His initial instinct had been to ignore the call and smash the phone, but he answered, surprised to hear Omar’s voice. It had turned out Omar had switched SIM cards out of an abundance of caution. He was calmer than before, the panic no longer in his voice. He’d asked, “Did you get my belongings when you left?”
“No. We didn’t have a key to your room, and even if we did, from what you were saying, we didn’t have the time. I even had to leave the mission equipment.”
“You left the Pelican cases behind?”
“Yes. I assumed the mission was over. Yassir is coordinating to get us back to the Triple Frontier. This is done. You said so yourself on the first call.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure anymore. There’s nothing on the news about a police raid, and the one at the last hotel was all over social media. I’ve searched over and over using our hotel name and come up with nothing. You do the same with the last hotel and you get plenty.”
“Where are you?”
“Still at the airport, but I’m about to get a cab to the hotel and try to get to my room.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that. You don’t know what they might have set up. Just come here and let’s evacuate while we’re still one step ahead.”
“Let me check it out. The mission might not be blown at all.”
“Are you insane? First you call me and tell me you think Khalil’s dead and to run like the wind, and now you’re saying it might have been a false alarm?”
Omar said, “Just let me check it out,” and hung up the phone.
Two hours later, the sun beginning to set and the Ghost growing more aggravated the lower it dropped, Omar had finally arrived.
He said, “I went to the hotel. I watched it for a spell and saw nothing suspicious, so I went in. I talked to the desk clerk and he said nothing untoward had happened the entire day. I mean, I didn’t come right out and ask, but through the conversation he would have said something if the place had been hit by the police.”
“So we left for no reason?”
Omar said, “Well... no. Someonedidcome because my room was cleaned out. They took everything of mine, but it wasn’t the police. They came in quietly, without a signature, but they came all the same, so leaving was a good decision.”
“What did you have in the room? Just clothes?”
Omar exhaled, then said, “No. They took my computer.”
That caused everyone in the room to snap their heads to him. The Ghost said, “What was on it?”
“Nothing. It’s layered with the Brazilian oil company cover. All it will show is an oil company businessman on a holiday.”
“I thought you were using it to talk to Sardar?”
“I was, but that is compartmented and encrypted. Trust me, whoever took it will see what we want them to see.”
“But it’s still there, on the computer, so why would you think we should continue?”
“Because they didn’t take the equipment in the basement. The clerk told me it’s still there, so whoever infiltrated the hotel today knew Khalil had rented the rooms, but not the reason why. They’re still guessing, and your diversion should close the loop on their decision-making, convincing them they’ve solved the puzzle. We can still get in and accomplish our mission.”
The Ghost took a breath, turning over the sequence of events in his mind. He said, “What happened with Khalil?”
Omar held up his hands and said, “I honestly don’t know. He was at the Ecoparque when I called him for pickup. He was agitated and babbling about some woman he thought was following him. I tried to get him to explain and he said he saw some police. The next thing I heard was gunfire. Then he was gone and that’s when I called you.”
Sitting next to Yassir, Fatima let out a burst of air. The Ghost glanced at her and saw her lower lip quivering and her eyes beginning to water. Then he remembered Khalil had been her cousin. He returned to Omar, saying, “What woman did he see?”
“I have no idea. He said it was someone he recognized from Iguazú, but that would be crazy.”
The Ghost thought a moment, then said, “What about the van? Where is it?”
“I don’t know. He parked it somewhere, and I don’t know where.” He snapped his fingers and said, “Khalil did say he saw something weird happen with the computer in the van, like he thought it had been manipulated.”
The Ghost leaned back, thinking. Omar said, “But that may have just been him being paranoid. The only confirmed fact in the entire event is that he had a shoot-out with the police, and he got killed. That’s all over the news, but they’re reporting it like he had mental issues, not like the police were sent to apprehend him. There’s no mention of counterterrorism actions or anything like that, and the police would most certainly be crowing had they thought they’d interrupted a terrorist action with the visitors from Israel and the United States coming tomorrow.”
