The first deception, p.17
The First Deception, page 17
part #1 of Jack Noble Prequel Series
She nodded. “Only a little more close up.”
“We think that’s where O’Neil is?”
Farah slid the top photo to the right, uncovering the next. A gaunt man with a high forehead stared back at them. “I did some digging around with my network, asking about any unusual activity. People here know things, know about some of the more unsavory characters running about. Seventy-five percent of my contacts fingered this guy, Wahid Samara, as being particularly active the past week.”
“What’s that mean?” Noble said. “Particularly active? He’s been visiting Wal-Mart more often than normal?”
Farah took a deep breath. “You’re worse than dealing with my child. It’s not only him, but his group. And I dug further. While no one admitted to seeing O’Neil, or a white woman matching her description, they did place the man you had intel on with Samara.”
Noble placed both hands on the tile counter and stared down at the image. The swirling pattern on the tiles blurred and danced off to the sides. “So this is our guy, then. What do we know about Wahid?”
Farah showed them the next image, which was really six smaller pictures lined up in a two-by-three grid. The photos were of buildings that could only be differentiated by the cracks in the facade.
“He either owns an interest or regularly visits each of these locations.”
“Do we know which he’s been most active at recently?” Noble asked.
She shook her head. “And we can’t just send in a team. For one, there’s no way any agency could get enough men in Aleppo to raid all locations simultaneously without drawing serious scrutiny and setting off a diplomatic train wreck. You can’t just hit one location, either. If Samara is as tied into each of these as I think, and the purpose of each building is what I assume, then invading the wrong one will result in the swift termination of your agent.”
“And probably us, too,” Bear said.
Farah glanced down at the photos strewn across the counter. “Yes, you, too.” She pulled out a map and laid it on top of the folder. “The six locations are marked on here. You’ll be able to figure which is which by the photos.”
“Any idea which is the most likely?” Noble asked.
“That’s not my job.” Farah snatched her bag and zipped it up, then slipped her arm through the strap and slung it over her shoulder. “I can continue looking for sources if you want, but my recommendation at this point is that I go dark. We’ve already stirred things up. If we go too far, Samara might grow suspicious and start watching his back. Or bring in others to do it for him.”
“What kind of presence do they have here?”
“That’s for some analyst to know, not me. I fade into the background. Look at me.” She hiked up her sleeves and held her arms out. “I look like I belong here. Or any other number of cities in this dank corner of the world.”
“If we need to contact you…?” Noble glanced at the hallway leading to the front door and security panel. He had a hunch the number written on the inside of the cover was no longer in service.
Farah reached into her bag and pulled out an empty envelope. She scrawled something on it in black ink, folded it twice, and handed it to Jack. “Only call if there is a dire emergency, or you’ve found her. We can’t have contact otherwise.”
It was concerning that she was ready to cut off contact right then and there. But that was her job. She provided the intel they needed to do theirs.
“I’ll see myself out,” she said.
Jack turned to watch her leave, but Bear had followed her to the door and blocked the view. The big man stood in front of the open door for a few seconds, presumably waiting until Farah was safely in her car. He walked back down the hallway and stopped at the opening.
“What do you think?” Bear said.
“I think we’ve got a long couple of days ahead of us watching buildings.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
It didn’t take long for Noble and Bear to realize how much they stuck out in Aleppo. They had trouble finding places to watch the first building with any sort of anonymity. A bustling café had to do. It was not lost on the majority of the business’s patrons that two young Americans were seated at a table near the window. And then there were the people who returned three hours after their morning order for lunch. To them, Noble and Bear were quite a curiosity.
The guys covered the table with notebooks and sketchbooks, several pencils, and an architecture textbook they found in a used bookstore on the walk over. If anyone asked, they were students in their final year of studies. It helped that Bear had an artistic eye. He recreated scenes from across the street, while Noble doodled, impressed at the big man’s ability.
During those hours, nothing happened across the street outside of an old couple exiting the main entrance, both equipped with walkers. They strolled from one end of the street to the other, oblivious to the world surrounding them, while younger pedestrians heading in and back out of the corner drug store lapped them.
“Maybe we should move on,” Bear said during a lull in activity in the cafe. “Wouldn’t expect the only people we’ve seen to be that old couple if something was going on here.”
Noble shuffled and stacked the loose papers on his side of the table and placed them inside a folder. There were so many that they stuck out a little on the side. He twisted at the waist to retrieve his bag slung over the chair back.
“Whoa, whoa,” Bear said. “Let’s hold on a second.”
Noble turned back to see Bear holding the large mug up to his face. Between the cup and his large hands supporting it, all Jack could see were the man’s eyes, which were fixated on something across the street. He followed Bear’s gaze to the two men at the entrance. One stood inside, shielded by the shadows. The other man was on the sidewalk with his back to them. He had dark hair. Wore black pants and a dark grey shirt and tactical boots. There was a noticeable bulge on his rear right hip.
