22
“Shit. This is a dead end.”
Joe glanced away from the house they’d been surveilling, not bothering to hide his frustration. They’d spent the majority of the last two days watching the retired businessman whom Joe had thought was their leading suspect, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that he couldn’t be the Ismail Abassi who was leading a human trafficking ring. The guy was in his sixties, and while that didn’t preclude him being their suspect, his behavior certainly did. He spent a lot of time at a coffee house playing Ludo with a group of men close to his own age. Joe had gone into the coffee house and listened to their conversations, all of which seemed to revolve around the typical subjects—their children and grandchildren, politics, and soccer. Pixel’s check of the man’s phone records had been equally fruitless, so unless he used a series of burner phones constantly, he wasn’t in contact with anyone in the network Joe had taken on. They’d watched his house, just in case it was all an elaborate cover, but after seeing the man come and go, watching all his visitors and deliveries, Joe was ready to admit he simply wasn’t their guy.
“Agreed,” Drew said. “Want to move on to the next one on the list?”
“Yeah. That would be the businessman.” Joe took out his phone, checking the time before pulling up the address and giving it to their driver. He frowned. “Do you think we’re going about this the right way? I don’t really want to do it, but I could get back inside with the traffickers. It might make it easier.”
“No fucking way.” Drew shook his head vehemently. “This may be a slower process, but we’re getting the job done.”
Joe nodded, chewing on his lower lip for a moment as he considered the options. He really didn’t want to go back undercover, not after the shit he’d witnessed, but there was the possibility that none of their leads would pan out. Still, this was just the first one, and he told himself that Finn and the rest of Hercules Security were on alert for anything Abassi might try. Joe felt that he and Drew were almost safer being in country, since Joe doubted Abassi would expect someone to bring the fight to his doorstep so quickly. He didn’t want to be complacent, but he thought that they had a good chance of catching Abassi unaware, so long as they could find him quickly enough.
The thing that surprised him most was that he and Drew made a good team. Their skills meshed well, and following their first morning in Islamabad, things between them had been far less strained. It seemed that as Joe relaxed and became more accepting, Drew did as well. They weren’t anything like friends, but Joe had decided that treating Drew as he would any other coworker he didn’t know very well was probably the best thing for both them and the mission.
They arrived at the businessman’s office address. “We should probably case the building. I’ll have Pixel schedule an appointment with the guy as soon as he can get one. Are you good with your corporate tech manager cover?”
“I’m good,” Drew said, his tone matter-of-fact rather than cocky. One good thing Joe could say about Drew—if he had to—was that he was honest about his abilities and limitations. Whether due to age and wisdom, or an innate characteristic, he didn’t seem to need to prove himself.
“Okay. Shall we take a look around this building? I’d say split up, but since you don’t speak the language, if you ran into problems, you might not be able to get out of them.”
“Yeah, I’d feel better with my interpreter close by,” Drew said dryly.
Joe snorted. For some reason Drew seemed to think Joe was bossy or dominant, when Joe had never really seen himself that way. “Come on, this shouldn’t take long. I just want to be prepared for tomorrow. What’s rule number one?”
“Always know your escape route.” Drew gave him a thumbs-up. “We got this.”
Joe told the driver to wait as they got out of the car, making their way to the office building. Drew could read a certain amount of Urdu even if he didn’t speak it, so Joe didn’t have to translate the directory for him. The office they wanted was on the tenth floor of the twenty story building. Joe suggested they take the elevator to the top floor and then go down via the stairs, checking each floor for anything unusual.
They made short work of the reconnaissance, which didn’t reveal anything of concern. Joe was almost disappointed because an anomaly would at least given him some hope they were on the right track. The lack of one didn’t mean theyweren’t, but Joe found himself eager to get through this mission so he could get back home. To Finn.
They finished up just about the time most of the offices were closing for the day, so it took them a few minutes to get through the press of people and back to the car. Once they were in the rear seat, Joe turned to Drew. “Back to the hotel, I guess. Unless there’s anything else you think we need to do.”
Drew gazed at him speculatively for a moment. “Any chance I could talk you into some sightseeing? I’ve never been to this area before, and I probably won’t be returning, so I wouldn’t mind looking around a bit. Maybe we could find a good local restaurant for dinner while we’re out, too.”
Joe was surprised at the suggestion, but another evening in the hotel didn’t appeal much, either. Nor had he had much of an opportunity to take in the culture of Islamabad on his previous mission, and it would probably do him some good to have some positive associations with Pakistan, rather than all the horrible ones he’d accumulated. “Sure. What kind of things would you like to see?”
Drew pulled out his phone and opened an app. “Let’s see what landmarks they’ve got around here…. Oh, hey, we aren’t that far from the Pakistan Monument. We could check that out. The Bari Imam Shrine looks interesting, too.”
“Sure.” Joe gave the driver directions, and they set off through the increasing traffic. After about twenty minutes they arrived at their destination. The Monument was interesting, shaped like a blooming flower with four open petals around a star-shaped central courtyard. There was a museum of history attached to the monument, and as they wandered among the exhibits, which detailed ancient civilizations in the country as well as Pakistan’s battle for independence, Joe found himself relaxing for the first time in weeks.
“This was a good idea,” he told Drew, after they’d spent almost two hours looking at everything. “Thanks for suggesting it.”
Drew offered an easy smile. “I thought a little down time might do us both some good.” The smile turned into a mischievous grin as he pulled out his phone and waved it. “Let’s take a selfie and send it to Finn. We can do the whole wish you were here thing.”
Two days before, Joe would have automatically protested, not wanting to do anything that seemed to show any sort of connection between he and Drew. But, as he thought about it, he knew that a picture of the two of them would probably please Finn a lot, and it didn’t cost Joe anything. “Okay,” he said with a shrug. “Where do you want to do it?”
“Somewhere with a good view of the city in the background.” Drew glanced around, and then he grasped Joe’s arm and led him over to a particular spot. “Right here,” he said, guiding Joe where he wanted him. He slid one arm around Joe’s shoulders and leaned in as he held up the phone at an angle that captured them both, plus the scenic background. “Ready?”
“Sure,” Joe replied. He smiled slightly at the phone, hoping this would make Finn happy and reassure him that everything was okay.
Drew took a couple of pictures. “This one is good,” he said, holding out the phone so Joe could see the one he’d selected.
The photo showed the two of them looking like typical tourists, but the view behind them was beautiful. Drew’s smile was wider and seemed more genuine than Joe’s. In fact, he didn’t look at all awkward or stiff about being so close to Joe.
“Fine with me,” Joe replied. He didn’t like having his picture taken, and he hoped that Finn wouldn’t see his awkwardness. “Finn should like it.”
“He’ll love it.” Drew remained standing close to Joe while he sent the text. “It’s morning there, so he’ll probably see it pretty quick if they’re letting him have his phone.”
