The Minders (16 page)

Back at the safe house, Gideon was evaluating maps and notes from his crew’s analysis of The Cultural Center and its surroundings. The maps detailed all entry and exit routes, local businesses with their work schedules, the nearest fire and police department, the revolutionary guard stations, the nearest mosques, and the electric grid substation. Included in the report were the neighborhood phone junction boxes and much more. These guys had found, marked, and identified anything and everything, which could be a point of failure or of value during an urban assault. You can tell by the details that these guys had done this work before, many times. To be sure, Jason had done his own analysis separately. With all the notes on the table, they sat down to collectively review their findings.

“Your guys are very thorough,” Jason commented.

He kept reading, took more notes, and queried the crew on other entry point possibilities. Seated around the table, they were arguing and discussing point and counter-points.

“I wish we had an inside man,” Gideon said with a sense of urgency.

I know a guy
, Jason thought.

Jason pondered for a while and eventually decided it would be best to share information about Parvaresh, even though it was giving up another advantage, possibly his last.

“I know an inside man that might be of use to us.”

He described how he came about finding him, from the pings and GPS coordinates, to his home and name. 

“So, you’re saying that this guy is pinging his location to you guys every fifteen minutes?” Gideon was surprised, cracking a grin from ear to ear.

“Who’s the smart guy behind that bit of intelligence?”

Jason had more news to share, earlier having stopped by the café to check on his emails, and to send other emails.

“It is definitely my godson and he is alive.” He showed them a line item from the new ping package he had received, explaining Bobby’s nickname, and the other nicknames that belonged to a husband and daughter whom he wanted to save as well.

Gideon stood up a bit irritated. “Jason, we can’t save everybody. We are there for The Center and its data. You are responsible for the people. We’ll help as much as we can, but in the end, you’re on your own.”

“I have it covered.” Jason said. He just needed support getting in and out of the building.

“Good, now tell me about the inside man,” Gideon said, nodding in agreement.

Jason offered his detailed thoughts on Parvaresh, including his work schedule, details about his home, his likes and hobbies. He added information he had gleaned from items in the apartment. They decided that Parvaresh would be the man to use or squeeze for details on floor plans, head count, security, and anything else they needed. The upcoming Thursday would be the day to execute their plans. Thursday night, the beginning of the weekend, was the laziest night of the week in Iran.

One of Gideon’s men became responsible for shadowing Parvaresh. They continued with several more days of planning, with Thursday right around the corner.

*  *  *

Thursday afternoon. Parvaresh dropped off his dry-cleaning, and picked up a take home order from his favorite kebab joint. He was on his way home to enjoy a bit of rest, a hot meal, and maybe some satellite television, keeping his language skills fresh. He drove into his underground garage, parked, and fetched his belongings for an elevator ride to his floor. On his floor, walking down the hallway, he could hear the radio in one apartment, a couple arguing in another and the neighbor child crying next to his apartment. Sounds were low and only as you walked by or stood near the doors. He was happy to be at the end of the hall. He liked to listen to his music a bit loud.

Scanning the door jam and frame, he placed his key in the door, unlocked it, and stepped inside. He placed his briefcase by the door. Walking into the kitchen, he placed the takeout food on the counter. He wanted to dress into something more comfortable for dinner. He walked to his room, to the closet, and opened the door, finding a masked man standing in front of him. He froze, just briefly. Before he could make a move, a spray of knockout gas put him out. He fell to the ground after just one breath, instantly.

Gideon dragged Parvaresh to the kitchen and placed him in a chair. Taking off his gas mask, he bound the unconscious man’s hands and feet. He then opened the front door for the others who were waiting outside. Jason and another of Gideon’s men walked in, closing the door behind them. Gideon’s man placed a worn, well-used leather doctor’s bag on the table, from which he pulled out a necklace bomb and several other items. He placed the necklace around Parvaresh’s neck, closing the clasp and moving the three combination dials randomly into lock position. He then snapped open a smelling salt ampule and stuck it under Parvaresh’s nose. Parvaresh’s eyes opened wide. He was confused but alert. He took a deep breath. Tied to the chair, he calmly and quickly began to gauge his surroundings, measuring everyone, scanning for weapons, looking for solutions.

“Wake up!” Gideon yelled in Farsi, smacking the man’s face.

“How are you feeling?” He grabbed the necklace, pulling it forward a bit.

“Should you get further than five meters from us, the necklace bomb will go off. The explosion is small but large enough to take your head off! Now we have several questions.”

Parvaresh took several minutes to gain his composure. He was still analyzing. Moving his head and neck around he felt some object tight around his neck. He moved his chin up and down, getting a feel for the size of the item. He turned his head to see his reflection in the window, to get a visual on the item. He clearly recognized the design and origin.

