Chapter Thirty-Nine

Red

The morning had come, and the day had gone. Eleven long hours in a bus traveling east over the mountains into the rocky and monochrome distance.

They had arrived at a buffet dinner in the community tent and drummers who did their earnest best to entertain the travelers. But everyone was exhausted from the ride, and their attention was polite but not engaged.

After making love that night, she and Nomad curled into the Berber blankets, which kept them cozy against the sudden drop in desert temperatures.

She'd had her hospital dream again. Each time, it started further along the story. Last night, she'd started on the rollercoaster train but woke before things got too wild because Nomad wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her to him until her bottom rested against the inside curve of his hips. Curled around her like a nautilus shell, he'd whispered, "Shh-shh-shh, I've got you." He kissed her hair, and she fell into a restorative rest.

Now, Red stood outside the open doorway, taking in the last scattering of stars and embracing the cold desert air. Today, it would heat up to a hundred, making the sand glisten with mirages.

It was the time between dawn and sunrise. She listened to the sonorous call to prayer that hummed meditatively through her body. It rested her soul. When silence fell again, Red stepped into the tent and shut the door behind her.

Nomad lay on the bed with his booted feet extending a good six inches over the edge. A squeaky fan sang overhead as it twirled shadows across the tent ceiling. The air was hazy with dust in the dim light, and there was nothing to do but wait. And listen to the open mic on Simone's phone. "Do you ever get a comfortable night's sleep?"

"At my house, I have a bed made for someone my size."

"I didn't know such a thing existed. So, anything?" She lifted her chin toward the notepad that rested on his chest.

"Nothing beyond this." Nomad unbent an arm he had used to pillow his head and waved his hand in a circle, indicating the static that hissed and crackled from his phone. "They're not up and chatting with their handlers, that's for sure. Good that we have WIFI here in the camp. We'll lose connectivity once we're out on the ATVs."

"Now that we're here and you've met the people on our tour, seen the people who run the place, have a feel for things, give me your best guess." She moved over to snuggle into his body and lowered her voice to a mere whisper. "What percentage that we're right and this will go to plan."

"Eighty-two percent."

"Oddly specific. And oddly tip of the tongue."

"That's the number that flashed into my mind." He grinned.

Red's phone pinged, and she locked eyes with Nomad. "A hundred percent chance that's the eighteen percent you were missing." She flipped her phone over. "I need to call." They moved up in the bed until they sat shoulder to shoulder, balancing the phone between their ears to keep the information to themselves. The only privacy was the thick tent cloth and a few feet of grass.

"Yes," she said.

"Brava." It was Grey.

"Thank you?"

"No, thank you . I have a lot to catch you up on. We have a lot of answers. For the moment, what you need to know is there was a change of mission objectives."

Red turned to Nomad and popped her brows up, mouthing, "Eighteen percent."

"We still need you to get pictures of the people who show up to meet with Simone. We're depending on the fact that this is a big-money sale, and they will send competent, high-level people into the desert to pick her up. Stepping back about the ring sale. We now know there is a three-day delay on the funds moving from Kamal to Elena's accounts. International laws and the amount of money come into play. Elena's account will be out of reach of U.S. influence. We'd hoped to trace the money. We now know that's not going to be possible."

"Okay."

"The new game plan is to move the money ourselves or to make sure that no one can access those funds."

"I'm not following."

"Work in progress. Our intelligence suggests that Elena's bank needs Elena to present herself in person to access that account or that she needs to perform the commands from the phone that has been previously identified as hers."

"So we can't spoof that through our access?" Red asked.

"No."

Red frowned in thought. "But you saw it drop? The money is there?"

"We see that it's pending," Grey assured her.

"What you're telling me is that you need that phone."

"Exactly."

"But I can't go get it now where that task is easy here in this camp because you also want pictures of the person who wants to pick her up."

"Yes."

"We don't know how many people will meet her," Nomad pointed out.

"Correct," Grey said.

"We don't have weapons," Red reminded him.

"Also correct."

Red pursed her lips. "And yet, our mission is to get the phone."

"After you take the pictures."

Red tried to stuff her frustration. "Okay, let me ask it a different way. Which is your priority?"

