A large SUV appeared in the drive out front and Sardar stood, saying, “I’ve learned that the little things are what breaks a mission.”
The Ghost followed him to the door, saying, “So have I, so have I.”
Cyrus was behind the wheel, Omar and Ramzi sitting on a bench seatin the far back. Sardar took the passenger seat up front and the Ghost took a bucket seat behind him. They circled through the drive and exited the casino complex, this time turning north, away from the airport and the falls.
Within minutes they crossed the Iguazú River and approached what looked like a highway toll booth spanning four lanes. Signs provided directions for buses, trucks, and cars. Cyrus pulled off and parked in the individual vehicle lot and Sardar turned saying, “Give me your passports.”
The Ghost turned, gathered up the passports from the rear, added his, and passed them to Sardar. He exited the vehicle, saying, “Follow me, but let me do the talking.”
They walked to a small office, a line of people snaking out of it, mostly Western visitors fanning their faces in the heat. The Ghost said, “Should I be concerned?”
“No. Tourists travel back and forth across the border here daily. It’s perfunctory.”
“What about biometrics? Buenos Aires was bad enough. I don’t want to give them here as well, leaving a trail all over this country.”
They reached the line and Sardar said, “They don’t take biometrics at land crossings. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
The Ghost nodded, and Sardar said, “Wait here. I’m going to the tour guide line. If they have any questions, I’ll come back and get you. But I’m sure they won’t.”
He left and the Ghost remained with the rest of the men. He turned to Cyrus, saying, “Have you guys crossed before?”
“Yeah. It’s not an issue.”
“But it leaves a trail. They’ll have dates and times of us coming back and forth.”
Cyrus said, “They’ll have times for me, but not for the rest of you. You aren’t coming back through here. More smoke for the inevitable investigation.”
“How am I getting back to Argentina?”
Before Cyrus could answer, Sardar returned, a smile on his face. “No issues. Let’s go.”
They went back to the vehicle and drove through the gates, the Ghost watching the Iguazú River fade away behind him.
I felt my Taskforce phone vibrate, saw it was Knuckles, and answered, “They have available rooms?”
Knuckles said, “Yeah, they do, but they’re not next to each other. You got a fix on the target rooms yet?”
“Stand by.” I put my hand over the mouthpiece and said to Jennifer, “How’s Creed doing on the hotel? He locate any rooms with Lebanese passports?”
She looked up from her computer and said, “Not yet. No Lebanese that he can find.”
I returned to Knuckles and said, “Get rooms for yourself, Veep, and Brett. I’ll give you more information when I get it.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going to steal a room here, with Shoshana. I’ll explain it to her when she gets back.”
I heard him chuckle, then, “Good luck with that.”
I said, “No choice. Look, this is going to be your show. The Ghost knows both Jennifer and me on sight.”
He grew serious then, saying, “Roger that. No problem. You give me the breach and I’ll give you the Ghost.”
I said, “Will do. For now, just get a layout of the hotel. Do some macro pre-assault planning. When I get the target rooms, we’ll do a final.”
As soon as Shoshana had left, I’d brought in the rest of my team and pulled up a satellite image of our location. Sure enough, while we were on the outer edges of the Puerto Iguazú densely packed urban area, just across our street was the wall of the Iguazú Grand compound. From an aerial view, it spread out with acres of space, a little oasis right next to the concrete and asphalt of the city. I could see the back side of the property had a single entrance with a gate for servicing a restaurant, then a sprawling pool areawith cabanas and outdoor bars, and finally the hotel-casino building itself. To the north of the hotel was some sort of nature trail, with a section of unkempt jungle running up to the northern wall. The south was all casino, with everything that entailed. Multiple bars, restaurants, and the casino itself took up the entire southern sector.
Knuckles and the team had come in and I’d briefed them on what Shoshana had told me, saying, “This is the endgame. Shoshana thinks they’re here for a hit on the Israeli prime minister, and she’s probably right, but we get the Ghost here and that plan goes to shit.”
