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This novel is dedicated to the men and women of the United States Secret Service

And to Larry Kirshbaureat publisher, and a wonderful friend

PROLOGUE

THE CHEVY SUBURBAN SPED DOWN the road, enveloped by the hushed darkness of the Virginia countryside Forty-one-year-old Adnan al-Rimi was hunched over the wheel as he concentrated on the windy road co up Deer were plentiful here, and Adnan had no desire to see the bloodied antlers of one slashing through the windshield Indeed, the loved hand froun in the holster under his jacket; a weapon was not just a comfort for Adnan, it was a necessity

He suddenly glanced out theas he heard the sound overhead

There were two passengers in the backseat Theanimatedly in Farsi on a cell phone was Muhammad al-Zawahiri, an Iranian who had entered the country shortly before the terrorist attacks on 9/11 The han named Gul Khan, who’d been in the States only a few e and e jacket and was checking hisback in place and put the firing switch on two-shot bursts A few drops of rain fell against the , and Khan idly watched them trickle down

“This is nice countryside,” Khan said in Pashto, a dialect Muhammad spoke but one Adnan had little familiarity with “My country is filled with the metal carcasses of Soviet tanks The farmers just plow around them” He paused and added with a deeply satisfied look, “And some American carcasses too, we have”

Adnan kept glancing in the rearviewbehind hi of the Iranian Adnan had been born in Saudi Arabia but ht for Iraq in the horrific war between the two countries, and his enmity toward Iran still ran very deep Ethnically, Muhammad al-Zawahiri was Persian, not Arab, like al-Rimi It was another difference between the two men that caused al-Rimi not to trust him

Muhae of dirt off one of his American-made cowboy boots, checked the tiainst the seat and s in Farsi and Khan laughed The big Afghan’s breath sly of onions

Adnan gripped the steering wheel tighter He had never been a careless man, and Adnan didn’t like the Iranian’s flippancy about serious ain

Muhammad had clearly heard it too He rolled down hisand poked his head out, looking up at the cloudy sky When he saw the wink of red lights overhead he barked to Adnan, who nodded and hit the gas; both men in the back strapped on their seatbelts

The Chevy flew along the snaking country road, banking so hard around some curves that the ers Yet even the fastest car in the world couldn’t outrun a helicopter on a serpentine track

Speaking again in Farsi, Muhammad ordered Adnan to pull off under so Continuing in Farsi he said, “Car accident, Adnan? Medical evacuation helicopter perhaps?”

Adnan shrugged He didn’t speak Farsi very well, and oftentie escaped hiency in his colleague’s voice He drove under a cluster of trees, and all three ot out and crouched down by the vehicle Khan pointed his un at the sky and Adnan slid his pistol out as well Muharipped his cell phone and looked nervously overhead For a moment it appeared that the chopper had left, but then a searchlight beah the tree canopies directly over them

The next word Muhalish: “Shit!” He nodded at Adnan, instructing hio for a better look

The Iraqi ran in a crouch until he reached the edge of the tree line and cautiously gazed up The chopper was hovering sixty feet overhead Adnan returned to his co what he’d seen

“Theyfor a place to land,” he added

“Do we have an RPG in the truck?” Muha the brains behind these sorts of operations rather than one of the foot soldiers who actually did the killing—and often died in the process

Adnan shook his head “We didn’t think we’d have need of a rocket-propelled grenade tonight”

“Shit,” Muha” The tree canopies were starting to shake from the chopper’s rotor wash

Adnan nodded at his companions “It is only a two-person helicopter There are three of us,” he added firun, Muhao quietly We will take some Americans with us”

“You fool,” Muhammad snapped “Do you think they haven’t already called for others? They will simply keep us pinned down until help arrives”