Page 74 of Close Pursuit

Frowning she took it and read it quickly.

“Urgent traffic: Central Asia desk. Verification codes authenticated at 0613 a.m. EDT by Victor Echo Foxtrot Alpha. Begin message. Zaghastan station reports village of Ghun in Karshan Region attacked at 2300 hours local. All inhabitants killed. No survivors. Observer on ground verified in person at 0300 hours local. End message.”

Ghun? That village was in the next valley over from Karshan!

She looked up at her uncle, aghast. “What’s going on over there?”

“You tell me. It’s not the rebels’ style to eradicate entire villages. Rival clans will temporarily band together to attack a clan that oversteps the unwritten rules of tribal warfare by too much.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend?” she said wryly.

“Exactly.”

“What are the unwritten rules of warfare over there?”

“They tacitly agree not to destroy one another. They steal livestock and women, but they don’t wipe anyone out. Their enemies need to live on to fight another day, or else the warfare that is their way of life will disappear.”

“In other words, they’re okay with fighting but make sure nobody wins.”

“In a nutshell, yes.”

She leaned forward. “Okay. So wiping out Karshan and Ghun is not normal rebel behavior. Which brings us back to the question of who else is fighting with the rebels over there?” She frowned as an idea occurred to her. “Or maybe it wasn’t rebels at all. Maybe it was someone impersonating rebels.”

“Give the girl a gold star,” Charles replied dryly. “Our analysts doubt the local rebels would have allowed foreigners embedded with them to wipe out either village.”

“Sounds like your people have a good handle on what’s going on over there. Why do you need me?”

“You got eyes on the fake rebels, directly. We’re hoping you saw something that might give away the identity of the forces pretending to be rebels.”

“I have no idea what I might have seen.”

“That’s why I’d like you to talk to a few of my people. They’ll guide you through remembering details that might not seem important you but which could be meaningful to them.”

“Will they tell me what they learn?”

“Why do you want to know?”

She wasn’t sure she was willing to talk to a U.S. government official about Dawn’s parentage just yet. Need to protect the infant overrode her curiosity about Dawn’s father.

“Call me nosy,” she replied lightly.

Charles smiled. “A true McCloud trait.”

She smiled, relieved to have gotten past the awkward moment.

“There’s another reason I wanted to talk with you this morning.”

“I figured as much. If you only wanted to know who the rebels were, you’d be talking with Alex. He’s brilliant and freakishly observant. He’s more likely than me to have noticed some detail that would identity of the attackers.”

Charles threw her a hard, intent look and muttered, “We reallydidunderestimate you, didn’t we?”

She didn’t bother to reply. They both knew the answer to that one.

“Here’s the thing, Katie. Alex Peters has steadfastly refused all of our overtures for the past decade. And all of a sudden, here you are, in a perfect position to observe him. Talk to him, even. It’s a gift from God.”

“You want me to recruit him.”

She didn’t know whether to be outraged or merely saddened that her uncle would abuse their family connection like this. She supposed he thought he was doing the right thing. Everyone in her family was deeply patriotic.

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