Razing Beijing: A Thriller by Sidney Elston III Read Free Book Online

of their discussion it seems that the
subject might’ve attempted to blackmail the senator.”
    “It seems? If it was blackmail, wouldn’t the senator
know?”
    Kosmalski worked his jaw. “We don’t know what Ahmadi
thought he had on the senator, Milner isn’t saying, and most importantly, it
isn’t your issue.”
    McBurney suspected that given the circumstances, the FBI
had probably been ordered to place Ahmadi under some sort of surveillance. He
also knew something of the pressures brought to bear on any man contemplating a
change of allegiance—assuming Ahmadi’s overture to the president’s security
advisor was legitimate—particularly the fear of being hunted down as a traitor.
Simply to stay alive such men were inclined to adhere to their established
routine of contacts, and so he wondered how much if any intelligence product
Ahmadi had led the FBI to. He asked Kosmalski, “What’s the FBI think Iran
might’ve wanted with classified missile defense information?”
    “We’re still looking into that. We are talking about an
agent of a nuclear rogue. And that’s why you’re here.”
    “Okay.” McBurney rubbed his face. “This solicitation of the
senator amounts to attempted espionage by a foreign agent. The Agency is
supposed to be kept abreast of such things, yet we weren’t until now. Why?”
    “Because the president forbid it.”
    “So, the president knew Ahmadi was trying to double-deal
him?”
    “That’s a more recent development, but I believe the
president knew. Certain members of the national security council were adamant
from the start that they have absolute control of handling Ahmadi.”
    “Herman didn’t want any Neanderthals ham fisting their
little negotiation.”
    “Frankly, I think they didn’t want to share the limelight
for apprehending the Holocaust terrorists.”
    McBurney didn’t find that particularly surprising. Tom
Herman was not the kind of guy to place the protection of his staff above the
prospect of political gain. He shook his head. The Mohammad Ahmadi that he
remembered was no diplomat, and missile defense simply seemed out of his league...
    McBurney gestured toward the satellite data. “Mind
showing me where you found this?”
    MCBURNEY STOOD with
Special Agent Kosmalski inside the dead Iranian’s large and glistening master
bath, where the open door of a closet revealed what appeared to be a standard
hot-water heater. Behind them, a forensics technician used a pair of tweezers
to extract small fragments of fiber and hair from the floor around the base of
the toilet and deposit them into a plastic bag.
    The FBI agent drew McBurney’s attention to the galvanized
sheet metal duct that the investigators must have placed in the marble Jacuzzi.
Kosmalski asked him, “Why would an electric hot water heater need a natural gas
exhaust duct?”
    Turning from the tub, McBurney saw where investigators also
had removed an access plate from the heater, thereby exposing the wires of an
electric heating element and glass insulation. He looked up at the hole in the
closet ceiling above the heater where the apparently phony exhaust duct had
been installed.
    Kosmalski beamed. “It was actually Agent Mueller who
discovered Ahmadi’s illicit cache while probing the ceiling cavity with a
mirror. He deserves a good deal of the credit.”
    McBurney nodded. Something tugged at his thoughts. “Did you
check inside the hot water heater?”
    McBurney and Kosmalski watched as Agent Mueller knelt with
a bent coat hangar to carefully probe the soft insulation around the electrical
heating element. After several minutes he pulled back a layer of insulation and
revealed a smooth, clear cellophane membrane containing an eggshell-white
substance.
    Mueller looked up, his face ashen. “This could be plastique
explosive.”
    Kosmalski responded immediately. “Everyone, listen up! We’ve
got a possible hazardous material condition. I need two people working each
floor to gather the