The Rook
Rural Virginia
It had taken them several hours to unload, inspect and set up the drones and make sure they were operational and ready for launch. Given that McMahon had been complaining about their lack of sleep, Novak thought it prudent to let the Raptors get some rest, but now, as the new day was well under way, he was eager to get started. He’d already sent Burke and crew to make the Cerillo grab. Hopefully, they’d be back soon so the rest of the penultimate assignments could be carried out. Novak called McMahon’s phone and told him to report to the main office for an assignment. It was obvious he’d woken the man up.
“Just let me get a shower and a shave and I’ll be right over,” McMahon said.
“Make it a quick one,” Novak said, and decided to inject a bit of levity. “And skip the shave. They say that stubble is in style now, especially in the islands.”
Novak terminated the call. McMahon was quickly becoming an unwanted loose end. It was time to arrange the sacrifice of this knight.
Next, he scrolled to Burke’s number, and pressed the button to check on his progress.
“What’s your status?” he asked after the other man had answered.
“So far, so good,” Burke said. “We’ve got him. Just waiting for his wife and daughter to get home.”
Novak didn’t like that. The clock was ticking. “How long will that take?”
“Unknown. Maybe another hour or two. You know women.”
Novak considered that as he glanced at his watch. It was already close to four, and there was still a lot to do. The new clients would be arriving soon, and he wanted things to be completely in order and looking totally impressive. After all, it was the prelude to the mother lode, and the Arabs would be bringing the initial payment: ten suitcases full of cash. All American greenbacks for the down payment for executing the ultimate checkmate of checkmates: the assassination of the royal prince on the White House grounds.
After that, chaos would ensue, but as long as the exit plan was in effect none of that would matter. If and when the remains of the drones were recovered, it would only bolster the brilliant subterfuge he’d masterminded. And they’d be dividing up their loot in the islands and going their separate ways. And if the anti-jamming, radar-defeating technology proved effective, and Novak had no reason to expect that it wouldn’t, they wouldn’t know what, or especially who, had hit them. The final payment by Malik Maloof and Tariq Bashira, who would be the new rulers of Saudi Arabia, could be handled immediately thereafter through a wire transfer before they left the Rook in the corporate Learjet for the islands and paradise. It should prove easy enough to slip away unnoticed in the national confusion after making the final moves.
“Who’ve you got with you?” Novak asked.
“A couple of guys from the Somali op. Baker, Snyder and two others.”
“Can you handle bringing Marco back here by yourself?” Novak asked. “In the car. Leave the four of them there to collect the girl and her mother and bring them back in the van?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Burke said. “I’ll put him in the trunk of his BMW.”
Novak took a moment to appreciate the man’s professionalism. None of the flippancy of McMahon.
“Do it,” Novak said. “We’ve still got a few more things to take care of and the countdown’s already started.”
He once again hung up without waiting for a reply. He hoped Burke would take it as a sign of trust. Perhaps it would be best to jettison Burke as well after their arrival in the islands.
After all, he told himself, sacrifices had to be made in order to win the game.
Stony Man Farm
Virginia
Bolan and Grimaldi walked into Brognola’s office and saw the two steaming mugs of coffee sitting on the front edge of his desk. The big Fed’s face looked haggard and worn as he extended his open palm toward the two mugs. Next to him, Aaron “the Bear” Kurtzman sat in his wheelchair looking equally drained. Two chairs had been strategically placed in front of the desk to afford visual access to the lowered screen.
“You find anything?”
“Aaron did,” Brognola said. “He’s been going nonstop.”
Kurtzman grinned, his white teeth glinting from his hirsute face. “That’s why I needed to brew a fresh pot.” He gestured to the coffee maker on the adjacent desk. “Help yourselves.”
Bolan picked up the two mugs and handed one to Grimaldi, who rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for this stuff on an empty stomach,” he said.
“You can thank me later,” Kurtzman said. “Right now, we’ve got some information for you.”
Bolan took a quick sip of his coffee. It was as bitter and astringent as ever, which was Aaron’s trademark.
