Allegiance (28 page)

‘That’s the wrong answer, Kevin. I need to be able to tell the
DG
we’ve neutralised the threat. Have we?’

‘Mohammed used the
SIM
card to arrange the explosives deal with Nathi Khoza. We know the threat to the Americans was made from the area of the centre. All fingers point to Mohammed.’

‘A singleton? A person working alone?’

‘Police forensics are all over Mohammed’s room and there’s a cybercrime team busy analysing the laptop they found. Pretty soon we’ll know more.’

Masondo nodded. ‘Well done to Mr Shabalala for having a good agent. Where is he, by the way?’

‘Cedric? He had to attend some function tonight; he was already committed.’

‘I see. Well, he deserves commendation for having Ruslan in place. Without a human source, we would never have narrowed it down to Mohammed. Tell him to give Ruslan a bonus this month.’

‘Of course, sir, but I don’t think Ruslan’s working for money. He’s trying to maintain the purity of Islam in his own way. He hates the sheikh, sees him as a fasiq – corrupt. Anybody who trashes the name of Islam, he works against. I guess Mohammed also falls into that category.’

‘Well, our timing has been exemplary. The Assistant Secretary arrives on Friday. The
USS
Endeavour
docks tomorrow. I’m meeting with the
FBI
attaché later this afternoon. I want to suggest they work with the police on this case and assist where they can. I still don’t understand everything that’s happened here.’

Masondo’s eyes drifted to the door and a wave indicated the conversation was over. Masondo clearly had a lot on his mind and Durant wondered what was troubling him more – his lack of understanding of the case or his loss of control over his daughter.

Amina arrived at the
NIA
office and was shown into a cubicle by a security officer. She sat down and looked at the laminated card in her hand. ‘Visitor’ it said. Unfair. Why did she still feel so much a part of the intelligence family? She felt an angry jolt in her body which made her hands clench into balls. The card fell to the table. She didn’t want to be an outsider to this world. She wanted to be on the inside again, part of the family, a member. A minute later, Durant arrived with a folder. He threw it onto the table. ‘You’ve got mail! This is the report from the cybercrime experts. These are the emails they found on Mohammed’s laptop. Read it, tell me what you think.’

‘I’ll have to start charging you consultation fees seeing that I’m just a visitor now.’

Durant was embarrassed. ‘Sorry about that, but it’s the rule. We’ll swap it for a membership card soon, as soon as you’re ready.’

Amina opened the file and narrowed her eyes as she read: ‘“The time has come that we are equal, as we kill this kill, Brother Martyr. Rejoice in what it displeases. Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. Son of the Arab people – with weapon in your hand, become Shaheed, Insha ’Allah”. “Shaheed” is a martyr.’

‘I believe so. It gets worse and worse, read on.’ Durant sat down in the uncomfortable government-issue chair and leaned back.

‘“Wage jihad against the disbelievers with your self, and with your wealth, and with your word.” This is a quote from the Quran: “Do not think of those that have been slain in Allah’s cause as dead. Nay, they are alive! With their sustainer have they their sustenance, exulting in that martyrdom which Allah has bestowed upon them out of his bounty.” Suicide bombers sometimes quote that verse on their way to martyrdom.’

‘What do you think?’

‘Well, I mean it’s obviously radical stuff. A bit dramatic and over the top, though. I think a real terrorist wouldn’t go through all the rhetoric, he’d just strap the bomb on and detonate it.’

‘So you’re saying this is a case of some idealistic young man just talking the talk, but not walking the walk?’

‘It could be. It could also be a literal call to martyrdom. But so openly?’

‘He was receiving emails, encrypted, but not impossible to crack, from an ip address in Saudi – a person called “Hunbali”.’

‘“Hunbali” is a term used for a very religious person, almost to the point of being obsessed. Perhaps it’s a person or a group that was schooling or grooming him.’

‘If you look at his responses, it looks like they were succeeding. Hunbali talks about walking towards your faith and so on, and he responds “Insha ’Allah. The disaster’s disaster is a blessing; the reward is Eternal Peace.” Isn’t he responding to a call to martyr himself?’

‘Or he’s interpreting messages in his own way. It’s hard to say. These are quotes from the Quran or Hadith – some of them aren’t meant to be taken literally.’

‘It doesn’t make him less guilty, does it? If he acts on messages he’s misinterpreting, he’s still punished for the act.’

‘Well, good luck proving it. I’m sure he’ll have the best lawyer defending him.’

