Close Quarters. Don Pendleton

his hands together. “Even I know that. Money!”

      Price smiled. “Exactly. Without ready cash, terrorists have a very difficult time getting cooperation. They need it for weapons, equipment, clothing and training. They can’t use credit cards, obviously, so they need currency and they need large quantities.”

      “Okay,” Brognola interjected. “I still don’t see what you’re getting at.”

      “Well, we’re pretty certain they don’t know much about the equipment they’re using,” Price said. “That kind of unfamiliarity makes me think their decisions to use it were improvised.”

      “So…you don’t think they intended to use it but in a pinch they would?”

      “Right.” Price snapped her fingers. “Just like that, they have this equipment but they use it in unnatural ways. My guess is that they’re actually stockpiling high-tech equipment to sell on the black market.”

      “Terrorists smuggling high-tech equipment into foreign countries for cash,” Kurtzman said. “I can see that.”

      “Me, too,” Brognola said. “Very lucrative and carries a low risk, since it’s obviously been rendered untraceable except by the most advanced methods of analysis.”

      “It also provides them with a source of local cash wherever they are,” Price added. “Consider this for a moment. The IRGC sends a group of their elite members into the heart of an impoverished nation. They need cash to train a terrorist group, whether it’s Hezbollah or not, and that means they need money. Money for weapons or smuggling operations or whatever.

      “Now suppose that things start to heat up, so they need to put the focus on something else to prevent their smuggling operations from being exposed. So they nab a group of American Peace Corps volunteers, rig up some cockamamie story that they pass along through U.S. political channels and then disappear into thin air while we scramble around the world chasing phantoms.”

      “Okay, but what about Farzad Hemmati and his story?” Brognola asked.

      “I think Hemmati’s legit,” Price said. “But I also happen to think that he’s as intent on keeping the eyes off their smuggling operations as the IRGC contingent in South America.”

      “So if these two things are still related and this is all about high-tech smuggling,” Kurtzman said, “how do you expect to stop them?”

      “I’m glad you asked, my friend,” Price said. “In a country like Paraguay, there aren’t many who could afford this type of equipment. You need to go right to the source of the cash, and that source can usually be found with conglomerate corporations that are in the high-tech business. Most of those are technical futures traders and finance corporations willing to bankroll such goods and not ask too many questions.”

      “It’s a heck of a good place to start,” Brognola agreed. “Nice thinking, Barb!”

      “I can start digging into those right away,” Kurtzman said.

      “I’ll work with you to get a profile,” Price said. “Even among the majority of the lot, I think we’ll only find a likely few.”

      “What about the volunteers, though?” Brognola said. “If there’s any chance they’re still alive, the President is going to ask us to do everything we can to save them.”

      “I couldn’t agree more. And I fully intend to make sure that we do everything to meet those ends,” Price said. “Although we have nowhere for Phoenix Force to start looking, so this is the next best thing. I’m hoping maybe we can get Encizo to work the angles posing as an inside trader, perhaps even a local confidence guy.”

      “Good idea,” Brognola said. “He’s the right physical profile for the area and he’s also on light duty. I’m sure he’ll be keen to the idea.”

      “Agreed,” Price said. “Rafe’s never been one for sitting idle long.”

      “As soon as you have the information together on your most probable leads, make contact with them,” Brognola said as he rose. “I need to shave and get ready to leave. I have a meeting with the President in less than two hours.”

      “He’s called a meeting?”

      Brognola nodded. “Ever since the information got leaked to the press, he’s been on pins and needles. This is an election year.”

      “Ah, politics,” Kurtzman said wistfully. “There’s always an election to think of.”

      “Tell me about it,” Hal Brognola replied.

      Asunción, Paraguay

      “SOLO MISSION?” RAFAEL Encizo sat back, folded his arms and stared at the screen.

      Price smiled. “We figured this might interest you, give you a chance to get out and stretch your legs instead of being cooped up.”

      “How best to say hell yeah,” he replied.

      Encizo turned to glance at McCarter, who nodded his approval. “It sounds perfect for your talents. You’ll hear no objections from me. Beside, we’ll be bloody close enough to pull your arse out of the fryer should anything go south.”