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The white patch was skin. Which was to say, the dark skin of the man’s face was make-up. The picture showed clearly where the make-up smudged and smeared at the guy’s collar, revealing definitely Caucasian skin at the base of his neck.

“Look at his facial features,” she breathed. “His bone structure. He looks European, not North African.”

“What the hell is El Noor doing, using white guys who know Krav Maga to impersonate a Sudanese street gang?” Ian demanded.

“I guess we have our proof that El Noor is a whole lot more than a Sudanese slum lord.”

Ian nodded. “If he can credibly fake an entire street gang, he’s fully capable of orchestrating a major terrorist attack.”

“Who is he?”

“That’s a question for later. Right now, we have to figure out where he’s launching his attack.”

She stared at him. “Do you think El Noor is pointing Yusef Abahdi and—“ her voice hitched a little, “—my father at the same target or at two different targets?”

“Good question.” Ian frowned at her, obviously thinking hard.

“We think Yusef has already launched his attack. And that airplane looked ready to go, to me. Whatever your…the PHP…is planning seems imminent. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I got the impression your father was trying to delay us.

Like he planned to keep us at the compound for a day or two. ”

“To keep us out of the way while the PHP’s attack goes down?” she asked in dismay.

“Or while they finish preparing for it,” he added.

“So we’re talking hours or days and not weeks until the PHP strikes?”

“Yes, that would be my guess,” he answered grimly.

Piper flinched involuntarily but had to agree with him.

She picked up Ian’s train of thought. “There’s a built-in delay to the biological attack while the virus incubates and spreads.

Could El Noor be planning another attack, one launched by the PHP to coincide with when the virus starts to go active? ”

Ian grimaced. “It’s diabolical.”

“It would maximize the effectiveness of the biological attack,” she replied. Both of them glanced at the still image of the Caucasian street thug frozen on the computer screen.

“El Noor’s men seem to prize efficiency. It’s probably safe to extrapolate that their boss is the same,” Ian said grimly.

They stared at one another in shared dismay. This was not good. Not good at all.

“I gotta call this in,” he announced.

While he made the call, her mind raced. Now what? Where was El Noor pointing his two-pronged attack? What American city was in the crosshairs?

Partway through his report, Ian stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. She winced. Reporting on her connection to the PHP, no doubt. Oh, well. It had been a great career while it lasted.

He stepped back into the room, pocketing his phone.

“Am I officially fired, yet?” she asked in resignation.

“Not that I’m aware of. Why would you ask that?”

She blinked up at Ian. “You told them about my connection to the PHP, didn’t you?”

“Nah,” he shrugged. “It’ll work its way through channels quickly enough. Your boss will tell my boss when the time is right. And at the moment, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

She stared at him hard, trying to suss out if he was telling her the truth or not. Or was he just smoothing things over for now so she would spill her guts to him? His expression didn’t give away a thing.

She asked in resignation, “Did HQ have any information for us?”

“Did you know your old man has a private pilot’s license?” Ian asked abruptly.

“What? No way.”

“Got it a few months ago.”

“You’re kidding,” she blurted.

“And the new guy. The one with the beard. Name’s Matt Bradley. Turns out he’s ex-Army. Chopper pilot.”

“The helicopter the PHP bought,” she exclaimed.

“Why does an anti-technology cult need both a fixed-wing plane and a helicopter?” Ian mused.

“More to the point, what kind of terrorist attacks can be launched from airborne platforms?” she added. “Do you suppose the virus hasn’t been released yet, and they’re planning to use the aircraft to, I don’t know, spray it over a city?”

“Possible. But why would Abahdi go to all the trouble of developing a virus with a lot of spread vectors if all they had to do was spray it on folks? And furthermore, I didn’t see crop dusting gear in the shop or in the plane.”

She frowned. “Look. I know you don’t want to believe me. But I can’t accept that my father and brother would knowingly release a lethal virus on thousands of fellow Americans. They may dislike the government and modern technology, but they consider themselves to be patriots.”

Ian scowled at her but his expression was far away. Eventually, he muttered, “We can’t exactly go back into the PHP compound and search for coolers of killer virus.”

“As far as I know, there’s no refrigeration of any kind in the compound.”

“As far as you knew, there weren’t airplanes and electronic surveillance systems, either,” Ian snapped.

She subsided with a sigh. She wasn’t going to win any argument in which she tried to convince him her family wasn’t a bunch of radical terrorists.

“You’re right about one thing. We can’t go back there.

They’ll be bristling like a hornet’s nest after we snuck out like that.

My dad’s suspicious by nature and no dummy.

