The Bin Laden Plot

“Good,” Christine said. “What about Failaka Island? How do we keep Michigan’s involvement secure?”

“That’s been taken care of,” Rolow said. “We tasked them directly through the UUV communication channel. No one else knows. Failaka Island is within their assigned waterspace, so they can execute the mission without additional Navy authorization or suspicion. The SEALs won’t know the real reason for their operation, although we’ll have to manage things if the Abbottabad prisoner is actually at Failaka Island.”

Rolow glanced at Bryant. “Monroe and I will plan the mission details ourselves. We’ll need to lay things out carefully, including how to handle the critical issue — what do we do if the prisoner is there? Does the team simply verify that fact and leave, or do they extract him? If we extract him, what do we do with him?”

“There are several sticky issues we need to work through,” Bryant added. “We’ll brief you on the plan and get your concurrence to proceed by tomorrow evening.”

Christine nodded her understanding.

McFarland spoke next. “There are two issues I have updates on. The first is related to the effort to verify the body buried in the Arabian Sea is Osama bin Laden’s. Arrangements have been made for a deep submergence vessel and its support ship. In two days, it should be on station above the location where bin Laden was supposedly buried. A portable DNA analysis kit and technician will be aboard the ship, so the analysis of the sample can take place immediately and under direct CIA control. That brings up the question — who’s going to be there?”

Christine canvassed the three other persons at the table. Rolow and Bryant would be tied up preparing for and then executing the Failaka Island mission, as would McFarland, providing analysis support. It appeared that Christine had the least pressurized schedule. After briefing the president tomorrow morning, she could board a flight to the Persian Gulf.

She hadn’t really thought about the issue until this moment, then realized it was the right answer. She wanted to be there when the DNA sample results were displayed on the machine. No secondhand reports.

“I’ll go,” she said.

“I’ll have Becky,” McFarland said, referring to Deputy Director for Support Becky Rock, “make your travel arrangements.”

McFarland added, “I have one more update, this one concerning the investigation into Secretary Verbeck. We’re analyzing the UUV data but have found nothing of interest to date. Of particular relevance, however, is that her maiden name is Snyder. Her brother is billionaire Dan Snyder.”

McFarland paused to let the information sink in. Christine knew that Brenda came from a rich and influential family but hadn’t realized that she and Dan Snyder were siblings.

“We’ve looked into Dan Snyder’s business dealings, and there are several lucrative ones in the Persian Gulf, our area of interest. No smoking gun yet, but we’re digging into the details.”

“Good work, Tracey. Hopefully, we can make sense of the SecNav-UUV issue soon.”

“That’s all I’ve got for now,” McFarland said.

As their meeting neared the end, Christine’s thoughts returned to their VTC and the fiery exchange between Rolow and Khalila. Until a few minutes ago, Christine hadn’t known that Khalila Dufour wasn’t the woman’s real name. Rolow had withheld that information. But that probably wasn’t all that unusual within the agency. Still, she was curious.

“What is Khalila’s true identity?”

Rolow replied, “That discussion will take a while. I’ll put an appointment on your calendar.”

After Christine agreed, Rolow asked, “Is there anything else you need?”

Christine shook her head, then Rolow departed, along with Bryant.

* * *

When only the two women remained in the conference room, McFarland said, “He’s not going to tell you who Khalila is. You’re not the first director who’s asked, and he’s avoided answering all these years.”

“Do you know who she is?” Christine asked.

“Nope. I can’t access her file.”

Christine was surprised at the admission. “Not even the deputy director for analysis can crack the file open?”

“I don’t know where it is. It’s not with the other personnel files. It’s hidden somewhere, and it doesn’t come up under a search for Khalila Dufour.”

“You’ve been snooping?”

McFarland nodded. “Rolow treats her differently from the other field officers, so I wondered why. Not being able to locate her file adds to the intrigue.”

She leaned back in her chair, eyeing Christine. “There’s one more topic I need to discuss with you,” she said. “It’s about the SecNav investigation. We’ve discovered one other rather interesting fact about Brenda Verbeck.” She leaned toward Christine. “She dated Rolow for five years.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Not at all. You think he would have mentioned it.”

“I agree. Have you discussed this with him yet?”

McFarland shook her head. “I wanted to talk with you first, see how you wanted to proceed.”

“What’s the normal protocol for something like this?”