“Got over a dozen responses from the wired picture of the Akim kid, but, in all cases, they’re outside the cone of possibility. He couldn’t have gotten there that fast by car. So I low-prioritize them. There are many reports of stolen cars, but nothing unusual in them, no way of knowing if one of them was taken by Juba and Akim. We have upgraded priorities on the license numbers of those taken after Imam el-Tariq put in his call to Akim and warned him of the spy. El-Tariq said that was about six p.m., and on his phone there indeed was a call to a number at six-oh-seven p.m. confirmed as Jared Akim’s.”

“And I’m guessing there’s no further intercept data on that phone. Surely Juba would be smart enough to destroy it.”

“That’s correct.”

“And there’s no intercept intelligence from the phones or emails to Akim’s parents or any of the seven friends we’ve identified?”

“Nothing, chief.”

“Mr. Gold, do you think he’ll split up from the kid? He’s used to operating alone.”

“He’s used to shooting alone. He’s used to escaping alone. But in all his operations, even going back to his housecleaning for Assam’s henchmen, he was serviced, transported, and sustained by an in-place network. He is used to having a chaperone. He is a star, in other words, and is used to people doing things for him. He’s the artist, he has to be free to create.”

“He sounds more like a director than a sniper,” said Nick, but ‘Director’ had a different meaning to the staff than to movie-crazed Nick, so nobody laughed.

“I believe he already has a new network in place and will work quickly to find it,” continued Gold. “This situation would be among the eventualities he planned for. As I see this, I think he has to go from network to network to keep advancing. Might I suggest you assign someone to find organizations capable of sustaining him over the next month or two, getting him what he needs, transporting him, assisting him in his movements and his logistical needs. I could guess, furthermore, that it will be a criminal organization, but it won’t be radically Islamic in tone or tendency.”

“Yeah, good,” said Nick. “And that’s also more indication of the money behind this op. If he’s got a criminal organization helping him, that kind of work doesn’t come cheap.”

Gold nodded.

“I’ll forward a memo to our gang intelligence people to be on the lookout for any kind of pattern of unusual activity.”

“I agree.”

“Meanwhile, we wait. But we have to anticipate. Mr. Swagger, what’re your thoughts?”