They were in New Delhi’s International Airport the next day when Zeb got the call from Clare.
‘President Morgan has spoken to Rahmani, who in turn spoke to the Taliban leaders,’ the Agency boss briefed him. ‘Two weeks. That’s how long the terrorists are willing to give.’
‘That’s good enough, ma’am.’ He pushed back his shades and looked out the terminal window. India’s capital was their refueling stop after they had flown out of JFK the previous night.
‘I thought you would want more time,’ she asked in surprise.
‘No, ma’am. If we can’t work out where Pasha is in that time, we won’t, even in a month. Did the President mention us by name?’
‘No. All he said was an experienced team was coming. You got your gear?’
‘Yes, ma’am, from our New York office. We have everything we need.’
He nodded when Meghan made a finger circle. Time to fly.
‘You folks became well-known in Badakshan, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, ma’am. I was undercover for months, as you know. When the rest of the team came to Badakshan, they became familiar to the villagers as well.’
The Taliban didn’t like it when they found I had been living with the villagers.
‘Two weeks,’ he told the team, relaying Clare’s information when their Lear took off from New Delhi.
‘That should be enough,’ Bwana confirmed as he looked out the window. ‘And then, we go back to Beijing, and Hsu.’
Kabul
‘President Morgan said some kind of military outfit is coming.’ Rasouli bit into a kebab in Laila’s kitchen as he briefed Ahmadzai and his men. ‘Someone who knows Badakshan very well.’
‘I knew it,’ the Taliban leader said with satisfaction. ‘The Americans knew all along where Pasha is.’
‘That’s not what Morgan said. I was with Rahmani when he called. These people will try to retrace the route Pasha took that night and see where he might have gone.’
‘Don’t they think we tried that?’
‘Did you?’ Rasouli countered.
‘Faroukh said he had covered every inch of the Wakhan Corridor.’
‘Faroukh,’ the vice-president said scornfully. ‘Who do you think has benefitted from Pasha’s absence? In Badakshan? Atash Faroukh has become the leader of the terrorists in the mountains. Do you think he wants Pasha back? Do you think he really searched for his leader?’
‘No,’ he stopped Ahmadzai when the Taliban chief made to speak. ‘There’s only one reason he’s cooperating with you, because if Pasha returns, then that group becomes more powerful. And if he doesn’t, then Faroukh hasn’t lost anything. At some point, you’ll have to find a way to deal with that faction of the Taliban.’
‘They are with us,’ Ahmadzai flared. ‘One hundred percent. Why, it was Faroukh’s men who fired on Farley.’
Rasouli swallowed as he stared at the Taliban leader. He checked behind him to confirm that Laila wasn’t in the room. ‘You shouldn’t have said that,’ he whispered savagely. ‘I don’t need to know who those shooters were. Do you know the Americans have offered a reward of fifty-thousand dollars for information?’
‘They won’t get anything,’ the Taliban leader said scornfully. ‘They, and even you, think we are a bunch of factions who don’t get along with one another. That’s true to some extent, but we also know and want the same thing. Power. We want to rule our country. Faroukh is with us.’
‘Him!’ the vice-president said angrily. ‘Consider this. You said that dead man had been found by a villager.’
‘Yes.’
‘If Faroukh’s men had found him, do you think you would have known about Pasha?’
Rasouli left Taimani, satisfied with the seeds of doubt he had sown. The more suspicious Ahmadzai was of Faroukh’s intentions, the better it was for him.
If the Taliban are split among themselves, then I can rule over them for longer. The terrorists were nothing but a tool for him. A means by which Rahmani could be eliminated.
Once he’s gone, I’ll head the country.
The American team worried him, however. What if they find Pasha and bring him back? That was a real threat to Rasouli’s ambitions. The missing Taliban chieftain could unite the terrorists and, if he worked with Ahmadzai, could disrupt his scheming.
I’ll try to find out who they are. If I can pass that information to the terrorists in Badakhshan, they might kill the Americans.
On that cheering thought, he rubbed his palms together as he returned to the presidential palace.