let it be known that he would deny any knowledge of the operation if plans went awry. Mike was not a part of the hit-squad that Miller sent to Canada to find those responsible and eliminate them. Ted Biggs, Mike’s direct supervisor at the agency, was in his office when Mike showed up unannounced.
“Aren’t you in Lebanon?” Biggs asked when he saw Mike standing in front of his desk.
“I was, sir, but what is happening here ain’t right.”
“What do you mean, son?”
“Sir, I told you about the towers. I did my job on this one and you know it, but now they’re talking like I’m part of the problem.”
Biggs took a sip of the cup of coffee that was on his desk, then licked his lips before wiping them with a Dunkin Donuts napkin that was on top of his daily planner. “Who’s they?”
“Everyone…the politicians…the media…”
“They named you specifically?” Biggs asked with a giggle, trying to loosen up his tightly-wound protege’.
Mike refused to take the bait and ignored the question. “This is wrong, sir. I should be out there fixing it.”
“Mike, we think you’re a great asset, one of our up-and-coming stars, but this is just way too big for you.”
Mike was having none of it. “Too big for me?”
Biggs picked up his coffee, but did not drink from it. “We can’t afford any screw ups on this.”
“With all due respect, sir, it was never me who was not up for the job. The politicians in Washington and Virginia, more concerned with covering their own asses, were the ones not up for the job.”
Biggs took another sip from the cup in his hand, then placed it on his desk. “And you’re telling me this because…?”
“We know who did it and I want ‘em. It kills me that I knew about this and was helpless to do anything to stop it.”
Biggs shook his head, “Sorry, Mike, I can’t.”
“Bullshit, you can’t…you won’t…”
“Damn right, I won’t.” Biggs jumped on Mike’s last comment as soon as the words left his mouth.
“I knew it...”
“You know shit. I’m not sending in some greenhorn to do a job that needs a seasoned professional.”
Mike slammed his fist on the desk startling Biggs, “Fuck that shit, Ted. I need to go to Canada because I got this right and y’all back here messed up big time.”
Biggs stood up behind his desk and leaned over it in a feeble attempt at intimidation. He knew it wasn’t going to work, but felt the need to regain some control. “Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?”
“Am I wrong?”
“It don’t matter who’s wrong.”
Mike waved his hand at Ted and turned his head away. “Man…I thought you were different.”
“Fuck you, Mike.” Biggs said, jumping on his words again. “I don’t need some snot-nosed little shit coming in here and telling me what I can and cannot do.”
“But you know I can fix this, Ted.”
Biggs hesitated before he answered. As much as he agreed with Mike, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to get him involved in a controversial operation this early in his career. Not to mention one that had no support from the White House. If the action was compromised, all those involved could lose their jobs or worse. Mike was far and away his favorite and Biggs believed he was also the Agency’s future. More than anything else, Biggs knew that Mike was the one man who could get the job done as clean and as quick as possible.
“I know you can handle it, which is why I won’t send you,” Biggs said. “This is gonna be a massive cluster-fuck and you don’t need to be anywhere near it.”
Mike sat down on the other side of Biggs’s desk, bent over and rested his face in the palms of his hands.
“I can’t let something happen to you because this agency is caught in a political football game. I can’t do it,” Biggs said, impressed with the maturity of his 6’4 pupil.
A minute later, Mike sat up straight, leaned back in his chair and stared directly into Biggs’s eyes. “Ted, I need this…I can’t sleep…I can’t eat…this was horse shit and you know it.”
Mike stood up. He placed both palms flat on Biggs’ desk. “I told you this was going down…I was not the fuck-up on this, y’all were.”
“Yeah. You told me that already.”
“I want this guy and I’m going to go find him whether you assign me to this or not.”
“Mike, you don’t have the experience for a gig like this…”
Mike straightened up. “Experience, my ass. Do you think I can do this?”
Biggs hesitated. “I think you can do anything we assign to you.”
“Assign me to this, because I’m going whether you do or not.”
Mike turned around without waiting for a response. He walked out of Biggs’ office, closing the door behind him.
Mike ended up in Quebec where he personally hunted down and killed three of the architects of the tower bombings, but missed finding Ibrahim in his safe house by less than three minutes. The apartment Ibrahim was holed up in had one lamp, an old desk, a mattress without a box-spring and a small black and white TV in the corner. On the floor under the mattress was a key from a storage facility in Toronto. Inside 21C, the small storage closet Ibrahim had rented, were surveillance photos of not only the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, but also buildings and landmarks in Russia, Israel, Great Britain, Algiers, Yemen, Buenos Aires, Pakistan and the United States. After taking stock of the contents, Mitch met up with Todd, who brought all the evidence back to Langley, along with the key he was holding in his hands.
“Yeah, I remember that key. What did they say, three minutes? If I was three minutes earlier, I could have saved the world a whole lot of pain and suffering.”
Todd zipped his knapsack then pulled out a stick of trident gum from his shirt pocket, unwrapped it and stuffed it in his mouth. “If I called you five minutes earlier, we’d have had him. You can’t keep blaming yourself.”
“But three minutes…”
“Got to deal with what you can control, not what you can’t, partner.”
“I know…just pisses me off is all.” Mike took his gym bag and flipped it onto his right shoulder, then motioned for Todd to follow. “Let’s get outta’ here.”
Four
“It was strange,” Callie said speaking into her cellphone. “He threw me under the bus in front of the entire firm, then accused me of doing
