The Ghost considered, then said, “Okay. But he doesn’t drive directly by the Jewish center. Tell him to go one road over, and you finish the preparations, then come straight back.”
Omar stood up, saying, “We’ll go after lunch and be back before nightfall.”
The Ghost nodded, saying, “Take the pistols with you just in case. I may be paranoid, but it’s kept me alive. And be sure and tell Sardar about the cards.”
Omar moved to the door saying, “I will, I will.”
The Ghost said, “Wait.”
Omar stopped and the Ghost said, “I think it’s time I learned exactly what’s going on. What is Sardar doing?”
Omar held up his hands and said, “We’ve been through this. You know I can’t tell you. You’re the one who is so firm about security protocols, so stick with them.”
The Ghost said, “I killed for you the other day simply because you were stupid enough to let the drug dealer know you had a passport from Qatar. Don’t tell me about security.”
Omar remained standing, mute.
The Ghost said, “I deserve to know.”
Omar shifted from one foot to the other, then said, “Okay. Sardar is planning a spectacular attack in Washington, DC.”
Surprised, the Ghost said, “By himself? Are there Hezbollah in the United States as well?”
Omar smiled and said, “No. He’s using Americans.”
“Americans? There is a group of Americans willing to help the Pasdaran?”
“They don’t know they’re helping, but they will all the same because of greed.” He laughed and said, “It’s the American way. Sardar will leverage them to strike the Great Satan hard for all it has done to us.”
The Ghost thought about the motorcycle gang that had freed him, thenfocused on Omar’s last words. He said, “?‘Us’ as in you Persians in Iran, or who?”
Omar huffed and said, “Us, man. Us. All of us.”
“Sardar mentioned that ‘my people’ would be the ultimate martyrs. What did he mean by that?”
Omar held up his hands, saying, “I’ve told you enough. Let’s focus on this mission and let Sardar handle the others.”
Chapter 49
Sardar scanned the QR code on his computer screen and followed the prompts to link his new Signal account to his laptop. He was running out of SIM cards for his phone, but he couldn’t take the risk that the last one wasn’t burned.
On his last contact with Omar, he’d learned about the unknown team tracking them through a credit card Cyrus had used during pre-mission activities, the tale ending with the skin-of-the-teeth escape before the police stormed the hotel. While concerning, he was gratified that his enormous effort to break free the Ghost had been worth it.
Ostensibly done for plausible deniability, the Ghost had proven to be as fearless and deadly as the legends from his past had proclaimed. As for his mission in the United States, he wasn’t concerned, since both he and Cyrus were using completely different bank accounts and credit cards from the ones used in Buenos Aires. At least he’d felt that way initially. When Cyrus had failed to answer his Signal messages, he began to worry. Maybe Cyrus had been compromised on his exfiltration—and he was using the same bank account as Sardar.
After crossing into the United States the same way he’d evacuated the Ghost—through the Tohono O’odham tribal lands—Sardar had rented a car in Tucson. Being so close to the border, he’d known the rental company would be worried about customers taking the vehicle into Mexico, and had disabled the rental company’s GPS module in the vehicle, so that wasn’t a worry, but ithadbeen rented using one of the Cyrus exfiltrationcards, which meant if that platform was compromised, they would have a description of the vehicle, along with a license plate. He’d have to take care of that tonight.
If Cyruswascompromised, the damage was limited to the rental car, meaning they would know he started in Tucson, so there was no worry about continuing to use the cards in that location. He’d hit five separate ATMs at different locations in the city and withdrew the maximum limit of cash at each, then had cut those cards up and started his journey to Washington.
He’d made it as far as Nashville before pulling over to rest and conduct future planning. He’d located a mid-priced motel on Interstate 40, just outside the Nashville airport, and used his last fresh bank account. The one reserved for his own exfiltration after the mission. If these cards became compromised, he’d have to rely solely on cash, which, in this day and age, wasn’t the most inconspicuous way to travel.
He finished the synching of the new Signal account and SIM card with his computer and started a fresh chat with a contact called Nomad.
—This is Saladin. Are you secure? Ready to transfer?
He waited a full two minutes before he saw the bubbles appear from a reply. They cleared and he read:
—Give me the town of the man you had me take to the border.
