Chapter 69
The Ghost looked at the two hostages sitting in the back of the cabin, both appearing stoic, as if they weren’t petrified
at what he was planning. He admired their courage, even if it was misplaced.
He raised the detonator in his hand and saw the female flinch. He disabled the arming mechanism, unbuckled his seat belt,
and took off the device. He stood, putting it in an overhead bin, then went to each of them and checked their restraints,
finding them secure.
The Israeli started to speak and the Ghost slowly shook his head, putting a finger to his lips. The Israeli closed his mouth.
The Ghost went to the cockpit, finding Omar sitting in a small jump seat with a pistol in his hand. The copilot glanced back
at his arrival and he could see the fear all over his face.
In English, the Ghost said, “How long before we arrive?”
The copilot said, “A little over three hours. Do you want me to radio ahead?”
“No. Maintain radio silence no matter who calls.”
“I can’t just land without talking to them. I have to get into the traffic pattern.”
“We’ll deal with that when we come to it. Maintain silence for now. If you disobey, you’ll be spread out over a hundred square
miles when I detonate the vest I was wearing. Do you understand?”
The copilot rapidly nodded his head, and the Ghost motioned for Omar to follow him. They went back into the cabin and the Ghost said, “How do you know he’s not flying us to some airfield that the authorities gave him? Can you hear the radio calls?”
“No, but he’s so scared I can’t believe he would do that. You really do have a vest, after all. Even if he managed to land
without us realizing it—which would be impossible—we could still kill them on the ground.”
The Ghost nodded, and Omar said, “Why haven’t you killed the prime minister? Why is he still alive? We should have slit both
their throats and dumped them on the road to the airport.”
“We had no idea who was going to stop us. If they had been even halfway organized and had set up roadblocks or sent a commando
team to interdict or anything else, they were our ticket out. If we’d have killed them, then our vehicle would have been declared
a free-fire target.”
“Well, what about now? We should kill them right now and leave their bodies on the plane when we get to Ushuaia.”
“We’re not killing them now for the same reasons we didn’t in the car. We’re in an airplane that every radar in this country
is tracking. The minute they determine that the hostages are dead, they’ll blow this thing out of the sky. We have nowhere
to hide, and if proof of life is demanded before they shoot, I want to be able to give it to them.”
“Proof of life? Are you going to put them on the radio?”
“Maybe. It depends, but either way, they’re staying alive for now.”
“They won’t shoot us down with the pilots on board!”
“They will if they think the pilots were in on it.”
The Ghost heard a ringing and glanced around, confused, then realized it was his cell phone. He pulled it out and Omar said,
“Who is that?”
He looked at the screen and said, “I have no idea.”
He turned away from Omar and answered it, simply saying, “Yes?”
“Hello, Ghost. It’s been a long time. I see you’ve been up to your usual tricks.”
The voice brought him back to a prison cell, when the man who’d captured him had inexplicably asked for his help. It was the
predator.
He said, “Hello, Mr. Pink. I must say, I was surprised to see you today, although I shouldn’t have been. I suppose they called you when I left my prison.”
When he’d asked for the predator’s name in the cell long ago, he’d replied with what he thought was a hilarious joke, saying
the Ghost could call him Mr. Pink. The Ghost had not understood the humor, but had used the name nonetheless.
Mr. Pink said, “They did, and I must admit, you’re a hard man to find. Originally, my mission was just to bring you back alive.
Now, depending on what you’ve done with your hostages, I might bring you back on a slab.”
The Ghost said, “Mr. Pink, I respect your skill, but I do not fear you. The threats will get you nowhere. We all are going
to die. The only question is whether the death is worth it.”
“Okay then, say your prayers. Just turn to the right so you’re facing east, because it’ll happen before you’re done.”
So he knows we aren’t headed to Brazil. He’s tracking the aircraft. Which was unsurprising. The Ghost said, “What do you propose to prevent that eventuality?”
“Put on Amanda Croft. If she’s alive, so is the prime minister. And if that’s true, I’ll let you fly a little longer.”
The Ghost went to the back of the plane and handed the United States secretary of state the phone, saying, “State your name
and occupation.”
She did so and he snatched the phone away again, putting it back to his ear and saying, “This will be the only concession
I grant you. Now what can you do for me in return?”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. In return, I’ll let you in on a little secret. The Iranians you’re working with do not have your
best interests at heart. And by best interests, I mean you and the people you’re doing all this killing for. They’re going
to sacrifice you both for their own selfish interests.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Pink.”
