He waited for the phone to shake hands with the satellite, then for the bounce down to her location. Beep… Beep… Beep… Satellite phones always made him a little leery. He knew it was silly. It was a holdover from the days when drones could use the satellite uplink signal to lock on ground targets. In those days, a man with a satellite phone was holding a big red bulls-eye. But now, it hardly mattered. The newest drones could lock on to cell phones, laptops, GPS units, almost anything.

Hello? a voice said. It was Trudy. She sounded like she was speaking from the bottom of a tin can. Luke?

Trudy. Look. Were at the site of the van. There are two suspects here, both dead. A cop told me theyve taken DNA and fingerprints from them. Connect with whoever can get you inside the loop on that. When those identifications come through, I want them.

Will do, Luke. But listen. Swann is getting almost real-time information from inside the Iranian mission. Theyre bringing Ali Nassar to the airport today. They want him out of the country. All indications are that the jet waiting for him has clearance to take off at 3:30 p.m.

Luke looked at his watch. It was 2:05.

Jesus. Can we stop him?

I talked with Ron Begley about this, she said. He laughed. He said Homeland Security wont touch it. As far as theyre concerned, the man is a diplomat and had nothing to do with the attacks. Theres no evidence it was Iran, and they dont want to risk another international incident today.

Dammit! Luke said. Nassar was the one remaining link to the attack and Ron Begley was going to let him walk away. What the… what about the local cops?

No dice, she said. Theyve already said that if Homeland doesnt want him, they dont have jurisdiction. And theyre overstretched as it is. Practically the entire police force has been mobilized, guarding every train station and every public place. Ali Nassar is your obsession, Luke. No one else cares.

So be it, Luke said. Ill stop him myself.

From there? she said.

Luke shook his head, then realized she couldnt see him. No. Were on our way back to New York. If we gun it, we should get there just in time. I want people outside the Iranian mission, reporting in as soon as Nassar leaves.

Well, there are a couple more things you should know, Trudy said. Theyre planning to go to the airport in an armed convoy of SUVs.