Black Flagged Apex by Steven Konkoly Read Free Book Online

their team leader, "Luke." The Frenchman had disclosed the fact that they would try to hack the CIA's system and either download the terrorist databases or install a backdoor that they could access later. Sanderson didn't want the team constrained by nervous decision makers when national security matters were at stake. Daniel had no doubt that the electronics team had been given orders to go deeper than just the terrorist databases. Sanderson never passed up an opportunity to expand his influence, and if the CIA let their collective guard down for a second while linking with Luke's team, the general would take full advantage of the situation. Sanderson never ceased to amaze and disgust Petrovich.
    "There's the apartment block. Lots of shady-looking faces around here. Are you sure the van won't disappear? That would pose a real fucking problem," Farrington said.
    "It's not like the States. You don't find the same level of crime. There are plenty of rougher, all-white neighborhoods further west," Hubner said.
    "I don't want to have to walk him to the nearest U-bahn station if our van disappears," Farrington replied.
    "It won't be a problem," Hubner muttered.
    "I still think we should deal with him in his apartment. Fewer variables," Klinkman said.
    "This is a tightly knit immigrant community. Word will get around fast and eventually make its way to the real police, who will be quick to respond. There's no federal police bureaucracy working in our favor. We need to get Sahil into the van as quickly as possible," Hubner said.
    Hubner was right. No broad federal law enforcement agency existed in Germany, so they couldn't flash federal badges and buy time like in the U.S. or Russia. Nearly all law enforcement tasks fell under territorial German State Police, which were administered separately by each region. The only federal police apparatus in Germany was the Bundespolizei (BPOL), which didn't include any specialized units that would typically conduct an urban-based raid. Most BPOL units served federal internal security or border supervision roles.
    They had thought about posing as members of Germany's counterterrorism forces, GSG-9, a specialized branch of the BPOL, but decided against the idea. The mere suggestion of a GSG-9 operation would raise every law enforcement alarm in the region. Their hastily provided identification badges indicated that they were members of the Hesse Landeskriminalamt (LKA), or State Investigative Bureau, which made enough sense to silence most curious onlookers. The LKA specialized in investigating and preventing politically motivated crimes. Four bulky LKA investigators dragging a young Muslim man into a van wouldn't be the most unusual law enforcement spectacle seen in this neighborhood.
    Daniel glanced around at his surroundings as the van pulled into an empty space next to a large, green, graffiti-covered dumpster on Idsteiner Strasse. The northern Gallus neighborhood was dominated by rows of long, nondescript, three-story apartment blocks, each extending at least one hundred meters from Idsteiner Strasse. If Sahil's apartment was at the end of one of these blocks, they might have to reposition the car. The van was parked in front of a low hedge between two of the buildings. Beyond the hedge lay a grassy courtyard, which was outlined by a continuation of the hedge and covered with rectangular clothes-drying poles. Spaced closely together, the poles resembled crudely erected, miniature soccer goals. Only a few were still adorned by drying laundry this close to sunset and presented another possible complication upon exit with their man. Entrance doorways to both buildings were visible on the outer edges of the long courtyard, spaced evenly down the entire block.
    He shifted nearly all of his attention to the apartment building on the left side of the courtyard. 85 Idsteiner. Upon arrival, he had noted that the target building featured no balconies on either side, just bare-faced walls containing