“It’s not on my list, but I can look into it,” Mack offered.
“Maybe Waleed’s trip has nothing to do with Sacramento,” Evan said. “Maybe he flew in there and is driving to the target location. Or even on his way to meet Bilal Amari.”
Kiley nodded. “Leading agents on a wild-goose chase would be the best way to lose his tail.”
“If the attack is to take place before 9/11, then he has about nineteen hours to be in position,” Evan said. “Means the location would have to be drivable in that time frame.”
Cam lifted his head. “With nonstop driving at sixty mph, he could be anywhere. He could just drive to the nearest airport and hop a plane under a bogus ID.”
Mack scowled. “Then if he’s involved in this upcoming attack, we better hope the agents don’t lose him.”
Kiley quickly calculated Waleed’s flight time and how long it would take for the team to get to Sacramento. “This is too important to leave up to other agents. If Eisenhower can arrange transport, we should tail them ourselves.”
Disappointment crowned on Cam’s face. “What about the hack? I thought it was top priority.”
He was right. Getting information on the Amaris’ phones was also a priority she couldn’t lose sight of. Nor the email from Clark. She was going to have to juggle many balls in the next few hours, but she was amped and up for the challenge.
“The hack is still on.” She met Cam’s gaze. “You can do that from anywhere. You just might have to do it on your own.”
Evan pulled the small white Corolla to the curb at the Sacramento airport passenger pickup area, making sure to leave several cars between them and the beige Buick holding Mack and Sean. Waleed would recognize Evan and Kiley, so Mack and Sean took lead in the op while Kiley joined Evan. Cam was on his way to a motel not only to run communications for the team but also to start hacking Phantom Shield.
Kiley moved in the passenger seat, her shapely legs grabbing his attention as he shifted into park. They’d made a quick stop before leaving L.A. to buy casual attire so they could blend in better. She’d chosen khaki shorts paired with a T-shirt and a flowery blouse worn to hide her sidearm. He’d grabbed gray cargo shorts, a navy T-shirt, and a plaid button-down shirt to hide his holster.
A text came in from Eisenhower, and Kiley had the infotainment system read it aloud:“Finlay Brooks assigned to your video-chat conversation.”The message ended with Finlay’s phone number.
Kiley issued a thank-you text to Eisenhower. He replied,“Warrant came in for Barzani. With you out of town, I’m havinga Seattle agent serve it. Will update you soon.”
“Let’s hope Barzani’s numbers lead us to whoever booked that container,” Evan said.
Kiley held up her phone. “I’m gonna give Finlay Brooks a call.”
Evan leaned back to listen in, but she didn’t put the call through the system or on speaker, so he only got a one-sided version, where Kiley impressed upon the woman the importance of cracking the code and quick—if indeed it was code.
She ended the call and stared out the window. “I wish wehad a concrete link between Nabi, Shah, and the Waleeds, so we’d know if coming here is a waste of time.”
“It’d be better if the email you got from Clark pointed to a connection, but it didn’t so we have to follow the leads where they go and hope they connect at some point.”
“Yeah,” she said, as she’d received Clark’s email on the flight. “But I’d hoped for more from Clark. He didn’t tell us anything about our suspects’ backgrounds that we didn’t already know.”
“At least he confirmed prints for Gadi, and we know he’s the motel victim.”
“Right, that helps,” she said and looked like she appreciated that Evan was trying to keep a positive attitude. She pointed out the front window. “Mack’s headed our way.”
Evan lowered his window, the steamy warm air drifting in.
Mack planted his hands on the door and leaned down. “Plane’s on the ground. Agents will follow Waleed out and keep us updated, so we wait here. I’ll get the security officer to relax and let us stay put.” He strode toward the female officer waving traffic forward, his cowboy boots barely heard above the passing cars and planes overhead.
Evan raised his window and cranked up the air conditioner. “He seems pretty confident he’ll convince her to let us sit here.”
She nodded. “He turns on his Southern charm and women are putty in his hands.”
“You too?”
“What?”
“Are you putty in his hands?”
“I’d like to say after years of working with him that I’m immune, but I still fall for it at times. Then I find myself saddled with a task I had no plans of agreeing to take on.” She gave a genuine smile, her eyes glinting with fondness for Mack.
