Beyond Limits (Tracers #8)(82)

“At the office. Why?”

“I just got a call from Interpol. You know the name you passed along this morning? They’ve got ‘Rasasa’ on file as a nickname for Ahmed Rasheed.”

“Ahmed,” she repeated. “The brother who was killed in the drone strike?”

“Reportedly killed. Turns out they had visual confirmation on the ground but no DNA. That particular detail got left out of the file on our end.”

Elizabeth’s stomach twisted. “You’re saying it’s possible he’s alive?”

“Very much so,” Potter told her. “It’s also possible he’s here.”





* * *





Elizabeth clicked open the e-mail attachment, and the image appeared on the screen.

“Fatima Rasheed,” she said. “She’s seven years younger than her brother Omar, which makes her twenty-four.”

Gordon’s brow furrowed as he studied the photograph, which showed eight members of the Rasheed family standing inside an upscale shopping mall in Dubai.

“How old is she there?” Torres asked.

“Ten.” Elizabeth glanced up at the picture. “So she’s not fully veiled, only the head scarf.”

“And where’d you get the photo?” Gordon asked.

“NSA. They’ve been watching this family since 9/11.”

Torres sighed heavily, and Elizabeth looked at him across the table.

“What?”

“I’m not seeing it.” He nodded at the second image, the forensic drawing, which was displayed on-screen alongside the family snapshot. “I mean, yeah, there’s a resemblance, but so what?” he said. “Same could be said about a lot of women. What about Zahid Ameen’s female relatives?”

“We don’t have photos,” Potter said.

“Ameen’s from Saudi Arabia,” Elizabeth pointed out. “Women are much more limited there. Many wear the niqab, which covers the face except for the eyes. They’re not supposed to mix with men socially. They aren’t allowed to drive, and they’re required to have a male guardian to go anywhere, even the doctor’s office.”

“Because of the strict rules,” Potter said, “we know next to nothing about the women of Ameen’s family.”

“Put Ahmed Rasheed’s wife back up there,” Gordon said.

Elizabeth clicked the mouse and changed the image. Yes, some of the basic features were similar, but the resemblance wasn’t nearly as strong.

“I think it’s the sister, Fatima.” She clicked the girl’s picture back up. “I know it is.”

“You can’t be sure,” Torres argued. “Not if we’re basing this on a drawing.”

“But look at the hairline, the way it points down in the middle. It’s right there. Even if she changed her name, she can’t totally disguise her appearance. I’m telling you, the woman we’re looking for is Fatima Rasheed.”

“Why are you so sure?” Gordon leaned back in his chair, frowning.

“She has motive, means, and opportunity.”

“Motive being her brother was killed in a drone strike,” he said. “But we now know he probably wasn’t killed.”

“Even if he wasn’t killed, he was still targeted by an American drone,” Elizabeth said. “That’s enough to inspire hate.”

“What’s the last concrete info we have on her?” Torres asked.

“She entered Turkey four years ago. Her father has relatives in Istanbul, and we assume she was staying with them.”

“That’s before the drone strike,” Gordon pointed out.

“Yes, but it’s what she did after that we need to be concerned about. What if she joined the cause? What if someone helped her put a new identity together, and she got on a plane to Canada or Mexico or maybe even New York City? I’m telling you, Fatima Rasheed is the face of this operation.” She waved a hand at the screen. “If you think about it, it’s perfect. Look at all we have on her. A snapshot of a little girl. She’s a face we’d never expect. But I believe she did do this. I believe she got herself over here and started laying the groundwork, finding a safe house and buying a car and coordinating all the meetings, gathering everyone together.”

“What about eliminating witnesses?” Torres asked. “That college kid who sold his car to them—he was murdered before Rasheed and Ameen got over here. You’re saying she did that?”

“Why’s that so impossible?” Elizabeth asked, getting annoyed. “A woman can hold a pistol, same as anybody. This kind of thinking is playing right into their hands, you guys. They know we’re resistant to the idea of a female terrorist. And they’re using that to their advantage.”

Elizabeth looked at the faces around the room—all of them male and most of them skeptical. Why was this so difficult to believe? Maybe they didn’t like the idea of hunting down a woman.

She wished Lauren were here to back her up.

“Okay, so what about Ahmed Rasheed?” Torres asked. “Do we have confirmation he was aboard that submarine?”

“We’re still waiting on the print from that gas can,” Gordon said.

“But it’s looking likely,” Potter added. “Hailey Gardner remembers Khalid talking about someone named Rasasa. That’s Ahmed’s nickname, and it means bullet. He’s got a reputation as an expert marksman, and we’ve got video footage of him teaching shooting at an Al Qaeda training camp.”