Page 27 of Edge of Honor

“So what are we going to do?”

Harvath looked at them both and said, “We’re going to help ourselves.”

CHAPTER 13

By using me as bait?” Rogers asked once Harvath had sketched out the broad strokes of his plan.

“It’s the only way,” he replied. “We can’t go after them, because we don’t know who they are. Our only option is to bring them to us.”

“Can’t we go after some local Iranian diplomat and use them for leverage?”

“That’s not how Tehran works,” Nicholas interjected. “They wouldn’t run something like this through their embassy. It’s too risky. Everything would be self-contained, compartmentalized.”

“Meaning what?”

Harvath envisioned how he would put something like this together if he were in the Iranian’s shoes. “Depending upon the number of targets, they’d probably send two to four men. If it was four, they’d split them into two teams and house them in two separate locations. One team would conduct all pre-attack surveillance and the other team would actually carry out the deed.

“They’d also require a local contact, a fixer of sorts—someone established who could help get them anything they needed and sort out any problems. In addition to English, this person very likely speaks Farsi and is of Iranian descent. The fixer would be the conduit back to Tehran, handling all the message traffic, lowering the risk that the operatives would be discovered.”

“There’s only one problem with this,” said Rogers.

“What’s that?”

“The men last night in Rock Creek Park didn’t look Iranian. I’ve been to Iran, I’ve dealt with those people. These guys were not that.”

“I wouldn’t put it past the mullahs or the Quds Force to have agents who were more physically suited for operations in the West,” Nicholas stated. “Considering the high profile of the targets they appear to be after, they’d want to leave nothing to chance.”

“What if we’re wrong?” the Ambassador asked.

“About what?” Harvath replied.

“What if it’s not the Iranians?”

“Do you have someone else it could be?”

“We killed a lot of bad guys and we weren’t quiet about it. This could be coming from any of their organizations.”

“And it wouldn’t make a bit of difference,” said Harvath. “We’d still be in the same position with the same limited options and I’d still be recommending the same approach.”

“You’re sure there’s absolutely no Plan B we can kick around?”

“I’m sure.”

For several moments, the Ambassador sat in silence as he pondered the situation. This was not at all what he’d had in mind when he first set foot in the Carlton Group’s offices this morning.

Harvath attempted to put the man at ease. “You can always say no. I don’t know what our next steps would then be, but I’m sure we’d come up with something. This, however, is a good plan. The sooner we put it into action, the better off you’re going to be.”

Rogers looked at him, still thinking, still silent.

“You saved me once,” said Harvath. “All I’m asking for is the opportunity to return the favor. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

Whether it was the words or Harvath’s tone, something clicked. The Ambassador relented.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

With the decision made and the green light given, Rogers excused himself to use the men’s room, leaving Scot and Nicholas to discuss next steps.

“I’ll want to run three shifts,” said Harvath. “How many guys from my team can I get?”