“Ted, we’ve tried buying people off, we’ve tried threatening them, and we’ve tried appealing to their consciences, but the people of Somalia don’t see anything wrong with piracy, so we’re not getting much cooperation.”

“Children romanticize pirates, Keller,” Graves said. “This is a national security issue. Ninety-five percent of the world’s manufactured goods travel by sea.”

“That’s exactly what the Somalis are saying. They literally see the world economy passing them by and they want a piece of it. They feel as if foreign powers have taken advantage of Somalia for years and piracy is their right.”

“I’m not interested in an imperialist apology tour. I need actionable intel.”

“I’m just giving you background, Ted. We’ve narrowed it down to two warlords. Badeed is a Hawiye clan leader and a founding father of the Somali pirate community. He and his crew were behind a lot of the hostage-taking a decade ago. We zeroed in on him initially, but a new and highly credible source has implicated Yaxaas, a Darood warlord.”

“Maybe they’re working together,” said Graves.

“Not likely,” said Pickens. “These two have been at each other’s throats for years.”

“Then you need to develop some new sources.”

“We could liaise with the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency,” Jake said.

“They’re no better than the warlords,” said Graves.

“Then we’re stuck,” said Pickens, “and we’re starting to feel some blowback from our investigation. Jake’s car got IED’d a few hours ago. If we keep working the streets, we’re both going to end up dead.”

“And I still won’t know who’s running the show . . .” Graves sat back in his chair. “Do either of you know of Giánnis Romanos?”

“Never heard of him,” Jake said. Pickens shook his head.

“He’s a Greek shipowner. Two of his tankers vanished in the Indian Ocean six months ago. The crews and ships were never heard from again and he contacted the U.S. Department of State.”

“Weren’t the ships insured?” Pickens asked.

“For more than they were worth,” Graves said, “but Romanos lost more than a couple of ships. His son was captain of the first one.”

“The disappearances fit the m.o. of our pirates,” Jake said, “but I don’t see how he can help us.”

“The pirates killed his only son. Men like Mr. Romanos don’t just move on. He wants this avenged.”

“And you didn’t mention this before, because . . .”

“Because I wanted to minimize outside involvement in the operation, but it sounds as if you two aren’t very good at your jobs, so we need to risk it. The Agency currently has two aircraft hangared in Mogadishu. I’ll authorize one to take you to Greece.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a great idea,” said Pickens. “Most of the players down here know who those aircraft belong to.”