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Henry followed the predator as it slowly led him to a remote section on the outskirts of Baku. He parked his car behind the CIA’s RV where the group was outside waiting for him to join in their victory celebration. Hoskins poured some wine and proposed a toast to their victory.
“What are we drinking there, Jack?” Henry asked first.
“It’s Kvareli, a really good Georgian wine.”
“I’ll take your word for it, and maybe you could keep these for next time, Leslie,” Henry said as he handed her two bottles, “Courtesy of Tariq Amin.”
“French wine, now I’m impressed,” Leslie said.
“It’s probably older than you, it may be even older than Jack too, no, on second thought, probably not quite that old,” Henry said as the others laughed.
“On that insult, gentlemen and lady, let’s drink a toast to a job well done,” Hoskins said, “Thanks to all of your efforts this week, a major proponent of global terror is now on his way to prison. Let’s raise our glasses to our future success in the war on terror.”
The group enjoyed the celebratory drink and took the time to reflect on their lives.
“Where are you off to next, Henry?” Frank asked.
“My men are on their way to Germany to inventory the merchandise that we brought in, and I’ll be on my way to pay a little visit to Amin’s paramilitary camp in Ismailly,” Henry said as he put the directions that Hoskins gave him in his pocket.
“I wish we had time to stay and watch,” Hoskins said.
“When will you be heading back to Langley?” Henry asked.
“After we get back to Tbilisi, we’ll relax for a few hours and then we’ll be on the next jet out of town,” Hoskins said.
“Will we have time to get cleaned up and change into some new clothes before we meet with the news camera crews?” Brad asked.
“Brad here is our resident comedian,” Hoskins said to Henry before directing his attention back to Brad.
“You won’t have to worry about reporters or camera crews, you new guys will be reporting directly to the debriefing center in Langley. The only reward on this job is the satisfaction of knowing that you did the best job you could for the security of your country and the people of the free world. The agency is proud to have new members like you, you saw a potentially dangerous situation and you reacted to it responsibly, we’re glad that we have you on our team.”
The group toasts Brad and David, and David asks Hoskins, “Is there any chance that I could spend an hour or two with my sister in Tbilisi before we leave?”
“Sorry, son,” Hoskins said sympathetically, “There’s nothing I’d like better than to let you do that, but rules are rules, the next person you spend a few hours alone with better be a debriefing agent in Virginia, or it’s my ass.”
Hoskins saw the sad look on David’s face and gave it some more thought.
“On the other hand, some rules are more flexible than others, and since you two were strictly observers on this mission, I can’t see any harm in letting the debriefing wait until after you spend the next two days in Tbilisi with your sister.”
David jumped up and down screaming excitedly.
“Wow, that’s fantastic, thanks, Jack,” he said as he almost hugged Hoskins but thought the better of it.
Hoskins next turned his attention to Brad, “Do you suppose that I could count on you to make sure that he keeps out of trouble for the next two days?”
“Yes, sir,” Brad said as he smiled ear to ear and put his arm around David’s shoulder.
“I know I could trust both of you to keep your mouths shut and to watch out for each other.”
“Yes, sir,” they both say in unison.
“You’re a good man, Jack,” Frank said.
The group drank a toast to Hoskins.
When they finished another drink, Henry took Abdula’s money-filled briefcase out of his car and handed it to Hoskins.
“Would you be kind enough to check these in for me, with all of the running around that I have to do tomorrow, it’ll probably be a lot safer with you.”
“It’s a good feeling knowing that arms dealer never got to spend it,” Frank said.
“Doubly good knowing that Tariq Amin will never draw another free breath to spend any of his money either,” Hoskins said.
“For all the damage he could’ve done, I wish we could transfer all of his assets to charity,” Leslie said.
“Give me twenty minutes alone with him and I guarantee you that I could get him to make the transfers,” Frank said.
“You and me both,” Henry said, “But if it makes you feel any better, Amin had a very nice collection of artwork that he will no longer need, my men are taking it to Germany for safe keeping too.”
“That’s great,” Leslie said.
“Hey, as long as you’re going to be in Ismailly, Amin has another house that might provide a donation to our worthy charity,” Hoskins said to Henry.
“I’ll be sure to stop in, every little bit helps.”
“There’s a really poor orphanage in Sheki,” Leslie said, “I drop off some groceries there every chance I get.”
“Send me their name and address,” Henry said, “As long as you think they’re reputable, I’ll have the Berlin office send them a check after we sell that artwork.”
“That would be wonderful, God bless you, Henry,” Leslie said as she hugged him.
