“Barzani did say an American consigned the shipment,” Mack said.
They were missing something here, yet Kiley couldn’t pinpointit. “Do you have any more of a feel for Barzani’s affiliation with a terrorist organization?”
Mack shook his head. “I got the feeling he’s apolitical and would broker a shipment for anyone if he could make a buck on it.”
“And then we have Malouf whose only terrorist affiliation we can find is with the Muslim Brotherhood,” Cam said. “But does he use his shipping company to help other organizations?”
Kiley wroteMalouf,Barzani,Waleed, andAmarion the whiteboard and underlined each name with a harsh slash of her marker. “We need to find the connections between these players or with Firuzeh. Sean, can you head that up?”
He nodded.
“Okay, good.” She gave him a smile of thanks. “I’ve been thinking Firuzeh is the key here, and this picture makes me lean more in that direction. You can get the list of groups she belongs to from Cam.”
“Sending it now,” Cam said, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
“After that, Cam, see if you can locate a list of group members and cross-reference them to the women in Firuzeh’s dance classes.” She pulled out her notes from the plane and slid the pad across to him. “I’ve made a list of dates and times of all group meetings from her journals. I thought you could also do some digging on that, see if the dates coincide with any terrorist actions.”
He set the pad by his computer. “Sure thing.”
She turned back to the board and tapped the prior action item regarding chemical plants when her phone chimed a text. She glanced at it. “It’s Harrison. Capitol Café doesn’t have video footage, but the bank across the street does. Firuzeh and Nasim Waleed are seen arriving and departing about the same time.”
Evan shot up in his seat, his eyes lighting up. “So theydidmeet.”
“Not that we’ll go back to interrogate Waleed again, but this gives us proof of their meeting in case we or Quinn need it.” She tapped the wordchemicalon the whiteboard. “Where do we stand on your research, Mack?”
“I’ve finished the target list and cross-referenced the plants by size of city and the potential exposure numbers. But I have to say, unless we’re dealing with a chemical that might blow downwind or pollute a stream, these guys would be hard-pressed to expose millions of people without a large network of operatives.”
“Anything stand out as a particular risk?” Evan asked.
“A few places. I’ve highlighted them in my report. After the bombing I started working on tracking hazardous chemical shipments, but it’s nearly impossible to get an accurate real-time report.”
“If our suspects are planning several events instead of a large one, they might be counting on that,” Evan said. “Could I get a copy of the list for my records too?”
“I’ll email it now.” Mack turned to his computer.
“I finished with my list of dams,” Sean said. “I’ll email it to everyone.”
She kept her focus on Sean. “Did the dockworker and security guard interviews turn anything up?”
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, none of them noted anything suspicious. Also, I got word on the flight manifests from SeaTac. Nothing stands out there either. I’ve asked them to take another look for the Amaris and let you know if their names appear on the list or their images on any video footage. I’ll let you know if I hear anything on that.”
“And the video-game chat is being monitored.” Mack shook his head. “There can’t be an analyst left in D.C. we’re not using.”
“Eisenhower must be looking at a massive budget overrun, but money isn’t important here,” she said. “You can’t put a price on keeping millions of people safe.”
Her comment brought the conversation to a halt as they all looked at each other for a long moment, the severity of their enormous task feeling as if it sucked all air from the room.
Evan broke eye contact and shifted his focus to Cam. “Did my guy at MIT get back to you?”
Cam nodded. “He’s pulling together a list of potential accounts we should be monitoring. Said he’d get back to me today.”
A knock sounded on the door, and ASAC Stadler poked his head in. “Lunch is in the break room.”
Kiley looked at her watch, feeling off-kilter due to the three-hour time change from D.C. “Okay. Good work, everyone. Grab some lunch, then hit the assignments hard. We’ll hold another meeting later today.”
As her teammates filed out, she texted Quinn asking for a written report on the Amaris, to see if the Waleeds were on the move, and to tell him about their tail to the airport. She expected Evan to leave with the guys. Instead he opened his laptop.
“You should eat too,” she said. “No telling when you’ll get another chance.”
