Path Of The Assassin

“Wild Onion. You must identify the target before they’re out of view.”

“I’m trying,” said Meg desperately, more to herself than anyone else. “They’re all dressed alike and I can’t see their faces.”

“It’s no good,” said Harvath over his throat mike as he watched the men finish filing into the tent.

“Target pool out of view,” came the voice of one of the sniper team spotters. “Awaiting instructions.”

“Damnit,” hissed Morrell over the team’s earpieces. “Stand by.”

Meg pulled the starlight scope from her face and slid down against the large boulder. “I blew it,” she said.

Harvath slid down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “You didn’t blow anything. Nobody could have called that shot. Their faces were completely covered.”

“So what do we do now?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do,” said Meg as she wiped the perspiration from her palms onto her fatigues.

“I think Morrell’s probably got no choice but to light that tent up like a roman candle.”

“If he does, how are we going to know for sure we got Nidal?”

“We might never know for sure, but we also might never get another chance like this.”

“In Chicago, you told me you wouldn’t just fire missiles into a bunch of people. You said you couldn’t. You said you had to know for sure you got him.”

“If Morrell decides to take out that tent, I would have to agree with him. It’s a good tactical decision.”

“But there’s innocent people in there.”

“Meg, calm down. The people in that tent are anything but innocent.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that? Do you know for a fact that the people helping set that tent up and who are probably serving a meal inside right now aren’t some hapless workers from the oasis town?”

“No, but this is a numbers game. We have to be willing to sacrifice a few for the benefit of the many. And better it be a few of theirs, than many of ours.”

“What about their families?”

Harvath was beginning to lose his patience. “What about your family? What if Hashim Nidal had been responsible for killing someone you cared about? How about your assistant, Judy? Do you want to let this guy slip through our fingers again only to hurt more innocent people than we might?”

“Of course not. But I want to know we did everything we could to nail him before another innocent person dies.”

“Well, you can sleep like an angel. Your conscience is clear. We did do everything we could.”

“No we didn’t.”

“What are you talking about?” said Harvath.

“It doesn’t matter if Nidal’s face is wrapped up tight. After what he tried to do to me on that plane, I’d know him just by his eyes.”

“You can’t make out anybody’s eyes from up here.”

“You’re right. But, from down there I could,” said Meg as she pointed her index finger over the water of the oasis and toward the tent.

45

This is, without a doubt, the mother of all bad ideas, said Harvath to himself as he and Meg Cassidy crept around the outer edge of the oasis toward the tent. Meg had convinced Morrell of her plan in no time. Of course it wasn’t a very tough sell. It seemed Morrell would sacrifice anybody and anything to accomplish his mission.

Harvath had gone along with Meg’s idea for one simple reason. If they had chosen to stay back and annihilate the tent from a distance, there would been no way of confirming that they had actually taken Hashim Nidal out. Sure, everyone inside would be dead, but what if Nidal had had a change of heart at the last minute and had sent someone else to conduct the meeting in his place? The other thing that bothered Harvath was that he was not so sure Nidal was who everybody thought he was.

It only took Harvath about two seconds longer than Morrell to realize that they didn’t have any other choice, and so he made his way with Meg into the darkness.

They were under cover of the two sniper teams the entire way. Their circuit took a painfully long time and was made even worse by the intermittent wind that kicked up enormous clouds of sand.

They had been creeping around the edge of the lush oasis, using the thick groves of palm trees for cover, when fifty meters away from their objective, Harvath held up his hand for Meg to stop. With two fingers, he pointed at his own eyes and then motioned toward the front of the tent. Meg shook her head No. It was no good. She wouldn’t be able to identify Nidal from this distance, not even with their night scopes. She wanted to be closer. She signaled Harvath that they should sneak nearer to the tent. Harvath immediately shook his head. Negative. They were already much closer than he had wanted to get.

Harvath indicated that they would stay where they were and wait. With two short abrupt movements, he again pointed at his eyes and then at the tent. Meg got the picture, but she didn’t like it. She again shook her head No. Harvath didn’t care what she thought and he firmly pointed to the ground at their feet. He was lowering from his crouched position to his knees and preparing to lay in behind a clump of tall oasis grass when Meg took off. It was the last thing Harvath had expected.