Chapter 21Langley, Virginia“According to our satellite, they are 120 miles short
of the border with Iraq,” the Director of Satellite Monitoring in
California informed his counterpart at the CIA headquarters.
“Got you. How did you manage to pick them up?”
“We got a signal from a satellite phone. When the name
‘Bal’Ashtu’ was mentioned, it triggered an alert. We tried to listen
in, but the reception was bad. Even enhanced, it was difficult to
decipher.”
The Director moved the phone to his other ear as he
scrolled down the computer screen. “But we got lucky. Whoever it was then
said, and it was quite clear, ‘They are crossing the frontier at Al
Uwayqilah, and Bal’Ashtu is making her way to Mosul…’”
“They’re still in Saudi Arabia?” the CIA operative
asked, at the same time diallin
