Chapter 14 – Through Another's Eyes

Earlier that day, Lee had been surprised that he had no problem entering the compound and then making his way to the tent. He could see that Ehsan was busy greeting the guests so he made his way to the front of the entrance of the tent. It was important to make it look like he had been hired as the security for the day.

It didn't take long to realize that Ebu had made it his mission to get all of the guests very drunk and was succeeding. A couple of them had tried to engage Lee in conversation, but he told them that he was not allowed to talk to the guests. As he stood watching everything that was going on, he couldn't help but notice how Ebu had grown even more arrogant than he was when he last saw him. He definitely wanted the control of this group and something told Lee that he had every intention of claiming it that day. Ebu seemed to be watching every move that Ehsan made. It was unsettling and Lee could tell that Ehsan realized it.

All these men had come a long way to bid on these documents. Despite knowing that they were getting angry, Ebu seemed to keep stalling. The men were nearly at the end of their patience when he insisted they eat lunch first. Lee was too far away to hear much, but from his vantage point, he could tell that Ebu bullied them. Soon they all began shoving forkfuls of food into their mouths. It seemed that they felt if they ate quickly; then the bidding could start. Ebu had mentioned that he was still waiting for 2 more men which hadn't been part of the plan that Ehsan knew about.

At one point, Lee locked eyes with Ehsan and could tell that something was wrong. He gave a slight nod to let him know that he understood to keep an eye out for trouble. Ehsan had given Ebu complete orders on how he expected this auction to run. However, Ebu didn't seem to be obeying many of those orders. All the changes could affect Ehsan's plans and Lee knew he needed to be completely observant to follow any last minute changes Ehsan made.

Lee noticed that a jeep had pulled up. He couldn't resist looking to see who these 2 final men were. He watched them remove their blindfolds and found himself experiencing instant rage at their presence. The two men were old friends of each other. One was from Afghanistan while the other was from Saudi Arabia. They had teamed up together a few years ago to establish one of the worse active terrorist groups in recent years. The bloodshed they left behind when they went after something they wanted was horrifying. They didn't care who they killed. In fact, they glorified killing even when it was innocent women and children. Lee was grateful that the real documents were not here as these were two men who definitely must never have access to them. As the two men entered the tent, Lee noticed immediately how friendly they were with Ebu. It was becoming more and more obvious that Ebu intended to shift the NRG into something much more dangerous than what it had been.

Lee stole another glance at Ehsan and could tell by his body language that something had gone wrong. Ebu showed the documents to the men through his own bodyguards and then locked them back up again. Ebu then defiantly announced that it would be a silent auction and that the highest bid on paper would be the country who would claim the documents. This unexpected change could possibly have Ehsan's original plan spiraling out of control. Ehsan had been sure that his power was strong enough to control Ebu so they hadn't discussed an alternative ideas in case Ebu made any last minute changes like this. Lee knew that if anyone could figure out a way to handle this situation; it was Ehsan. As Lee watched Ehsan go around the table to collect the bids, he saw him tense up. Ehsan had seen something that Lee could not see from his vantage point.

Ehsan suddenly started talking in a loud voice so he could be heard over the men who were also talking. He announced that the documents were a fake. Lee watched as the drunken men suddenly began reacting with anger at this news. As Ehsan explained how he knew they were fake; they became enraged.

Suddenly one of the huge Russian men hurled himself onto Ebu and slammed him to the ground. As if it were a football game where the quarterback just got sacked, the other men piled on top trying to get a piece of Ebu.

Lee and Ehsan locked eyes once again as they nodded in agreement and both headed for the exit. This was the opportunity they had been hoping for. Lee couldn't help but tease Ehsan about his plan not going quite the way he intended but secretly he was actually very impressed at how Ehsan was able to change plans in midstream. Lee was at the wrong angle to see the gun that Ebu had begun pointing at Ehsan. He would have had no way to protect him before it was too late. Lee was just thankful that in the end everything had fallen into place and worked brilliantly. They were able to flee out of the compound without anything further going wrong. Since so many of the men loved and respected him, the guard was none the wiser that Ehsan was fleeing and allowed them to quickly pass through the gate.

Lee knew that it saddened Ehsan to take out the whole camp. He had liked some of the men there, but to leave any of them behind was asking for trouble. By destroying all of the camp and the men; they hoped to end the NRG for good. Ehsan had done an excellent job when he returned the night before and spent time planting the bombs around the camp. There didn't seem to be any space that hadn't been destroyed during the explosion. It seemed impossible that there would be any survivors.

As they raced to the meeting spot with Earl, Lee complimented Ehsan on coming up with the idea that the documents didn't have Top Secret on them.

Ehsan laughed and said "Well actually Lee, I took a chance that they wouldn't check them. They were duplicated from the originals except for having some key things removed. I'm sure Top Secret was stamped on those fake ones but I had noticed that the men barely looked at them because Ebu had made them wait so long and they were so eager to begin the auction. It was a great bluff, wouldn't you say?"

"Wow, remind me to never play poker with you." Lee laughed as he pulled into the area where Earl was waiting for them. Earl jumped out of Kami's car and pointed to a spot that he had already cleared out for them to park the van. In no time, the men had the van covered completely up with the tree limbs that Earl had gathered while he waited for them to arrive.

Earl handed Lee his clothes and he ducked behind the van to change. As he handed the uniform back to Earl he said "Those worked perfectly. You should keep them in case someone else has a need for them."

"I sure will" Earl said with a smile as he took the uniform from Lee and put it in the trunk.

After everyone piled into Kami's car, Earl asked "Did everything go as planned?"

Ehsan and Lee both began laughing at once as Earl and Francesca watched them in confusion.

As the laughter died down, Ehsan said "Of course it did. Don't my plans always work? Although, sometimes like today, they just need to be tweaked a little."

Earl smiled and said "Well as long as the tweaking worked. Is there a camp left for us to worry about?"

Ehsan sadly smiled and said quietly "No, that part of the plan worked perfectly. You shouldn't have to worry about the NRG anymore. Of course another terrorist group could move in, but that should take some time."

Earl couldn't help but notice the sadness in Ehsan's voice and he reached behind him to squeeze Ehsan's arm. "I know you were fond of some of them son. It would have been nice to get them to safety but unfortunately they all wanted to be there. You know they would have just started another group."

Eshan sighed and nodded his head in agreement. "I know. Sometimes this job is just hard though."

"It is what makes you one of the good guys. You actually cared that you had to take those lives for the sake of the world."

"I agree." Lee interrupted. "It is never easy to kill, and it is my least favorite part of my job. When I saw the amount of dangerous men that entered that tent today, I couldn't help but think about how much better the world would be once they were all dead. You did what you had to do Ehsan."

"I know, it will just take my therapist to help me deal with it." Ehsan said with a laugh that didn't sound very convincing. "Let's get to the airport before anyone stops to ask us any questions."

"Now that sounds like a great plan!" Lee agreed.

TBC