“That could be our guy.” Bear’s head turned toward the opening door. Noble was already on it. The teenaged girl would not normally pose a threat, but under the circumstances, anything was possible. “I can’t make out who that is inside, though.”
“Me either.” Noble watched the girl saunter up to the counter. She slid her bag off her shoulder and set it on the floor. He kept his gaze fixed on her hands.
“Everything OK over there?” Bear said.
“Think so. Keep watching across the street.”
Ten seconds dragged on and felt like ten minutes. The words exchanged between the girl and barista were even more distorted than they had been at real speed in the peoples’ native tongue. Noble felt as though he were underwater, listening to people shouting on dry land.
Bear slapped the table. Noble snapped his head toward the window.
“That’s our guy,” Bear said.
Noble didn’t have to think twice. The image of Wahid Samara burned in his mind matched that of the guy walking across the street in their direction.
“Take him now?” Bear slid back, his chair scraped along the tile floor. The girl at the counter looked back at him. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the large American.
“We do that, we might never get to her,” Noble said, referring to O’Neil. They knew of six locations, and only one so far had been confirmed. “Best bet is to follow him.”
“We’ll be spotted if we do.”
Samara walked right up to them. His eyes were focused on a space above their heads. Perhaps he was checking his reflection in the mirror. His hand went to his face, brushed back the hair hanging in his forehead. He planted one boot on the sidewalk, pivoted, and turned to his left. Noble and Bear hadn’t been a blip on his radar. Maybe they could get away with following him.
Bear was on his feet and making his way toward the door. He knocked a few tables out of the way. He had his hand on the door handle when Noble yelled at him to stop. Bear looked at him, mouth open, eyes narrowed.
Noble shifted his gaze from the big man to the young woman standing in front of the counter. “Do you speak English?”
She turned away.
“This is important,” Noble said. “Do you?”
She nodded once while staring at the floor between them.
Noble pulled a wad of cash out of his bag. It was half their allotted money to use while in the city. “All of this is yours, if you can follow that man who just walked past. Come back here with the address of his next destination.”
Shaking her head, she backed up until her rear hit the counter.
“Look, I know it sounds odd. But he won’t ever suspect you. And if it feels unsafe at any time, just come back.”
She glanced at the large stack of money Noble had set on the table next to him. “All of that is mine?” Her English was perfect, if heavily accented.
“All of it,” Noble said. “But you have to hurry. He’s going to be out of sight soon.”
Her head bobbed up and down as she took a couple of quick, deep breaths. She grabbed her backpack off the ground and rushed toward the door, pushing Bear out of the way. Bells jingled as she emerged onto the sidewalk. A rush of cool air filled the space she had passed through.
Bear let the door fall shut. He held it in place for a few moments so no one else could get in. The barista stood behind the counter, staring at them. Bear tossed her a quick glance, but it was as though he didn’t see her standing there.
“You think that was smart?”
“I think she was our best bet in this situation.” Noble pressed his head against the glass, watching the woman for as long as he could.
Bear clenched the fist on his free hand while the other white knuckled the handle. “We could’ve just gone to the next logical location and waited.”
“And waited and waited until he came out again, if he came out again, because we might be waiting at the wrong spot.” Noble turned toward Bear. “It’s not going to be long before word gets back to Samara and Khoury that two Americans are poking around for information and hanging out in front of their haunts. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Bear stepped outside and paced the stretch of sidewalk in front of the cafe. He stopped frequently to stare off in the direction that Samara and the girl had traveled. Noble reconsidered the decision he’d made in a flash. He figured he’d been fifty-fifty on such decisions in his life. None mattered as much as this one, though. There was a difference between deciding whether to throw twenty yards to a covered receiver or take off running, and putting a teenage girl’s life on the line. He stared at the cash still on the table and cursed at himself. He should have gone. That was his job. Not hers.
The door whipped open and the exhaust fumes entered ahead of Bear. He gestured with his head. “She’s coming.”
“Alone?”
“I didn’t see anyone following, but who knows?”
Noble freed his pistol from its holster and did his best to conceal it and his hand in his front pocket. The grip stuck out. What did it matter? They were the only ones in there at the moment aside from the barista, and she wasn’t paying much attention.
Bear pulled the door open for the girl, who wasted no time entering.
“Well?” Noble wiped his forehead with the back of his thumb.
She spat out an address. “He stopped there and talked with another man. As I walked past, they went inside. I glanced over and saw two more men standing inside the doorway. They were holding guns, machine guns. I heard what sounded like a woman screaming.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Alexa Steele closed the laptop’s lid and turned her attention to the hallway leading to the front door. A black mark and gouge in the paint near the edge of the wall had been there since one of the guys moving in her new furniture had tripped over his own shoelace. It could have been worse. They could have punched a hole in the wall. For three months, the store had been blowing her off about getting the spot repainted. She could have done it herself, but it was the principal of the matter.
