Chapter 4

Sitting on a couch in the lounge, Denise was nursing a diet coke waiting for her friends to come down for the trip to Germany. She’d been up the vast majority of the night on the phone with her people in Germany, Langley, and contacts she had in Homeland Security trying to get all the information she could about how a minimum 12 known terrorists or mercenaries got over the border and into the United States and close to her friends.

Steven had handled the problems with his attackers in awesome fashion she thought to herself. She giggled remembering the video of the bad guys being so afraid of Steven and his friend Johnny. She’d handed off the flash drive with the video to a friend that worked for homeland security who then had a video conference with her boss in Washington DC. At 0300 Denise’s boss called to let her know that the FBI and NSA would be handling the case of entry into the US. That’s also when he confirmed that the leader of the group that hit Steven’s place was Abdul Hussein Sabbag from the Iranian republican guard. The other 4 living attackers were known contractors that had ties to hezbollah and daesh.

He’d also told her that Homeland Security had also picked up the three people in the car at Hannah’s house. They were being held in the basement of the Federal building in Seattle under guard by the entire HRT team and no contact with anyone. She asked if the feebee’s knew anything about them. Her boss told her that the NSA were sending people to cooperate and assist the FBI in their interrogation and that as soon as they knew something that he’d call her.

Denise looked at her can of diet coke that was now just cool from sitting out on the table. She smiled and shook her head remembering back to the day that Talitha talked to the team about the finance cell.

5 years ago, Ramstein Airbase, Germany

Talitha Aronoff had handed out file folders of all the intelligence she had on the financier Farkoury and the four closest members of his finance cell.

“The picture you see is Muhammad Hakim Farkoury. He is the finance man for both the Taliban and the Haqqani terror network in this part of the world. He’s also a major arms and information broker. He has contacts in virtually all the former Warsaw pact countries to buy weapons from. At any given time, he has access to enough money in his network to fund the insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan for decades.” She gave them background on Farkoury and where he lived in Pakistan most of the year. She went on to tell them that he came across the border only once a year and that was with a courier and a large security team. When she was finished, she stood back and waited for the inevitable questions that would follow.

Dominic, looking at the folder, started asking questions. “Ok, three questions before we go any farther. One, you have a bad guy that needs to die. Obviously, your people could pull this off without breaking a sweat, what do you need us for? Second, and this is aimed at BOTH you and Denise, why not drop a bomb. I’m sure that would make the higher ups just as happy. And third, what are you not telling us?”

Talitha looked at Denise and Denise shrugged her shoulders. “What? I told you they were sharp.” Denise said to the Israeli woman.

She took a piece of paper from her bag and made a note big enough for the team to read but not big enough to be seen by the cameras. She finished writing and slid it over to the team. All of them got up to see what it said. “He’s bringing $5 million from Pakistan.” was written on the paper. When they say back down, they all looked at Denise for confirmation. All she did was nod her head yes and put her finger to her mouth to tell them not to say anything in there.

Steven let out a small whistle. “That’s a lot of ... Rice.” He said.

“Center ice season tickets for the Penguins...” Robert whispered with a faraway look.

James took over from Dominic at that point. “So, the first question still stands, why us?” he asked Talitha.

She took a moment and looked around the room at the team members. “You’re right Chief Warrant Officer Tatsuada, we could do the job. I seriously doubt that we’d have any problems getting into the country, completing the mission, and back out again. But there’s that 1% chance that something would go wrong, and that is too big a chance to take. I don’t have to explain the significance of an Israeli getting caught in a Muslim country is, you already know what would happen. As for why we just don’t ask your country to drop ordnance on him, there’s the possibility of collateral damage, but mostly, we want hard confirmation that him and his cell are dead.” Talitha paused for a second and looked at a satellite picture. “Please look at the picture in the back of the dossier, that’s the area where we’re almost certain that he’s coming to.”

Dominic spoke up. “ALMOST certain? I hope you can do better than almost.”, he said to her.

“When I say almost...” Talitha told Dominic, “What I mean is with 95% certainty, he’ll be in this area with in 90 days.”

Denise opened up a map of eastern Afghanistan and started talking. “What I’m going to tell you is all unofficial and hearsay at the moment and doesn’t go any farther than us seven. It’s just a rumor at this point, but we’ve had signal intercepts, emails, and coded messages talking about a meeting of Taliban commanders in the next 90 days. We don’t have a definitive time for it, but we know the province where the meeting is likely taking place. There’s also only 5 or 6 villages big enough for the meeting.” she explained. Denise was mentally crossing her fingers that they would put two and two together and see what she and Talitha were telling them.

