End of Days (Pike Logan #16)(92)
Eventually, the loss of blood took its toll, and the man quit struggling, a slow-motion affair where his instincts wanted to continue the fight for survival, but his brain gave up.
Raphael waited for a moment, then stood up. He went to the truck, found the keys, and backed it out of the way, then returned to the Land Cruiser down the slope.
He surprised Tariq and the driver outside the vehicle, causing Tariq to literally jump when he appeared. He said, “Let’s go. It’s open.”
The driver got behind the wheel of the SUV, and the headlights illuminated Raphael’s body. Tariq saw the blood coating his arms and took a step back. Raphael said, “What? It’s open. Let’s go.”
Tariq slid into the passenger seat, saying, “Okay, okay. We’ll go.”
Raphael got in the backseat, seeing Leonardo grinning. He said, “Just like old times, huh?”
Raphael opened a pack of wet wipes and began cleaning off the blood, saying, “Almost. I never got this much blood on me.”
Tariq said, “Are you sure we can pass?”
Raphael held up a wet wipe, coated in red. He said, “Yes. Let’s go.”
Chapter 59
Inside our hotel room TOC, I watched George Wolffe pace about through my screen. He should have been sitting in front of the camera, but he was not.
He advanced to his computer and said, “That’s all you got? You penetrated an embassy for a sovereign state and that’s all you got?”
I said, “Hey, sir, let’s be honest here. They’re just pretending. They aren’t a real sovereign state. It’s like someone saying they’re a member of special operations and then you find out the guy is just an interpreter.”
My joke went over like a lead balloon. His eyes bulged and he said, “You took out three men. Three men! And this is all you got out of it? How am I supposed to take this back to the president?”
“Sir, this is enough to find a thread. We know two of the Turtles went to Lebanon, and we have a name. We also know the serial killer in charge of them is in Israel for an important speech from Israel’s prime minister at Megiddo—otherwise known as Armageddon, as in the final battle between good and evil in the Bible—and he’s got some crazy theory about starting the End of Days. That’s enough to start the hunt.”
“What do you propose? What do you think you can do with this?”
“Well, first of all, I have two Israeli assassins with me who are being paid by the Mossad. Israel isn’t going to be an issue, because that Megiddo speech isn’t for a couple of days. Plenty of time. Secondly, I have the name of a Hezbollah smuggler—a guy called Tariq—and a man who can find him. I contacted Samir al-Atrash, the man I told you about earlier. He’s willing to help, and is doing research on the name as we speak.”
He shook his head and said, “I don’t have authorization for the Hezbollah contact just yet. You can’t use him.”
I balled my fists and said, “Can you guys pull your head out of your ass at least once? The guy isn’t Hezbollah. He’s Druze. I mean, really, I have a television here. I see the attacks coming from the Houthis in Yemen into Saudi Arabia and the rockets from the Gaza Strip. Iran is flexing its muscle, and it’s only a matter of time until Hezbollah is ordered to do the same from Lebanon. When that happens, we won’t be able to turn this off.”
Wolffe glowered on the screen, saying, “We work within a world of walls, a land of give-and-take. We get our authority from the duly constituted officials under the United States Constitution, and those walls have served our nation well. I need authority before continuing.”
I said, “Sir, the entire Taskforce is already outside our own constitution. What are you talking about? Why are you waiting for permission?”
He said, “I get that, which is precisely why I’m not breaking through more walls without authority. Do you understand?”
He thought I was going to completely ignore anything the Oversight Council told me, and because of it, he was warning me off. Which, honestly, was pretty smart, because that’s what I was going to do.
I said, “Sir, I got it. You want me to stand down and I will, then I’ll fly back home on the Rock Star bird and get married. I’d ask you to attend the wedding, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be sucked into defending America from Hezbollah hit teams blowing up our oil refineries as Israel launches nukes at Iran.”
He leaned back and said, “What do you want to do?”
“I want to fly to Lebanon and talk to Samir. Find out what this Hezbollah smuggler was doing with two Croatian Special Forces guys. When I find a fix, I’m going to launch Knuckles and Brett against that target for the finish. Meanwhile, I’m taking the rest of the wrecking crew to Israel to take out the serial killer. That’s what I want to do.”
Wolffe thought a moment, then nodded, saying, “I think I can roll that up into the Omega we were given for the Knights of Malta headquarters. It’s a stretch, but I can sell it after the fact.”
I couldn’t believe what came out of his mouth. Incredulous, I said, “Are you really authorizing me to cross international borders, talk to a guy in Beirut tied to Hezbollah, turn a team loose there, and then take the remainder of my team to Israel all on that initial Omega authority?”