Chapter 25

Director Hank Richards was sitting in his office waiting for Director Haspel to return from the Hoover building. He was reading an email regarding the team in Poland having captured Nassar bin Quraishi otherwise known as Omar Rakim Miller. He smiled and started chuckling a bit as he read.

“He’s been most cooperative after he was properly motivated by what he thought were Russian intelligence and the Spetsnaz. He gave up the courier routes starting in Lebanon and moving into Syria and on into Iraq depending on where the shipments are going. He also told us that the Mullahs are starting to lose hope that they’ll be able to hold on to win. Between the Americans in Iraq and the Russians in Syria, they’ve pretty much cut off material support to ISIS. He said that the odd shipment gets through, but most are either diverted and captured or blown up by an airstrike. Enclosed is a list of shipping ports that ISIS is using to get their fighters out of the country and back to their homes abroad.”

He was making notes about what he was going to plan when he heard a knock on his door. He looked up to see Director Haspel walking in. “Happy Saturday...” he told the Director.

“Yeah ... Right.” She said sarcastically. “You have any scotch? You’re going to want some when I tell you what was said in the meeting.” She told him as she indicated to him to activate the SCIF function in his office.

He hit and pressed the button on his desk and sealed his office. “That bad?” He asked getting up and going to his mini-fridge and getting two travel-sized bottles of Glenmorangie. He grabbed two glasses and came back to his desk.

“Worse actually.” She said tossing a dossier down in front of him.

He picked it up and started reading. His eyes widened as he read further. He looked up at Gina, who shook her head. “I had no idea that she was a deep-cover asset for the NSA and that she was working on Daynskov’s sleeper agents.”

Hank picked up his glass and downed the whole thing in one shot. “Who’s her handler?” he asked.

“General Dick Urban. Trust me, he earns the name ‘Dick’ quite well. He tried to ORDER us to suspend operations.” She said sipping on her scotch.

Hank laughed hearing what the director told him. “I imagine that Director Wray and you were not at all happy?” Hank asked.

“We threatened to trade her to the Russians, and they quickly changed their tune. I’m not a fan of the Air Force generals. I swear they love the smell of their own farts.” She replied.

“Smug...” Hank said chuckling quietly.

“What?” Gina asked him.

“Nothing Director, just a humorous thought.” Hank chuckled. “So obviously you’ve come up with a plan for her to work with Mike’s team.”

“Work with her, no. In concert towards the same goal, yes. She’s keeping her methods to herself since she’s technically a Russian agent. We’re going to work it from our end with the data that the team got from Marseille. Denny is going to get the tasking since he’s the one that’s most familiar with Petra’s jumper program.” Gina told him.

Hank made a note on his pad. “How compartmental are we keeping this?”

“Denny and two of his guys, that’s all. We find him a quiet hole to work out of where only you and I have access to it. He works the jumper program, and his two assistants do the background on the persons we find.” She told him.

“Not a problem,” Hank said making notes. “What about getting Angus from Mike’s team to help him?”

“No. We promised them that, other than the occasional word about how it’s going, we’d leave them alone. What about bringing Petra back to work on this?” The director suggested.

“I doubt Denise would have a problem with it, but I’ll set up a call to Warsaw after we’re done here,” Hank said looking at the dossier on Symanski. “Wait, this says that her mother and father were deep cover operatives ... Sergei and Oksana Bilyarnov...”

“That’s the info that Walker gave us. Apparently, she and her husband sent a massive amount of info about the Soviet chemical weapons program back in the seventies.” Director Haspel told him to finish her scotch. She exhaled deeply and then looked at Hank. “I want your opinion about something.” Hank closed the dossier and looked at the Director. “I know the NSA is running her, but I’m not sure that I want to completely trust her ... What do you think about putting a plan in place to take her out if needed?”

“I’m almost positive that Simone and Mike will plan for that after we brief them regarding this. Mike is meticulous when it comes to planning and he never leaves a loose end before, during, and after an operation. However, I’ll be sure to mention your ... unease ... regarding Symanski.” Hank told her.

“Good enough. So, do you have any ideas about working with the NSA?” Gina asked.

