King nearly fell over. Ridley had been searching for Babel before he was even on their radar, before the mess with Hydra. And after all his searching, he’d found what he was looking for. “How deeply was he involved?”

“He would visit once, maybe twice a year. One time he came with Saddam himself. But that ended in 2003, when”—he motioned at the mass of boxes around him, but seemed to imply the base as a whole—“all this happened.”

“And what about the Hanging Gardens?” King asked. “Did he know about them?”

Rahim shook his head. “The site was discovered just before the war. I don’t believe he ever knew what we believed was buried there.”

Which is why he looked for the tower there, too, King thought. But when he didn’t find it, he set up shop temporarily and then moved on.

“And he wouldn’t have been told about the site in Turkey?” King asked.

“It was just a theory some of the archaeologists held and had nothing to do with the dig here,” Rahim said.

King nodded. It all made sense.

Light filled the room as Knight returned. “We’ll have a satellite over the area in twenty minutes and we’re cleared for a drop in Turkey. The Crescent is en route. We can be on the ground inside of three hours.”

“Thank you, Rahim. We’ll send someone to pick you up,” King said as he took the map and headed for the door. The others left ahead of him as Knight held the door.

Knight stopped King at the door. “Something’s going on back home. Deep Blue didn’t sound like himself.”

“How’d he sound?” King asked.

“Distracted.”

King knew about the media blitzkrieg back home and wondered how Duncan would handle it. If his distraction was noticeable on the phone, then he must be close to a solution. The man could handle just about anything thrown at him. He’d come up with a solution. He just hoped the solution would be permanent. The team needed Deep Blue. He ran the show for a reason. He couldn’t help wondering how things would have worked out if Duncan had been on board as Deep Blue. Rook might not be M.I.A. The dead Delta operators might still be alive. And Fiona might already be back in his arms.

But there was no time to think about Duncan. He’d figure out the problem without his help. Fiona, on the other hand, needed King, and needed him now. He stepped past Knight and headed for the waiting Hummer.

Chapter Seventy-Four

SEVENTY-THREE

Location Unknown