“You are Israeli! Yes?” he asked in Farsi. He asked again, in English.

Gideon replied in Farsi. 

“Just speak in English. I can always use the practice. Don’t bother with Farsi,” Parvaresh continued in English.

“Either way, the questions are the same,” Gideon responded.

“So what now? Are you going to torture me?” Parvaresh asked calmly.

“No. We’re going to ask you some questions, and then we shall ask more, and maybe more after that. If you’re truthful we will leave you be. Let’s start with where you work.”

Parvaresh gave a long, passionate, well-rehearsed speech about his work at a cultural center. He gave tours to people around Tehran. The books were for learning about the tourists. He loved his job, and he loved interacting with foreigners.

“You are too calm, with a bomb around your neck, to be a tour guide,” Gideon said moving his chair closer.

Gideon stuck an ice pick into the man’s thigh to let him know they wouldn’t be patronized. Parvaresh, with his lips quivering, nearly screamed with pain, but bit down hard instead, keeping completely quiet.

“See, I knew you weren’t a tour guide. A tour guide would have pissed his pants right about now.” Gideon pulled out the ice pick. He asked him again, the same question. Parvaresh spewed out more details about his career, his favorite tours, tour locations, and his love of English.

“I would love to take you on a tour of the old Shah’s palace someday.” Parvaresh smirked.

Gideon dragged the chair with Parvaresh in it, against the wall, removing the painting on the wall above him. He then grabbed a small, full IV from the doctor’s bag and hung it on the nail used to hold the painting. He tapped on Parvaresh’s arm, looking for a vein. Having found one, he stuck the IV needle into the vein. He then stabbed him in the other thigh with the ice pick.

“That’s for wasting my time. And, to raise your adrenaline so the meds could go through your body faster.”

Gideon went to the kitchen for a drink, to allow the drugs to do their thing. He opened the fridge and found a nice cold beer. He sat at the dining room table chatting with Jason about this new experimental drug they’ve been using and how it worked. It created this warming sensation, feeling hotter and hotter as though acid was flowing through the body. It literally boils your blood inside your body. It will not kill you, but can cause severe brain damage if too much is given or for too long. He points to a second IV on the table as being the coolant, the only cure.

They were all staring at Parvaresh. He was sweating. His skin tone was changing to shades of pink and red. He kept biting down on his lips, clenching his fists, trying his best to endure the pain. He lasted almost ten minutes, before begging to have it stopped. He answered the first question truthfully. Gideon stopped the IV flow, and added the second IV as a coolant. Jason asked him several control questions, about Bobby, the other prisoners, and the Biologicals. Parvaresh began to lie again. Gideon switched the IV flows, for five more minutes. In pain, he started to shake and beg for relief. The process started and stopped several more times, until the truth started spattering out in sentences and paragraphs.

They asked questions about the building. Starting with the outside, with which they were already familiar, followed by detailed questions about which they knew very little. Parvaresh seemed to be cooperating. All control questions matched the answers. They would validate all other questions in short order. They spent over three hours with Parvaresh getting what they needed, with one major snag. The employee entry system used a swipe card in combination with a biometric iris scanner.

“Well, we shall just gouge out both eyes and off we go.” Gideon asserted.

“A dead eye won’t work,” Parvaresh painfully said, “The scanner checks geometry as well as dilation.”

They had to drag him along and alive. They quickly increased the coolant solution and added a saline solution to help dilute the chemicals, to make sure he did not die before opening The Center doors.

Gideon sent his man ahead to pass the intelligence to the others waiting at the site, to help finalize the entry points. There would be three entering as planned, and three others entering through the main employee door, in the parking lot behind the building, Parvaresh being one of them.

*  *  *

Within the hour, the group was prepped and ready for the assault.

It was past midnight on Thursday. Jason and Gideon cleaned Parvaresh up, preparing him for a drive to The Center. They tied his hands behind his back. Placing a nice roomy jacket over him and zipping it all the way up. They added a shawl around his neck and a ski hat on his head. He looked wrapped and goofy, but was ready to go, nice and cozy. Jason walked the halls several times, as well as the staircase. There was no activity in the building. He waved down the hall to Gideon, signaling the move.

Gideon grabbed Parvaresh and started walking down the hall. Parvaresh was still feeling the heat throughout every blood vessel. His thighs were in pain, sore and bleeding. He needed help walking, and leaned heavily on Gideon. Jason caught up to them, moving to the other side of Parvaresh, grabbing him by the pant belt. They moved down several flights of stairs, to the garage. They placed him in Parvaresh’s car, Jason with him in the back and Gideon driving.

*  *  *

They went by the café for a quick email stop. Jason lifted his cell phone up towards the car window, moving left to right, searching for a strong Wi-Fi signal. He let several emails piggyback the Wi-Fi out of the country. On verification, he tapped Gideon on the back, and off they went to The Center.

