Chapter 41
Ahmed roused for a moment. He could hear them speaking in low tones, but in a language he couldn't understand again. They seemed excited. Did that mean that they'd found Tim and Zahara? He hoped not, but maybe they were just going to give up and kill him. That was all right at this point. Ahmed didn't want to die, but he'd prefer that over this slow agonizing death.
Then, suddenly, he heard footsteps coming toward him and he couldn't help but whimper. He didn't want to feel any new pains.
There was a small pain, but it was a phone being shoved against his face.
"Speak!" the man ordered him.
At first, Ahmed couldn't think of what the word meant.
Again, the phone was rammed into his face.
"Speak!"
"To who?" he managed to ask.
"Ahmed?"
The voice was familiar. He knew that voice.
"Tim?"
"I'm sorry, Ahmed. You're not going to die there. Tafhamī?"
The awkward, formal Arabic was a surprise and it connected Ahmed a little more than he had been before.
"La ya'rifūn al-'arabiya," he said, not sure even why he thought that mattered.
"Af'al mā yaqdulūna. Ladaya khatata."
Again, the Arabic was clumsy and stilted, but Ahmed understood.
Then, the phone was pulled away from him.
"You speak to us now. He's alive. You will do what we want or he will die and we will send his body to your home in many pieces."
Ahmed couldn't hear whatever Tim said in reply. What would happen now? He really didn't know.
The man hung up the phone and suddenly grabbed him and picked him up, even though he was tied to the chair.
"You will die. No matter what happens, you will die. Nothing anyone can do will save you."
Ahmed couldn't think of anything to say in any language. He wasn't even sure that he cared.
The man dropped him back to the floor and stalked away, speaking to the others in that other language again. Ahmed slumped down in the chair and tried not to think about anything in particular.
It didn't really matter whether he was alive or dead.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"How did they find you, Agent McGee?" Edwards demanded as Tim disconnected.
"I didn't contact them myself," Tim said, "if that makes you feel better, but I was hoping they'd show their hand."
"Show their hand? We've shown our hand. They know you're here!" Edwards said, angrily. It was about the first time he'd shown any emotion, but he was definitely frustrated.
"Yes, they do," Tim said, feeling more than a little irritated himself. He was not ready to have someone treat him like an idiot. Instead of backing down, he gave in to the desperate anger he felt. "And? Do you honestly think that I'm unaware of what they're planning, Agent Edwards? I know. I might even know better than you what they're thinking. This isn't the first time that people I care about have been threatened to get me to cooperate. This isn't the first time I've been threatened. This isn't even the first time I've been flirting with a nervous breakdown. What you have been seeing from the outside for a couple of years has been my life for more than a decade. I may not have the same training as you, but I have something worse. I have experience. I have been a pawn in this game for more than ten years. Well, not this time. This time, I'm going to take control. You're welcome to help or not as you choose, but I am not sitting back and letting these people get away with this. So you can help me or you can stick it. I don't care which you choose."
For a long moment, the two of the were essentially squared off in the middle of the room. Tim could see Tony looking uncertain and surprised out of the corner of his eye. He could see Suhayl looking faintly pleased and he wondered why. He could see the other CIA agents sitting expressionless. Then, suddenly, Omar walked in between the two of them, asserting that nebulous authority he seemed to have.
"We have too much to do to fight about this. They've given their terms. They've given us a location. Here's the question. Do we set up our fight at the supposed exchange or do we try to find where they are before that and take them out since we now know for certain that they're still in Cairo?"
Tim's phone beeped at him in the pattern that he'd set up for when there was a location. He smiled and pulled out his phone and then looked at it.
There was a location on a map. Just what he'd been hoping for when he had got the call from them.
"I'm going to show you something," he said. "The only stipulation is that you don't ask how I got this. I won't answer any questions about it. The only thing I'll say is that it's not foolproof but it's pretty good and I trust it."
Agent Edwards raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Okay. What is it?" he asked.
Tim turned his phone around.
"Their location. Right now."
Omar finally showed some measure of surprise.
"I say we move before they have a chance to make this fake exchange," Tim said. "We all know that they're not really going to give up Ahmed, even if they did get me. They're going to kill him once they think they have the chance to get me. Why wait that long and give them more chances to prepare?"
"Can we be prepared enough to do this right?" asked one of the other agents.
"Yes, we can," Tim said. "You all know your jobs. None of you are new at this and while we know that these guys are well-connected, more than we probably want to deal with, the actual situation is nothing new. It's a hostage situation. You know who the hostage is. We know that he'll likely be in no shape to get out on his own. You know who the captors are. All that we need is to fill in the details. And for that, I'll agree that you're probably better at it than I am, Agent Edwards."
Edwards raised an eyebrow. Tim wasn't sure if he thought Tim was just trying to soften him up or something, but it was nothing less than the truth. Edwards knew his stuff. He was eminently qualified, but Tim needed him willingly participating, not reluctantly.
"I mean it," Tim said. "I know where my strengths and weaknesses are, and planning a takedown has never been my strong suit."
