Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer

Author:Tal Bauer [Bauer, Tal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Gay / Lesbian / LGBT
ISBN: 9781911153795
Google: QT79vQAACAAJ
Goodreads: 34664699
Publisher: Tal Bauer
Published: 2016-02-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Saudi Arabia

Faisal answered his cell phone on the third ring, even though there was no ID to the caller.

“As-salamu alaykum.” He picked at his robes as he sat back in his limo.

“Faisal.” Colonel Song’s voice broke the ease of Faisal’s afternoon.

“Colonel. Has something happened?”

“The Russians delivered Talib Al-Syria to the American embassy in Moscow this evening.”

“What?” Faisal bolted upright. “How did they find him?”

“Unknown. But our mystery caller placed a call to General Madigan, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, this evening. We were able to record it. Listen.”

Faisal pressed his cellphone to his ear. Colonel Song started the playback.

The first voice spoke, deep and heavy, and growling through his anger. “What the hell happened? How did the damn Russians get their hands on Talib?”

The second man, the mystery caller, answered. He was younger, and he was angry. His voice was almost a growl. “We don’t know, sir. They caught him with the nuclear package from Iran.”

“Goddamn it.”

“The Russians offered him in trade to the president, sir. They’re delivering him to the Moscow embassy tonight.”

“This cannot happen. Talib cannot be taken into US custody. Our mission will be blown.”

“Don’t worry, sir. I’m taking care of it. Talib won’t make it to the embassy alive.”

“You’d better be damn sure.”

“I am.”

General Madigan spoke again. “The news from the summit is even worse than I expected. We’re losing ground here. This isn’t where we wanted to be. We’re supposed to building toward war with Russia. Not working on peace deals and negotiating.”

“No, sir.”

A heavy sigh.

Faisal pressed the phone against his skull, trying to hear more, as if he could divine the identity of the speaker all on his own.

“We’re going to need to change tactics. We need to move to plan B. We need to shake things up even more.” Madigan paused. “We need a sacrificial lamb. The stakes have to be higher.”

The mystery caller hesitated before he spoke. It was a first for the man, and Faisal held his breath. Was that meaningful? “Yes, sir,” the younger man finally said. Was his voice different? Did he sound hesitant?

“Make sure Talib is dead. Bring me your ideas for initiating plan B.” Madigan grunted, and then the call was over.

Colonel Song came back on the line. “Do you recognize the second man’s voice?”

Faisal shook his head. “No. I don’t. You don’t have his voice print on file somewhere that you can cross reference?” He said it almost as a joke, but Colonel Song’s silence made him pause.

“We’re searching for his identity,” Colonel Song finally said. “Talib was delivered to the American embassy yesterday.”

“Alive?”

“Dead. He’d been dead for hours.”

Faisal muttered a soft prayer beneath his breath. “He would have been able to reveal so much.”

“Mr. Hu is no longer needed. You may end his online afterlife.”

“What do we do about their ‘plan B’?” Faisal stared out the window of his limo, watching northern Saudi Arabia sail by. Plan B could mean anything.

“We wait.” Colonel Song’s voice was hard. “And we find this mystery man.”

“Do we alert someone in the American government? This general and his partner are dangerous.

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