“The last time we had a visual on him was six days ago. He was caught on a surveillance camera near Joint Base Charleston.” Luna began tapping keys. “They handle cargo and occasional passenger flights to Doha.”
“Maybe he has someone on base helping him?” Calliope looked around the table.
Cole said, “Luna—”
“I’m on it.” She started scouring for CCTVs in the general area around the base.
“It appears Udall is trying to start up his business again.” Cole looked around at his team, and his voice held a dark edge of menace. “We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
There were grumbles of agreement around the table.
“Damn straight,” Lucas said.
“I can’t wait to center that POS up in my sight.” Calliope was a world-class sniper. If she had Udall dialed in, he didn’t stand a chance.
Hawk and Viking simply nodded.
“Luna, can you tell us what time that recording was made?” Cole asked.
“Sure, hang on one second.” She switched to another program, went to the original recording, and checked the time stamp. “The satellite was over that location for ninety-three minutes—from twelve thirty-seven hours until fourteen-ten hours local time.”
“That means this happened somewhere between 3:37 a.m. and 5:10 a.m. our time.” Boone sounded like he was ready to hop on a plane today.
“Correct,” Luna said. “We’re nine hours behind Islamabad.”
“See if you can narrow down the area where Udall might be. And talk to Emily,” Cole said. “She has a network of people she deals with all over the world. Have her put the word out, and let’s see what happens.”
“Will do.” Luna continued typing.
Emily O’Halleran, soon-to-be Emily Croft, was OSI’s deployment and logistics manager. She made sure the teams had whatever they needed to successfully complete their missions. Weapons, vehicles, transportation, local contacts— you name it, she handled it all.
“Aliabad is about the only hint of civilization in that area. It’s also somewhat of a tourist spot, so it wouldn’t be that odd for a group of Americans to be there.” Lucas would know—he flew special operations teams into and out of some of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria. “But if there is an American talking about rounding up girls in the area—if that’s in fact what he’s planning—you can bet yourass the locals know about it. They won’t dare talk about it, but they’ll definitely have their suspicions.”
“You guys know as well as I do that the biggest market for foreign girls is in the States. So, it’s probably safe to assume he’s planning to bring the girls into this country,” Boone said. “The logistics of making something like that happen would be unbelievably tough. Near impossible, really.”
“Unless he has connections.” Cole sat back. “Tell us what you know about Udall and the Hunza Valley.”
Boone spent the next several minutes giving them insights into the man they would be hunting.
“His biggest weakness is money—never having enough—followed closely by his overabundance of hubris,” Boone said. “He’ll trample over anyone who gets between him and a deal he’s chasing, especially if there is a big payoff at the end. If in fact he is setting up an operation to traffic girls from Pakistan to the States, he’s aware of the risks, so you can bet your ass the payoff has to be massive.”
Udall sounded like a piece of garbage, and the fact he manipulated women and turned them into victims was especially disturbing to Luna. But he wouldn’t be able to do what he did if there wasn’t a market for that type of thing.
“If he’s willing to do all of that, he must be working with someone stateside.” Luna would do what she could to figure out who that person might be. “I could be wrong, but I don’t see how he could pull this off on his own.”
“You’re not wrong.” Boone pushed back his chair, walked over to the screen. “As Lucas mentioned, there’s a small city in the valley called Aliabad. Luna, could you please zoom in on thisarea?” He pointed at a section in the upper right corner of the map.
“Sure.” She used the mouse and zoomed in on a small town sandwiched between a mountain range and a river.
“Perfect, thanks. The Hunza River runs along the south side of Aliabad, this little town right here.” He pointed to a cluster of buildings nestled in the valley and partially surrounded by jagged peaks covered with snow. “This is the Karakoram Range.” He dragged his finger along the range of mountains on the north side of Aliabad. “It’s rugged and has some of the highest peaks on Earth. K2 is part of this range, which makes this a popular destination for mountaineers, trekkers, and tourists.”
“If that piece of shit is bringing girls back here, he’s going to need a way to transport them,” Lucas said. “It’s not like he can just put them on a commercial flight.”
“Hang on a second.” Luna’s fingers flew across the keys. “Okay, the nearest airport to Aliabad is Gilgit Airport, and it’s one hundred and five kilometers away.” She scrolled down the screen to read the details. “According to this, it’s just a tiny domestic airport and is only suitable for smaller passenger aircraft. Apparently, the weather is pretty dramatic there and can affect flights coming and going.”
“Al Udeid Air Base is in Qatar, but it’s a hell of a long haul by land, and that’s assuming he has someone at the base helping him.” Lucas stared at the map.
“He was dishonorably discharged, so it’s not like he has access to any US bases anymore,” Hawk said. “Not legally, anyway.”