They looked at the map Talitha gave them and over at the area that Denise had her map open to. Robert snapped his head up to look Denise in the eye and then over to look at Steven, Hannah stared at James, and then they all looked at Dominic.

“He’s waiting for the meeting location...” Dominic whispered.

Talitha gathered up her materials, put them in her pack, and started speaking again. “Denise has told me that the mission will be assigned to you when it happens. Both CIA and Mossad have people monitoring all signal intelligence for information about the meeting. In the short term, I’m going to coordinate with Denise to get her the information about a possible republican guard team that might be there as well.”

“We suspect that Farkoury is going to be bringing hard currency for the commanders to use in their battles. Since he’s coming in the spring, we think that there’s going to be a rough fighting season. Taking Farkoury out and taking his money will really screw over the insurgency and make it harder for them to buy what they need from outside sources.” Denise said.

Hannah looked at Denise and asked her how she was so sure that Super 5-1 was going to get the mission.

“Who do you think interrogated the courier that CAG captured last month? I contacted Talitha to see if she had any information about the meeting and she met me in Qatar 5 days later and told me about him. We pieced it together over about 3 weeks and decided that we’d go for it. The biggest thing we had to really think about was how to approach you.” Denise finished telling Hannah.

Dominic looked at his team and asked if they could have a few minutes to talk about it. Denise and Talitha got up and walked out of the room. Standing down the hall to give them some privacy.

“What do you think the chances are they’ll do it?” Talitha asked Denise.

“I can tell you with absolute certainty that they’ll do the mission. They’re trying to make it seem like they have real reservations about this since it’s a huge gathering. But I can tell you that after two years with these people that they’re sitting in there thinking up things they want to buy or do for their families. Don’t worry about it.” She said to the Israeli.

Denise and Talitha stood and talked for 20 minutes till Dominic opened the door and motioned them to come back in.

“Even split right?” was the only thing Dominic asked the women.

“Of course, it’s a team effort and the team splits everything evenly.” Denise told him.

James spoke up after that. “From here on out, the other four will be doing the planning, but I’m going to be handling the intel that comes in. From here on out, the word ‘money’ and ‘operation’ will no longer be used. Instead the words used are ‘bonus’ and ‘event.” Denise and Talitha had pads of paper and were writing everything down. “I’ve got some friends over at MARSOC and the Teams that might be able to help out with topographical info and route information since they spent almost 6 months running around that area chasing bad guys. But whatever you can get about that province, get it. I don’t care if it turns out to be duplicates of what I have. Talitha, that goes for you too. Anything that comes in, regardless of how inconsequential, you get it and send it to Denise. We’re going to need fly over pictures every 5 days of all possible meet sites to see if there’s preparations for the meeting. When it gets closer to the event and we narrow down the locations to less than two villages, you’ll need to up that to daily. Hannah needs all the air support elements that will be up the whole time we’re out.

Denise interrupted Jimmy. “Do you want me to request anything extra or special for the event?”

No, I don’t want anyone to suspect that there’s something special coming. But if there is indirect available, we want it, especially the big stuff. Hannah is changing her last name to DaVinci and she’s going to work a masterpiece for this. If you have any specific information about possible HVTs that might be there, we want it. That includes accompanying security numbers and number of people who already live there. Please plan on getting the SLAP and HEIAP ammo for Steven and his Barrett. Robert has a list of supplies he’s going to need, but he’s going to wait to tailor it more when we have a basic plan. But add three extra X-stats to the list and get them ASAP since they’re a commodity.”

Both the intelligence women were writing as fast as they could. When they finished, they closed their notebooks and they all got up to leave. Talitha started talking again.

“Before you go ... I know you have no reason to trust me, but I hope that in the coming months you will. I am completely on board with this and will do everything I can to help it succeed. If you need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask. If I can get it, I will.” She told the team.

Steven looked at Talitha after she finished speaking. “Denise vouched for you last night. She might be our handler, but she’s a part of the team. If she says she trusts you, we’ll trust you as well.” he said.

Present time

Talitha was the first one downstairs. She had a smile on her face that could only mean she had talked to her husband and daughters before she came down. She walked over to the CIA woman and gently put her hand on her shoulder which woke her up.

“You fell asleep sitting like that.” She told Denise.

Denise looked around and then felt her chin. “I didn’t drool, did I?” She asked.

“Yup” the Israeli woman told her. “I got some great photos to show them later.” She said with a smile.

“Bitch you better not.” She said as Talitha started laughing. “Did you talk to Michael and the girls this morning?”

