Chapter Twenty-Seven

Nomad

"You're flying to Marrakech this morning," Colonel Watts's voice was in Nomad's earpiece.

His phone dinged as flight information dropped into Nomad's messages. "Long layover in Amsterdam." When they said this morning, they meant right now. Nomad was in motion, gathering his things.

"It is," T-Rex said. "Best we could do under the circumstances. You'll be functioning in support of CIA's Color Code, Johnna Red."

"Yes, Master Chief." Nomad's heart filled his chest, and he stopped breathing. "She's out of the hospital? She's good?"

"You met her last night," Colonel Watts said. "You two were playing do-si-do with Elena Savas."

It was her. He hadn't been imagining things. "Got it."

"And you have a relationship with Elena now. So you don't have to start from scratch," Watts said. "You have a sense of her."

"Elena knows my face. Am I going into this as a known quantity? Last night, I told her I was ball security, so arriving in Morocco would set off alarms. Are we still trying to do the international waters?"

"Undercover," T-Rex said. "Change your appearance. Get clean-shaven and get a haircut. Not military, but short and neat, think American businessman climbing the corporate ladder."

"Master Chief, I don't want to be the "new guy" here. I don't need any landmines that are being tossed out to see if I blow or not. What's the real reason I'm going in?"

It was Colonel Watts who answered. "Who the hell knows, son. Whatever it is, get the job done."

"Yes, sir. So, I'm not taking point. And I have no mission objectives." This was wild. Delta Force was a new world for him. He wondered if this was what it was like for people in intelligence. Just out there walking around, seeing if they didn't happen to bump into a terrorist along the way. "Am I under her command?"

"You're a partnership. She's representing the CIA, and you're representing the DIA."

"Yes, sir."

***

By sheer luck, Nomad made it in time for his flight to Amsterdam. He'd come with his toiletries, boxer briefs, and an otherwise empty roller case that needed filling. He'd dumped the rest of his things in an alley trash bin. After deplaning, Nomad grabbed lunch on the go. Barbershop and then clothes shopping. It was guesswork to know how to pack to fit a persona he wasn't sure of. He went for quality travel wear that had a decided urban tactical feel. A couple of dressier silk button-down shirts and a pair of slacks that would blend. If he needed something more along the way, he'd grab it on the go.

Now that he was set, Nomad would spend the layover working through tutorials that explained the difference between Moroccan Arabic and the Egyptian Arabic that Nomad had learned in his travel-with-State childhood.

Sitting in a lounge area, glad the design had bench seats, Nomad's phone buzzed in his thigh pocket.

"Side quest," T-Rex said when Nomad answered his phone.

"Yeah? What's that."

"You ready for some shit?"

"I don't know, should I brace?" Nomad stood and moved to a quiet corridor to talk.

"Red tried to convince Elena that she was private security for Kamal."

"Risky," Nomad said. "That could be blown with a phone call."

"Which is what I think happened. Red was on a plane with Elena this morning from Vienna to Amsterdam. They were standing in line to go through passport control to catch their flight to Casablanca. Are you through passport?"

"Not yet, I wanted to keep my options open. Sounds like I'm going to need to exercise those options. What happened in passport control?"

"Elena told the good security officers that she'd overheard Red talking on her phone about bringing a bomb onto her plane."

"What?" That was some brazen stuff. Elena wasn't playing.

"Red's spent the day in interrogation."

Nomad started toward the ticket gate to check his roller bag. He had a feeling that he'd need to have his hands free. "What's State doing about this?"

"Staying the hell out of it until absolutely necessary. This is ongoing but is being monitored via her phone's mic. The DIA thinks it's winding down. Color Code got her a new ticket for tomorrow's flight and a hotel room for tonight. I'm sending the hotel information to you now. The game plan is for you to introduce yourself to Red as an ally before she shows up in Morocco. Once you're both boots on the ground, everything has to flow like a married couple."

"Got it. So what's the phrase or signal to let her know I am what I say I am?"