts?”

“What contacts?”

“The people at the regular places he frequented: the café, bakery, grocery store.”

Arkady shrugged. “I wasn’t directly involved in those operations. I’ll have to check the records.” His voice was calm and steady, and his face betrayed no emotions that suggested he was not telling the truth.

“You know what Smirnov told me?” Justin said. “In the meeting when you and I met, before Smirnov introduced us, he said that two SVR operatives were very close to finding out al-Nueimi’s location near the end of November. Is that correct?”

Arkady shrugged. “I told you I wasn’t involved in—”

“Yes, but from what you know, does that sound correct?”

Arkady nodded. “It does.”

Of course, it does, if Smirnov said so. “Then, at the Traiskirchen refugee camp, SVR ops saw al-Nueimi talking to Claudia. What do you know about that?”

Arkady flinched. “I know what you just said. The ops happened to be lucky.”

Yes, that’s what Smirnov said too. “I think luck had nothing to do with this.” He glanced at Carrie, Vale, and Dolina sitting across the table. They had almost stopped their work and were listening to the exchange. “I think the SVR was following Claudia.”

Arkady shook his head, and there was a tiny, almost unnoticeable, twitch in his left eye. “You may think that, Justin, but you’re wrong.”

Justin glanced at Claudia out of the corner of his eye. A blank expression veiled her face, and while Justin hoped she was listening attentively, it appeared as if she was somewhere else. Her eyes were half-closed, and she seemed to be gazing into the distance.

Justin said, “I’m not just thinking that, Arkady. I know it. I have it from a trusted source. Now why was SVR running surveillance on Claudia?”

“Who is the source?” Arkady kept his fiery eyes glued to Justin’s face.

“I can’t tell you the name, but it’s a very dependable source.”

“Is it? Are you sure?” Arkady’s voice took on a hint of contempt.

“Yes, absolutely. But you’re dodging my question.”

“I’m not dodging anything, Justin. And I don’t like this . . . this interrogation. I wasn’t in charge of the operation, so I have no idea if or why my agency was following Claudia. But I can offer you my speculation, if that’s what you’re after.”

“I’m after the truth, Arkady, and I’ll take anything that will lead me closer to it.”

Arkady rolled his eyes and hesitated for a moment. He glanced only for a split second at Claudia, offering her a look that Justin could not exactly understand: regret, but also a small amount of smugness, since Claudia had brought this on herself. “My best guess is my agency did what it did because it worked.”

“The end justifies the means?” Justin said.

“Always.”

“Yes, but how did the SVR know Claudia and my service were involved?”

Arkady thought about his answer. Another glance at Claudia, then his eyes went to the other side of the table. “Maybe the SVR didn’t know. Maybe they suspected it. Or maybe your operative was . . . what’s the right word . . . oh, yeah, let’s go with ‘clumsy’—”

Claudia cut him off. “I wasn’t ‘clumsy’ or whatever other word you want to use. I did my job. But you and your agents, you follow everyone, everywhere, no matter if we’re friends or allies.”

Arkady shrugged but did not say anything.

Justin said, “So it’s: Don’t look back; you’re never completely alone?”

“It seems like it.”

“But that was Cold War protocol. I thought we were beyond that.”

“We are, Justin. And it’s worse. In the Cold War, there were strict rules. We knew the enemy, the motives, the operational ways. Now, we have no clue. There are no firm alliances. There are no true allies. Friends; that word is unheard of.”

“So Russians are spying on everyone, that’s what you’re telling me?” Justin said.

Arkady shrugged. “I’m not telling you anything that’s not obvious and that you don’t know. The NSA is tracking all phone calls, throughout the world. Mossad has its fingers in every major operation in the Middle East. Why should we fall behind?”

“Yeah, no reason, but it’s good to know what’s going on when we work together. We’re on the same side here, Arkady.”

“We are, but at the time the SVR was working alone. If we followed Claudia—which I’m not saying we did—it was nothing personal. It would have been the same if she worked for the CIA, Mossad, or MI6.”

Claudia’s face formed a slight, almost imperceptible frown, but Justin’s eyes registered it. “I guess I should feel better now?”

Arkady said nothing and did not even look at her.

Justin nodded more to himself than to anyone else. His plan had worked, and he had the evidence he needed. Arkady was lying about the SVR following Claudia, but she also was not coming completely clean. Of course, she’ll be more protective of herself in front of the team, but if I had this conversation with only her and Arkady, then it would be even more obvious who my source was. He rubbed his chin, then said, “Back to those Vienna contacts. Can you check and let me know what the SVR has on them?”

Arkady nodded. “Of course, I’ll do that right away.” His voice carried the clear note of relief. He reached for his phone, then stood and walked away from the table.

Justin glanced at Carrie, but she had returned her eyes back to her laptop. Vale was jotting down some notes on his notepad. Dolina was the only one still looking at Justin. She gave him a small smile, then said, “I’m gonna make a fresh pot of coffee. Want some?”

“Sure.” He handed her his empty cup.

Arkady returned five minutes later. A triumphant grin danced across his face. “We got something.” He waved his phone at Justin. “The bakery owner. He visited Turkey and Syria about a year ago.”

Justin frowned. “The Istanbul bombing?”

Arkady nodded. “Yes. Phone records place him in Damascus, then in Aleppo at the time.”

Claudia shook her head. “I noted that in my report too. No direct connection to al-Nueimi, though.”

“Yes, but what you’ve missed was the attempt of Milli Istihbarat Teskilati to recruit him.”

“Turkish intelligence?” Carrie said.

“Yes.”

“Did they recruit him?” Vale asked.

“It’s not clear, but our records show at least four phone calls between Yilmaz and MIT officers in Istanbul and Ankara.”

Justin asked, “Do you have the transcripts?”

“No, we don’t. But the phone numbers match.” Arkady showed Justin his phone. “I’ll send the file so we can all see it.”

Justin studied the numbers and nodded. “Yes, I think they’re the right numbers, at least one of them. Let me check.”

He typed one of the numbers on his laptop, then ran it through the CIS database of known al-Nueimi contacts. The database highlighted the number, along with the subscriber’s name. “Yilmaz used an alias,” Justin said, “But it’s the same number.”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Arkady said.

“I do. If MIT was able to turn Yilmaz, then he would do anything to get to al-Nueimi.”

“But I found nothing between the two of them,” Claudia said with a headshake.

“That’s right, but maybe things have evolved since then.”

Arkady nodded. “It’s time to pay Mr. Yilmaz a visit.”