"The photos," Grey said. "So if you get out there, it's a guy on a camel, take his picture, take the phone. If you get out there and it's a tactical team arriving on a helicopter brandishing AKs, take their pictures and let the phone go. If you can get the phone and not get shot, do that. I'd tell you to get the phone and plant GPS tracker to get the photos, but—"

"But there's Gustav involved and possibly others on this tour that we haven't identified, and we don't want them to wave the Algerians off," Red concluded. "Why would you risk letting the phone get away? For a few possible photos? The phone represents forty million dollars."

"From here, we can reset the phone to factory specs like you would if you were selling the phone to someone new, "Grey said. "The money would be in the bank. And we're not sure if anyone else has access. From the profile the targeters are developing, Elena didn't trust anyone except her fiancé and—"

"He was in the Lebanon explosion."

"Exactly. That plays in our favor, and the loop might be closed."

"Okay," Red said. "Orders received."

"Be safe. Out."

Red caught Nomad's gaze. "Fabulous."

***

Red and Nomad each perched on an ATV. It seemed like the night of research that they'd spent in their Marrakech riad developing plans and contingency plans, and contingency for the contingency plans was paying off.

The tour operator guys were young. This was their job, and they did it efficiently, but they were used to tourists who had never seen sand before. They weren't looking for spies. And they would never think that someone was using their services to escape over the border into Algeria.

One of the greatest dangers is the failure of the imagination.

At the first dune, Red and Nomad were at the back of the pack. As soon as the last kid gunned his ATV up the side, Nomad put the plastic tube in the gas tank, sucked up enough gas to get the siphon flowing, and filled the bottle they'd brought for this specific purpose. Luckily, the gauge said that he only had a quarter tank.

Having done the calculations the night before, the full water bottle should be enough to prime the engine and get them to the closest town, which was within easy sight but a challenging walk. Nomad let the rest of the gas pour into the sand, leaving just enough in the tank, he hoped, to get them to the well. He could always drain the last while they were regrouping and counting heads.

Nomad and Red knew Simone and Gustav had paid for a single ATV they would share. They speculated that the kids running the show would count ATVs and not heads to ensure everyone kept up. Therefore, Simone could just get off the ATV, hide behind a dune, and never be missed.

Since Red and Nomad needed to stay together. Their ATV shuffle was a bit more complex. They wanted to leave an ATV in the dunes for escape or comfort as they returned from following Simone to the rally point. If they ran out of gas, that would take one ATV out of the equation for the headcount.

Now, they needed to hand off an ATV to someone else to drive in for them.

At the next dune, the tourists lined up and waited for their turn to gun it up the slope with enough speed to try to get some lift as they flew over the top.

Nomad approached the father of a British family. "I wonder if I could ask you a favor." He pointed over to Red. "My wife thought this would be great fun but has realized this is too much. She wants to ride on my ATV with me, and I was wondering if one of your boys would be willing to drive hers the rest of the trip?"

That morning, Red noticed the man's tweenaged sons fighting about having to share an ATV. This made the dad a hero, the boys happy, and it would make the head count accurate when Red and Nomad left the tour.

Away from Simone and Gustav's view, the switch was made. And with everyone dressed in similar clothes and wearing helmets, it worked.

Red tapped Nomad's arm as they got the water well into view. Gustav had positioned himself as last in line, and Red watched as Simone slipped behind the well enclosure and out of sight.

At the next dune, Red got off and slipped over the top.

Nomad got to the front of the pack. He revved his bike, trying to use up the last drops of gas. He waved Gustav around them, and Gustav raced his ATV up the dune. The first in their group to fly into the sky and disappear from view.

Nomad was next in line.

After a couple more revs, Nomad's ATV started sputtering.

A few minutes later, the helper was beside him. "Out of gas." Nomad tapped the gauge. "Don't worry about it. I'll get on with my wife."

The boy gave him a thumbs up, and Nomad walked to the back of the group as if he were finding his wife but slipped over the dune.

Nomad knew that they only had limited time until the group returned their ATVs and got on the bus. And that's when the three missing tourists might be noticed. The boys would bring a gas can out to the dune to retrieve their quad, fill it up, and return it to their garage. Still, it would be nice if, somehow, Red and he beat them to it and could exfil on the ATV. Dunes took enormous energy to cross on foot.

Once the sound of ATVs had receded, Nomad caught up with Red, and they gave each other silent high-fives. "Look at her." Red pointed. She's walking down each dune.

"If we keep to this line, and we're sledding, we'll get out in front of her."

"Lots of ifs in the next stage."

"We're creative. We'll figure it out. Nomad winked at her. "You know, wing it."

Red scowled back at him. "Sounds like a solid plan."