“What good will that do?” Luke said.

“If he makes it that far, it’s possible that corrupt border guards and the Syrian military will accept payoffs from him, and smuggle him and his men to the Turkish border. Perhaps they can obtain new identities along the way. If they make it to Turkey with some of their millions, and with new identities, then they might as well be in Europe at that point.”

Luke looked at Bill. “What are the chances of that happening?”

Bill shrugged. “He’s been pretty good so far. My guess is he could make it, but it would take a lot of bloodletting to pull it off.”

“How many human shields does he have?” Ed Newsam said. It seemed like the first serious comment or question he had made since Luke met him.

“We think probably at least fifty,” Montgomery said. “And he will certainly kill all of them if he has to. He’s desperate, he’s shown no compunction about killing, and if anything, he seems to have, shall we say, an increasing appetite for it.”

“So what’s next?” Luke said.

“You guys get some rest and some decent food in your stomachs,” Radis said. “We’ll get our informant cleaned up a bit—that will probably take a few hours. He’s had a couple of long question and answer sessions he’s sleeping off.”

Luke glanced at Bill again. Big Daddy made a face to indicate disapproval, or possibly disgust. Big Daddy was known as an unpleasant interrogator. Among that group, most were dispassionate, almost like scientists carrying out experiments on rodents. In Luke’s experience, Bill seemed to take an active dislike of his subjects. The more he hurt them, the more he started to hate them.

“The informant believes he knows exactly where Parr is,” Montgomery said. “That was another fact we didn’t want to transmit. Tomorrow morning, before first light, we would like you gentlemen to go in there.”

“Arrest Parr?” Luke said.

Big Daddy did a small head shake.

“If he’ll see reason,” Radis said. “Sure, arrest him if you like. We’ll take it from there.” Briefly, Luke thought of the CIA black site that existed at Bagram air base in Afghanistan. Something told him that the justice Parr was going to see wasn’t going to involve a judge and jury back in the United States.

“Edwin Lee Parr is beyond reason,” Montgomery said.

* * *

Trudy Wellington riffled through some papers on the desk.

“The man we’re about to see is Davis Cole, thirty-six years old. Ex-Marine with combat experience in several theaters. Ex-convict who served thirty months in the New York State prison system for manslaughter. The case apparently involved a fist fight that started in a Manhattan bar—the result of an argument over the results of a professional hockey game.”

“I guess he won that argument,” Ed Newsam said.