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“We have that reputation, yes,” agreed Stone “But recent events are troubling”

Turkekul broke off a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table and bit into it He brushed the crumbs off the cloth and onto the floor “You speak of the bomb and such?”

“The death of an FBI agent The second bo The murder of the Park Service man We have to stop it”

“Yes, yes, but what does that have to do with me?”

“A group in Yemen with known ties to Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility, so I think it has a lot to do with you You are tasked with finding the head of that organization”

Turkekul was already shaking his head “I told you before that the Yeroup is unreliable I do not believe that they are behind the bo or any of the other criminal acts”

“Why?” asked Stone evenly

Turkekul held up one finger “First, they are not sophisticated enough This sort of long-ter and execution is not their forte They will put a bomb in a car and blow it up, but that is all” He held up another finger “And second, they simply do not have the assets required to do such a h separate incidents No, it is not them”

“Okay, then who do you think it is?” Stone paused and glanced at Fried-ter skills And the assets”

Turkekul smiled and shook his head “I think not”

“And your reasons?”

“He has other, how do you say, fish to fry”

“And what are those fish?”

“I am not prepared to say at the moment”

Stone sat forward “I wanted to meet with you to make a deal of sorts”

Turkekul looked surprised He glanced at Fried back at Stone “I already have a deal with your government”

“I didn’t say it ith overnment”

Turkekul looked taken aback “I do not understand” He gazed again at Friedman when he said this

“We need to step things up a bit,” said Friedman “And I thinkhave the intel to do it” She nodded at Stone

Stone picked up this choreographed “tag” from the woman and said, “We’ve discovered that there’s a mole”

Turkekul gazed in surprise at him “A mole?” He shot Friedman another anxious look “Where exactly?”

“Very close,” answered Stone “We don’t have the person’s exact identity, but we do know that a significant event is being planned”

“But how can you do anything about it if you don’t know the person’s identity?” Turkekul said with deliberate calm

“That status is very near to changing,” said Stone “For the last month we’ve had a source that we have been in the process of flipping That’s principally why they brought me on, actually And that’s why I was so interested in your presence, Fuat I can call you Fuat, can’t I?”

“Of course But I don’t understand why you would be interested in me in connection with this matter”

Stone sat forward and dropped his voice “Do you mind if we carry on this conversation elsewhere, somewhere more private?”

Turkekul again looked at Friedman, who nodded “You really need to hear this, Fuat It’s directly connected to you”

The Turk glanced behind hiuards “As Marisa knows, I do not travel alone”

“It can be arranged,” said Stone

“How?” Turkekul asked nervously

“It can be arranged,” Stone said again He motioned with his eyes in the direction of Chaplanced at them