Then Cassandra up and moved to the suburbs south of Richmond over the Christmas break. She claims the schools are better down there, safer, and thats probably true. But its not good for the girls to move around like that. Also, its not lost on me that the judge told her not to leave Virginia, so she moved as far away as humanly possible, while still remaining in the state. I used to have a twenty-mile roundtrip to see my girls, and now its more like two hundred miles.
Cassandras a beautiful woman, Luke said. Truer words were never spoken. Eds ex-wife was tall and statuesque. It was if Naomi Campbell hadnt been discovered, had never become a supermodel, and Ed had married her. And had children with her.
Then got divorced.
Now Ed smiled. Thats how they get you to stick your leg in the trap.
Its the most natural thing in the world, Luke said.
Been this way since the dawn of time, Ed said. But Im guessing that you didnt interrupt my workout to discuss the travails of men and women.
Luke shook his head. No. You watch anything about this plane crash in Egypt?
How could I not? Ed said. They werent saying much about it, though. The casual TV watcher could be forgiven for thinking it was a normal plane crash. Just one of those unfortunate things that happen sometimes.
It wasnt, Luke said, sipping his own black coffee.
Ed smiled. Tell me something I dont know.
I was at the White House this morning.
Now Eds smile was nearly ear to ear. I said tell me something I dont know.
There was an emergency meeting, Luke said. Kurt Kimball thinks the plane was brought down by a rocket attack, targeting Marshall Dennis specifically. He was about to open a hotel on the Red Sea there.
Ed stared at this coffee, thinking about that. His face clouded. He swirled the coconut oil around and around.
Okay.
General Loomis was at the meeting, Luke said.
Frank Loomis? Ed said. JSOC?
You know him?
Ed shrugged. I was on loan to him from Delta one time. The operation got about as FUBAR as possible. He nearly got a bunch of us killed. Ill tell you about it one day.
Luke nodded. He was playing coy this morning. Said his intelligence people told him the attack was a decoy, a cover-up for something bigger. When the President pressed him on how he knew that, or what the next attack might be, he said he
Ed finished the sentence for him. He wasnt at liberty to discuss that.
Exactly, Luke said.
So whats our role in this? Ed said.
Theres a guy up in Baltimore. Trudy and Swann think hes dirty, and that hes about to skip town. Id like to grab him today before he disappears. See what he has to say. Well never get an arrest warrant, at least not on short notice, so
Ed smiled. You want me to go up there and bag him?
Luke shrugged. Id say a team of six should do it. Ride with a couple of your best people to make sure it gets done. But also bring a couple of your newbies. Id like to watch them in action, see what were looking at.
Whats the situation on the ground? Ed said.
Its a house. Swann has the details. There are two women in there, and two children. Three adult males. All we want is the subject, who is in his sixties. Id say tumultuous entry, move fast, bag him and bring him out. Try not to break anything.
In other words, Ed said, dont kill anyone.
Luke nodded. Thats right.
Youre a very gentle man, Ed said.
Luke smiled. I try to be.
Okay. Consider it done.
CHAPTER SIX
8:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Westgate
Baltimore, Maryland
Do you have a look at this place? Ed said into his microphone.
Mark Swanns deep, throaty voice came over his speaker. You mean real time?
Ed shook his head. No, I mean back in 1978. Yes, real time, Swann.
Of course not. I cant see anything. I dont have a drone in the air on a day like today, and even if I could put one up, the cloud canopy is too low. All I can see is coming from your body cameras.
So you cant see whats going on in the backyard.
Not at the moment, no. But you have that aerial map, right? And the floor plan?
Ed sighed. Yes. They were going in blind.
Then you should be good.
Ed was sitting in the back of a white van, parked thirty yards up the street from the house where Mustafa Boudiaf lived. The van had an orange, yellow, and green SMECO logo on it, with a lightning bolt through the middle. SMECO was the shortened version of Southern Maryland Electrical Cooperative, an electric company that didnt even serve this area.
Three people were in the van with him, members of his team. They were dressed the same as him in black long-sleeve fleece shirts, heavy tactical vests, and cargo pants lined with lightweight Dragon Skin armor. Pulled over the tactical vests were yellow reflective vests with the SMECO logo just like electrical workers out to fix a power outage on a snowy day would wear. On their heads were white combat helmets with hinged facemasks, currently in the up position. A person not sure of what they were looking at might imagine those helmets were hardhats.
Ed glanced out the rear window. It was a relatively affluent neighborhood. The house was tan stucco, nondescript, two stories tall, set back on the other side of a wide lawn from the road. A bay window faced the street, next to a red front door. On the right side was a driveway with a black Lincoln Town Car in front, and maybe some kind of Toyota in back. On the left side was a narrow alley between properties. A long hedge lined the front sidewalk.
Everything the hedge, the two trees on the front lawn was brown and bare. The snow was blowing pretty hard.
Ed was calm. He looked at his people.
Two of them were young, early to mid-twenties. That would be Rodriguez and Stamos. Ed had taught Rodriguez at Quantico she was one of his best students. She was the fittest person there, could knock out more pull-ups than Ed himself. She could run a five-minute mile, then follow it up with a hundred pushups and another five-minute mile. And she was serious dead serious. Maybe a little too much. She wanted very badly to prove herself.
Right now, her eyes were like saucers. She looked like she needed to go to the bathroom.
Rodriguez, youre with me, girl. Aint nothing to this. Were just utility workers, knocking on doors during a power outage. Weve got a clipboard. The door opens, whoever answers, we take them down. You secure them, I move on. Got it?
She nodded. Got it.
Stamos, Anderson, you guys move up that alleyway and connect with Marshall and King on the back porch. Stamos, you and King are swinging hammer. You get the word, I want to see you hit that thing with all you got. Two hits max, I want that door open. One is better.
Stamos nodded. He looked less nervous than Rodriguez, but still pretty green. I got it.
Of course you do. This aint your first rodeo, man. So stop acting like it. You got nothing to prove to me. Just do your job the way I know you can.
Okay.
Ed looked at Anderson, then shook his head and smiled. Anderson was thirty-two, and had come to SRT out of Delta Force. He needed a shave. His eyes were hard, but his body language was relaxed. He was probably bored. They had hired him, more than anything, out of Lukes nostalgia for Delta. Ed doubted he would last. There were wars going on out there in the world, and mercenary work was where the money was.