I had one up on him—I had a target on my back. Who the hell put this together?
Kate said, “I think we have a good team so far.”
Buck replied to her, “I know we do. And when we apprehend this suspect, then you, as an FBI agent with arrest powers, and as a legal attaché, will make the formal arrest in the name of the people and the government of the United States.”
Kate said, “I’m looking forward to that.”
Me, too. Then I’ll put a bullet in his head and save everyone a lot of trouble.
Brenner returned pushing a cart on which was tea, coffee, and fresh-baked muffins.
We helped ourselves, and Buck informed us, “Yemen is where mocha coffee originated.” He asked me, “How is that?”
“It was probably good last week.”
We were sitting again and Buck said, “I’ll outline some of what we’re thinking, but our fifth team member has a more detailed plan.”
Well, if this was a CIA plan—which it was—then it was probably over-planned, over-thought, and over-complicated. But I’d keep an open mind. My concern was that this plan might rely too much on Mr. and Mrs. Corey’s roles as red meat.
Buck began, “First, we’re positive that Bulus ibn al-Darwish is somewhere in Yemen. That’s why we’re here. What we don’t know is if he knows that John Corey and Kate Mayfield of Lion fame are also here. And third, we can’t be certain that The Panther would make an attempt on your lives if he knew that.” He added, “But we’ll make those assumptions, based on CIA information.”
Brenner said, “As for The Panther knowing you’re in Yemen, the names of all Americans coming through a port of entry are considered a saleable commodity—especially Americans traveling on a diplomatic passport. Those names go to the government, of course, and to the local police and the PSO. And as I told you, the PSO is infiltrated with Al Qaeda members and sympathizers, so Al Qaeda knowing you’re here is not a problem.”
Sounded like a problem to me. But I guess that was the whole idea.
Buck picked up the ball and continued, “We’re hoping and assuming that AQAP—Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—is competent enough to identify the arriving John Corey and Katherine Mayfield Corey as people whom they’d like to kill.”
“God, I hope so.”
Even Kate laughed. I mean, as I said, you have to laugh.
Kate had a good question and asked, “Don’t you think Al Qaeda will suspect that this is a setup to lure The Panther into a trap?”
Buck reminded us, “You both have good cover and plausible reasons to be here. John has returned to continue with the Cole investigation. Kate has been assigned to our new Legal Affairs Office.” He added, “It’s not unusual to assign a husband and wife together when possible. Hopefully, Al Qaeda will not think much beyond that.”
Kate wasn’t sure and said, “It seems too pat.”
Buck got philosophical, or maybe metaphorical, and asked, “Does the panther or the lion know that the meat is a trap?” He answered his own rhetorical question and said, “I think he does on some instinctive level. Have you seen those wildlife documentaries where the big cat approaches the live bait—the tethered goat or lamb? He doesn’t charge at the animal. He stalks it and approaches with caution. But the important thing is that he goes for it. Every time. Why? Because he’s hungry and because he’s at the top of the food chain and he’s strong and confident.” Buck paused then said, “And then he’s trapped. Or dead.”
I asked, “What happened to the goat?”
Buck replied, “Who cares? Goats are expendable. But people are not.” He assured us, “You’ll always be covered. More importantly, you can both think for yourselves and defend yourselves. Goats and lambs can’t.”
I looked at my watch and asked, “Can we still make that flight?”
Buck took this as a joke, smiled, and didn’t reply.
Brenner said to Kate and me, “You’re both free to modify any final plan if you think it’s too risky.”
Goes without saying. Also, I had the thought that the CIA would in fact be okay with The Panther eating the goat if it meant getting The Panther. Paranoid? Maybe. But we’d already been lied to, and lies are like cockroaches—if you see one, there are more.
Buck continued, “Al Qaeda in Yemen, like us in Yemen, are small in numbers. They have perhaps four or five hundred hard-core members. But they also have thousands of sympathizers and active supporters, including, as I