Swann were here, along with a few guys from the New York office. They stared at him with big doe eyes. Someone in the room was playing innocent. That, more than anything, made Luke see red.
“What?” Trudy said.
“Begley. He turned up at the Iranian’s apartment with the police. Nobody called him. He just showed up. How did he do that?”
Swann shook his head. He gestured at his machines. “This stuff is encrypted. I’m on my own network. There’s no way Begley’s people could break the code in the short time we’ve been here.”
“Trudy?”
She put her hands in the air as if he had pulled a gun. “No way, Luke. Don’t even go there. I despise Begley. You think I’m going to rat you out to him?”
Ed slipped by him and into the room. “I think you want to stay focused, man. No sense chasing rabbits into holes in the ground. I don’t believe anybody here sold you down the river.”
Luke nodded. Ed had a point. “All right.” He walked over to Swann and placed the contents of his pockets on Swann’s table. “I copied the hard drive from his computer. This is his cell phone. I need you to pull the data from it, then destroy the phone and make it disappear. Do that first.”
Swann shrugged. “They’ll know anyway. It’s an iPhone. They’ll trace its location right to us. They probably already have.”
“That’s fine,” Luke said. “But let’s not be holding it in our hands when they come looking for it. Okay?”
“Okay, Luke.”
Luke glanced at the doorway, half expecting to find Begley standing there. “What have you found in the bank account?”
“A lot. Ali Nassar is a busy man. There are a ton of transactions going on with that account. Money comes in, money goes out. Geneva, Nassau, Tehran, Paris, Washington. A lot of it is anonymous, impossible to trace. Well, not impossible, but it would take more time than we have.”
“Anything interesting that we can see?”
“There’s this. Over the past six months, Nassar has paid more than eight million dollars to something called the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which is a company owned and operated by the Chinese government. They build military-grade robotic drones, pretty high-end stuff. The drones can carry air-to-surface missiles and bomb payloads, do surveillance, satellite data links, you name it. And China sells them dirt cheap, to people who probably shouldn’t have them. North Korea comes to mind. African dictators. Non-state actors. Their CH-3A drone is similar in mission capability to our MQ-9 Reaper, but has a price tag under a million dollars. You see the picture?”
Luke saw. “Could you put a dirty bomb on board one of those things, and say… crash it into something?”
Swann pursed his lips. “Maybe. But keep in mind it would be hard to fly a large payload drone in an area like Manhattan, with so many tall buildings around. These aren’t backyard hobbyist drones. They’re big. We’re talking about eight to ten meter wingspans, depending on the aircraft. These drones need room to maneuver. They take off, fly, and land like airplanes. They have three-mile ceilings, but if you flew one that high, air traffic control would pick it up on radar in a minute.”
Luke tapped the hard drive with Nassar’s computer files on it. “See if he’s got anything on it in here.”
“Before or after I do the phone?”
“Phone first, but move quickly.”
Swann sighed. “No one at this job has ever told me to move slowly. Relax, Swann. Take your time and do a thorough job. Those are words I never hear.”
“If you want to hear those magic words, I think you better go work in the private sector.”
Swann made a face. “What? And make five times the salary? I won’t hear of it.”
“Luke?” Trudy said.
He turned to her. Her eyes were wide. She held a cell phone out to him.
“It’s Don,” she said. “For you.”
Chapter 18
Luke held the phone to his ear and walked out into the
“What?” Trudy said.
“Begley. He turned up at the Iranian’s apartment with the police. Nobody called him. He just showed up. How did he do that?”
Swann shook his head. He gestured at his machines. “This stuff is encrypted. I’m on my own network. There’s no way Begley’s people could break the code in the short time we’ve been here.”
“Trudy?”
She put her hands in the air as if he had pulled a gun. “No way, Luke. Don’t even go there. I despise Begley. You think I’m going to rat you out to him?”
Ed slipped by him and into the room. “I think you want to stay focused, man. No sense chasing rabbits into holes in the ground. I don’t believe anybody here sold you down the river.”
Luke nodded. Ed had a point. “All right.” He walked over to Swann and placed the contents of his pockets on Swann’s table. “I copied the hard drive from his computer. This is his cell phone. I need you to pull the data from it, then destroy the phone and make it disappear. Do that first.”
Swann shrugged. “They’ll know anyway. It’s an iPhone. They’ll trace its location right to us. They probably already have.”
“That’s fine,” Luke said. “But let’s not be holding it in our hands when they come looking for it. Okay?”
“Okay, Luke.”
Luke glanced at the doorway, half expecting to find Begley standing there. “What have you found in the bank account?”
“A lot. Ali Nassar is a busy man. There are a ton of transactions going on with that account. Money comes in, money goes out. Geneva, Nassau, Tehran, Paris, Washington. A lot of it is anonymous, impossible to trace. Well, not impossible, but it would take more time than we have.”
“Anything interesting that we can see?”
“There’s this. Over the past six months, Nassar has paid more than eight million dollars to something called the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which is a company owned and operated by the Chinese government. They build military-grade robotic drones, pretty high-end stuff. The drones can carry air-to-surface missiles and bomb payloads, do surveillance, satellite data links, you name it. And China sells them dirt cheap, to people who probably shouldn’t have them. North Korea comes to mind. African dictators. Non-state actors. Their CH-3A drone is similar in mission capability to our MQ-9 Reaper, but has a price tag under a million dollars. You see the picture?”
Luke saw. “Could you put a dirty bomb on board one of those things, and say… crash it into something?”
Swann pursed his lips. “Maybe. But keep in mind it would be hard to fly a large payload drone in an area like Manhattan, with so many tall buildings around. These aren’t backyard hobbyist drones. They’re big. We’re talking about eight to ten meter wingspans, depending on the aircraft. These drones need room to maneuver. They take off, fly, and land like airplanes. They have three-mile ceilings, but if you flew one that high, air traffic control would pick it up on radar in a minute.”
Luke tapped the hard drive with Nassar’s computer files on it. “See if he’s got anything on it in here.”
“Before or after I do the phone?”
“Phone first, but move quickly.”
Swann sighed. “No one at this job has ever told me to move slowly. Relax, Swann. Take your time and do a thorough job. Those are words I never hear.”
“If you want to hear those magic words, I think you better go work in the private sector.”
Swann made a face. “What? And make five times the salary? I won’t hear of it.”
“Luke?” Trudy said.
He turned to her. Her eyes were wide. She held a cell phone out to him.
“It’s Don,” she said. “For you.”
Chapter 18
Luke held the phone to his ear and walked out into the
Similar Books
