Chapter Nineteen

 

 

Moscow, Russia

August 13, 02:15 a.m.

 

The approval came much faster than Justin had anticipated. Both the CIS General-Director and the Public Safety Minister had agreed that the extraordinary situation in Canada—on the brink of a major terrorist attack—called for extreme measures. The authorization came for Justin to make a deal with Al-Assam: the sheikh taken out in exchange for concrete and trustworthy intelligence about the terrorist plot. Al-Assam was to provide not only the date, the time and the location of the attack, but also the names of all terrorists, their accomplices and supporters involved in this plot. And the intelligence should be handed over immediately after it was confirmed that the sheikh had been eliminated.

Justin tried to shake off the feeling of slight nervousness caused by receiving the authorization. He had been dispatched on tougher missions, with less intelligence and a smaller team, which made this operation feel like a dry run without live ammunition. He embraced the adrenaline rush and decided to put it to good use, as he intensified his efforts in planning the mission.

He had already booked the flight to Djibouti on Qatar Airways with one layover in Doha, Qatar. By evening, Justin would land in the Ambouli International Airport, three miles south of the capital, Djibouti City. Carrie, Nathan and Frank were going to meet him there later on that night. Then, they were going to make their way across the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on a speedboat. Justin was getting in touch with a couple of old contacts to find the right people to smuggle them across the strait, which was only eighteen miles wide at its narrowest point.

Then, Justin called Reza and gave him the good news. He informed him about the slight modification to the deal. Al-Assam was expected to provide the complete package of intelligence, plus concrete evidence about Prince bin Saud’s alleged meeting with Salem and any of the other terrorists involved in this plot. Reza doubted Justin was in any position to change the terms of the deal, but agreed to deliver the message to his contact, who would take it to Al-Assam. Reza then asked to join Justin’s team. It was only fair, Reza claimed, since the sheikh had waged a long and brutal war against the Shiite, who were Reza’s brethren. Considering Reza’s extensive network in the area and Justin’s small team, he agreed for Reza and his trusted men to take part in this operation. The Canadian part of the team was going to meet up with Reza in Al Hudaydah in Yemen.

As soon as Justin had ended the call, his cellphone rang. It was McClain with a last-minute update and an unexpected development from the CIA. Someone inside the agency had pulled some strings and the CIA was willing to play ball. They were prepared to cooperate on this “joint operation” as Joe Lombardi, Deputy Director of the Special Activities Division, had called it, with not just classified and sensitive intelligence, but also with boots on the ground. And Justin was delighted to hear that Scot Thor, one of the best NCS operatives, was already in Sanaa, dispatched on an unrelated mission. If Justin agreed, Scot would be put at his disposal to provide any kind of assistance with this operation.

Justin could hardly believe the way God was answering his unspoken prayers. The plan was coming together rapidly with a workable group of international teams. If their group could make it undetected across the strait to Yemen, then Reza and his contacts would provide a safe passage to Sanaa. Scot and his men would then join the team for the last and the most dangerous part of the mission, the actual attack on the sheikh’s safe house.

Justin sighed and glanced at the time on his laptop. It was almost three in the morning. There had been a great deal of progress, but so much more remained to be done. All details needed to be hammered out, checked and double-checked, to avoid any mistake. And he also needed to prepare a contingency plan.

He yawned and stretched his neck muscles. His eyelids suddenly became very heavy. He decided to call it a night and take at least a four-hour sleep. Then he would continue planning the operation fresh and with recharged energies.