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The vice president turned back to McDermott.

“Bill, brief us on the situation in Yemen.”

McDermott began by showing a series of still photos of the crime scene—both the warehouse and the connected offices—taken by the local police in Aden. Next, he showed gruesome CCTV footage of the attack from inside the warehouse and front offices. Finally he displayed images of the three Americans who had been seized and gave a little background on each, using the briefing materials Jenny Morris had prepared.

The first image was of an attractive brunette. “Hannah Weiss,” McDermott said. “Premed student from East Texas. Graduated summa cum laude last year from Liberty University, heading to Harvard Medical School next year, but wanted a gap year doing missionary work and chose Yemen. Wanted to make a difference, serve the poor and needy someplace where no one else wanted to go. She’s been in country for more than ten months and was on track to return home to Tyler on the first of June.”

Another photo appeared on the screen.

“Mia Minetti. Nineteen years old. Born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. Planning to attend the University of Alabama in the fall to study psychology and intercultural relations. She’s the oldest of seven children—five brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from nineteen down to the youngest at two and a half. Father, Bob, is a junior high PE teacher and football coach. Mom, Tracey, used to be a math teacher. Now homeschools Mia’s siblings.”

The woman in the last photo was older than the other two.

“Tanya Brighton,” McDermott reported. “She’s the overall team leader. Born and raised in Biloxi, Mississippi, but her family moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, when she was ten. Star varsity soccer player in high school, then played for Baylor on a full scholarship. Graduated with a degree in international relations and a minor in Arabic. She was hired right out of college by an NGO affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention—the same group that sent all three women to Yemen. She’s been in Aden for nearly five years. Has an older brother, Timmy, with Down syndrome, and she writes him once a week. The worst part is she recently got engaged to another guy from the warehouse—Rodrigo, a young man from Barcelona. The wedding was set for August 15. Rodrigo was shot and killed in the attack.”

“Has anyone claimed responsibility?” Whitney asked.

“No,” McDermott said.

“Has NSA picked up any SIGINT, any clues at all as to where these women were taken?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“What are your people saying, Richard?” the VP asked.

“The timing of the attack so soon after Libya suggests Kairos, but the location suggests the Houthis or possibly the IRGC,” Stephens replied, referring to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. “My analysts are divided on where the girls might have been taken. One scenario is that they’ve already been spirited out of Yemen, most likely by boat, most likely to Africa. Another is that they’ve been secreted away to Iran, perhaps taken across the Gulf in small speedboats. The third scenario is that they’re still in Yemen but have been moved far from Aden, perhaps to a terrorist training camp in the mountains. But no one believes they’re still in Aden.”

Suddenly a new image came flickering onto the secure videoconference call. All eyes now turned to Attorney General Catherine Blackburn, the sixty-four-year-old former Harvard law professor and former governor of South Carolina.