The Red Cell André Gallo (essential reading .txt) 📖

lead. Although the White House is in damage-control mode, we have to be in damage-assessment mode. The FBI also feels vulnerable because their background check, if there was one, is at the base of the problem.”

At that moment, Mary, LaFont’s always-poised secretary, stuck her head in the door and said, “Congressional Affairs wants to set you up for hearings with the oversight committees. Public Affairs is getting pressure from the media to schedule you for dozens of interviews and for the Sunday morning talk shows.” She looked at her notes for an instant and added, “And the FBI Director would like to meet with you. What should I tell them?”

“No TV talk shows,” LaFont replied with an annoyed shake of her head. “Closed-door hearings only for the oversight committees. Defer all media requests on the Dalton case to the White House.”

“There was also a call from your daughter, something about needing wheels or her college life will be a total shambles. She said she would call you tonight.”

While Mary stayed deadpan, the two men had to smile. Although LaFont was a formidable negotiating opponent, they were guessing Brittany would win that one.

“Give me an update on Yosemani’s whereabouts,” LaFont said, as she glanced at the single paper on her otherwise clean desk. “I have another meeting in ten minutes.”

“Yosemani,” Trent said, “was still in Brussels as of last report. Steve and Kella saw him at the airport, but they lost him. He could have taken off for any destination. If he had wanted to go to Tehran, he could’ve taken the Iran Air flight the day before. Steve said there was a flight to New York he also could have taken. We alerted the FBI, but they apparently did not pick him up at JFK. So, he could be in New York, or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter, under alias documentation.”

“Well, if nothing else, the guy has balls,” Nortsen said. “I don’t think I would want to go to Iran even in alias. But, if he is here, for what purpose? He’s not going to take this type of risk for a routine visit. It must be big.”

Mary opened the door again. “There is an urgent phone call for Mr. Trent,” she said. “You can take it out here.”

When Trent came back, he said, “NSA has an intercept indicating Yosemani was on his way to Cyprus.”

“The Quds Force threat to the homeland has gone away. The FBI and Homeland Security can stop worrying,” Nortsen said.

36. Sausalito, California

The Sausalito waterfront was much larger than Kazemi had anticipated. Moreover, it was broken up into several smaller harbors, but he parked in the gravel lot, confident it was the right one. The order from New York had been urgent but not specific.

TOP PRIORITY: BUY OR RENT SEAWORTHY INBOARD LARGE ENOUGH FOR 6 TO 10 MEN. BE READY TO PILOT IN SF BAY WITHIN 10 DAYS.

His paramilitary maritime training off the Coast of Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf was some years behind. Furthermore, the training had been rather specialized: night infiltration and exfiltration, underwater demolition, and fast-boat orientation, the IRGC’s primary defense against American warships in the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz. But purchasing a civilian boat in California had not been part of the curriculum. He had therefore decided to go through an agent whom he was supposed to meet in front of The Mariners Catch restaurant, which backed onto the Marina.

He had never received such an order since his assignment to the United States. The purchase of a boat is quite a commitment, he thought. He understood the need for secrecy, but he also thought Tehran had overdone things. He would be much more ready to execute the assignment if they had given him more information. Nevertheless, he had bought maritime charts of San Francisco Bay and had studied them.

He allowed his mind to run through possible reasons for the boat, and he had concluded there were two: drugs, or the exfiltration of a high-value asset to a ship out at sea.

His speculation was interrupted when a pickup truck pulled in front of the restaurant, and his agent stepped out.

“In fact, Mr. Kazemi,” the agent said, as he and the Iranian walked around the restaurant toward the docks in back, “I’ve got exactly what you’re looking for: thirty-eight feet, twin one-twenty-horsepower Volvos, only five years old, used infrequently by the owner, who just passed away. His wife wants to sell it. The name of the boat is ‘Sufficient Grounds.’ I guess she’s wanted to sell it for a long time. You should be able to get a good deal.”

***

At the same time, about seven hundred miles to the north, a brown UPS truck, the suspension tested by its full load of packages, crossed the Canadian border and headed toward Marin County. Meanwhile, about five hundred miles to the south, a U.S. Border Patrol agent waved the driver of a truck loaded up with crates of lettuce across the U.S. border. And farther north, the Soledad, a cargo ship flying the Panamanian flag, passed Robert’s Point after leaving its mooring in the Port of Vancouver. Its captain and crew directed the ship toward Oakland, California.

37. McLean, Virginia

Steve helped Marshall into the car, as Kella folded his wheelchair and put it into the trunk. “We’re done with Brussels,” Steve said, as they drove out of the CIA’s VIP parking lot. “I briefed Trent over the phone, and we just briefed the director. It’s now up to the White House to sort out the damage done by the Nightingale.”

“You know headquarters always prefers written reports,” Marshall said. “But don’t be surprised if the president wants to see you himself. Having his chief of staff turn out to be a foreign spy is sensationally scandalous. Tremaine will do everything possible to erase this chapter from his legacy.”

“So,