“A couple of’em actually,” Hank said gathering his thoughts. “First off, we need to get with the NSA to get us copies of everything they have on the four captured sleeper agents. We need to build profiles on them and then we can move forward. With what’s in this...” He held up the dossier folder, “We might as well walk into Starbucks and start asking people if they’re a Russian sleeper agent.”

Haspel snickered but kept making notes on her iPad.

“Second, we’re going to have to make contact with Symansky at some point and get our own information from her. Maybe the NSA missed something that we could use to find the agents.”

Director Haspel held up her hand. “Why should we do that? This is the NSA’s agent, and I doubt that they’d be happy if they found out we did that.”

“Because I know Dick Urban. He’s a 6-foot 2-inch anal-retentive shithead that I’d nominate for biggest douche in the universe in less than a heartbeat. If he’s running her, then there’s more information that he’s not giving us. Sitting Symanski down with Simone might give us insight or information that they don’t have.”

The CIA director nodded her head in agreement. “Good point, what else do you have?”

“I agree with you about tasking Denny to run the jumper program. But I’d like to change one thing. I’d like to leave Petra overseas. The reason for that is due to all the cameras that are going up in the DC area, her face would hit at least a dozen databases within minutes. Instead, I’d like to get the Paris safe house set up for Petra and whoever is going to provide security for her. She’ll make it look like a foreign source is trying to steal their identity and not like the CIA is looking at them. I’d also like to bring Katarina up while she’s working so that she can look at the faces we get hits on to see if she recognizes any of them.”

Haspel was making more notes. “Katarina ... that’s something I hadn’t thought of, go ahead and implement it.”

“As I was saying, Denny can work the stateside aspect of this, and Petra can work the international side. I’m almost positive she’ll be able to come up with supporting intel if we’re on the right track. But I’ll confirm it with her when I talk to Denise tonight.”

“I want everything we find to be sent to Chaim so he can check the Mossad and Aman to see if they get any hits,” Haspel told him.

“Absolutely director,” Hank said making notes.

“Since this is your plan, what do you want to do about sharing anything we learn with the NSA?” Gina asked.

“How does Director Wray feel about this?” Hank asked.

“He pretty much mirrors my opinion,” Haspel replied.

“Fuck’em.” Haspel snorted as Hank continued. “We share what we come up with anything relating to the sleeper agents. Everything else stays in the house with the FBI and CIA.” Hank replied.

“Do it...” She said closing her iPad. “You and I will go talk to the team Monday after all the pieces are set up.”

“I’ll get the conference call set up as soon as we’re done here and then call you after it’s over to let you know if she has any better ideas ... Oh, by the way, Director, speaking of Denise...” Hank said turning his laptop around for her to read Denise’s email.

She read what was in the email. She smiled and shook her head. “Dial the switchboard for me please.” Hank put the phone on speaker and dialed.

“Internal switchboard...” the voice said

“This is Director Haspel, put me through to FBI Director Wray’s private line please.”

“Of course, Director, please stand by.”

While they waited for the call to connect, Hank went to the mini-fridge and pulled another couple of mini bottles of scotch out, and handed one to the Director.

“That was fast...” FBI Director Wary said.

“No, we’re still working out the kinks in our plan. I’ll brief you on Monday morning before we talk to the team about this. What I have for you now, Hank got about an hour ago from Denise.”

“This sounds interesting ... Ok, I’m sitting down, and you have my full attention.”

“Asshole...” Gina said with a chuckle. “The team in Warsaw has Omar Rakim Miller in custody in Tel Aviv.”

“Seriously? This isn’t a joke?” Wray asked.

“No, it’s not. We captured him right after we marked a convoy headed into Iraq with ammunition and support items for Isis. Robert and Tali made him think he was captured by the Russians, so he talked about everything he knew including how irregular his bowel movements have been.”

“Wow...” Wray said quietly. “Where is he at the moment?”

“He’s being held at an Israeli air force base and is very uncomfortable at the moment,” Haspel replied.

“So why are you contacting me then? He was captured in combat.”

“Well, the DOJ has a fat reward on him for capital murder and treason, so we kind of HAD to contact you,” Gina told him. “How do you want to handle this?”

