Jass pinned her lips together to keep from making a remark she might regret later. She was still convinced she was only a hairsbreadth away from being kicked out of the Task Force over last night’s screwup. The way this new mission turned out would make all the difference to her career.
She had to keep her job. It was her only chance to live up to the high standard her father set years ago. Thank God it appeared she was being given the opportunity.
“Special Officer O’Reilly, your background file says you can speak both Russian and Farsi. Is that correct?” The general had his gaze trained on her face.
“Yes, sir. My mother’s family was originally from Iran and I spoke Farsi before English. I learned the Russian language for a covert op a few years back.”
“Well, Farsi is not perfectly suited for this mission but we can make it work. The Russian is pivotal.”
He was going to make her the operative in charge of the mission after all! Relief nearly brought her to tears. Jass was thrilled to get the badly needed superior position to make up for the one she’d messed up. Taking a deep breath, she turned to study Kadir. What was his role here? Informant? Adviser?
Whatever it was, she hoped they wouldn’t have to work together too closely or for terribly long. The man rode her nerves whenever his gaze raked over her body. Which was pretty much every time she’d ever run into him.
“We’ve devised a sting to take advantage of a couple of lucky breaks.” The general turned to Ed for an affirmative nod, then continued. “First, about a month ago, ICE agents apprehended a woman who’s been on Homeland’s watch list for years. She’s an international illegal arms dealer with no allegiance to any country and who seems devoid of any scruples about the deals she makes.”
“The Messenger?” Jass knew of only one woman who might fit that criteria.
The general nodded grimly. “As a favor to us, Homeland has kept the lid on her capture. We’re sure nothing has leaked out to any of the intelligence community.”
Jass was positive he was correct. She’d been following the exploits of the mysterious woman known as the Messenger for years and knew nothing of her capture.
Turning to Tarik, the general explained further. “This shadowy female dealer’s real name is Celile Kocak. Originally Uzbekistani from Russian and Turkish decent, as I understand. Her exploits in the field of buying and selling arms have been embellished over time, yet no one had ever seen a picture of the woman.
“Now that we have her in custody,” he went on. “It turns out she has a few years on Special Officer O’Reilly. But other than that, the two could easily pass as sisters.”
Wow. Think of that. The mysterious woman who had captured her imagination for forever looked enough like her to be a sister. Jass was enthralled by the idea of passing for such a deadly and merciless criminal on a sting.
From his position next to her, Tarik cleared his throat. “You said there’d been two lucky breaks?”
“Indeed. Under intense interrogation we’ve learned that this Kocak woman has been scouring the market for the last few months, looking for special arms to buy for another mysterious character. A shady Middle Eastern sheik who goes by the name of Abu Zohdi. We’ve been trying to track him down, and he’s recently turned up in an English jail in the Bahamas—although they didn’t know who they had in custody.
“This middle-easterner is one extremely dangerous and rich terrorist,” the general went on to explain. “With close ties to al-Qaeda. And the Bahamians were about to release him due to lack of evidence. It was only by pure luck that we obtained his whereabouts from the Kocak woman before he was long gone.”
“We have Abu Zohdi in our hands now?” Jass knew that name too and was beginning to worry about where the general’s explanation was heading.
“Momentarily. In the meantime we are continuing to interrogate the Kocak woman, trying to learn what kind of arms will be for sale in Rio.”
Yes, the more information she had before going in, the better prepared she would be to disrupt the sale. “Excuse me, General Wainwright, but what result do you anticipate from our mission? Is it more important to capture this other Russian or to take control of whatever weapons are for sale?”
The general raised one eyebrow and she almost giggled at the silly picture he made. “I trust you will not hesitate to confiscate anything as potentially dangerous as a nuclear bomb if it’s placed right in front of you, Officer O’Reilly. Not this time.”
Her smile faded in that instant. She felt her cheeks warming and was glad for her golden skin tones. Fairer women had a more difficult time disguising their embarrassment.
“Yes … uh … no, sir.”
“Your job on this sting is to get your partner inside that auction to meet all the bidders. Gather information. Intel is your ultimate assignment with the Task Force, remember.” The general narrowed his eyes at her. “Your handler will give you further instructions once we get a clearer picture of what’s going on inside.”
“My partner?” Jass’s whole body tensed.
“Kadir here will be going in undercover as your client, Abu Zohdi. For months he’s been trying to convince the DOD that the Taj Zabbar have become terrorists worthy of our attention.” He spoke in a low, measured tone. “If they do show up at this meeting ready to buy, my boss will have to accept that they’re powerful enough to pose a threat to the world.”
Jass’s mind raced with good reasons why she couldn’t take Tarik Kadir along with her on a mission. The number-one reason being that he was no longer employed by the United States government. He’d quit.
Tarik stirred in his seat beside her. They shot a glance at each other. He didn’t seem all that thrilled about working with her either.
“But sir, I respectfully ask you to reconsider,” she pleaded. “I can handle this mission better alone. If you want to know the identities of the people at the auction, leave it to me. I’ll get names, pictures and backgrounds on everyone involved with no trouble. It’s my job.”
“Besides,” she continued, desperately trying to come up with a good argument in her favor. “Doesn’t the Messenger always work alone? On behalf of a client, for sure, but haven’t her past clients always remained unnamed?”
“Not recently. Your intelligence on the Messenger is at least a year behind. You’d better study her files carefully on your way to Rio.”
“But …”
The general tilted his head toward her as if to say he was done with her questions. But then he made one more chilling remark to top off his side of the argument and leave no doubt why this sting would go down exactly his way.
“Over the last year, Celile Kocak and Abu Zohdi have become lovers. According to her, they seldom leave each other’s sides. In fact, that’s how ICE got their hands on her. She made a mistake in her haste through the States to the Bahamas trying to reach her lover and bail him out of jail.”
Lovers? Oh, Lord.
She felt Tarik go rigid in his seat beside her as he asked, “Lovers, sir? Exactly how close to that definition do you want us to stay?”
“Close enough for it to appear you can’t keep your hands off each other, Mr. Kadir. This joint mission was originally your idea. And you agreed to accept one of our Task Force agents as your partner.”
The general glared at both agents.
“Now stick to the plan we’ve drawn up. You two are going in as lovers or the whole deal is off.”