part0083

R eading headed for the helicopter waiting to take them back to Bilbao, when his phone rang. He took the call as he turned around and headed back for the terminal and the quiet that lay beyond its doors.

“Agent Reading, it’s Chris Leroux.”

“Have you got an update for me? Did that plane actually go to Marrakesh?”

“Yes, sir. We have footage of them arriving in Marrakesh and being met by someone. They got in a limo and left. Kane’s team is in the air. They’ll be on the ground in less than three hours.”

“Bollocks. I was hoping to join them.”

“There was no time. I’m afraid you’re sitting this one out, sir.”

Reading grunted. “Probably for the best. These old bones can’t keep up with those young lads anymore. Do we know who’s behind this yet?”

“We found a phone number that turned out to be a burner, so it was untraceable, however, using Echelon, we were able to track other calls it made, including several to La Rochelle and Bilbao, all over the past twenty-four hours, all to the same number which was first registered in Antwerp.”

“Where Peeters is from.”

“Does that help us?”

“It tells us that Hugo Peeters gave his phone to the professors, and instructions were being fed to them by whoever was on the other end of the burner.”

“Were any other calls made from this burner?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, and you’re going to like this. We have one brief phone call made to Richter Telecom in Berlin. Listen to this transcript from Echelon, translated from the original German. I think you’ll find it interesting. ‘How did you get this number? What do you mean, how did I get this number? Oh, sorry, sir, I didn’t realize it was you. Is this a new phone number? Shit! I’ll call you right back.’”

Reading smiled as he caught up to what Leroux and his team had already figured out. “So, it sounds like he used the burner phone by mistake, and the person at the other end of the line knew exactly who they were talking to just by the sound of their voice.”

“What’s this Richter Telecom? I’ve heard of them.”

“It’s a telecommunications company based in Berlin. They’re massive. One of the biggest players in the industry.”

“Please tell me there’s a megalomaniac running it.”

“As a matter of fact, their CEO, Oskar Richter, is a well-known supporter of animal rights and various other causes, but get this. He hasn’t been seen in years since he went all Howard Hughes and decided the world was out to get him. He’s dropped off the face of the Earth.”

“And could that particular drop off point be Morocco?”

“Funny you should ask. We actually found him by examining Echelon intercepts of phone calls made from Morocco to Richter Telecom. And we’ve located him.”

Reading’s pulse picked up. “Where?”

“Satellite imagery shows that he has a compound about two hours outside of Marrakesh at the base of the Atlas Mountains.”

He tensed. “When I hear compound, I’m thinking trouble.”

“And you’d be right. It looks like it’s walled and fenced in with regular patrols.”

He was suddenly concerned for Kane and the Bravo Team. “Are five guys going to be enough?”

“Five normal guys, no, but those five, I think so. If they can confirm they’re private security, then they have a green light to take them out. If they’re Moroccan troops, it poses a bigger problem because we don’t want to be killing soldiers from a country we’re not at war with.”

“There’s no way we can get them more help?”

“No, not in the time we have. Our fear is that as soon as the Bible is handed over, they’ll no longer have any use for the professors, and they’ll take them out.”

He frowned. “That’s what I’m afraid of too. Okay, keep me posted. I assume you’re passing on this intel through official channels.”

“Everything except the intel on where the calls were made from. We don’t want to risk a leak that will tip off Richter or his people that we know where he is and are coming for him.”