Director Wray was quiet for a moment. “What I’m about to say is my honest professional opinion and will never be repeated, ok?”

“Mine and Hank’s lips are sealed. Go ahead.” Haspel told him.

Stake him out in the middle of the Israeli desert and let him die of thirst.”

Shocked, both Haspel and Richard’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“Yes, I’m serious about that. We didn’t release this to the public, but Miller crushed the skulls of his younger sister and both parents with a sledgehammer before leaving the country for Isis. He doesn’t deserve a trial, much less a comfy stay in a federal penitentiary.”

“What would the attorney general think about us handling it this way?” Hank asked.

“He’d never come right out and say it, but he’s 100% in agreement with me on this,” Wray replied. “Release the information to the press that he died of his wounds after being captured by coalition forces.”

Haspel looked at Hank who shrugged his shoulders in deference. “He absolutely deserves it...” He said to his boss.

“I’ll talk to Chaim Monday morning first thing and explain our position, we’ll plan from there to release his death info after it’s confirmed he’s dead. I don’t want this coming back to bite us in the ass.” Haspel told him.

“I agree. By the way, I’d like to go with you when you brief Mike and Simone.” He asked.

“Sure, why?” Haspel asked.

“United front and all that. We both briefed Mike and Simone, it would look better if we were both there.” Wray told her.

“Good idea...” Haspel told him. “We’ll pick you up at 0700 on Monday morning.”

“I’ll be ready...” He said disconnecting the call.

6 hours later

“I can absolutely do that director,” Petra said making notes in her binder. “Can you tell me about the connections for internet service in the area?”

“According to your counterpart here at Langley, the internet speeds there are gigabyte levels. He tested the safe house to confirm that it had no connectivity issues or server lag. I was also told that it’s possible to run three systems at once at the safehouse with no issues.” Richards told her.

“What about security? We’ve put a lot of money into this asset, and we’re still getting our return on it.” Denise asked elbowing Petra as she smirked.

“In addition to Robert, bring David with you and he can get in touch with the FBI in Paris and have them monitor the security cameras. Also bring the standard weapons load, just in case.” Hank told her. “Expect Katarina the same day. We want her to look at the faces we find.”

“We’ll save room for her,” Denise said making a note.

“When do we kick this off?” Petra asked.

“Denny told me he and his crew will start at 0600 Monday morning.”

“His crew?” Denise asked.

“He’s going to handle using Petra’s jumper program and getting into the coffee house servers. The other two people on his team is going to be doing background on everyone he finds.” Hank explained. “Tali, everything Petra and Denny find, the director wants it to go to Chaim so they can double-check with Mossad and Aman.”

“Yes sir, I will call him regarding this when we’re finished here and then start to pack for Paris,” Tali told him making a note.

“You’ve told me everything I need to know, sir...” Petra said closing her binder. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll let Robert and David know to pack for a road trip.” She said getting up and leaving the room.

When the door was closed, Hank spoke again. “Can you spare Dom, Steven, and Laura to handle a delicate task?”

“How delicate?” Denise asked.

“Escort Symanski to the Rehoboth facility if needed.” He replied.

“The director isn’t sure about her then?” Tali asked.

“Not at all. We’re planning this as a just-in-case type of scenario.” Hank replied.

Denise thought for a moment. “Who’s Symanski’s handler?” she asked.

“General Richard Urban...” Hank replied.

Denise and Tali looked at each other and smirked.

“You both know Jumper I’m guessing?” Hank asked.

“We do, Director. He is known very well in Mossad as less than cooperative.” Talitha told Hank.

“When I was handling special projects in Germany, my counterpart with the Germans said that he would be willing to go to jail if he could slap him a few times. Has he pulled the corncob out of his ass yet?” Denise asked.

“According to the director, no. He tried to ‘order’ Wray and Haspel to stop operations against her. That particular part of their conversation didn’t go over too well.” Hank replied with a smirk.

Denise shook her head. “Anything else director?”

“No, we’re still focusing on Qudratullah bin Magadaham and his activities on the dark web and various other things he has his hands in. I’ll send you what we have Thursday, and you can let me know what you think Friday.” Hank said.

