“Colonel Haydar’s office is on the second floor.” The guard directed them to a set of marble stairs.
Nour and Justin followed the guard until he slowed down his marching pace and knocked on one of the doors to his left.
“Come in,” a deep, throaty voice called from inside in Arabic.
The guard ushered the two men inside and disappeared without a word. Nour and Justin stood by the door.
“Welcome, welcome,” Colonel Haydar said, standing behind his large dark table.
He was a thin, small man, perhaps in the early fifties. His hair had silvered completely, without even a sign of receding. His small, gray eyes peered at the two men from behind black-framed glasses. The colonel had a squared face, suntanned and wrinkled, and framed by large ears. A thin moustache line matched perfectly his hair color. He walked to meet them and first shook Nour’s stretched hand.
“You must be Mr. Schmitt?” the colonel turned to Justin.
“Yes, Colonel Haydar, this is our Senior Security Consultant, Mr. Jack Schmitt.”
The colonel gave no hint of recognizing Justin’s face or his alias. Justin was not expecting any.
“Pleased to meet you, sir.” Justin offered his hand.
The colonel’s handshake was firm for a man of his built. He tapped Justin on his shoulder with his left hand in a friendly gesture. “Schmitt, is that German?”
“Yes, sir. My great-grandfather was a silversmith in Bavaria,” Justin recited a part of his cover.
“Well, my friends, take a seat.” The colonel pointed at a couple of straight-back chairs across from his paper-littered table. Nour sat in the chair to the left; Justin took the other one. His eyes moved from the square ceiling light, to the air conditioner panel, to the bookshelves leaning against the wall, and rested at the portrait of the Libya’s Prime Minister staring at the men in the room.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” Nour said. “We really appreciate this opportunity to exchange information for the purpose of increasing the security in the country.”
“Of course, no problem. Cooperation with the United States is very important to us. The safety of our citizens and of our country is number one priority. Especially, in this unfortunate case when there are so many innocent victims, some of which, are Americans, Germans, and other nationalities, who were enjoying the hospitality of my hometown.”
Justin could sense no trace of a foreign accent in the colonel’s English, besides, obviously, a hint of his native tongue. He tended to divide his sentences in small phrases, and shoot them out of his mouth in one quick burst.
“Our resources are focused on arresting all members of the Alliance responsible for this massacre,” the colonel said. “In cooperation with other departments, we’ll hunt them down and throw them all in jail.”
“We’re pleased to hear that, Colonel,” Nour said.
“Now, Mr. Garnett said the embassy was interested in the details of our investigation. What exactly do you want to know?”
“We would like an update. Suspects arrested, interrogated, progress made. Given that our head of state is the target of the terrorists.”
The colonel made a quick dismissive gesture with his right hand. “Oh, you are talking about the dead prisoner and his claims? These terrorists have always threatened our leaders and foreign officials visiting our country. But we will not be scared by a group of cowards that blow up innocent people.”
The colonel took a brief pause. He licked his lips, waiting for Nour’s and Justin’s reactions. They nodded in agreement.
“We’ll increase security at the airport and of the convoy as your President comes to the city. I will personally make sure that my men are everywhere. Your President will have the same security, if not greater, than even my Prime Minister,” the colonel said and nodded toward the portrait of the Libya’s Prime Minister, as if he were truly present in the room.
“We appreciate that,” Nour said. “We are taking these threats very seriously and we need to take all measures to eliminate any danger.”
“Well, of course, of course. We’re searching for members of the Alliance in Benghazi and al-Akhdar, two of their main bases. Several arrests have been made already. People are being interrogated and, like you Americans say, we’ll leave no stone unturned until we learn everything.”
Nour nodded. “We’re here to help. Anything you need, simply let us know.”
“We have everything under control. My men can and will handle this operation. If we need assistance from your embassy, which I don’t believe will be necessary, I know who to call.”
“OK,” Nour said.
The colonel shuffled through the papers on his desk. He picked up a black folder, about half an inch thick. He reached forward and handed it to Nour.