“First of all,” Brognola said, “more information has come in from Mexico. According to the latest political loudmouth on the news, Congressman Eddie Meeks is demanding a thorough and complete investigation to assist the Mexican authorities in getting to the bottom of it.”
“I feel better already,” Grimaldi said. “One thing about that guy, Meeks, is that he’ll never need a laxative.”
Kurtzman chuckled. “But anyway, I was able to trace that company that was responsible for that Aries drone.” He paused and glanced at Brognola, who picked up his remote and took over.
“It’s the Baron & Allan Corporation,” he said. “Based in Columbia, Maryland.” The picture of a long white building flanked by an assortment of leafy green trees and an expertly manicured landscape came onto the screen. “About two years ago, they got a defense contract for research and development of the next generation of predator drones. As you know, the project was named Aries.”
Brognola pressed the remote and the picture of two sleek silver drones materialized. They looked like two metallic praying mantises.
“It’s actually made up of two drones,” Kurtzman said, taking over the lecture. “The Aries and the Athena act in concert. The Athena is basically the searcher. It has a plethora of optical scanners that give it a 360-degree range of vision.”
“Plethora?” Grimaldi said. “Speak English, would you?”
“I am,” Kurtzman said.
“Yeah, well...” Grimaldi held up his mug. “Your coffee still sucks.”
“In addition to the optical scanners,” Brognola said, “it also has a facial recognition scanning mode that allows it to pick out a flea on a horse’s ass. Once the Athena locates and identifies the programmed target, it locks it in and paints it with a laser beam as it communicates with the Aries.”
“Which then swoops in from an incredibly high altitude and delivers the payload of missiles,” Kurtzman added.
“That’s basically what our buddy McMahon told us over in Africa,” Grimaldi said.
“Did he also tell you that there were some very experimental aspects to this project?” Brognola asked. “Part of the research was to be devoted to making these things invisible to radar and also equipped with an anti-jamming capacity.”
“He did mention something about that,” Bolan said.
“There were said to be only two prototypes of the drones produced,” Brognola continued. “One Aries and one Athena.”
“And when the Raptor team’s plane went down in the Gulf,” Grimaldi said, “that left none?”
“Supposedly,” Brognola said. “But you two are sure about that sound you heard for the Mexican hit?”
“Absolutely.” Grimaldi looked at Bolan, who nodded.
“The Howler,” Bolan said. “So there must have been more than just two prototypes.”
“That’s the way it’s looking,” Brognola said. “There were also indications that problems were encountered in perfecting those artificial intelligence software programs, which caused massive cost overruns. This was hidden from the Congressional Appropriations Committee and only recently discovered. The company’s assets have been frozen pending the completion of a government investigation and audit.”
Brognola clicked the remote again to bring up the picture of a heavyset man with a sullen expression. “This is Congressman Eddie Meeks, who sits on the Defense Appropriations Committee. He was one of the main forces in pushing through the defense contract for Baron & Allan.”
“If you shake hands with him,” Grimaldi said, “you’d better keep one hand on your wallet.”
Brognola nodded. “And that’s not all. Aaron found a connection between Meeks and Baron & Allan. The congressman happens to own a substantial amount of B&A stock, and had this well before the bids were even submitted.”
“So he’s lining his pockets from both directions,” Grimaldi said. He took another sip of the coffee and coughed. “For punishment we should make him drink some of this stuff.”
Brognola continued. “You might have heard of the recent brouhaha on Capitol Hill regarding a congressional inquiry being led by Congressman William Oglethorpe? He’s been on the news quite a bit lately.”
“Yeah,” Grimaldi said. “Calls himself the conscience of Congress, or something. He’s another guy who’ll never need a laxative.”
“Aaron also discovered the identity of the computer engineer responsible for inventing the anti-radar software and the enhanced AI capabilities of the Aries drones.” Flicking the remote once more, the picture of a thin, balding man wearing a white lab coat came into view. “His name’s Marco Cerillo. Lives in Fairfax County.”
“Maybe we’d better pay him a visit.” Bolan stood.
“Way ahead of you,” Kurtzman said, handing a slip of paper to Bolan. “Here’s his address.”