“No problem sir, we’ll talk to you Friday then...” Denise said disconnecting the call.

Monday morning, The Baltimore warehouse

Simone was reading through the dossier about Symanski and her actions while the directors talked with the team about what they knew. She was so engrossed in the dossier that she was completely ignoring everyone else in the room. As she flipped through it, more questions than answers came to her mind. Simone started to make notes as she went about what she was reading.

“Respectfully directors, I’d really like to know how she knew about me and my trip to Pakistan,” John asked.

“So would we. That report was so heavily redacted that you’d have gotten more out of a blank piece of paper.” Hank told him. “Our best guess is that she kept track of the people being shot by snipers, asked her handler for background, and your name came up.”

“And he was more than happy to give it to her ... Great.” John told him.

“Oh, it’s not that bad...” Mike told him. “Maybe she’s a member of your fan club.”

“Or the founding member. You did brag to us that she had the look of ‘I want you’ when you got back here.” Angus told him as they all started laughing.

“I better call Monica and tell her you to have a super fan,” Mike said picking up John’s phone.

“Put my FUCKIN phone down ... sir,” John replied trying but failing to keep a straight face.

After the laughter died, Rodderick spoke up. “Director Wray, I have to be honest with you about this ... I’m not a fan of working with the NSA on this, there are so many ways that this could go badly...”

“I one hundred percent agree with you Rodderick, but there isn’t much I or Director Haspel can do about this. Symanski’s their asset and we have to play nice with them in the interest of national security.” Wray told him.

“What are you wanting us to do since we don’t have to surveil Symanski anymore?” Mike asked.

“Our plan, so far, is to get Simone to build profiles of the other sleeper agents in custody and then apply it to the possibles that Denny and one of our overseas assets come up with,” Hank told her.

“Who’s the asset, director?” Simone asked not looking up from the dossier.

“Denise recruited her about 8 months ago and she’s done some serious work for us which has netted us some serious intel for other operations,” Haspel told her.

“You sound like you have some hero worship Director,” Angus asked.

“Mr. Young, if you can hack the Russian diplomatic server in less than 90 minutes AND get out without being detected, I’d worship you as well,” Haspel said with a smile. Mike, Rodderick, and John all had shocked looks on their faces after she finished talking. Angus just sat and smiled. “You know who it is, don’t you?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am, I do...” He replied. Simone looked questioningly at Angus. “I’m going to spare you the ‘There are X amount of people in the world that can do that’ cliché and just say that she’s more than capable.” Simone shrugged her shoulders and looked back at the dossier.

“Is the NSA going to let me talk to the agents, or will I be reading the reports they have on them?” Simone asked.

“They’re going to let us look at the video and read the transcripts and reports they have. The agents themselves are being prepped to trade for four of our own in Russia.” Wray told her.

“Better than nothing...” Mike said.

“Simone, you’re also going to be sitting down with Symanski. We want you to pick her brain about the handlers and at the same time, try and get an idea about if she’s on the level or not.” Hank told her.

“On the level?” Mike asked.

“If I tell them that she’s giving us bad information, they’ll want you to make a plan to either assassinate or extract her to be handed off for interrogation,” Simone told them.

“Preferably the later,” Hank told him. “But if you can’t extract her, then the other option is perfectly acceptable.”

“Where is this coming from?” Rodderick asked. Simone put the dossier down and paid attention to the conversation.

“It’s coming from the perspective that there’s a Russian SVR operative that’s operating in the Washington DC area and neither the FBI nor the CIA knew about it. I can’t speak for director Haspel, but I’m not a fan of not knowing for sure that she’s on our side.” Director Wray said making air quotes.

“No, I’m not either. Which is why I’d like Simone profiling the agents and then sitting down with Symanski and talking with her.” Director Haspel told them.

“How are you going to decide if she has to go?” Simone asked.

“Denise will look at it.” Haspel replied.

“Who’s Denise?” Rodderick asked.

“Someone I know from my time with the agency. She’s smarter than anyone I know when it comes to the human condition.” Simone told him. “What’s the plan if she can’t give you a definitive answer?”