Henry was somewhat startled by what she said, it had been a long time, if ever, that anyone ever said that to him.
During the light conversation, Frank pulled Henry aside for a personal chat. With the CIA being the small dysfunctional family that it was, Frank and Henry both knew about each other’s personal ordeals, and as they shook hands to say good-bye, they saw the same look of compassion in each other’s eyes. It wasn’t much, but the fact that it was coming from a co-worker who knew what the pain felt like, it somehow made it worthwhile.
“Look me up the next time you’re in Austria,” Henry said.
“You give me a call when you get back to Langley, the town’s changed quite a bit since you were there last,” Frank said.
After everyone said good-bye to Henry, the CIA’s RV drove out of the area and Henry headed back down town to Baku. Unknown to any of them, a car stolen from an old couple that was recently murdered on their yacht was parked a few blocks down the street. Abdula Nassir had on an earphone and had just listened to the CIA’s entire conversation. He took a long drag on a cigarette and pondered the situation.
The CIA bastards had not only deprived him of his revenge on Tariq Amin, but they also have his hard-earned money that was stolen from him, first by Amin, and now by the CIA. While he took pleasure in knowing that Amim will probably rot in an American prison for the rest of his life, he longed to see the look of terror in Amin’s eyes as he begged for mercy when Abdula pointed a gun to his head. But that was now in the past, Abdula’s next priority was to get his money back, and he decided at that point to follow the CIA back to where they came from, which was probably Tbilisi. If the opportunity presented itself, Abdula would attack the agents in the RV, if not, he will take them at the Embassy.
‘What could they possibly have there?’ Abdula thought, ‘Maybe three or four guards at best, regardless, nothing will come between Abdula and his money.’
The CIA RV left Baku and started heading back to Leslie’s post in Oghuz to pick up the Mercedes that belonged to the U.S. Embassy. On the way, Leslie received a message saying that her replacement was waiting for her in Tbilisi.
“I guess you guys aren’t going to get rid of me yet, I have to go to Tbilisi to pick up my replacement.”
“We don’t mind the company, or the comfort of this RV,” Hoskins said, “But we’d better pick up the Mercedes in Oghuz and return it to the Embassy or the Ambassador might report that we stole it.”
Outside of Baku, Abdula, who was following the CIA’s RV, could not understand why the RV stopped already near a farm field. Soon enough his jaw dropped when he observed the predator landing in the field. The rage built up in him as he watched from a distance as the CIA team disassembled, packed, and loaded the spy plane on top of the RV. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach that he never felt before, almost as if he was violated. It was now apparent to him that no matter what happened in Baku, he was screwed, and the only good news was that right now he was very fortunate to not be sharing an American prison cell with Tariq Amin.
The sneaky Americans must be taught a lesson and who better than Abdula Nassir to do it. If he came home to Syria with his money and a few CIA heads, his reputation would grow to greater heights.
A few hours later, the CIA RV pulled into Leslie’s base station in the warehouse in Oghuz. She filled the fuel and water tanks on the RV as the men walked around her office quarters to stretch their legs before the long ride back to Tbilisi.
After Leslie locked up the old style fuel pump on the side of the warehouse, she went into the office where she treated the men to some beer and soda.
Outside in the shadows, Abdula quietly sneaked up to the RV. He didn’t see the CIA agents carry the money briefcase into the warehouse, so it must be RV, but he cursed when he tried to open the RV door and found it locked. He thought for a moment about picking the lock, but figured it was alarmed.
He then decided that as long as the CIA didn’t know he was following them, he was still in control. He quietly slipped back into the comfort of the shadows and reached into his coat pocket and was grateful that he still had a few more Russian-made surveillance bugs he could put to good use. He slid under the Mercedes and attached the magnetized bug to the steel frame under-carriage of the car. Then he crawled up under the RV and hid another one under the aluminum housing. As soon as he mounted the bug under the RV, the warehouse door opened and four men came out, three got into the RV and one got into the Mercedes. Abdula heard the footsteps above him in the RV, and saw the vehicle swaying from the added weight. He looked over and saw Leslie shut off the warehouse lights and lock the front door.
Sweat started running down Abdula’s forehead as he lay under the RV and watched as Leslie walked toward the vehicle and stopped in full stride. She stood there for nearly a full minute before Abdula heard her say, “I think that’s everything,” before she hopped into the RV and closed the door. The Mercedes pulled out first and then the RV started up and slowly followed the car. As the RV uncovered Abdula, he quickly rolled over into the shadows in case someone in the RV might be looking out the back window.
He lied there for a few minutes catching his breath before getting up and walking to his car.
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