The Miraculous Plot of Leiter & Lott by Jonathan Lowe Page B

night required for a sleep-over at the Trump Tower. It was not that he didn't have the money for it, but rather that, unfortunately, he also knew, somehow, that the unnecessary self indulgence would not help him apprehend what he still needed to know. As for meeting Innes and Cashman , that was another matter. If there was a reason he was here at all, it was to meet those two culprits. Aazad , coming through on his promise, and despite the intervening apprehension related to his distressed friend, had made no promise to appear in person himself at the party, so no doubt the bizarre duo would be disappointed by the billionaire's absence. But there was a ready excuse to be tendered at the end of the evening which would appear acceptable to any civilized person, gentleman or not: the preparation for a funeral.
    David ordered room service and tuned into the latest CNN reports on the internal military investigation of the attacks in Dubai. As yet, no definitive evidence had been found which linked the U.S. Army, Navy, or Air Force to the assault. The fuselage of the two drone aircraft had been damaged beyond recognition, through explosion and heat, and although there were similarities to known and missing warbirds , the clues so far uncovered were inconclusive, however Al-Jazeera wished to spin it. As for the Dubai stock exchange, it was still reeling, despite an uptick in oil prices and the envy of the world. Nervous too about what tomorrow would bring.
    David felt the same nervousness, so he did not touch the lamb served with creamed spinach, nor the sautéed mushrooms. Instead, he contemplated the remote possibility that his patented optics system had somehow actually been used by the drone attackers in their night vision targeting instruments. He was just rejecting the idea, and tasting his room service meal, when a special bulletin came on featuring a CNN investigator claiming to have stumbled on a CIA memo that was a copy of a restricted email, yet discarded in the trash. The network then projected the memo onto the screen.

    To: TL418, United Arab Emirates
    From: DS672, Hoover Building
    Decrypt 747RP

    Unable to pinpoint identity unsub Skywayman . NSA culling
    known U.S. rogue anti-terrorists for technical expertise linked
    to wreckage evidence. NCIS running internal audit. Next
    report prior 2 PM EST, or as warranted.

    Question: has Langley a list of unsub’s probable targets within the Burj
    Khalifa yet, related to possible gains from this?

    To: DS672
    From: TL418
    Decrypt 330GN

    Don– No, still collating. Just received word that the USAF
    has an AWACS recon plane en route to the UAE. They’re
    requisitioning satellite surveillance of the ground, too, but
    it’s unlikely they’d be able to shoot down any drone aircraft,
    even with radar tracking. Not only is such a target small,
    but at the tower’s base are 19 other residential towers, a lake,
    9 hotels, 30,000 new homes, and the Dubai Mall. Still, they
    should be able to identify the take-off site if it happens again,
    and/or jam the controller’s radio signal. Otherwise, do
    you know how many acres of plate glass are still waiting
    to be shattered? –Ted

    To: TL418, United Arab Emirates
    From: DS672, Hoover Building
    Decrypt 641TR

    5 PM EST Progress report attached. Summary: no red flags
    regarding home grown terrorists or WTC companies.
    Fourteen leads and follow-ups near dead end. Procurement
    of aircraft parts judged to be secondary surplus aftermarket.
    Confirm your conclusion that engineering profile shows
    high level of sophistication, requiring CNC machine shop
    and significant investment. Confirm drone construction
    indicates private engineering based on early military prototype.

    The respondents were identified as Don Sherman, FBI, and Terence Lefcourt , CIA. "Heads are going to roll on this one," the anchor commented, with a dry laugh.
    "Which heads, theirs or ours?" the pretty female co-anchor shot back, before