They drove into the employee parking lot. There was a license plate reader scanning the car. Gideon opened the window, sliding Parvaresh’s magnetic card through the card-reader. The heavy gate began to open. The car went through, with one of Gideon’s men following on foot, placing a small device on the gate hinges, then running up to the car, signaling the number ten. He then quickly ran out before the gate closed.

“We have to wait for ten minutes,” Gideon whispered in Jason’s direction.

*  *  *

Ten minutes later, at the local mosque several blocks away, there was a large explosion. The mosque was getting ready for Friday prayers. People were working to clean the place, laying out the carpets and preparing for the thousand or so worshipers. The police, ambulances, and fire engines rolled in from all directions, converging on the mosque. Gideon and Jason kept a close eye on their building looking for any movement, an open door, an office light coming on or off, but there was nothing. They stepped out of the car, got Parvaresh on his feet and walked towards the employee entrance. At the door, Jason slid the card, with Gideon placing Parvaresh’s face near the biometric reader.  Parvaresh stared into the reader. First, there was a low-level red flash, followed by a redline scan, up and down and then side to side. Parvaresh blinked twice and moved his head back. The door opened.

*  *  *

At The Center’s main guardroom, on level B2, the alarm jolted the guard on duty. He sat straight, scanning all the monitors. He quickly found the monitor covering the employee entrance where the alarm originated. The scanner had read the two winks as a coded message, one employee with two extra and unwanted visitors. The guard sounded the internal silent alarm. Several guards, fully armed with automatic guns, left their dorm rooms moving towards the main guard duty room. They were there to get their orders and to place themselves in the best spot for a counter move. They watched as Jason and Gideon slowly moved Parvaresh down the corridor towards the staircase. Several of the armed men ran out to position themselves. The remainder kept watching for others. They kept watching as Jason, Gideon and Parvaresh walked past B1 and towards B2.

Having seen no others on any other monitor, the remaining men moved out to support the first set of guards.

*  *  *

Gideon’s three other Mossad agents had specked out a roof entrance, which they had accessed via a zip line from the commercial building on the backside. The roof was a necessary entrance, given that they had to disable the satellite and microwave communications links. It was the last of the communication systems. Earlier, they had placed explosive devices inside the neighborhood telephone junction boxes. Communications could be cut in an instant should it be required. They bypassed the alarm system triggers on the roof door and began making their way down to B2.

Jason and Gideon were near level B2.

*  *  *

The armed guards waited patiently for the B2 stairwell door to open. They heard second by second updates from the main control room. Gideon was the first to step out, followed by Parvaresh and Jason behind him. All three were now on level B2. Within seconds, lights inundated them from several directions, with the guards yelling in Farsi, ordering them to get down. Moments later, the ceiling lights went on and all was visible. Guards had fully surrounded them.

The duty guard from the surveillance booth was also out watching the commotion, missing the other three Mossad agents coming down the stairs, closing in on them.

Two guards moved onto each man on the ground, zip tying their hands and legs. When reaching for Parvaresh they saw his tied hands, so they merely zipped his legs. Parvaresh started yelling at the guards. He was a prisoner of these two Israelis. The booth guard brought out a portable biometric reader. Rolling Parvaresh over, he scanned his iris, confirming his identity.

“Well, you are who you say you are but you’ll still be tied. However, you may sit.” Two guards lifted Parvaresh and began moving him towards the guardroom.

Gideon started counting, winking at Jason. “One meter … two meters … three meters … four meters … five meters.”

There was a sudden explosion around the corner. Half of Parvaresh’s neck was missing. His jaw was hanging on his face by some strips of skin and muscle, blood was squirting everywhere. Suddenly the blood flow stopped and he fell dead to the ground. The guards escorting him were in shock, gawking at the disfigured body, with blood splattered all over their faces. The other guards started running towards them. They were circling the body wondering what just happened, talking amongst themselves as a few cleaned their faces with their shirtsleeves, far away from the stairwell.

At that very moment, the stairwell door to level B2 quietly opened again.

Having cleaned up a little, the guards decided to go back to collect the other two, now more cautiously. They walked back and around the corner, right into three men pointing guns at them. A quick barrage of silenced gunfire later, the four guards fell dead.

One agent stayed behind to release Jason and Gideon, as the others ran around the corner to be sure no other guards remained. In the control room, they killed three more guards.

Having cleared the room and general area, one sat down to operate the security monitors, to keep an eye out for more guards and to monitor the premises.

With Jason and Gideon free, the plan was once again on track. Gideon took one of his men to B1, the data center. While Jason and another of Gideon’s crew stayed on B2, looking for prisoners.