And she really didn’t care. She spent so little time in her place during the day that the spot went largely unnoticed. Except at moments like this. Times when she wanted to ignore the knock at the door and just enjoy a few moments off.
The visitor laid on the doorbell, exhausting the chimes before they could complete the full melody. Alexa grabbed her laptop, stuffed it in its bag, and shuffled across the plush rug, feeling the long strands rub between her toes, to the entry foyer.
Her uncle’s distorted figure hovered behind the decorative glass. He pounded on the door again.
“I see you in there. C’mon, girl, open up.”
She disarmed her security system, unlatched three deadbolts and a security chain, and pulled the door open an inch. “What are you doing up here?”
He took off his camouflage hat and covered his heart with it. “Can I come in?”
“Has someone died?” She eyed him, wondering what his angle was. Why was he appearing so timid and meek after pounding on the door hard enough to snap it off its hinges?
“No, not yet, at least.”
“Then what are you doing here, and not at the farm with the latest batch of recruits?”
“My guys got that under control. Besides, it’s their first off day.”
She pulled the door open, but remained in place, blocking entry. “There’s never an off day with you, Cribbs.”
“Alexa, let me in. We need to talk.”
She studied his face for a few moments. There was a softness she hadn’t seen present since she was a girl. Maybe he had a reason to be there unannounced. She relented, turned her back to him and walked to the kitchen where she took a seat on a stool at the island. He sat down next to her a few moments later, plunking his elbows on the countertop and holding his chin in his hand. He ran his thumb and forefinger across the short stubble that had collected on his cheeks.
“What is it?” She said, breaking the silence.
“I got the latest update on our boys this morning.”
“They’re in Aleppo, made contact with the asset, and have a plan.”
Cribbs nodded in response to this.
“And?” She spun a quarter turn on her stool and faced him. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m worried we sent them in there too soon.”
She nearly had to pick her chin up off her lap. “You’re worried about them? The two recruits you couldn’t stand because they were so green? What do you care if they die out there?”
“You know I had to be tough on them, girl.”
“I’m not a girl anymore, and frankly, I’m tired of telling you that. You need to start showing me the same respect you show McKenzie, because one day it’s gonna be me running—”
“I know, I know.” He conceded victory to her. “You picked them, and you did a good job. But this job has the chance of going so sideways it’ll send them into a spin.”
Alexa hopped off her stool and walked around to the other side of the island. She grabbed the coffee pot, rinsed it out, and refilled it with fresh water. What was Cribbs talking about? He was normally so arrogant that he was sure any recruit he had trained would rise to the top no matter the circumstances. After filling the machine with grounds, she started it and turned back to her uncle.
“What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
“The caretaker,” he said. “Of the safe house.”
“Schofield.”
“Right, that idiot. I got a message last night that he was involved with O’Neil in the past.”
“Who sent the message?”
Cribbs said nothing, an indication it was someone they both knew, which meant someone from the team.
Someone who knew O’Neil.
“You deem the information credible?”
He nodded, still said nothing.
“And your concern is that…?”
“How do we know he wasn’t involved in her kidnapping?”
“Vengeance?”
“Possibly. That asset in Aleppo, he fished her out, right?”
Alexa nodded. It was her turn to say nothing. Scenarios unfolded in her mind.
“So what if this guy sent our boys into a hornet’s nest? How long would it take to get them some backup?”
“Too long.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Noble left the cash behind and bolted for the door. He was lucky he didn’t get caught up in Bear’s wash. The big man was halfway down the block by the time Jack stepped into the early afternoon heat wave. The crowds had thickened during the lunch rush, but were back to normal levels now. Several vehicles drove past at low speeds with their windows down, filling the air with a mix of talk, pop, and traditional music. Heavy exhaust smoke poured out of tailpipes.
Five minutes later they reached the destination block. The building was the third one on the right. From where they stood, they could only see an awning stretching out five feet over the sidewalk. Every face was a potential enemy. It wasn’t until now that Noble considered they could have spotted the girl. She had walked past them twice. Unusual? Only to someone looking for it.
“Split up?” Bear asked.
“Don’t think that’s a good idea.” Noble paused and watched as a man stopped underneath the awning. The guy reached into his pocket. For what? A key? A gun? He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and worked one out with his meaty fingers.
“Let’s cut around back, then,” Bear said.
“You sure there’s an around back here?”
The big man looked up at nothing, nodded. “I remember from the photos.”
The side street was narrower by a full lane. It didn’t seem wide enough to allow two cars to pass. And as small as it was, the alley was even more cramped. Both men nearly brushed buildings while walking shoulder to shoulder. It was shaded and hot and smelled like a thousand soiled diapers had been left to rot back there for three weeks.
“Christ,” Bear said. “Dunno if I’m gonna make it halfway down.”
Noble nudged Bear to shut him up. Anyone could be watching. They had to figure everyone was. He glanced up at the high walls surrounding them. There was no easy escape. It would only take two armed men, one at each end of the corridor, to make life difficult.