He knows I’ve been opposed to his views for years, and now he knows I’ve been watching him. ”

“I doubt he bought the newlywed story, then. Which means he’ll also suspect that I’m government or law enforcement. Will that provoke him to some even more extreme action?”

She considered his question. “It might move up his timetable, but he’s not prone to knee-jerk reactions. He’s intelligent, organized, and rational.”

“To the extent that driving the United States back into the nineteenth century is rational,” Ian added dryly.

She shrugged. “He won’t panic.”

Ian commented, “For now, let’s operate on the assumption that the worst-case scenario has happened. Let’s assume the virus has already been released. The Centers for Disease Control are on alert and will notify HQ if and when reports of an infection cluster come in to them.”

Silence fell between them, deepened by the soundproof walls.

She asked suddenly, “Ian, did you see any sign of a runway near the PHP compound on the satellite surveillance pictures back in Washington?”

“No!” He grasped her logic instantly. “The plane. How will they get it out of there?”

“It could be put on a truck easily enough and hauled out to an airport. But why go to all that trouble?”

Ian nodded slowly. “They wouldn’t want anyone to see the payload by accident. They build the bomb in their shop and only take the plane out to use it at the last minute.”

“There’s a bomb in that plane?” she exclaimed.

“Not exactly.”

“What exactly, then?”

He shook his head at her, and she all but ground her teeth together in frustration. Why wouldn’t he believe that they were on the same side, here? Business. She had to focus on business.

“What about that helicopter?” she asked. “Where is it, now? Should we take a look at it? If an El Noor shell corporation bought it for the PHP, we have to assume it’s part of the larger attack, right?”

“Especially given that the PHP has a guy who can fly it.”

“Okay, then. Where exactly in Nevada did Alex say it was purchased?”

“Lemme call him back.”

In a few seconds, Ian’s future brother-in-law was on the line. “Glad you called, Ian. I’ve got some information for you.”

“Lay it on us.”

“Joseph Brothers, PHP’s founder, got a pilot’s license a few months back.”

“HQ beat you to that punch, buddy,” Ian replied.

“Did they know it was paid for in cash? Or that PHP’s newest member is a guy named Matt Bradley, who left the Army under a Section Eight discharge?”

Piper looked up at Ian sharply. Wasn’t a Section Eight a psychological discharge? Ian must have seen the question in her eyes because he nodded and twirled his finger by the side of his head to indicate ‘crazy’.

“Where’s the helicopter the PHP bought, right now, Alex?” Ian asked.

“It was delivered to a regional airport in Overton, Nevada. Perkins Field. That’s about sixty miles northeast of Las Vegas. Last time I checked, it hadn’t been moved.”

“Could that be the target? Las Vegas?” she asked sharply.

“We’re not sure the helicopter has anything to do with that attack,” Ian cautioned her. “For all we know, the helicopter is a preparation for another attack at a later time. Or part of an escape plan.”

Piper frowned. “I think the PHP has one grand gesture in it. They don’t strike me as the types to engage in a prolonged terrorist campaign. They’ll do one thing and then want to retreat to their compound and resume their regularly scheduled reclusive lives.”

“I concur with that,” Alex added. “They don’t have the resources to sustain an ongoing terror network.”

“Not unless El Noor plans to bankroll them for the foreseeable future,” Ian commented.

Alex replied, “If I were building an effective terror network, I would pick people more suited to the task. These PHP guys are amateurs. Honestly, as a group, they’re little more than subsistence farmers.

There are a few men with educations of note among them—Joseph Brothers has an electrical engineering degree, for example. But most of them are pretty average.”

“Okay. So they’re one-shot wonders. If that’s the case, the helicopter must play into their one big plan.”

“Along with the Cessna in their shop,” Piper added.

“You could ram each of them into a structure 9/11-fashion,” Ian suggested.

She shook her head. “The damage two small aircraft could inflict on a big building would be minimal. If we’re talking about Las Vegas, the casinos are sprawling places with low concentrations of people at any one spot within their structures.

Given all the elaborate planning and coordination that seems to have gone into this attack, aiming for such a small end result seems unlikely. ”

“I agree,” Alex chimed in. “I’ll think about what I’d do with two small aircraft if I were El Noor. Meanwhile, you two be careful. Whoever’s behind this EL Noor persona is rich, smart, and dangerous.”

“Kinda like you, huh?” Ian quipped.

Alex hung up without deigning to respond to the jab.

She felt like they had all the pieces but hadn’t yet discovered the shape of the puzzle. If only they had some idea of the big picture, it felt as if all the little pieces would fall into place quickly.

Ian looked over at her and smiled wryly. “Hey, baby. Wanna go to Vegas?”