“Now, out of respect for Mr. Garnett, I’ve put together some reports from operatives who interrogated one of the men responsible for these car bombings, Satam al-Raziq. Since he was only a low-ranking member of the Alliance, he knew only crumbs of information. He had heard they were planning an attack against the American President, but he gave us no helpful details. Then he hung himself.”
Nour began flipping through the pages of the folder. Most of them were photocopied in a poor quality. Some were handwritten. Everything was in Arabic.
“It’s all in there, but I don’t think there’s much else that’s crucial. In any case, we’re going after the Alliance with all we’ve got. It’s time to wipe out this evil from our land, once for all.”
“Has any other witness given any useful information?” Nour closed the folder and passed it to Justin, who began to review it.
“No, otherwise it would be in the reports.” The colonel pointed at the folder. A frown began to form in his thick brow.
Nour understood the clue. “Thank you, Colonel. We’ll review the reports and if we have any questions or if we need any clarifications—”
“You can call me at any time,” the colonel interrupted him. “It’s my pleasure to offer you my complete cooperation. Now, what exactly are your plans?”
Nour leaned back in his chair. “We’ll examine the valuable information you’ve given us. We’ll assess the situation and strengthen our security measures regarding our President’s visit. On the other hand, we’ll continue to work with our partners, to ensure we react strongly to the Alliance.”
The colonel raised a cautionary finger. “Not in Libya, I assume,” he said in a nervous tone.
“Of course, not.” Nour was quick to reply, spreading his palms. His face feigned surprise the colonel was bringing up this issue.
“What are you thinking, Mr. Schmitt?” the colonel asked Justin, still skimming through the folder.
Justin looked up, first at Nour, and then at the colonel, who waved his hand in the air, indicating his impatience. Nour nodded for Justin to answer the question.
“Hmm… nothing really,” Justin replied.
“No, please, if you have a concern, I’d like to hear it.”
If you are being sarcastic, you’re a very good actor,
Justin thought.
“All right,” he said, “since you’re insisting. I couldn’t help but notice the absence of any findings about the undetonated explosives.” He flipped through the pages of one of the reports. “After Mr. al-Raziq was detained, I’m sure his vehicle was searched and his car bomb was deactivated and taken apart.”
The colonel replied with a startled face. “Mr. Schmitt, you… you can read Arabic?” The colonel’s enthusiasm was clear, although he was slurring his words. “I’m… I’m so surprised.”
Justin’s eyes dropped from the colonel’s grin to the folder on his lap. He was still expecting an answer.
“Yes, the findings that you can’t find…” The colonel’s face turned serious, and an aura of mistrust seemed to loom over his head. “Al-Raziq’s truck was ripped apart, meticulously and thoroughly.” The colonel had overcome the first moments of surprise and the hammering of words had returned. “We dusted for fingerprints and our experts did all the cute tricks you Americans promote so fancily on your CSI shows. I tell you, there’s nothing that deserved further attention. Nothing.”
The colonel paused for a second to swallow and to catch his breath.
“You don’t mind if we have a look at the truck bomb?” Justin asked quickly before the colonel resumed his tirade.
Nour opened his mouth, but the colonel silenced him with a quick hand gesture.
“You doubt my word?” he asked in an accusatory tone.
“Absolutely not, sir.” Justin closed the folder and placed his hand over it. “I simply suggested that, instead of wasting your valuable time, we go ahead with our own due diligence. The families of these innocent victims, Libyans, Americans and others who lost their lives in this massacre, as you called it, would want us to find out everything we can. In this way, we can work together to prevent future attacks like this.”
“There will be no other attacks like this. We’ll make sure this will never happen again. Ever!” the colonel exclaimed. “But, you don’t trust me, and you want to check for yourself; well, go ahead.”
Justin wanted to jump in and sugar-coat his position, but the colonel was right. Justin did not trust him.
“I’ll have one of my best operatives take you to the evidence lab, where you can examine the explosives for yourself. I assume you have sufficient forensic expertise to analyze this car bomb?”
