NSA Command Center
“It surprises me, Miss Baker,” Jarrah laughed over the phone, “how far behind you are in the game, no?”
“This is not a game, Jarrah.”
“Oh, is it not? But I am having such fun. My mood has never been lighter.”
“You’re speaking in riddles. In Spain, you said something about a voice and thunder and the command to come. What did you mean by that? What do you mean I’m behind in the game?”
“The most amusing thing is, with all your technology, you are unable to trace the source of my phone calls.”
“Yes, hysterical. Now what did you mean?”
“Did you not go to church as a child, Miss Baker? Oh, come now. Surely your grandfather took you to church.”
Jana’s lips pursed. “Listen to me, you son of a bitch—”
“I certainly was not the son of a bitch. It wasn’t my mother and father who abandoned me in childhood. Such cowards, they were.”
“Shut up! They didn’t abandon me. They died.”
“Are you certain they just died? Is that what your grandfather told you?”
“My grandfather was a great man. And how the hell do you know about my grandfather?”
“He was loving, kind, always honest with you? Is that it?” Jarrah was taunting her.
“I don’t intend on discussing personal matters with you.”
“And why not? He is dead, is he not? It’s the question of your grandfather’s honesty that troubles me.”
“My grandfather never lied to me!”
“No? Are you sure? Your father was gone when you were, what? Two years old? And your mother when you were seven? You were so young. The memory plays tricks on us. How would one know? I suppose your grandfather told you your father died of cancer?”
“He did die of cancer!” Her mind scrambled as she fought to take control of the conversation and her own emotions. “I want to know what you meant when you said I was way behind in the game.”
“You want no such thing. You are simply trying to divert my attention. You want to know more about your past. Did you never question your grandfather about how your parents died? Your grandfather was, after all, just a man. And your mother, his only child, had died in a car crash, a suspicious car crash. He was left to care for you. It’s true, your grandmother was alive for a time, but that did not last, did it?”
“What makes you think you know so much about my childhood? You know nothing!” Jana choked her emotions down.
“You fail to answer my questions, Miss Baker. Have you never considered why they died?”
“What do you mean why they died. They died because they died. There’s no explaining it. Cancer happens! Accidents happen! People die.”
He let a period of silence emphasize his next statement.
“Your parents abandoned you, and they did it in a most cowardly way.”
Jana’s blood turned to ice. “You know nothing of me and my past! My grandfather never lied to me.”
“Well, perhaps the public records are wrong then.”
“Public records? What public records? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Now, let me see,” Jarrah said, “what else is it you wanted to talk about?”
“Jarrah, what public records?”
“Ah, you are interested in our little game, is that it? Well, the game has begun and you are way behind. You are not the adversary I had hoped for.”
“What public records?” Jana cleared her mind. “Jarrah, this is no game. Real people are dying. That nuclear device you set off killed eight hundred thousand innocent Americans.”
His voice lashed through the phone. “And some not so innocent! I’m sure you have considered it from my viewpoint, have you not? When I destroyed your CIA headquarters, the beast itself, I liberated my soul and the soul of countless brothers in jihad. The beast has always been our sworn enemy. It is true that many ‘innocents,’ as you would call them, got in my way, but what’s a few hundred thousand vaporized Americans between friends, right?”
“You are sick. You are insane, and I think you know it.”
“You try to raise my anger, Agent Baker. This is folly. You are too far behind and will not be able to catch up. I, again, will win.”
“What did you mean when you asked if my grandfather ever took me to church?”
“Now you are on the right track. Miss Baker. Are you not aware that the Koran and your Bible speak of similar things?”
“Of course,” Jana said. “Both religions believe in the same God.”
“It is deeper, Miss Baker. You’ll have to dig much deeper to get to the bottom of this one.”
“What are you saying?”
Jana heard a click on the phone line.
“Jarrah? Jarrah?”