The Bin Laden Plot

“I understand,” Christine replied. “I’ve already limited this topic to my DD, DDO, and DDA, and the personnel required to analyze the UUV information.”

“Excellent,” the president said. He offered an encouraging smile, in light of the upcoming presidential election and the potentially devastating effect a scandal involving his secretary of the Navy could have on the outcome. His thoughts then shifted to the other potential dark cloud hanging over his administration.

“How about the bin Laden issue?” he asked. “Have you made any progress?”

“Not yet,” Christine replied. “But we have a team about to land in Kuwait to pursue the matter.”

34 FARWANIYA, KUWAIT

Jake Harrison reclined in his leather seat as the Dassault Falcon executive jet began its descent toward Kuwait International Airport. Twelve hours earlier, the jet had lifted off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, banking east toward the Atlantic Ocean. Configured to transport a dozen passengers, it carried only Khalila and Harrison today, along with a CIA case officer named Asad Durrani, a naturalized citizen from Pakistan. This was only the second time Harrison had met the man, but it was obvious that Khalila had worked with him many times before.

Durrani pulled three manila envelopes from his briefcase and handed one to Harrison. “This contains your alias identification documents. Same as last time.”

Harrison examined the contents: a birth certificate, Social Security card, driver’s license, passport, and credit cards issued under his alias, the same one he had used in Damascus and Sochi.

Dan Connolly.

Durrani handed an empty envelope for Harrison to deposit his true identification and credit cards in, which Durrani then sealed and placed in his briefcase.

The second packet he provided was labeled Background, which contained a thick printout of Harrison’s fake personal history: hometown, friends, education, employment history, and residences. The third packet was labeled Cover, which contained information on his employment in Bluestone Security, a CIA-owned company engaged in legitimate business dealings as well as government-funded weapon sales to approved organizations and countries. Harrison was the assistant director of procurement, en route to Kuwait in search of a supply of cheap and untraceable weapons from various foreign manufacturers — whatever suited Bluestone’s customers’ desires.

Regarding Khalila’s cover, nothing had changed. She was a translator contracted to Bluestone Security and other companies in need of a Middle Eastern or South/Central Asian linguist. Her supposed employment by a CIA-owned company was crucial to her cover, since she often stopped by Langley without any attempt to conceal her visits. During their trip to Syria a few months earlier, Khalila had explained that her ties to the CIA were highlighted instead of hidden.

Many of Khalila’s contacts in the Middle East lived in societies that considered women property. In some of those countries, women weren’t even allowed to drive and needed a man’s permission to get married, travel abroad, apply for a passport, or even to open a bank account. As an ordinary woman in those societies, she’d have no chance of attending the high-level meetings necessary to obtain the sensitive information the CIA desired.

Working for the CIA opened doors for Khalila. She had valuable information — insight into who the CIA sources were, both prisoners and agents, and what information had been divulged. That made her a valuable asset for numerous Middle Eastern organizations and governments. Of course, the information she was allowed to divulge was carefully selected by the Directorate of Analysis; enough to prove her bona fides without jeopardizing American interests.

Harrison had found Khalila’s explanation both interesting and alarming. She had essentially admitted that she was a double agent, feeding sensitive information to both sides. Although the CIA believed her allegiance was to the U.S., how did they know for sure? When it really mattered, would Khalila protect America or enable a devastating terrorist plot against it?

As Harrison finished reviewing his alias and background material, he wondered what the plan was this time once they landed in Kuwait. Unlike in Damascus, they weren’t attempting to track down a weapon procurement Mixell had made, where Harrison’s weapon expertise might help. They were searching for information about a prisoner taken from the Abbottabad compound years ago. How, exactly, was he supposed to assist?

Khalila was far from the friendliest woman he had met, but she had been unusually quiet since they had been assigned to the Kuwait mission, barely saying a word to him since they left the conference room at Langley. During their flight to Damascus a few months ago, Khalila had explained the plan. On this flight, however, she hadn’t spoken to him at all, even though she was sitting beside him in the window seat.