familiar voice, though he couldn’t place it. “Matthew?”
“Speaking.”
“Matthew. It is al-Habsi. I hope you are well, my friend.”
It took a lot to excite Matt Hanley, but he felt his heart pound now, and a fresh anger welling within him. Affecting a calm countenance in his voice, he said, “Oh, hi, Sultan. How is your father?”
“He is hanging on, for now, my thanks to Allah.”
“I wish him all the best. What can I do for you?”
“My friend, I have just uncovered something distressing. I had to inform you directly. Time is of the essence.”
“By all means. What is it?”
“I just received a call from a trusted contact in Yemen with knowledge of an upcoming attack in Berlin. A sleeper cell of Quds Force operatives is about to strike the United States embassy there. We expect it to be an attack of very low sophistication, small arms only.” He added, “I believe my sources to be excellent. I am sorry that I don’t have more information for you, but I thought it best to notify you immediately.”
Hanley steadied himself before speaking, fighting to keep his tone measured. “When will this attack take place?”
“I am also very sorry I didn’t have more time to warn you.”
“When?”
There was a slight pause, then the Emirati said, “Only twenty-five minutes from now. Five p.m. local time.”
Hanley responded quickly. “Thank you for the information. Where are you now? Dubai?”
“No, I am in Abu Dhabi, but, as I said, the attack will take place in Berlin.” When Hanley did not reply, he said, “I am having meetings at the palace today. The same place where you and I had dinner together last year.”
Hanley’s pause was short now. “I need to contact the Marine guard at the embassy.”
“Good luck, my friend.”
Hanley hung up, then placed yet another call, this time to his chief of staff. “Impending small-arms attack on U.S. embassy, Berlin. Time, twenty minutes.”
“My God. I’m on it.”
Hanley knew the Marines would be warned in Berlin, so he hung up and turned his attention back to his surroundings.
The motorcade pulled to a stop at the nose of the Gulfstream, and Hanley didn’t wait for his security man to open his door. Instead he climbed out and marched over towards the group of men hauling gear out of the Yukons. When he was still twenty yards away, he shouted, “Travers, on me.”
Chris Travers was the team leader of this eight-man cell of CIA Special Activities Center (Ground Branch) operators. Young for the job at thirty-five, he’d proven himself to Hanley numerous times. He raced over to the DDO now while the others moved to load the aircraft cargo hold with huge duffel bags and backpacks.
“Sir.”
“You and your men will replace my security staff for a hop over to Berlin. I’ve got word of an impending attack in the next few minutes, but I’m speculating there’s gonna be more trouble to come.”
“Understood, sir,” Travers said, and then he added, “I, I can’t say I understand why the DDO is coming along for the ride, though.”
“I’ve got a man to see over there.”
“Is it the kind of thing where you might need us to see him, too?”
Hanley looked at the bearded operator. “It might be that kind of a thing, Chris. I’ll let you know.”
“Solid copy, sir.” Travers helped his men with the last of the load while Hanley headed for the jet stairs.
FIFTY-SEVEN
Haz Mirza had spent an hour shaving his body earlier in the day, in keeping with his religious beliefs. He would die within hours, and he wanted his corpse purified in Muslim tradition. He was certain he’d be denied a proper burial by the men who would kill him this afternoon, so as a display of personal purity for his trip to heaven, he shaved and cleaned himself thoroughly.
When this was done he’d dressed himself in a crisp white shirt, light green denim pants, and his best pair of Adidas running shoes, then checked his equipment in his backpack. His folding-stock AK was loaded with thirty rounds, with a second thirty-round magazine taped to the one in the magazine well for a quicker reload.
There were more magazines of 7.62-by-39-millimeter ammunition, as well as a Beretta semiautomatic pistol, loaded with 9-millimeter hollow points.
The pack also contained two improvised explosive devices that were small enough to be hurled once the delay fuse was struck. He didn’t know if he’d have enough time to set the fuses and to throw them, but he liked the idea of the potential damage the