"The first thing we need to do is make sure that your information is right, Tim," Tony said, entering the conversation for the first time. "Since you admit that it isn't foolproof, let's make sure that we're not being fooled."
"Good idea," Edwards said. "Thomas and Carroll, go check out this location, see if you can get visual confirmation, but don't be seen. No matter what else, don't tip our hand by letting them see you there. They may or may not realize who you are, but we're not taking that chance. Got it?"
The two agents nodded silently and left without a word. All that was left was Edwards, one other agent, Omar, and Tim, Tony and Suhayl. For a moment, there was a tense silence. Then, Edwards glanced at the other agent who nodded and left the room, as did Omar. Tony and Suhayl didn't move.
"What are your intentions, Agent McGee?" Edwards asked.
"Aren't my intentions obvious?" Tim asked.
"No. They're not. Are you planning on getting yourself killed or captured?" Edwards asked bluntly. "Because that is not happening on my watch. Understood?"
"Understood," Tim said. "That was not my intention. I want them to die, not myself."
"And what will you do to make sure they do?"
"Right now, my plan is to get my brother-in-law free. I hope they die in the process, but I don't plan on seeking them out to kill them."
"Right now?"
"Yes. Right now," Tim said, refusing to say anything more.
"All right. If and when we go in, I'm in charge. You will take orders from me. Understood? If you refuse, I'll hogtie you and leave you here. I'd rather do that anyway."
Tim smiled slightly, but he rather thought that Edwards wasn't trying to be funny.
"I'll take orders," he said.
"Okay. Once Thomas and Carroll get back, we'll plan what to do, but it needs to be fast and we don't have time to linger once we go in and get him. If we get Mokrani, we're not coming back to the hotel. We're headed straight for the airport and our plane. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Good. I'll let you know when they get back."
"Will you?" Tim asked.
"Yes."
Then, Edwards left the room. Instantly, Tony walked over.
"How did you do that?" he demanded.
"Sorry, Tony. I can't tell you, either. I would only have said as much as I did to save Ahmed, but I won't go any further. I won't even tell you if you're guessing right or wrong. Gibbs' rule is in play here. If you have a secret, the best thing is keep it to yourself."
"But you didn't do that."
"Yes, I did. I refused to share anything but the location. I will not tell you anything else," Tim said.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm scared of doing that," Tim admitted. "I'm so scared of doing that... Tony, I'm only barely holding it together right now. There's a part of my brain that is screaming, but I'm keeping it locked up. I don't know how long I can and if I have to deal with being terrified as well... I can't. So please, don't try to get me to tell you. The answer is no. The answer to anyone and everyone is no. The answer would even be no for Zahara if she asked. No."
For a long moment, Tim thought that Tony was going to push him to answer and he really didn't want that, but then, Tony sighed and nodded.
"Okay. I don't like it, but okay. You weren't lying to Edwards, were you?"
"No."
Tony paused and raised an eyebrow. "You're not lying to me, are you?"
Tim smiled a little. "No."
"All right. I'm going to make sure that everything is packed and ready. If we're not coming back here after, I'm not leaving my stuff."
"Okay."
Tony left the room and Tim took a deep breath and sat down on the bed. He didn't even know whose room he was in at the moment. They had been talking when his phone had rung. Edwards had even warned him not to answer but Tim had suspected who it would be, given that he'd been leaving his phone on and had used it to talk to people who might be under surveillance. His only worry had been revealing that his family was on their way to safety, but if they could get him, they would have what they wanted and that would be the important thing.
"What will you do, Tim?"
Tim sat up in surprise. He'd forgotten that Suhayl was still there.
"I'm going to get my brother-in-law free so that he doesn't have to suffer like I know he is."
"It is not Arabs who hold him as had you."
"That's not the problem, Suhayl. The problem is that these people, I don't care if they're Arab, Russian or American, are holding my family captive in the hopes of getting control of me. If I thought it would help, I would give myself up, but I can't do that because what they want, I can't give and I have to recognize that it's impossible to have me in their power as an option. I wish it was that simple, but it isn't."
"Good," Suhayl said, nodding firmly.
"Good what?" Tim asked. That seemed like a strange response.
"You are seeing what you can and cannot do. And you are taking charge without me forcing you to do so."
"I'm jello inside, Suhayl."
Suhayl looked confused and Tim was surprised to feel some genuine levity. Of course, Suhayl would have no idea what jello was. It was really predominantly an American food.
"I'm really shaky. I don't know if I can keep myself stable long enough. That's why I asked Agent Edwards to plan the takedown. I don't know if I can do it."
"You will do what you need to do, as will everyone else. Focus on what you must do, not on what you are afraid you cannot do. The only battle is in your mind and you can win that battle. So do not worry about it. Focus on saving your family and getting home, even if you must feel shaky again."
Tim swallowed and nodded. Before he could say anything else, the door opened and Tony came inside quickly. Tim stood.
"What is it?"
"Edwards got a message. Ahmed is where you said he is. We're going to plan and move right now. Come on."
Tim looked at Suhayl, took another deep breath and nodded. It was time to get to work.
