“ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY sure, Jack?”
Keur had already asked the same question three or four different ways and Shepherd was tired of answering it. It was Tommy he had seen getting off that plane. He was certain of that. He just wasn’t certain what that meant.
“Tommy’s a little weasel,” Shepherd said. “If he’s hooked up with the CIA, he’s operating on his own. It can’t have anything to do with NIA. And it can’t have anything to do with Kate.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do.”
Keur just shook his head. “You mean because she’s a good looking woman—”
“Kate’s not involved with the CIA,” Shepherd interrupted. “Believe it.”
“Okay, let’s just assume you’re right,” Keur said. “But this guy who works for her is, what’s his game?”
“I don’t know,” Shepherd conceded.
There was a silence after that. Keur eventually broke it.
“Why do you even care what’s going on here, Jack? None of it as anything to do with you.”
That was a good question, Shepherd had to admit. And he wasn’t sure how to answer it.
That he cared because he had a lot of friends in Thailand and he was growing increasingly concerned about what might happen to them? Yes, of course. That he cared because he had personal attachments to both Kate and Charlie and didn’t want to see them square off against each other? Yes, that, too. That he cared because the poor, benighted little country of Thailand might not deserve much, but it did deserve more than to be ripped to pieces and have its bones picked over by faceless men who only cared about lining their own pockets? Sure, that as well.
That was all part of it, of course, but Shepherd knew there was something else, too. Something that had more to do with him than it did with Thailand.
Once upon a time he had been a player, a master of his own corner of the universe. He had held a place in the world that he thought mattered. But for nearly a year now he had done nothing but push papers and shuffle money for Charlie. Shepherd knew he was still up to doing something more important than that. At least he wanted to believe he was.
Stopping a civil war in Thailand wasn’t his cause, that was true, but it was a good cause. And right then, he needed a good cause as much as any good cause needed him. Maybe more.
Shepherd didn’t have a clue how to explain any of that to Keur, so he didn’t even try. Instead, he shifted his eyes to Rachel.
“Can you get me onto the field?”
“Should I ask what for?”
“Probably not.”
“You won’t be able to get anywhere near that hanger, Jack. And those two men are probably long gone by now.”
“What difference does it make anyway?” Keur asked. “What are you going to do even if they’re still there. Walk right in, baffle them with bullshit, and then break their little airplane?”
Shepherd let his eyes drift to the big flat panel monitors hanging on the wall and watched the silent images for a moment.
“If you wanted to keep that plane here for a few days,” he asked Rachel, “how would you do it?”
“A mechanical problem would ground it, of course,” she said. “Anything serious enough for spare parts to have to be flown in would keep it here for a day or two.”
That was getting back to the Bruce Willis thing again and Shepherd knew that wasn’t going to work. He shook his head.
“And I suppose,” Rachel went on, “some kind of law enforcement order might work.”
“Law enforcement order?”
“You know, the police could prevent the plane from leaving on some kind of legal grounds.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t really know,” Rachel said. “I was just thinking out loud. Maybe some kind of national security threat?”
“Couldn’t they just take off anyway? It’s not likely Dubai would scramble jet fighters and shoot it down, is it?”
“They wouldn’t have to. There are a lot of moving parts involved in getting a big commercial jet into the air. The process involves way too many people to do it without the necessary approvals. It’s not a car. You can’t just get into it and drive away.”
As Shepherd thought about what Rachel was saying, he could feel the beginnings of an idea stirring in his mind.
“How would an order like that be put into effect?”
“The authorities would inform the airport administration that an order had been issued barring the plane’s departure,” Rachel said. “Then they would notify air traffic control not to accept any flight plans for the plane or grant any take off clearance. They would also instruct ground handling not to fuel or load the aircraft.”
The idea stretched a little and moved up to the front of Shepherd’s mind.
“And they couldn’t just fly the plane out without clearance?”
“They’re not going anywhere without fuel.”
The idea rose to its feet and strutted back and forth a few times. Shepherd had to admit he liked the look of it. He would have liked to reflect on it a little more before introducing it around, but there wasn’t enough time for measured reflection.
“I think I can get an order issued to impound the plane.”
“Why would the cops, do that?” Keur asked. “You got nothing on anybody. Even if you did, once they figure out they’re fucking with the CIA, the locals won’t do jackshit.”
“Not the cops. I mean a civil impoundment order.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Jack?”
“The courts in Dubai are very sensitive to demonstrating to the international business community that the rule of law prevails here,” Shepherd said. “What if I seek an emergency order impounding Harvey because the operator hasn’t made its payments to the owner under the terms of the aircraft operating lease?”
“How do you know they haven’t?” Keur asked.
“I don’t have the slightest idea whether they have or not. I’m making this shit up as I go along.”
“It might work,” Rachel said, nodding slowly. “It would take the operating company a day or two to show that the lease payments had been made, maybe more than that if the real operator of the aircraft actually is the CIA and they want to stay out of the picture. Meanwhile, the plane would be held here under a civil impoundment order. That would get you a couple of days, maybe a little more.”
“Good enough.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Keur shook his head. “It’s all just academic. The owner of the airplane is the only person with standing to apply for an order like that. You couldn’t do it since you’re not the owner.”
“But I am,” Shepherd said, “in a manner of speaking.”
Keur and Rachel just looked at him.
“The Kitnarok Foundation is the registered owner of the plane. I’m a trustee of the Kitnarok Foundation. As a trustee, I have the legal authority to act for the foundation.”
Keur burst out laughing. “You’re going to use the Kitnarok Foundation to stop Harvey from flying back to Thailand to deliver arms to Charlie Kitnarok’s troops?”
Shepherd nodded.
“That’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” Keur said. “I love it. I fucking love it.”
“I know a local lawyer I could call for you,” Rachel said. “Sharp guy, and he’d never bat an eye at doing something like this. He really hates Americans.”
Wonderful, Shepherd thought. I’ve got to have somebody I can rely on here, somebody whose tact and discretion I can depend on absolutely, and I’m about to trust a big-busted German woman I met an hour ago to put me into the hands of an anti-American Arab lawyer.
That was what he thought, but that wasn’t what he said.
“Get the guy on the telephone,” he told Rachel.