“Yes, I did. Adele and Abigail are both so smart. They told me that their dad took them ‘horsy’ riding last week. Michael says that they are growing up so fast.” She said with tears in her eyes. “Remember when we talked about our jobs and how if they affected our personal lives that we’d quit?”

Denise nodded her head listening to Tali. “My parents passed when I was in college and I never knew my brothers. I don’t need to quit till I’m either dead or broken. You have 2 beautiful girls and a husband that loves you. Why didn’t you retire after the Farkoury mission?” She asked her.

“The man I was supposed to marry was killed in Lebanon and that’s why I joined Mossad; you know that. He and I knew each other since we were five. Our families lived next door to each other growing up. When he was killed, I felt like I needed revenge for his death. I can tell you with great certainty that I got it. This is going to be my last mission for Mossad.” Talitha told Denise. “I’ve got what we acquired in Afghanistan. Michael is a chemical engineer and makes more than enough for us without that money. He got an email last month and went to an interview with the USEPA. He will be working out of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. We are packing up to move from Germany to Pittsburgh. We already found a house with some land outside the city.”

“Why Pittsburgh Tali?” Denise asked with a puzzled look.

“His father retired from the US Army and much like his father, he loves Hockey. And like Robert, Michael is a Penguins fan.” Tali said with a smile. “His work office has posters of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jágr, and Sydney Crosby on the walls.” She explained.

“Good for you Tali. I’m glad to see you happy after all these years. Your girls are beautiful, and your husband loves you more than life itself.” Denise told her squeezing her hand.

“Hey, is there breakfast here or do we need to stop on the way to the airfield? I’m craving bacon.” Laura Bennett said as she walked down the stairs to the lobby. Stopping and seeing Talitha and Denise talking she paused. “Sorry, I didn’t see Talitha there, am I interrupting?” She asked.

“No, we’re comparing notes about Robert and her husband’s love of Hockey.” Denise replied.

“Good, I’m glad I didn’t interrupt. Where’s the pork goodness that encompasses the fifth food group?” She said rubbing her hands together.

“We’ll stop on the way and get you some bacon Laura.” Denise said with a chuckle

Robert walked down the stairs and saw the three women talking. “Smell the estrogen in here. Someone get me a testosterone air freshener quick.” He said jokingly.

Laura looked at him and spoke. “If you don’t shut your mouth, I won’t tell you why these two...” She said pointing to Denise and Talitha, “ ... are talking shit about your love of hockey.”

“Why are you talking about my love of Hockey?” Robert asked looking at Tali and Denise.

“We aren’t talking about your love of hockey per se, but that you and Michael are both Penguins fans.” Talitha told him.

“Thanks for reminding me Tali. Next time you talk to Michael, please tell him that I got his Matt Murray jersey signed and I’ll get it out to him when this is over.” Robert said.

Both Denise and Talitha just rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

CIA Safehouse Frankfurt Germany

Laura had stepped to the lady’s room and the rest of the team were discussing how much to tell her about what happened in Afghanistan.

“Do you really think she’ll believe that 7 people stole $12 billion from a worldwide network of terrorists? $15 million she might believe...” Hannah said.

Dom spoke up after Hannah. “She’s going to piece everything together eventually though. I called a friend at the pentagon and he read me her file. She’s every bit as intelligent as you are Denise. If she’s going to be a part of the team then she needs to know everything.”

“I agree with Dominic. Much like all of you, I hand-picked her because she was being wasted working for the big military.” Denise told them.

“What do you mean wasted Denise?” Robert asked.

“You all remember that Jimmy was a demo and engineering god right?” She asked. They nodded their heads in agreement. “Laura makes him look like an amateur. Dom, she graduated second in her class from Georgia Tech with a degree in structural engineering. Her NCOERs were borderline perfect. Her unit Sgt Major would task her to teach classes on maximizing explosive potential for the most damage, and that was when she was an E5. The last time she was in Iraq, 5th group had two teams on her COP. She spent almost every moment learning what she could from the 18Cs on the base. She THEN taught what she learned to her squad. A year after she made E7, her battalion commander moved her to HQ to serve as the SME for explosives handling and demolitions. She SHOULD be an officer, but when I asked her about it, she said that there was no way she could kiss that much ass and that she’d rather be enlisted because they actually do the job and not just give orders.”

Talitha spoke up after she was finished. “Besides, think about how you would feel if you were coming to a new team and they were holding secrets from you.”

“They’re right.” Robert said. “She needs to know. I’ve seen it on SEAL teams when I was new. If we’re going to ask her to put her life on the line with us, then she needs to know why this is happening.”