“We err on the side of caution and Symanski disappears,” Haspel told her.

“I’m strangely ok with that...” John said looking at Mike who was nodding his head after he spoke. “It sounds to me like you’ve already made the decision, director.”

“No, but Hank has suggested that Mike and Simone would already plan for this in any operation they conduct,” Haspel answered looking at Mike as his head nodded yes.

“In the meantime, we’re headed over to see the NSA director this morning to get the info from him regarding the four operatives they’ve already captured. We’ll hopefully have that for you tomorrow or Wednesday.” Richards told them.

“Can we get a copy of this dossier?” Simone asked.

“Sure ... Why?” Hank asked.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something ... off about more than some of the reports that are in it.” She replied.

“What do you mean off?” Gina asked reaching for her glasses.

Simone opened the dossier again and found the first report. “If you look here Director, the report is filled out correctly and is complete. But there’s not a whole lot in it if you compare it to some of the others.”

Director Haspel read the report and handed it over to Director Wray who looked it over. “It does seem to be lacking in substance, maybe there wasn’t a whole lot to report?”

“That could be director, but then why write a report when the asset has nothing to report? Almost the whole dossier is exactly like the reports I’ve read. Small little pieces of almost meaningless information and nothing of real value.” Simone asked.

“Directors, who would read a report like this?” Mike asked.

“Honestly, with an asset like Symanski, I would think that it would be the NSA director or the National Security Council only,” Haspel answered. “Speaking only for myself, there are things that even I don’t show them due to my wanting to keep them from screwing up whatever is in the file. Could be this is one of those cases.”

“I’m the same way...” Wray told him. “The attorney general gets the biggest information, but not all of it.”

“Who is Jumper’s oversight?” Simone asked.

“I’ll have to find out who it is. In the meantime, why don’t you please tell me what you’re thinking.” Haspel asked.

“Director, what I’m thinking is that this dossier has been doctored, or it’s a fake and the NSA doesn’t want you to see the real one.” She replied.

“Hopefully that’s not the case. We’re going to have a hard time going forward if they aren’t semi-honest with us.” Richards said quietly. Mike caught Hank staring him in the eye as he spoke. He nodded his head understanding the message.

“The question should be asked ... How do you want us to hand off Symanski if she needs to disappear?” John asked.

“We’re bringing in people from overseas to pick her up,” Wray responded.

“If I may pry director, who?” Mike asked. “I’m not handing off a spy like Symanski to a kid who has more time behind an Xbox controller than in the field.”

“Worse comes to worst, we can take her wherever she needs to go,” Rodderick said to follow up with Mike.

“IF...” Director Haspel said holding her index finger up, “She needs to be taken, you’ll hand her off to Dominic Schultz and his team.

“Trust me, Mike, Dom is more than capable and the people he’ll bring with him are top tier,” Hank told him.

“Oh, I know Dom. He and his team were doing recon for an operation we did in Nuristan back in the day.” He said looking at Mike. “He’s competent and so are his people.”

“Speaking of competent people, where Ms. Masters is. I was looking forward to meeting her.” Director Haspel asked.

“She’s over at Norfolk NAS this weekend,” Simone told her. Directors Wray and Haspel had a puzzled look on their faces. “Trisha is one of the two people that Boeing keeps on staff to test the upgrades they do to the Chinook. She’s doing an initial test run of a new hydraulic system they came up with. She’ll be back Sunday evening.”

“They keep her on staff?” Director Wray asked.

“Boeing and Sikorsky’s engineers think she’s psychic when it comes to rotary-wing aircraft. She has a sixth sense about flying.” Mike explained.

“If you would, please bring her with you when you come to watch the videos. I’d like her to get acquainted with one of the agency’s birds in case we need her.” Haspel told Simone. “I’d also like to shake the hand of a Silver Star recipient.”

“Are you planning on needing her to fly?” Mike asked.

“No, I prefer to have and not need, rather than needing and not having. Ms. Master’s flying is another asset that we have at our disposal. And on that note, we’re going to get out of your hair and let you do whatever it is you’re doing.” Haspel said standing.

