Chapter 55
I went as fast as I could, given the traffic, trying to get our technical devices in play before whoever was in the van decided
to turn it off. I figured I’d reached max allowable speed by the way Shoshana kept stomping her foot into the floorboards
of the passenger seat.
I said, “Anything?”
She looked down at the screen of the Growler—a device that resembled an iPad mini on steroids, an inch thick with two short
antennas sticking out from the corners—and said, “Nothing yet.”
I said, “Check with Aaron.”
She dialed her phone, and I kept hurtling forward to the east side of Buenos Aires, the area in which Creed had said the van
was now operating.
He’d given us a bubble that was a hell of a lot bigger than a city block, spread west from the freeway running next to the
Jorge Newbery Airport to the major artery of Santa Fe Avenue. Luckily for us, most of the bubble were pedestrian-only parks,
to include a Japanese botanical garden and the old Buenos Aires zoo, without the cloistered buildup of the rest of the city,
making our task easier because it was just thoroughfares splitting through each separate greenspace. Unluckily for us, and
the reason I was speeding, the United States embassy was also in the bubble, just east of the zoo. I didn’t think that would
be a target, but it was a little concerning that the van was driving near it.
We reached Santa Fe and Shoshana said, “They’ve got nothing either.”
I said, “We’ll hit the west side of the zoo. Tell them to take the east side. We’ll both go until we reach the presidential freeway. If we don’t get a ping, we’ll start a grid search by sight.”
She dialed again, started talking, then said, “They have a ping. East side of the zoo. It only lasted for a second, not long
enough to get a fix, but it’s definitely east side.”
I said, “Okay, tell ’em we’ll both head east. If it got a ping, we’re in range, but they just killed the engine, which means
it’s stationary. They take the first road going up and we’ll take the second.”
She relayed and we both went around a traffic circle in front of the zoo. I passed one road and kept going, leaving that to
Aaron and Jennifer. I reached the second road and started up it, telling Shoshana to keep her eyes peeled. We drove at a slow
pace, scanning the cars parked on both sides of the small lane. We went about a quarter of a mile when Shoshana’s phone rang.
She answered, then said, “They have it. On a road called Republic of India. That first road.”
I pulled over, letting cars pass me, then did a U-turn, saying, “Anyone in it?”
“No, but it’s the van. Jennifer’s confirmed the plate.”
I turned up India Avenue, saying, “Put it on speaker.”
She did, and I heard Jennifer say, “I see you. Keep coming. We’re on the right, three cars behind the target.”
I saw their vehicle and pulled alongside, seeing no cars behind me. Shoshana rolled down the window and I said, “You guys
already checked it out?”
Behind the wheel, Jennifer said, “Aaron did a walk by. It’s empty.”
I looked around us, thinking. Jennifer said, “If they got out here, they’re coming back soon. There aren’t any hotels or anything
else around here for a bed-down.”
I nodded and said, “Could be target reconnaissance. Are the PM and SECSTATE scheduled to come here for anything? Are they
doing some kind of goodwill tour after the anniversary ceremony?”
Shoshana said, “I don’t know about your secretary of state, but the prime minister isn’t planning a visit anywhere near here. The only thing close is the airport he’s flying out of, but the route to it doesn’t pass by here.”
The problem with counterterrorism is that the enemy held all the cards. You had to assume everything a suspected terrorist
did was some nefarious evil thing, when it might be nothing. A terrorist leaves a restaurant table and goes to the bathroom?
Probably going to place a bomb in the toilet to kill everyone in the eatery. Or maybe he’s just taking a dump. I had no idea
if the van’s current location meant anything bad at all, but I had to assume it did.
I said, “Okay, here’s the play. Shoshana and I are going to explore that zoo-park area, making a loop around it. You guys
keep eyes on the van. We’ll see if anyone’s inside the park, and you guys give us a call if someone returns.”
Jennifer said, “What about Knuckles?”
“Get ’em a little closer, but not all the way here. I want them to be able to flex to a different location if we need to.
We can handle whatever’s here.”
She nodded and I drove down the street until I found an open spot for our vehicle. I parked and pulled up a map of the park
on my phone, seeing it was split down the middle with ponds and small lakes, a tangle of walking paths and various animal
pens and bird sanctuaries threaded throughout.
I said, “Let’s start on the east and work our way up, then loop back down on the west. If we reach the entrance with no contact,
then we’ll come back here and reassess.”
She agreed and I said, “You’re sure you’ll be able to recognize these guys?”
“Yes. Aaron and I tracked them for days before you showed up. I’ll recognize them.”
We exited and jogged across the street, then walked down the iron fence separating the park from the avenue, studiously ignoring the van and Jennifer and Aaron watching it.
We entered through the stone arch, dodging around the crowds of kids and families until we reached a lake in the center of the park.
I motioned to the left and then began walking down a concrete path.
I’d gone about a hundred yards when Shoshana tugged my sleeve, then wrapped me in an embrace, planting her lips on mine.
Startled, I pulled back and she growled, “Act like you’re enjoying it.”
I leaned back in and kissed her. She broke the kiss and hugged me, planting her head on my shoulder. She said, “Target is
fifty meters to your rear. He’s seen me. He knows who I am.”
I resisted the urge to turn around and look. Instead, I broke the embrace and put her at arm’s length, with my hands on her
shoulders like we were having an intimate conversation. With a smile plastered on my face, I said, “What the fuck are you
talking about, Carrie?”
With her eyes locked on mine, no longer looking over my shoulder, she said, “The Hezbollah target I followed in Iguazú is
sitting on a bench to your rear. He saw me, and I can tell he recognized me. He may not know what I am, but he’s wondering
why I’m here with him.”
“How do you know he recognized you?”
She just squinted her eyes at me. I said, “Okay, okay, he went red or something?”
She nodded, then said, “What do you want to do?”
“Back off and get Jennifer and Aaron in here.”
“He might recognize Aaron. The only reason he’s not running right now is you. He doesn’t know you, so he’s thinking he might
be wrong about me, but you’re burned now too.”
I said, “Let me call Knuckles forward. Get his team in play. Let’s go to the far side and get eyes on him from across the
lake. Make him feel good about staying.”
She said, “He just answered his phone. He’s on the move.”