I know I have gone on too long and that this is not the proper channel for this communication and I apologize. I am fearful now, but I believe that we have been given a great opportunity for justice. Whether they are watching me, I don’t know, but I am certain that I can find a way to disappear for a few hours if necessary. I look forward to seeing you soon.

THE NOTE WAS… PERFECT. Like everything else Rashid had given them. She forwarded it to Cota without comment. Three minutes later, he walked into her office.

“We’ve got to get a tracker on him. One they won’t find even if they strip him down again.”

“The pills could be the best way. They won’t check those twice.”

“Or he can tell them that he needs to bring some medical equipment this time. Point is, we want options for him when we meet him, and that’s going to take a couple days. Let’s aim for next week. At Holux.” Holux was a small CIA base near the Pakistani border. Two dozen CIA officers and contractors lived there, mostly directing drone strikes.

“You want to meet him on our base?”

“At least ten people are gonna be at this thing, Marci—”

“Too many.”

“Let him drive over the border, leave his car in Jalalabad, and we’ll pick him up and sneak him in.”

“Are you sure about this, Manny?”

“You don’t like it, you hand it off. I’m through debating. I reread the whole package, the walk-in, the surveillance in Amman, everything. And not just me. Both the Teds and Big Mike”—three of the top officers in the DO—“have looked it over. We agree. Marburg is clean. Marburg is gold.”