“And what’s the current status of the search?”

“The Office of Homeland Security is working through its protocol. Law enforcement’s on full alert. They’re looking—the import documents in question have been identified, and traces are being done now. But it’s only been twenty-four hours. We’re nowhere near the discovery phase in this thing. In twelve hours we may have traces complete, but very few searches, if any.” Ingersol bit his lower lip.

“No one hears about this last message, you understand?”

Ingersol nodded and flipped his hair back again.

“Good. Give the Rangers the clearance to sweep the valley. We go for anything that lives in that compound. If Abdullah does have a bomb, we’re risking him detonating it the minute we attack, but I don’t see our choice at this point. Anything from the satellites yet?”

“Nothing except cocaine fields. If they have anything else down there, it’s hidden.”

“And no word of Casius?”

“None.”

“Then we go for Abdullah Amir or whoever is sending these crazy messages. I’m going to recommend that all southern ports be closed until we get a better feel for the situation. We’ll call it a drill or something. We’ve got to shake something loose.” He lost himself in thought for a moment. They all knew it was simply a matter of time before a terrorist finally found a way to get a nuclear bomb into the United States. The World Trade Center collapse would look like a warm-up exercise.

Ingersol stood. “I’ll get on this. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

SHANNON RICHTERSON ran through the jungle barefoot, under a black fog of confusion. Above the canopy, the sun shone in a blue sky, but in his mind light barely reached his thoughts.

Sherry was Tanya. Tanya was alive. He could hardly manage the notion. Tanya Vandervan alive. And filled with anger at him. Couldn’t she see that he was doing what so few in the world had the stomach to do?

What would she have him do? Kneel beside Abdullah and pray that he lie down and kill himself. Shannon grunted at the thought.

She only knew the half of it. If she really knew what was happening here, she might kill Abdullah herself. Or kill Jamal.

Jamal had to die. If he did nothing else here in the jungle, he would put Jamal to death.

Shannon pulled up near the edge of Soledad, breathing heavy, hands on hips.

In reality it was he who made the difference in the real world. The world was filled with treachery and the only way to face such an evil was with treachery itself. It had been one of the first lessons he’d learned from the natives as a boy. Fight violence with violence.

But Tanya . . .

Tanya had come up with this nonsense about dying.