Hank spoke as Simone handed the dossier back to him. “I’ll have a talk with my counterpart in the NSA this week and get back to you with her impressions of the dossier. I’ll also have the transcripts and video of the sleeper agent’s interviews on Wednesday. Plan on spending Thursday and Friday in the executive conference room.”

“Yes sir...” Simone replied.

2 hours later, the CIA building, Langley

Denny Crane was sitting at his desk looking over the coding for the jumper program that Petra had given them. He marveled at its simplicity. Shaking his head, he uploaded it into his laptop and started it up. He was grossly involved with it and didn’t hear Hank Richards walk into the conference room. He heard his name being spoken and turned to see the deputy director standing behind him.

“Little engrossed again Denny?” Hank asked.

“Sorry about that. Yes, sir, I was.”

“How’s it looking?” Richards asked.

He thought about his answer before he spoke. “I won’t bore you with the details, but this is going to work fine with our software. I’ll have everything up and running by the middle afternoon. My two people are set to start doing backgrounds tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we’ll have something for you by Thursday.”

“What’s your opinion about the jumper program?” Hank asked.

“Sir, it’s simple, and to be honest, I never would have thought about trying to get in through the paid software at the coffee shop. When they make a transaction, the software has a microsecond where you can slide a backdoor into it. And to modify the pay program to stay open so the data can transmit ... it’s genius.” Denny looked back at Hank whose eyes were glazing over. “Sorry, sir ... But it’s not every day that I learn something new like this.”

“Maybe the next time I have to go to meet the team, I can take you with me so you can worship at her feet,” Hank said smiling.

Denny laughed. “I’ll have a proper tithe prepared for her if you do.” His laptop pinged that he had a message. Hank moved forward to see what it was. “She just sent me a link for secure communication if we need to confer about a person.”

“She is thorough, I’ll give her that. Keep me in the loop about what you find please.” Hank said turning and walking out.

Paris safehouse

David and Robert were running through the neighborhood for some exercise, but more to see if there was anything suspicious, they needed to be aware of. They had decided to run after the morning rush to get to work so that they could get an idea of who lived where. Robert was making a mental note of houses that they needed to look at a bit closer. As they rounded the corner to make their way back to the safehouse, they saw a white Alfa Romeo sedan race past them and blow its horn.

“Fuckin French...” Robert said quietly.

“You never do get used to the assholes in Paris,” David replied.

“I forgot you worked here as a baby agent.”

“Yes. And other than the food and history, it sucked.” David replied.

When they opened the door to the safehouse compound they saw the white Alfa sitting behind David’s Black M4 BMW. Sitting on the steps to the house was Svetlana or as she was known now, Katarina Cirillo with a big smile on her face. She got up and walked over to the men.

“Ok, an asshole ... Not so much.” David said quietly with a grin.

“Robert ... How are you?” She asked holding her hand out to him.

He took it and spoke. “Doing well, thanks. How’s your ankle?”

“I cut back to running three days a week instead of daily, so I do not work it very hard these days.” She replied staring at David.

“I can see you’ve added some muscle to your frame,” David said with a smile.

“I had hopes that you would notice. I started weightlifting in conjunction with martial arts. I have not felt this good in a very long time.” Lana told him.

He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “I like it ... I like it a lot.” Lana smiled a very large smile.

Robert said rolled his eyes and shook his head. “David, if you need anything, I’ll be...” He looked at David and Lana who were staring into each other’s eyes, “Not here...” he said walking into the house.

Lana bit her bottom lip. “You like the muscle I have built?” she quietly asked.

“Yes. I. Do. It makes you more attractive ... IF that was even possible.” He said putting both his hands on her shoulders to massage them.

“Mmmmm, so good...” She said closing her eyes and putting her head on his shoulder. “I will give you twenty years to stop that...”

“Just twenty?” David asked.

“If you do as good a job as last time, I will up it to thirty,” Lana said with a content smile.

Inside the house, Tali and Robert were watching David and Lana. Robert walked back in from the kitchen with a bottle of water and joined her at the window.

“If you told me that the covert Russian agent would fall in love with the dashing FBI man ... I’d have called you a lair.” He said to them.