Bolan thought about it, and then said, “Look, Denny, I’m something of a specialist. I came here on an operation for the DEA, but my orders today are coming from the White House. Call and get confirmation from the West Wing.”
Hart laughed lightly. “You were ordered here by the White House?” she asked. “Give me a break.”
Bolan stared at her, capturing her eyes with his own blue gaze. “Make the call, Miss Hart,” he said. “We’re wasting time arguing about where my orders came from instead of being out there catching the terrorists.”
She nodded once. “I will,” she said, then turned and headed for her office.
“You’re on the level, aren’t you?” Seles asked.
“Yeah,” Bolan said. “So where do you want me?”
“Allison is going to head up the EOC, and I’ll be in charge of field operations. The best thing you could do for me is pound the streets. Use the informants you’ve got to see if you can dig up something, anything. And maybe take another look at the boat. I might have missed something.”
Bolan nodded. “I can do that. I’ll stop by there first. What have you got so far?”
Seles sighed heavily. “As of right now, not a damn thing.”
“No threats, no intelligence chatter, nothing?” he asked.
“Not even a hint,” he replied. “I’m posting people at high-value targets, and my field team is ready to move on a moment’s notice, but until we get some hard intel, we’re just staging.”
“What’s your gut tell you?”
“That we’re in deep shit,” Seles said. “We just don’t know how deep yet.”
“Waist-high and rising fast,” Bolan said. He gave the special agent a business card with his cell number on it. “I’m heading out. Call that number if you need me. I’ve got yours already.”
“That come from the White House, too?” Seles asked, half-jokingly.
“Nah. It was on your business card when we met,” Bolan said. He turned and headed back up the risers toward the exit. He saw Hart in her office, a phone pressed to her ear and offered her a grin and a salute as he left.
She’d better get focused on the important things, Bolan thought, because he had a feeling that they were already way behind the terrorists, and weren’t catching up anytime soon.
* * *
HIS REAL NAME WAS Sayid Rais Sayf. That was the name given to him by his parents when he was born in Afghanistan and it was the name that he prayed to Allah with for guidance. But few people in Detroit knew this name—very few, and only those who could be trusted to die without speaking it. Everyone else knew him as Michael Jonas, age forty-two, a successful man who had worked his way out of a tough life, growing up adopted, and was presently at the peak of his career.
As he parked his Audi A8 in the jammed parking lot of the Detroit EOC, he mentally became Michael Jonas. While he was here, he would think as Michael Jonas, react as Michael Jonas, he would be Michael Jonas in all respects, because everything he had worked for could unravel like a spool of thread should any trace of Sayid Rais Sayf show in his face, mannerisms, speech or actions. His car was just one part of the costume he wore, no different than his tailored suit, his salon-styled hair or his accent-free speech.
Coming to the EOC on this day was a risk, he knew, but a small one. His girlfriend, Allison Hart, had agreed to dinner later and he had come by to give her an opportunity to cancel in person. While he must feign ignorance, his true purpose in dealing with her was the same as it had always been: information. Information was power, and because he knew more than they did, he had power over them. As he would even when the bomb went off.
Sayf checked his suit one last time in the mirror; it was a charcoal-gray pinstripe worn with a dark blue tie. Then he stepped out of the car, locking it behind him. It was unseasonably warm for Detroit in late fall, but he wore a long jacket nonetheless. He wasn’t a particularly big man, but he carried an imposing presence in his five-foot-eight, 185-pound frame—and the long coat was a part of that. People saw what they wanted to see.
He walked quickly to the entrance, and saw that he wouldn’t even get past the door without identification, which he casually provided. The policemen at the entrance instructed him to go inside and stop at the security desk. Jonas nodded pleasantly to them both, then went inside. The man at the desk was familiar to him, and he smiled in greeting.
“Officer Robards,” he said. “What’s going on here today?”
“It’s crazy,” he said, reaching for the phone on the desk. “Hang on and I’ll let Allison know you’re here.”
“I can’t go back?” he asked. “Is there a problem?”
Robards shook his head. “No one but law enforcement is getting back there today, I’m afraid. Like I said, crazy.”
Sayf affected a shrug. “I’ll wait,” he said, putting his hands behind his back and walking in a slow circle in the lobby. He hadn’t expected to get into the EOC, but it would have been a nice bonus. As it was, he would have to see how much he could pry from Hart.
It took her nearly ten minutes to come out to the lobby, but she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “Michael,” she said. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”
“It’s no problem,” he said. “Is everything okay?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. We’ve had to stand up the EOC. I’m afraid I have to cancel our plans for this evening.”
“You must be joking,” he said. “We have dinner reservations at Opus One tonight!”
“I wish I were,” she said.
“There is...trouble?” he asked. “I didn’t hear anything on the news and the weatherman said the skies would be clear.”
“Let me walk you to your car,” she said, taking him by the arm. “I’ll explain as much as I can on the way.”
He allowed her to lead him back out of the building and into the parking lot. “You seem very upset, Allison,” he said. He already knew that the boat had been discovered and he was quite angry with Malick Yasim, but he would deal with him later. For the moment, he needed to play the solicitous boyfriend.
“I am,” she said. “There’s a...threat to the city. A terrorist threat. Until we can lock it down, I need to stay at the EOC to coordinate our response.” She looked up at him and he was struck again by her physical beauty. She was a very spiritual woman, but she was not Muslim. Like the car or the suit, she was simply part of his disguise.
“I see,” he said. “So it is serious. Should I be worried? What kind of threat?”
She shrugged delicately, then peered around the parking area for his car and started in that direction once she saw it. “We don’t know, at this point, who’s involved or what their plan is, but the threat seems serious enough. I can’t tell you much more, just that the threat is radiological—and I shouldn’t even say that.”
“My God!” he said, pretending surprise. “And you don’t have any idea of what their actual plan is?”
She shook her head. “No. That’s what we’re working on now.”
“Perhaps we should cancel the game tomorrow night,” he suggested. His job as the head of Security for Ford Field—the home of the Detroit Lions—provided both income and a very high-profile cover for his work. “This kind of danger. So many people. It’s Halloween and we’re expecting a full house.”
They stopped at his car and she leaned into him. “Michael, no one can know. Don’t cancel the game yet. That would just start people asking questions and sooner