End of Days (Pike Logan #16)(68)

I rubbed my head and said, “I get it, sir, I really do, but a Taskforce compromise at this juncture will short-circuit everything we’re trying to do, and they’ll find it with a little bit of digging. Look, you don’t have to say they claimed credit. Just say it’s related and you’re exploring. Get the United States involved. I need my men back. I need the State Department to engage. They can bloviate like they always do, babbling about how they take it seriously or are in discussions with other diplomats, I don’t care, but I need Knuckles and Brett back. I can’t have them sitting under police exposure because some Rome authority thinks it was a Cosa Nostra thing.”

He said, “Well, maybe that’s a better angle. Leave it as a case of mistaken identity from a gang fight. At the end of the day, it could have been anything.”

I said, “Are you kidding me here? You pull that shit and we will go to war. It’s coming, and we can stop it. Get them back. Use the State Department.”

He sighed and said, “Pike, I don’t think you get what’s happening here. The Fifth Fleet is in the Hormuz Strait, and they’re waiting on the word to attack. The 82nd Airborne is on the way to Kuwait, loaded for war. If I convince the National Command Authority to do what you say, I could be pulling the trigger.”

I said, “Sir, just let the NCA know what you’re doing, because of Taskforce activities. I get they’ll be under pressure when the fake story goes out, but if they know it’s fake, then they’ll keep the status quo. Screw all the talking heads on TV. For once.”

I saw Wolffe rub his face like he was trying to scrape away everything I’d said. He sighed and said, “Can you at least tell me you’re on to something? Besides telling me a chivalric order under the command of the Vatican is evil?”

I leaned back and said, “Yes, sir. We’re on to something. The administration might not like it, because it’s really rotten, but we’re on to something, and I don’t think it’s Iran.”

“Do you have any proof of that? Anything at all?”

“You mean besides the fact that someone tried to murder two of my team an hour after visiting the Knights of Malta?”

He said, “That’s just another attack. It’s no more proof than the death of Gabrielle Hernandez.”

I bristled and said, “Sir, this attack was planned because they went inside that building. Because they were asking questions. There was no targeting here based on being a U.S. diplomat. How the hell would they target Taskforce personnel as State Department when we didn’t even know we were going to be State Department when we landed? Come on now.”

I saw him exhale, then heard, “Yeah, yeah, okay. I get it. That’s more than just a coincidence, but it would be nice if you could give me something concrete. Is there anything you need? Anything we can do from here? Because if I pull this trigger, it’s going to go critical mass very, very soon.”

I said, “Give me tonight.” I looked at my watch and said, “I’m meeting someone in thirty minutes who might help us, and I really have to go to be there in time. Just give me that.”

I caught Shoshana waving her hand behind me. I turned and she said, “I’m calling now to let her know we’re on the way.”

I knew why she’d said it. She was trying to tell Wolffe that the plan was already in motion, and him trying to stop it could adversely affect the very thing he was trying to achieve. Which was actually pretty smart.

George said, “You’re leaving now? Who’s the contact?”

“Sir, if I told you that, you’d really think we were crazy. Just trust me on this, please.”

He said, “Pike, I need more than that.”

I saw Shoshana dialing and said, “Hang on, sir.”

Shoshana put the phone on speaker, then waited on it to connect. When it did, she said, “Hello, Lia, this is Shoshana, the woman you met today. I just wanted to touch base and say we’re on the way. Should be there in the next twenty minutes.”

The speaker spat out, “No, we can’t meet at this hour. I have guests.”

Perplexed, Shoshana looked at Pike and said, “We had a meeting. What do you mean you can’t now?”

Shoshana held out the phone so we could all listen in, and the phone said, “I told you to come at the end of the day. That’s what I said. The end of day. It’s too late now.”

Shoshana heard the words and I saw the dark angel inside of her start to blossom, but I didn’t understand why. She looked at me while speaking into the phone. She said, “We’re coming. Hold on. We’ll be there within twenty minutes. And I’m bringing a wrecking crew.”

The speaker said, “I understand. It’s not like there are a lot of them. Only one.”

The phone disconnected and I said, “What was that about? What wrecking crew?”

“You. You and everyone else in this room. Did you not hear what she said?”

On the couch, Jennifer said, “Holy crap. It just clicked. She said ‘end of day’ as in End of Days.”

Shoshana stood up, her face a mask of death. She said, “Lia’s under the control of the killer, and he’s the only one there.”

I heard someone calling my name and realized I was still on the virtual private network video with George Wolffe. He said again, “Pike! What’s happening?”