He said, “That’s not funny.”
Brett said, “So much for the hostage rescue sex.”
We started laughing at his expense, and he changed the subject, saying, “What are we doing about the Ghost?”
Brett said, “Pike, pick us up after you drop off your VIPs at Andrews. His trail’s getting colder the longer we sit here slapping ourselves on the back. We still have the original mission set active. The Oversight Council will never know.”
Wolffe chuckled and said, “No way am I destroying the good will we just built. Pike, just get back here in one piece with the hostages. Let’s call it a win. The Ghost can wait for another day.”
I said, “Fine with me. He deserves a head start after what he did.”
We bantered back and forth a little more, then Wolffe was called away. I shut down the computer and just sat looking out the window, thinking about the Ghost.
A figure plopped in the seat next to me, and I turned, seeing Shoshana. She said, “I told you it was a good plan.”
I said, “It was indeed. Much better than that plan at the airport.”
She smiled, taking the ribbing, and I grew serious, saying, “You still have to find that device.”
She said, “We’ll find it. The original Signal chat said they didn’t evenknow what they have, so they aren’t going to try to hide the emissions. My bet is that the device is tucked away, camouflaged in something in plain sight, and they’re sitting around right now waiting on a call that will never come. We’ll find it.”
I nodded and she said, “Nobody understands, but you are the one who made this happen.”
I said, “Come on, Carrie. I get I’m a barrel-chested freedom fighter, but it was your idea here. I didn’t do anything.”
She did her little stare, penetrating my soul, and said, “It was your phone call to the Ghost. That changed the entire course of events. If you hadn’t called him, everyone would have died. We wouldn’t even know about the RDD until after it went off. The prime minister and your secretary of state would be dead. It was you.”
Uncomfortable, I said, “It was just a call.”
“How did you know that would change everything?”
“Honestly, I didn’t. I just thought it might be something that we could use.”
She said, “You read him, like I do. You knew. You make fun of me, but you’re the same.”
I said, “Well,you’rethe one who said he wouldn’t kill them on the plane. Maybe I was just using that.”
Jennifer came up and said, “Why are you guys hiding over here?”
Shoshana didn’t say anything, but her expression was smug, like she knew a secret and wasn’t telling.
I said, “We were talking about the Ghost.”
Jennifer said, “I wonder what happened to that guy?”
I said, “I don’t know, and I don’t want to. If he makes it out of Argentina alive, he’s earned it.”
Chapter 86
The Ghost felt more than saw the light from false dawn, the pain from his leg waking him. He crawled out of the small hide of brush he’d made, sweeping off snow and blowing on his hands to warm them. The night had been long and cold, and he’d been curled into the tightest ball he could make, using the down parka as a makeshift sleeping bag.
He sat up and lifted the makeshift bandage he’d wrapped around his thigh. The wound was red and raw, but had quit bleeding. He adjusted the cloth of the bandage, moving the crust from the night before to the back of his leg and placing a somewhat clean patch over the wound. He cinched it down, gritting his teeth from the pain.
He turned on the Iridium SATPHONE and pulled up the number Omar had stored. He hit send, then waited for it to connect to the satellite. A man answered on the third ring, speaking in Spanish.
He said, “English?”
The man said, “Yes. I speak English.”
