“Pike, Shoshana’s never wrong. She’s scary as shit, but she’s never made a bad call when it comes to evil intent. You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. If she says these guys are on the warpath, youknowthey are.”
Pike rubbed his face, then said, “I get it. Trust me, I know, but we have to play this by the rules.”
“The Iranians don’t play by the same rules. They aren’t going to wait politely for us to get permission.”
Pike remained silent, and Knuckles could see him thinking. Finally, he said, “Look, use your best judgment. If it’s not the Ghost, but you see something indicating hostile intent... use your best judgment.”
And Knuckles knew an enormous weight had now been placed on his shoulders. The call was now his and his alone.
He said, “See you in under thirty.”
He closed the laptop screen, turned to the team and said, “You guys ready to get some?”
Brett said, “Oh, yeah. I heard that last part. Are we backing off if it’s not the Ghost?”
“Don’t know. Depends on what we see.”
Veep put in an earpiece, saying, “Comms check.”
Knuckles and Brett followed suit, making sure they could talk, and Knuckles said, “No change to the plan. Veep, you knock. If it’s the Ghost, let him close the door and get settled. Brett, you have breach, I’m two-man, Veep you follow with the tranquilizer. Execute on my command.”
They nodded and Knuckles shouldered a pack, saying, “Showtime. Veep, lead the way.”
They exited the room into the hallway, finding it empty as expected. Veep led them to a stairwell at the end of the hall, and they went down two flights, to the second floor. He cracked the door, glanced out, then whispered, “Clear,” and entered the hallway. He jogged past two doors and stopped on the third, glancing back at Knuckles.
Knuckles and Brett pressed against the hallway wall, and Knuckles nodded. Veep raised his hand, paused, then gave the door four sharp raps. Knuckles held his breath.
Nothing happened.
Veep glanced at Knuckles and he motioned his head towards the door. Veep knocked a second time and waited. No response.
Veep sidled back to Knuckles and said, “I can’t even hear movement in there. Maybe he’s a heavy sleeper.”
Knuckles shook his head, saying, “None of these guys are going to be heavy sleepers. He’s awake. Knock again.”
Veep returned to the door, and Brett said, “Maybe he left. Somehow avoided the camera.”
Knuckles unslung his backpack and dug through it, pulling out whatlooked like a 1980s cell phone or old World War II handset. Called a radar scope, the device was designed to find living organisms through walls by detecting motion. Any motion was good enough, to include the simple act of breathing. In certain cases, a heartbeat alone was enough to trigger a positive finding.
Veep rapped his knuckles against the door one more time and waited. Knuckles put the device against the wall and began sliding it, as if he were trying to find a stud. Knuckles stopped, looked at the screen, then back at Veep. Veep shrugged.
Knuckles motioned to him and he returned. Knuckles said, “He’s inside, against the far wall, lying down. I’m thinking he’s hiding behind the bed. He’s not going to come to the door.”
Brett looked at the picture the scope provided, a linear object glowing red along the floor. He said, “Hiding? Hell that’s enough proof of guilt.”
Knuckles said, “It’s not hostile intent.”
Veep looked up from the screen, saying, “Recock for tomorrow? He’s got to eat sometime.”
Knuckles said nothing for a moment, thinking. He’d expected a black-and-white choice: either the man who answered the door was the Ghost, or he was not. He hadn’t considered the third option, that nobody would come. Pike’s words echoed in his mind:hostile intent. By hiding behind the bed, wasn’t the man showing hostile intent? Or at least trying to hide hostile intent? He went from Pike’s orders to Shoshana’s admonition about preventing death. About his team being more willing to sacrifice lives than break the rules.
He said, “No. We go now. Brett, make breach.”
Chapter 38
Brett took the lead, withdrawing a Staccato HD P4 from its holster and circling to the front of the door, giving Knuckles space. Knuckles assumed the number-two slot, holding up the Flipper Max and looking back at Veep. Veep withdrew a syringe full of milky fluid from a cargo pocket and nodded. Knuckles nodded back and returned to Brett, catching his eyes. Brett exhaled and flicked his head in a barely perceptible movement, returning his focus to the red dot on the slide of his pistol.
On the net, Knuckles said, “Pike, this is Knuckles, breach, breach, breach.”