“So, we’re agreed then?” Steven said as Laura walked back into the living area. They all nodded their heads.

“Laura, since you’re going to be a part of this team, we need to ‘read you in’ so to speak about some history.” Steven told her.

“I’m glad you’re finally going to tell me what’s going on. I figured out pretty quickly that there was more to this than eight assholes coming to kill you because of a prior mission.” Laura said quietly.

“How did you know that?” Dom asked her.

“Because bad guys won’t risk sending a republican guard officers into the US unless they had a good reason. I figure it’s something specific that you either took or someone you killed.” She said sitting down on the couch next to Hannah.

Denise’s cell phone rang, and she got up to answer it while Laura listened to what happened 5 years ago...

2 hours later

Denise was telling Talitha and the team what she had learned from her supervisors.

“The FBI questioned the five from New Mexico and they got the route they took in from Canada. The one that talked said the crossed over by North Dakota and that worked their way south over a couple weeks just to look inconspicuous. The car that they were driving in New Mexico was registered to a couple in Arizona that were killed by a drunk driver last month. The three from Seattle sailed in from Vancouver Island. The car they had was again registered to a man that had been killed in a traffic accident. When the NSA and FBI searched the places they lived, they found cell phones with numbers to Egypt and Turkey. Homeland is tracking those as we speak. They also found one-way, open ended tickets to Spain. So, we know where they were going after the job was done.” He told Denise. “We’ve gotten in touch with the Spanish government and Interpol about this and they’re going to look into this as well.” She finished telling them.

“That’s better than what we had 24 hours ago. But it still doesn’t get us any closer to how they found Steven and Hannah.” Dom told Denise.

“Can I ask a question quick?” Laura asked. “How much money did you send to Russia and is it still there?”

“When we finished adding money to it, there was around three hundred million in it. It’s all clean though. We left all of it in the Central Bank of Russia as a type of black fund in case one or all of us had to disappear.” Robert told Laura. “The bank and account services managers are Russian mob stooges and would die before running their mouths to anyone. Why, what are you thinking?”

“Well since Russia has been so friendly to Syria, and Syria slurps Iran’s cocktail weenie, how hard would it have been for the bank to ‘leak’ info to Iran about what money came in at what time?” She asked. “The Caribbean banks are obsessive compulsive about security and people not knowing what’s happening. Russia on the other hand will throw someone under the bus in a minute, especially if the money belongs to anyone even remotely related to an American. Truthfully, I’d start there.” Laura explained.

“She has a point and it is a great idea.” Talitha agreed with her.

“Ok, so we need to take a trip to Russia then.” Dominic said. “But if they know about the money, chances are that they know who we are.”

Denise grabbed a stack of folders from under the table and dropped them in the middle. Each team member grabbed a folder and started reading.

“Project Eldest Son?” Steven read with a grin.

Robert and Hannah both had huge smiles on their faces when they looked up. “Who does this idea belong to? I want to have his or her children.” Hannah said almost giggling.

“Denise, this is magnificent. Is this a serious operation?” Dominic asked.

“Signed off on by the Joint Chiefs and that orange faced schmuck in the white house.” She replied. “The SOCOM commander decided to push this to the joint chiefs and they all agreed with how it should be run. The Polish are on board and will let us operate outside of Warsaw. Mossad is going to provide intel as needed.” Denise told them.

“You’re serious about this, this is an actual thing?” Laura asked. “I mean you’re not going to get this all set up and the douches in DC aren’t going to change their minds and say, “Just kidding’?”

“Yes, it is and no they are not.” Denise told her. “We have been getting more and more hits on banks in Europe that are letting money move around from the middle east. So, this little operation is going to go after the ones that are donating the money and the money itself.”

“Denise, this smells like something you would dream up. Care to share with the rest of the group?” Robert asked.

“About a year ago, I had a conversation with the director of operations. He asked me if there was anything that we could do about getting in and rooting out the people that are financing terror.” Denise explained. “I asked him what he had in mind, and he told me to take the idea and run with it. I had read a book about a covert operation from the Vietnam war called Project Eldest Son and then it just snowballed from there. I took the idea to him and he ran with it. He got the necessary signatures and blessings for it, and here we are.”

“I get why you picked the name, but the financiers are all civilians. Are we going after them themselves or just the resources and money they donate?” Hannah asked.

“We are targeting the resources and money primarily. The people we get information on will either be ‘asked’ to stop or will be publicly outed as a terrorism supporter.” Talitha finished for her.

“How long have you been waiting on this to kick off, how did you pick the five of us, and who’s the sixth man you told us about?” Robert asked.