Chapter 2:

Tony and his team were stunned. Olivia asked, "Who is Hezbollah Al-Hejaz?"

Tony glanced at Daria and nodded. The black woman began to speak, "Hezbollah Al-Hejaz is a militant organization operating in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. It is a Shia organization founded in May 1987 in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. It is pro-Khomeini as opposed to the pro-Shirazi Organization for the Islamic Revolution in the Arabian Peninsula. It is outlawed in Saudi Arabia, being designated as a terrorist organization by the kingdom's government on 7 March 2014. The Saudi Hezbollah is believed to have been responsible for a number of serious attacks in Saudi Arabia in the second half of the 1980s, including the August 1987 bombing of an Eastern Province gas plant and the March 1988 bombing of oil installations at Ras Tanura and Jubail, as well as a series of bombings in Riyadh in 1985 and 1989. Some have also suspected organized domestic Shiite involvement in the Hajj riots in Mecca in July 1987 in which more than 400 people died after Saudi police cracked down on demonstrating Iranian pilgrims. Questions also shroud the June 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, which was officially blamed on the Hezbollah of the Hijaz. The group may have wanted to assert its disapproval of the 1993 reconciliation between the Saudi Government and the OIR, and may have received operational assistance from the Lebanese Hezbollah. Some observers have disputed this assessment and argued that the operation was carried out by al-Qaida, while others have said that on balance, the available evidence suggests Shiite responsibility. Several of its members are wanted in the United States for their alleged part in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. The group is also charged by the FBI with alleged participants Ahmed Al Mughassil, Ali Al Houri, Hani al-Sayegh, Ibrahim Al Yacoub, Abdelkarim Al Nasser, Mustafa Al Qassab, Abdallah Al Jarash, Hussein Al Mughis and a Lebanese "John Doe". Five more alleged members are wanted on conspiracy indictments: Sa'ed Al Bahar, Saleh Ramadan, Ali Al Marhoun, Mustafa Al Mu'alem, and Fadel Al Alawe. In 1993, King Fahd, responding positively to the group's new goals and its change in rhetoric, met several of al-Saffar's followers. Desiring to end Shiite opposition to the government, Fahd promised to work towards improving conditions for Shiites in Saudi Arabia. This took the form of, amongst other things, ordering the elimination of derogatory terms for Shiites from textbooks, removing certain other forms of explicit discrimination, and of allowing many Saudi Shiite exiles to return to Saudi Arabia.[8] As a result of the October 1993 pact, the Reform Movement was dissolved and its members had to formally and practically dissociate themselves from foreign groups and movements. On August 26, 2015, Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Mughassil had been captured in Beirut and transferred to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia."

Olivia asked, "How do you know so much about them?"

Daria replied as she gestured to herself and Mike as she said, "Because we were on the team that investigated the Khobar Towers bombing; then we learned everything we could about Hezbollah Al-Hejaz. Also, me, Mike and Tony were on the team that caught Ibrahim Al-Mughassil. He was hiding out in the Bekaa Valley. Before I joined the FBI in 1993 I spent 5 years with the NYPD Intelligence Unit."

Det. Amanda Rollins glanced over at Mike and asked, "How long were you in Saudi Arabia?"

The big Samoan replied, "I was sent to Saudi Arabia shortly after I graduated from Quantico back in 94."

Officer Kat Tamin asked, "What did you do before you were FBI?"

Mike replied, I was an Army Ranger. I left the Army shortly after the battle of Mogadishu."

Tony glanced over at Derek and said, "You're turn Chief?"

The tall powerfully built black man grinned as he began to speak, "I was Force Recon back in the 80's then I joined LAPD SWAT and became a team leader then in 99 I was recruited in the FBI and joined HRT."

Drea tossed back the rest of her coffee as she began to speak, "I joined the FBI after I graduated from Syracuse with a Masters degree in criminal law in 03 and was immediately placed in Organized crime."

Danny took off his glasses and wiped the lenses as he began to speak, "I was a Fast Marine for 15 years; then in 2009 I joined the FBI and was assigned to Counter Terrorism."

Fin asked Mike, "What Ranger Battalion were you with?"

Mike replied, "I was with the Regimental Reconnaissance Company."

Fin nodded as Tony said, "I want y'all to hit the streets and see if your snitches know anything. They nodded as he got up and walked toward the door. Olivia asked as they all headed for the parking lot, "Where are you going?"

He replied as he climbed his into black 2021 Lincoln Black Label Navigator "I know a pawnshop owner that also provides arms to anybody with the cash."

Fin asked, "If you knew he was an arms dealer how you never arrested him?"

Tony replied, "We use him as informant; surely I don't have explain to a former narc DET about the value of CI's."

Fin nodded as Olivia said, "I'm going with you."

Tony nodded as he said, "Get in. Once we get there follow my lead."

She nodded as they sped away.

25 minutes later they pulled up to a pawn shop in Brooklyn and Tony said as they climbed out, "Remember follow my lead."

She nodded as they entered.

Tariq Hassan looked up and glanced fearfully as Tony and a female detective entered his shop. He asked in a nervous shaky voice, "What can I do you my man?"

Tony glared at the Pakistani man as he growled, "Did know there was a Hezbollah Al-Hejaz cell here?"

Hassan looked down and replied, "No I do not of any such cell."

Tony asked, "CPT Benson does that sound like the truth?"

Olivia replied, "No; I think that he knows the truth."

Tony said, "That's exactly what I think."

Then he turned to Tariq and growled in a low deadly voice, "We think you're lying Tariq. You shouldn't lie to me."

Hassan looked down and after several minutes he said, "One entered the country via the Southern Border."

Tony pounded his fist on the counter as he bellowed "DAMMIT."

Then he continued, "I want their names and whatever they bought from you or whatever support you provided them and I want it RIGHT NOW."