Page 34 of The Devil's Ransom

He said, “They used an ISP that was tied to a café on the fourth floor. The A’è bar. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it’s all we have.”

“Wait, wait. Are you saying they used an open Wi-Fi network from a bar to conduct the attack? That makes no sense. Anyone on that net could see what they were doing, starting with the ISP provider.”

Feeling the sweat start to roll down his face, Hobbes said, “I can’t explain it. I can only report what I find. Maybe they’re stupid, or maybe they’re in an apartment next door using a VPN while piggybacking off the bar. I can’t tell you specifically. Maybe the bar has something to hide, I don’t know. This is what I found.”

In truth, Hobbes had simply used the nearest Wi-Fi node to the apartment he could find.

President Hannister said, “Are you sure of this location?”

“Yes, sir. I’m sure. I can’t say they’re still at that location, but the attack came from there. I’d look for an apartment in that building associated with Branko Markovic. Why they touched the open Wi-Fi network, I can’t say, but it’s there, and it’s real.”

Hobbes wondered if he’d overplayed his hand. If, by his mentioning looking for an apartment, they’d see through his ruse.

Hannister looked at a man on the couch, one who hadn’t said a word. Lithe, with a full mustache going gray, he projected an air of quiet competence. Hobbes recognized him as George Wolffe, the man who’d provided him the computer boxes for analysis. Hobbeshad assumed from the first meeting that he was simply a bureaucrat, but President Hannister’s next words belied that notion.

The president said, “What do you have available in that area?”

Wolffe considered for a moment, then said, “Nothing right now. Johnny’s in Africa, but he’s tied up on something else. Pike’s the closest, but as we were discussing before Dylan arrived, he’s committed with that other thing.”

President Hannister nodded, saying, “That should be done tonight, right?”

Wolffe looked at his watch and said, “If not already. It’s three in the morning his time. I’m just waiting on a SITREP.”

Hobbes wondered what Wolffe really did, but was afraid to ask. He should have shown more curiosity, if only for his own protection, because the man on the couch was the catalyst for his own destruction.

President Hannister said, “Don’t wait for him to call. Contact him and find out if he’s complete. If he is, get Pike on it.”

Chapter20

Circling around the Zurich neighborhood of Enge, just west of the lake, Shakor caught two parked scooters in the glare of his headlights. He slowed down and recognized the man standing next to them. He pulled his vehicle into a parking slot fifty meters down the road, adjacent to the southern edge of Rieterpark, the largest greenspace in Zurich. He killed the engine, turned to the men in the back, and said, “Wait here.”

He exited the car, ducking his head when another vehicle passed on the thoroughfare running by the park, the headlights silhouetting his body against the tall shrubs marking the edge. The vehicle disappeared in the distance, and he walked back to the scooters, checking for cameras on the houses across the road as he went. He saw none. A man approached out of the darkness, and he recognized his head of surveillance, Din, by the limp from an old war injury. He said, “Any trouble at the consulate?”

“None. They did exactly like you said. We had to wait a long time, but we had the press conference streaming on our phones, so we knew when it ended. It took about four hours after that, and then they tried to sneak him out through the garage, but they didn’t really put any effort into it. They drove him out in a two-car motorcade of black SUVs and it was easy to track. They went around the lake to this place.”

“Where is he?”

“Just up the street, to the right on Kurfirstenstrasse, in a little bungalow set back off the road, but he has security. Or a butler. Or something.”

“What do you mean?”

“One SUV left with most of the security, one remained behind with a single guy. He looked more like a babysitter than security. No hard edges and I saw him use two different cell phones talking to someone.”

“Show me.”

They went back north, stopping for a moment at Shakor’s vehicle. Shakor explained what he knew, then told them to stand by.

Shakor continued to follow Din north, the park to his right and the road to his left. They went slowly, fading close to the shrubbery anytime a vehicle approached. They reached a T intersection, a sign proclaimingkurfirstenstrasse,the blacktop snaking away from the park to the west, faintly illuminated by house lights on either side.

Din hissed and a man crawled out from the shrubbery of the park, standing up. Shakor recognized the second member of the surveillance team, Karim. He nodded at Shakor but remained silent. Din said, “It’s the first house on the northwest corner. You can’t see the structure, but you can see the gap for the drive in the bushes.”

Shakor saw a line of tall shrubs like sentries running along the road, the vegetation stopping and making a right angle away from the blacktop at the boundary for the next house, a single break in the center, presumably the drive to the target building. Directly across the street was another house, this one not set back, with windows facing the target, but no lights on.

He said, “Any movement from the house across the street?”

Karim said, “Not since we’ve been watching. The entire street’s been quiet. We can probably take him in the house, do the interrogation inside, eliminate Ahmad, and get out without anyone even knowing.”

“What about this security man? Is he still there?”

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