Page 17 of Protecting You
“Right.” She returned to what she was doing.
“Or it could’ve been our guys. I don’t see the FBI attacking the way they did, or being surprised. But if they wanted it to look like it wasn’t them, then maybe.”
“Could it have been someone working off-book?”
“Maybe.”
“But that still begs the question, why me?”
“No matter who it was, thewhyisn’t that confusing. You were dining with a terrorist. That tends to set off alarm bells.”
“We weren’t ‘dining.’” She put air quotes around the word. “We were having a business meeting.”
“The distinction is irrelevant.”
“And anyway, whether it was FBI or Ghazi’s enemies, they moved very quickly. Either that or they knew about my meeting beforehand. But how could they have?”
“The FBI is surveilling Ghazi. Chances are good someone else is as well. Maybe someone—whoever it was—realized he’s been in contact with you. If they’ve bugged his comm?—”
“Wait a minute.” She stood and paced in front of the TV. “I’m confused. I thoughtyouwere the one watching him. Wasn’t that why you were there tonight?”
“That’s a long story.”
She made a show of looking around. “I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“Don’t you need to”—he gestured to her computer—“finish that?”
“The files are downloading.”
Should he tell her the truth? He considered the ramifications but couldn’t think of any reason not to.
“I got a call from a person who said Ghazi was going to be at that restaurant and thatsomebodywould be in danger.”
She froze and crossed her arms. “Notthatlong a story. Who called?”
“I think it was a man.”
“Youthink?” She propped her fists on her hips. “How do you not know?”
“The voice was distorted. The speech patterns made me believe it was a man, but of course a woman could alter her speech patterns, so…”
“Why would you follow an anonymous tip from a distorted voice? What if the person was setting you up? It could’ve been dangerous or?—”
“I was curious. The person said Ghazi was meeting someone at a restaurant in town, a target.”
“What target? What do you mean?”
It wasn’t that complicated.
After a moment, color drained from her face. “Wait. You thinkI’mthe target?”
“That’s what the voice said, but of what? And why? And why you?” He lifted his hand in a show ofwho knows?“I’ve never been assigned to Ghazi, and now that he’s in the US, the FBI is keeping tabs on him and his activities.” Until the tip, Callan hadn’t thought about Dariush Ghazi in months. But he’d done his homework on the way to the restaurant. “When did you and Ghazi set up the meeting?”
“Last night. He flew in yesterday.”
“FYI, he’s been in the country for months. But if the appointment was only set up yesterday?—”
“Last night. He called about seven.”
