Double Blindside. Don Pendleton

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СКАЧАТЬ stepping up to take command of Phoenix Force, the Briton had maintained a confident, often brash character. Out in the field, when the time came for holding a team together, there was no one better than David McCarter. He knew Brognola was about to spell out the upcoming mission and, as always, McCarter was more than ready to take it on board. That didn’t stop the irrepressible man from making his flip comments. The former SAS officer had a forceful personality that was hard to ignore. His irreverent humor vanished when Phoenix Force became involved in official business; then he became a skilled fighter with few equals.

      With everyone settled, Brognola distributed the folders, sliding one along the table to each man. With that done, he leaned back in his seat and unwrapped one of his trademark cigars and clamped it between his teeth. No one could recall the last time he’d actually smoked one of them. He simply chewed on the cigar, using it like a tobacco-based worry bead. As head of the Farm, Harold Brognola had plenty to be worried about.

      Silence reigned for the next few minutes as the teams absorbed the contents of the files.

      “Two undercover agents killed?” Carl Lyons, the Able Team commander, queried. Powerfully built, the blond former LAPD cop was a full-on, no-nonsense fighter who seldom took prisoners unless there was a good reason to keep them alive. “In Turkey?”

      Rosario Blancanales, Able Team’s infiltration specialist, followed up. “Both teamed on the same investigation?” Nicknamed “the Politician,” Blancanales had the skills and confidence of a negotiator coupled with his enduring combat qualifications.

      Calvin James added, “Hell of a security breach.” The black Phoenix Force warrior was tall and leanly powerful. A former Navy SEAL, the Chicago-raised man was also the Phoenix Force medic. James was ferocious in battle, never giving an inch, yet in the aftermath would give as much of himself again to tend to a wounded individual—friend or foe alike.

      “The President feels the same way,” Brognola said. “He’s already had talks with the Turkish president. There’s a lot at stake here, people. So he’s passed it along to us. Wants to keep it under the radar, if possible, until it’s sorted.”

      “Nice of him,” McCarter said. “Question is why?”

      “The bottom line seems to indicate a conspiracy aimed at disturbing the U.S.-Turkish alliance,” Rafael Encizo said, tapping his copy of the file. “No definite proof but an overall suggestion. And we can’t ignore the reference to possible nuclear ordnance mentioned in the reports. Some kind of blackmail threat.”

      The Cuban had an earned reputation as being one of the most skilled knife-fighters around and had a fertile, probing mind. He was tenacious, a relentless fighter who never backed down. He still bore the scars from a term in Cuba’s infamous Principe prison before he made his break for freedom to the U.S.A. He had never forgotten his imprisonment, the memory still in his mind and the physical scars on his body. One of Encizo’s proudest moments was when he became an American citizen. His commitment to Phoenix Force was one of the ways he offered his thanks.

      “Nor should you,” Brognola said. “Turkey has been a U.S. ally for a long time. That relationship has come under attack on a number of occasions. Their location puts them in a delicate position and the U.S. doesn’t want to lose that advantage. However, certain groups in the country don’t like the closeness to us. They make their feelings known whenever the opportunity comes up. But the suggestions in the report veer toward more than just protest groups and staged rallies. Top of their agenda has been the removal of our base at Incirlik.”

      “By nuclear blackmail?” Thomas Jackson Hawkins said. “That seems to be coming through pretty damn strong.”

      “Trouble with threats is they can end up turning into the real thing,” James noted. “Especially if they’re in the hands of extremists.”

      “So are we taking direct action?” Hawkins asked. A Texan, the youngest Phoenix Force member was former Delta Force and was rapidly developing into a seasoned veteran. He still had moments of unrestrained enthusiasm that got the better of him, but his military experience and fighting skills had made him a valuable asset to Phoenix Force.

      “Rein it in, cowboy,” Gary Manning quipped. The brawny Canadian fighter held the distinction of being Phoenix Force’s demolitions expert. Former RCMP, Manning had extensive knowledge of global terrorist groups. “Your time will come.”

      “From the little intel we’ve received, there’s a group organizing itself for some kind of extreme protest,” Brognola continued. “There was a name in the transcripts that came up a number of times. Kadir Polat is a Turkish national. He’s a guy who wants to be counted when it comes to opposition against our presence in the country.”

      Brognola glanced down the table to where Aaron Kurtzman, head of Stony Man’s dedicated cyber team, sat quietly in his motorized wheelchair. The big man had been crippled from the waist down a number of years back when Stony Man Farm had been hit for the first and only time. Despite his disability, Kurtzman had proved himself countless times by providing information that assisted the Stony Man field teams. His ongoing mission was to maintain his department as the best around, and to offer the Stony Man teams the ultimate in backup. Kurtzman was never more at home than when presented with a complex technical problem. If there was a need for something, Kurtzman would find the solution. His understanding of the internet was matched only by his innate curiosity and the need to keep learning.

      “Getting into Makerson’s laptop gave us the opening we needed,” Kurtzman said. “That guy had put down everything he’d sourced—names and locations and images he’d captured on his cell. He’s left us a hell of a legacy.”

      Kurtzman used the remote he held to bring up the information on the wall-mounted plasma screen. The data Makerson had gathered had been assembled into understandable order and the Stony Man teams were able to follow it clearly.

      “The first image is Kadir Polat himself.” Another image flashed on-screen. “Then we have this guy—Hakan Kaplan. Polat’s second in command and lifelong personal friend. Makerson has him down as the harder man of the two. Both these guys are part of Özgürlük. Pretty well are Özgürlük. It’s Turkish for freedom, for those interested. Nice little choice of words. Their politics are well-known, and on the surface they appear as people with grievances concerning Turkey’s involvement with the U.S. and NATO. Makerson had tracked them both to meetings with other activist individuals.”

      Kurtzman clicked to a second image of Polat. It showed a close-up of the strong-faced, good-looking man, his dark eyes seeming to actually stare at everyone in the room. The effect was unsettling. The man had a head of thick black hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. The set of his lips showed a hint of a smile.

      “Polat. Early forties. A devout advocate of Turkish withdrawal from NATO and involvement with the U.S. His opposition is on record and he openly defies the elected government. He’s highly visible. He criticizes the elected government for being a sycophantic ally of the U.S. He is,” Kurtzman added, “an extremely popular guy. Has an immense following and the backing of influential people in business and politics.”

      Barbara Price studied the face, admitting to herself that Polat was more than just good-looking. There was something in his dark eyes that could easily have been tantalizing. Maybe it was the light olive complexion. His black hair. The way he stared into the camera lens. The mesmerizing expression in the deep pupils…

      The Stony Man mission controller mentally shook herself, hoping her brief lapse had not been noticed. Price was no giddy schoolgirl. What the hell was she thinking? A faint warmth crept across her cheeks. She was a woman СКАЧАТЬ