‘Khan squared.’

Amina smiled and shook her head. ‘Khan and Khan? Then you’ve got no chance. You’ll need Islamic scholars helping with the prosecution, but I doubt you’ll find any willing to testify for the State.’

‘And the explosives we found in his room?’

‘Planted there, like he says.’

Durant laughed. ‘Whose side are you on, Amina? Sorry I asked for your help.’

‘I’m only giving you what they’ll give you. Why do you think the Americans used to favour rendition? It’s hard to prove these things in a civilised, democratic society. You take the suspect to a sold-out Islamic country in the East where they can torture him and extract a confession – that’s a lot easier. It’s not going to happen here.’

Durant nodded. ‘You’re right. Why did I think this was going to be easy? Do you really think he’s the guy?’

Amina realised she was twisting the visitor’s card between her fingers. ‘It’s hard to say. It seems a bit convenient, a bit too obvious. Unless he’s a zealot with suicide tendencies that somebody in Saudi was just playing with. He doesn’t come across as a professional. Not at all.’

‘Didn’t even lock his room or secure his laptop away.’

‘Exactly. That’ll come up in the defence. He had nothing to hide. Anybody could have gone into his room and planted stuff there. So keep an open mind. Are you able to talk to him?’

Durant leaned forward and folded his arms on the table. ‘With his lawyer present, yes.’

‘When you talk to him, see if he looks scared. If he was hell-bent on blowing something up in the name of Islam, he’d be arrogant and he’d see his detention as a minor setback in his ultimate plan. Maybe that’ll help.’ Amina looked at the visitor’s card. It had a crack down the middle where she’d folded it.

Durant sighed and leaned back. ‘Whew, I wish you’d come back to the Agency.’

‘I sometimes wish that too.’

‘You shouldn’t have left.’

‘I only left because of Ahmed. It was never what I wanted. I thought everything would miraculously come right once I left. It just got worse.’

‘I think you made a big mistake. The Agency was what kept you going, it’s what you lived for. You’re irreplaceable, I mean that.’

‘Thanks, I’ll put that in my
CV
when I reapply.’ She waved her visitor’s card at Durant. ‘How’s Arshad, by the way?’

‘Terrible. He’s still struggling to get to grips with his loss. He’s not ready to take Siraj back yet.’

‘And I’m not happy to send Siraj back to that hellhole either. Listen, Kevin, I’m going to start scratching around on my own to figure out what happened to Mariam. I feel I owe it to her, and Siraj.’

‘I won’t stand in your way. I wish I had the time to, but I’ve got to stay focused on this thing now.’

‘I know. It’s fine. I’m going to start by trying to locate that company she works for, Global Research. I briefly met her sister Yasmin at the funeral, but didn’t really talk to her. She seemed a bit unapproachable, but maybe she was just upset.’

‘If you need help with anything, just shout and I’ll give you a hand.’

‘Will you give me access to Mariam’s cell records when you get them?’

‘When I get them. I’m relying on the
SAPS
investigating officer to do the paperwork so don’t hold your breath. We can’t interfere, but I’m hoping we’ll have it soon.’

Amina stood up and held up the two halves of the visitor’s card. ‘Clean break. Sorry about that.’

Durant laughed. ‘Next time you come to the office, hopefully you won’t need that.’

Masondo looked as bleak as the storm gathering outside his office window. ‘The
IT
guys have traced the
IP
address of Hunbali to an Internet café in Riyadh. Our liaison people are talking to the Saudis and they’re investigating from their side. We’ll just have to be patient.’

Shabalala leaned forward and took the page Masondo held out. ‘I wonder if Mohammed even knows who he’s talking to. The Internet’s a wicked machine. You can manipulate it in so many ways.’

‘Mohammed should have known better than to engage in discourse which threatens state security. Whether he’s innocent or guilty becomes immaterial. In my eyes, he’s guilty of undermining our country’s security.’ Masondo closed his blinds as the storm cracked overhead.

‘Or he’s a clever decoy to get our attention off whoever’s really plotting something,’ Shabalala ventured.

‘Everything seems to point just too neatly to Mohammed. The rhetoric, the explosives link and now the Internet communication to Saudi. Cases aren’t meant to be so easy to crack, and this is a complex case. It feels like we haven’t worked on this enough to have all the answers.’

‘Mr Masondo, we’ve worked hard.’ Shabalala was on the defensive. ‘Mr Durant and I are now working this case only. We’ve broken records in identifying people and recruiting them. We’re under a lot of pressure.’