Justin nodded with a slight hesitation. “Yes, I’ve seen more than my fair share in the field,” he said slowly.
“Eh, I knew it,” the colonel snapped back. “There’s much more to you, Mr. Schmitt than one’s made to believe. And nothing surprises me anymore about you.”
Justin remained silent. It was not a compliment; it sounded more like a threat.
The colonel reached for his phone at the edge of his desk. He barked a few orders then slammed the handset back in place.
“Everything’s ready.” He took a deep breath. “Abdul will be here right away.”
Abdul? My Abdul?
Justin stayed calm and did not betray his stomach-twirling feeling. The colonel was eyeing him like a viper ready to swallow a rabbit, which had just happened to fall inside his cage.
A few second later, there was a knock on the door.
“Oh, here he is,” the colonel said. “Abdul, come in,” he added in a strong voice.
“You asked to see me, sir?”
Justin did not have to turn his head. He recognized Abdul’s voice.
“Yes, I’d like you to meet Mr. Nour Milad, chief of security, and Mr. Jack Schmitt, senior security advisor at the American Embassy.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Abdul shook Nour’s hand and, after a split second of hesitation, reached for Justin’s limb frozen in mid-air. Their eyes did not meet, even though they saw face to face.
“They’re here to provide their assistance with our car bombings investigation. I’m assigning you to take these two men to our warehouse, I mean the evidence lab, where they are to inspect the vehicle of the failed suicide bomber. You’ll also take them to the hotels where these bombings took place, so they can poke around. I’m sure that’s what you were planning on doing. Correct me if I’m wrong,” the colonel said, looking more at Justin than at Nour.
Nour and Justin exchanged a quick undecided glance.
“We accept your offer to work together,” Nour said slowly. “In no way do we intend to put down the efforts of your team, only to build on their results.”
The colonel stared at Nour and Justin over his glasses. “I expect nothing less, Chief. Keep me informed.”
“By all means, sir,” Nour replied.
“Well, then, I’ll let you go. You’ve lots on your plate and so do I.” The colonel pointed at his desk.
Chapter Fifteen
Tripoli, Libya
May 15, 9:20 a.m. local time
Colonel Haydar wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead as he dialed Zakir’s number on his cellphone. For reasons he could not explain, he became nervous just before calling Prince Al-Farhan’s aide. It happened every time, even when things were going precisely according to plan, like now.
“Yes, what is it?” Zakir barked in his snappy voice, impatient as always.
“They just left my office,” the colonel whispered quietly, even though he was alone. “I gave them the reports as instructed.”
“Good. What did they say?”
“They said they’ll review them, draw their own conclusions, and tighten the security around their President.”
“Did you promise increased Libyan security around the convoy?”
“Yes, of course, I did. I said their President will be as protected, if not more protected than our Prime Minister.”
Zakir let out a small snicker. “Good one. Yes, their President will be extremely well protected.”
“There’s something else,” Colonel Haydar said with some hesitation. “They’re running their own investigation into this matter.”
A few seconds of pause followed and, this time, the colonel wiped a stream of sweat off his brow.
“You fool!” Zakir finally blurted. “Why did you allow that?”
“Well, we’re supposed to work together with them and… hmm… and they were going to go ahead with it anyway. I thought, in this way, we know exactly what they’re doing and whom they’re talking to.”
“Really? Like we knew where Justin’s spent last night, right?”
“It’s different this time.”
“How is that?”
“I sent one of my best men with them, to escort them at all times. He’ll report to me on their actions.”
“And you trust this man?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
The colonel swallowed hard as another tense pause followed. He could hear a few whispers over the phone and wondered whether Zakir was conveying his words right away to Prince Al-Farhan.
“OK, so where are they now?” Zakir asked.
“They’ve gone to inspect the fifth truck bomb, at one of our labs.”
“Have you made sure all traces of our involvement have been erased?”
“Yes, my men have double-checked, and there’s nothing there to make them start wondering.”
“You need to make sure they don’t find anything. We need them to believe the story we’ve told them and not grow suspicious. You understand that?”