Chapter 19 #2
Max had been in a lot of briefing rooms over the years—CIA buildings, military command centers, embassy conference rooms, where the air was thick with tension and the stakes were always life or death.
But he'd never been in one where he was the outsider, the civilian consultant whose presence was barely tolerated.
Kara's team had assembled quickly for a Sunday afternoon.
The field office was mostly empty except for the essential personnel Jason had called in: Agent Tyler Brennan, who sat across the table studying him with undisguised suspicion; Agent Alina Vokov, a sharp-eyed, beautiful blonde; and Wes Paulson, a tech specialist.
Jason Colter, the head of the unit, stood at the head of the conference table, his expression determined as he asked Kara to brief them on the situation.
Kara stood, her voice clear and authoritative as she laid out the situation: the connection between the local bombings, Caleb Azrani and Qadir's organization, ending with the photo that confirmed Qadir's presence in the city.
"The important thing to remember," she said, "is that this investigation started with specific, targeted attacks against people connected to the Meridien Tower fire seven years ago.
Samantha Barkley and James Cooper both had roles in the aftermath of that disaster.
We can't lose sight of that pattern just because a bigger fish has entered the water.
To catch him, we need to pick up some of the smaller fish first. Unfortunately, some of those fish are dying before we can get to them.
Elias Costa was apparently killed in a car crash last night in Maine. "
"I'll look into that," Wes said.
"Thanks. The infrastructure summit is on Tuesday. If Qadir is planning something spectacular, that's the most likely target. Which gives us approximately thirty-six hours to find him."
Tyler spoke up. "What about the Azrani brothers? Any leads on their current location?"
"Malik was spotted in Berlin three days ago, but that could be a misdirection." Kara looked around the table. "Caleb is in the wind."
"All right," Jason said. "I'm calling in the rest of the team, and I'll talk to Damon as soon as we're done here.
We'll need to get 26 Fed involved as well.
I know we've had concerns about leaks, but at this point, it's all hands on deck.
Alina, I want you to coordinate with Homeland Security and the ATF.
Wes, I need you and your team to figure out how Qadir got here, where he could be staying, and what identity he might use now. "
"What about the summit?" Tyler asked. "Are we recommending that they cancel?"
"We are, but that's not our call. I'm sure there will be further discussions today." He paused. "Anything you'd like to add, Mr. Malone?"
"Ali Qadir is a chameleon. He may not look like anything in that photo now. He can be charming, intelligent, and also completely evil. For him to be here in the US, knowing he's a hunted man, means the stakes are very high."
"On that note, let's get to work," Jason said.
As the meeting broke up, Kara said, "Max, Tyler, come with me."
She led them into a break room with fluorescent lights, vending machines, a coffee maker that had seen better days, and a small table with a bowl of fruit on it. She closed the door behind them and turned to face both men.
"Okay," she said, crossing her arms. "Before we go any further, we need to clear the air."
"We don't have time for this," he said.
"I agree," Tyler replied.
"We're making time," Kara said with a stubborn glint in her eye. "Max, you first. What's your problem with Tyler?"
"That's classified."
"You can say something, so talk."
"Joint operation," he said finally, "mission was compromised."
Tyler's face darkened with anger. "You think I sold you out? My team was ambushed, and you weren't where you were supposed to be. One of my team members almost died."
"And my team members were not that lucky. They died at Qadir's hands."
"But you didn't. You survived because my team got there in time to save you."
"My team," Max corrected. "And you weren't even there."
"Because I had to be somewhere else," Tyler snapped.
As silence fell between them, Kara said, "So, neither of you has any proof of anything? Is that what I'm hearing?"
"It was a complicated situation," he admitted.
"Trust is difficult to come by in that part of the world, especially with a spook," Tyler said.
"You were doing the same work," he returned, meeting Tyler's gaze.
Another silence stretched between them.
"So, your teams both got hit," Kara said. "Both teams were compromised. Is it possible it was an outside setup, that the ones who benefited from your mutual suspicion were the terrorists you were hunting?"
"It's possible," he conceded.
Kara turned to Tyler. "What do you think?"
"It's possible," Tyler echoed.
"Good," Kara said. "Then, can we all get on the same side and focus on stopping Qadir? Because that's all that matters right now."
"I can do that," Tyler said.
"Yes," he agreed.
"Then let's go stop a terrorist."
"I'm going to talk to a friend of mine who is well-connected in that part of the world," Tyler said. "I'll let you know what he says."
"Okay." Kara opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Max gave Tyler a thoughtful look, wondering who that friend was and why he was taking off on his own. "I'm still keeping an eye on you, Brennan."
"Likewise," Tyler returned. "But I didn't set you up before, and I'm not setting you up now."
"Likewise," he echoed as he left the room and headed back into the bullpen to see what Kara wanted to do next.
Kara was happy that Max and Tyler had called a temporary truce, although she wasn't sure how long it would last. But she couldn't worry about them; the clock was ticking, and every minute counted.
She'd no sooner gotten back to her desk when Wes came over, an unusual gleam in his usually unemotional gaze.
"Got a new lead on Hartford," he said.
She was happy to hear that since Hartford's phone had been disconnected, and he hadn't been back to his house in the last twenty-four hours. "What is it?"
"His former mother-in-law owns a rental house on Long Island and a vacation home on the Jersey Shore."
She thought about that. "Text me the Long Island address. I feel like Hartford would want to stay a little closer to the action." Then she turned to Max. "Let's go."
They headed down to the garage, and she grabbed the keys for one of the team's SUVs.
Max's Jeep was too well known at this point.
She slid behind the wheel as Max got in next to her.
After putting the address into the GPS, she shot out of the parking garage, eager to find Hartford and figure out if her theory about him was correct.
"You were good back there," Max said, surprising her with his words.
"In the meeting? I was just relating the facts."
"In a way that made sense. But I was actually talking about the way you forced Tyler and me to talk to each other."
She flung him a smile. "That was easy. I have a stubborn younger brother, who I used to babysit.
And when his friends came over, there was often some sort of dispute.
I found the best way to handle it was to make them talk to each other.
For some reason, males of all ages seem to prefer to avoid that. "
"You're not wrong," he said. "I will say that Tyler's speedy exit to talk to an unnamed friend still raised my suspicious radar."
"I get it. But you have a lot of meetings with unnamed people, too. I'm going to trust Tyler to be on the right side, just as I trust you. If I'm wrong, I'll deal with that when it happens. But I don't think I am."
"You're probably not. When you made me look back in time, I have to admit my evidence for distrusting him was pretty flimsy."
"And his for you." She paused, changing the subject. "I really hope we can pick up Hartford today. If he's not guilty, then a lot of my assumptions are wrong."
"It seems unlikely he'd have done a disappearing act if he wasn't guilty of something."
"I agree. But if we're wrong, we could waste a lot of time."
"Always a risk, but I trust your instincts, Kara."
She was touched by his words. "I hope I don't let you down."
"You won't," he said confidently.
She turned her attention back to the road. Only one way to find out.