Masondo looked intently at the man in front of him. Shabalala had drive and determination and there was no doubting his commitment to the profession. An honourable man. He looked away. ‘Look, the Riyadh link is by no means the end of this investigation. You have Ruslan right in there, he knows this man.’ Masondo paused for a moment. ‘He needs to give us more.’

‘I agree, sir.’

‘Good. And step up the clandestine comms with Ruslan. Fewer personal meetings. Use dead letter boxes or cut-outs. They might be watching him. I don’t care about him, but I don’t want you in harm’s way. I’ve been through that once with Mr Durant, and I never want to go through that again. So be careful.’

‘I’ll do that, sir.’

‘And I’m saying that not because I particularly like you, but just because there’s a lot of paperwork if something happens to you, you understand?’

‘Perfectly, sir.’

‘Right then. Go out and collect.’

In the consul-general’s office on the twenty-sixth floor with Fulham was the last place Khalid wanted to be. The arrival of a dignitary in Durban couldn’t have come at a worse time. How could he focus on security issues when his head was filled with demons? He was sure they could see he wasn’t himself. Cheyenne was there and he hadn’t complimented her. She would have noticed. Berkeley, providentially, was too busy to be distracted by insignificant events like the fact that he hadn’t delivered the local security brief for the past two days. Fulham. There was something disturbing about him.

Khalid tried to focus on Berkeley as she spoke. ‘The Assistant Secretary of State’s reception was originally planned for my residence, but, under the circumstances, the security chiefs have decided on a more secure venue. The Secret Service advises me that the
USS
Endeavour
is the new venue.’

Khalid felt relieved. Much less work for him.

‘There probably isn’t a safer venue in Durban than a
US
warship,’ Berkeley went on. ‘Besides the usual security, there’ll also be hundreds of marines on board, so I think we can all heave a sigh of relief.’

‘Excuse me, ma’am,’ Fulham ventured. ‘Hasn’t the detention of Faizel Mohammed reduced the threat level?’

Berkeley nodded. ‘Certainly. SecState’s visit would probably have been scrubbed if Mohammed wasn’t in custody. Look, I think everyone appreciates what you guys have done and what the local enforcement folks have done, but the threat’s still elevated. We don’t know if Mohammed was a singleton or not. We still haven’t found the bulk of the explosives. I think we need to be realistic about this threat and be prudent.’

Khalid felt unease at the mention of Mohammed’s name. He hadn’t heard from the blackmailer again and when he heard the news of Mohammed’s arrest he had at first been relieved, then troubled. If Mohammed was the blackmailer, the police may find copies of photos or the video linking him to where Mariam died. It would have been better if Mohammed wasn’t caught.

‘Mr Khalid, are you still with us? You’re the point man for the consulate on security matters. You’ll be working with the Secret Service Special Agent in Charge. I’ll get you his name.’

Khalid nodded. ‘I think it’s a smart move to use the
Endeavour
. That’s a secure platform, we can’t hope for better.’

‘Thanks, Mr Khalid. Miss Ford and I had a meeting with Sheikh U-Haq this morning. Secretary Conroy wants a guest list that reflects the diversity of South Africa and representatives from a cross section of the community. I personally extended an invitation to the sheikh and he accepted.’

‘I’m confused, ma’am. The sheikh?’

Berkeley smiled. ‘Before you lambaste me. It’s painful to all of
US
that the centre’s paying for Mohammed’s defence. I raised the point with the sheikh and he agrees it leaves a bad taste. But the Saudi backers are insisting on it. Innocent until proven guilty they say even though the war on terror forces us to believe in guilty until proven innocent. You have to remember the sheikh’s a highly respected man in the Muslim community. It’s our duty to show the community that we don’t hold Islam responsible for the deeds or intentions of one man. We need to assure the sheikh and Muslims everywhere that the United States government is serious about building relationships. We need to show that we welcome all people willing to condemn terrorism and assist us in the fight against terror.’

Inside, Khalid tossed the words over in his head. Building relationships. Fight against terror. All just words, meaningless words, uttered to bolster election campaigns and boost funding. Nobody believed any of that. America didn’t want to be friends with Islam and that was a fact. He was a public servant, a servant of the American people. Now it felt like he was serving some other evil interest, sucked into the game plan of a faceless, unseen terrorist. This wasn’t his fault. America had put him in this predicament.