“Wait, wait. I know you better than you think, and so do the Iranians. We intercepted a Signal chat between the men you’re
with and the Iranian here in the United States. You want to know what it says?”
The Ghost glanced at Omar, then turned away, saying, “I’m listening.”
“To show you that this is, in fact, from your friends and not something I’m making up, the Iranian in the US is working with
a group of Americans to attack Washington, DC. They’re the same Americans who broke you free. That’s all in the chat. How
am I doing so far?”
The Ghost was surprised at the level of knowledge, but it didn’t necessarily mean it came from an intercepted chat. Mr. Pink
could have discovered this through a myriad of different methods. Or he could simply be guessing. Even so, he said, “Go on.”
“From our mutual past, I believe you kill for a cause, and not simply out of vengeance. You once saved my partner’s life while
I was trying my hardest to put you in the grave, proving this to be true. I know your planned assassination today was for
what you believe is a greater good. The problem is your greater good is at odds with Iran’s. They are using you.”
The Ghost said, “Get to the point, Mr. Pink, before I think you’re using this conversation for something other than talk.”
“Okay, okay. This is directly from the chat: the sender—someone with you—sent, ‘What about the final mission? Did the material
get infiltrated?’ Now I don’t know what that ‘material’ is, but it sounds bad. The receiver then says, ‘I know the Pasdaran
took control of it. It will depend on their routes and contacts that remain in Syria to get it into Jordan and then into Palestine.’
At first, I thought by saying Palestine, he meant Israel, but Jordan only borders Israel along the West Bank. Meaning he’s
talking about an attack against the very people you’re supporting.”
The Ghost said, “You know nothing of our plans. If you did, I wouldn’t be in a plane with your secretary of state.”
“I know you already suspect this, and they’re keeping the true target from you. The sender said you were curious about the
mission, wanting to know what was meant about your people being the ‘ultimate martyrs.’ They haven’t told you locations or
targets, have they?”
Despite his discipline and distaste for the man speaking, Mr. Pink’s words were landing. The Ghost said, “I have no need to
know that. I have my mission here, and I will succeed.”
“Well, luckily for us good guys, that attack in Palestine is predicated on you killing the Israeli prime minister. They’re worried that if you see what they have planned first, you won’t follow through with the mission.
That tends to tell me they don’t think you’ll approve. They’re using you, Ghost.”
The Ghost said nothing, the silence dragging out. Mr. Pink broke it, saying, “Just so you know who your partner on that aircraft
is, he described you as a hired gun who cares more about your people than the mission. The man in the US said, and this is
a direct quote, ‘Keep him in control. Execute the mission, then terminate him.’ ”
The Ghost said, “Goodbye, Mr. Pink,” and hung up the phone.
Omar said, “Who was that? What did he want?”
The Ghost turned to him and said, “It was an American Special Forces operative. He is tracking this aircraft and said he would
blow it out of the sky without proof of life. Which I was luckily able to provide.”
Omar took the rebuke and said, “How did you know his name? Mr. Pink?”
“I recognized his voice. We have crossed paths before, a long, long time ago.” The Ghost turned off his phone, then pulled
out the battery, saying, “He won’t call again.”
He put the phone pieces in his pocket, saying, “Omar, tell me, what is this final attack the Pasdaran have planned?”
“What do you mean? We’ve talked about this. It is the capstone event, after our attack and Sardar’s attack in the United States.”
“Yes, but what is the target?”
“I can’t tell you that. It’s better if you do not know—for security reasons—but our mission must be accomplished before the
final one will be executed. That’s how the command set it up.”
“So you’ll tell them when this mission is complete?”
“No. They’re simply going to watch the news. It’s why we need to kill them now. The longer we wait, the more danger that the
final attack will be discovered.”
“I’ve already told you we may need them alive, unless you’re ready to die along with them. Do you hold the conviction Ramzi did? Are you willing to give your life for the final mission?”
Omar remained silent. The Ghost didn’t push the question, instead asking, “Can you contact Sardar?”
“No. I lost my computer, remember? I spoke with him before we executed in Buenos Aires. After that communication, we both
went dark for security reasons. I couldn’t contact him now even if I had the computer. Why?”
“I want to talk to him. I want to know how his mission is progressing.”
“I can tell you he was meeting his contacts today, probably already has. He will conduct his mission tonight whether we succeed
or not.”