Double Blindside. Don Pendleton

already in the pocket of one of the men. They climbed in and drove away. Behind them in the distance could be heard police sirens approaching the hospital.

      * * *

      AHALF HOUR LATER Kartal received a call informing her that the man wounded in the attack on Phoenix Force had been killed during an armed strike at the hospital where he was being treated. She was with Phoenix Force at their hotel and immediately passed along the information.

      “Great,” McCarter said. “These buggers don’t waste time. They’re bound and determined to keep us in the dark.”

      “Didn’t want anyone talking,” Encizo said.

      “They are organized,” Kartal agreed. “Able to buy whatever they need. People. Weapons.”

      “Well,” McCarter said, “we’ll have to see about that. But tomorrow, how about we go take a look at Mr. Polat? Time we sussed out our enemy.”

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       London

      Tak Kumad had just shot two men and was on his way to kill a third.

      His agenda was firmly set out. It was to clean up matters relating to Özgürlük to make certain nothing could be traced back to the organization and hinder the progress of the operation. His orders had been specific; and Tak Kumad followed his orders for the client he was working for.

      It was his job.

      He was an assassin. His current assignment was to locate and eliminate the three men who had turned against Özgürlük and betrayed the organization.

      Kumad had already visited the apartment where two of the men had been staying. He’d caught them both and placed 9 mm slugs in their skulls before they’d been able to do a thing to prevent it.

      With that part of his assignment over, Kumad moved on.

      Aziz Makar was Özgürlük’s banker. He handled all the money the group used and collected. And, as with a number of terrorist organization bankers, he was based in London.

      Makar had decided to go into business for himself by cheating Özgürlük out of millions of dollars. To add to Hakan Kaplan’s problems, two of his trusted lieutenants had also joined forces with Makar to work a deal that would give them the chance to fleece the organization out of even more money.

      Kaplan’s betrayal by Egemen Binice and Bora Terzel had been a bitter blow. He had championed the pair since they had first joined the organization, not realizing their enthusiasm and dedication to Özgürlük had been false from the start.

      Binice and Terzel were cousins. In their late twenties, they were minor criminals, having spent most of their teen years committing small crimes for little reward. They considered themselves smart, a cut above the lower Turkish criminal element, and they possessed sharp minds always on the lookout for a chance to make a score. Unfortunately they always seemed to miss the best opportunities.

      Until they’d learned about Özgürlük. A drinking friend, himself on the criminal fringe, had made mention of the organization in passing. Binice and Terzel had listened to what he’d had to say, and when they were on their own again, decided it was worth looking into.

      They’d picked up on one of the public meetings in the city, went along and afterward made contact with the man they soon found out to be Hakan Kaplan.

      Now, one of the many talents the cousins possessed was the ability to be extremely persuasive and willing to commit to a cause. They’d learned about Özgürlük and its aims, though at that stage they were not privy to the underlying intentions of the group. They were willing and eager recruits, listening to the party line and proving themselves by performing the tasks offered to them. Over a few months the cousins had insinuated themselves deeper into Özgürlük.

      Anyone who had come in contact with them and listened to their talk had been convinced of their usefulness to the organization.

      Whenever they were in the presence of Özgürlük’s people higher up the ladder, they performed as expected, and because they showed their compliance with the policy, their involvement became deeper.

      While Binice and Terzel professed commitment to Özgürlük, they were, in truth, simply looking for opportunities to make money.

      It hadn’t taken them long to see how Özgürlük put cash out to anyone who showed genuine interest. They’d realized the organization was pretty well loaded. The top man, Kadir Polat, had money in spades, to say nothing of the money being donated by sympathizers. It hadn’t taken the pair long to learn about the man, his business holdings that raked in millions, his property, cars and planes—even a luxury cruiser he used like a floating HQ.

      While maintaining an interest in the organization, the pair had been gathering intelligence, watching and listening at every opportunity. Hakan Kaplan had taken a liking to the young recruits and had offered them more and more responsibility as the weeks went by.

      They’d been assigned to Polat’s cruiser on a number of occasions. Their duties consisted of making sure guests were supplied with food and drink, and keeping things running smoothly. Their service offered them a chance to pick up snippets of information as drink often loosened mouths and they learned valuable details.

      It was about this time that Hakan Kaplan, convinced the pair was genuinely part of Özgürlük, had taken them aside and, in the presence of Polat, filled them in on the organization’s long-term plan. Not to simply create unrest and agitation, but to do something that would throw the country into confusion and, as the main thrust of the plot, to damage the American presence in Turkey.

      Their indoctrination took a couple of weeks and Binice and Terzel, realizing it was becoming deeply involving, had upped their act and made it clear they were on board.

      When Kaplan had eventually broached the real reason, despite their act, Binice and Terzel were almost caught off guard.

      Polat and Kaplan were proposing to blackmail the Americans by threatening to detonate nuclear devices. One at Incirlik. The other to be transported to America.

      After the revelation, Binice and Terzel had readily endorsed and volunteered any and all assistance; they had realized an opportunity presented itself. Hakan Kaplan, by this time convinced of their loyalty to Özgürlük, had enlisted their help in taking control of the nuclear devices being delivered by the Russian, Gennadi Antonov.

      This encounter had brought them into contact with Aziz Makar, the moneyman, and the pair, spotting the man’s discontent at having to handle so much money, quickly moved in.

      Makar might have been in charge of the Özgürlük finances, but he was not personally wealthy. His skill with money had brought him little for himself. Binice and Terzel had spent their lives assessing and playing other people’s emotions. And that was how they’d manipulated Aziz Makar.

      Their persuasive manner had drawn him in. He’d worked a few small withdrawals, and his new partners had taken it and used it to feed a new account, well out of the reach of Özgürlük. The ease of the operation encouraged Makar and he’d devised other ways to move and lose donated amounts. With each success Makar began to increase the amounts. Polat and Kaplan were so involved in the main operation they had little time, or opportunity, to be aware of what was happening. Money was coming in and going out on a daily basis, and only Makar, safe in his London office, had any real grasp of how things were. The thousands became hundreds of thousands and then Makar, flushed by his success, had made his major error when he’d earmarked a couple of million for siphoning.

      Unbeknown to the duplicitous trio, their scheme to take Özgürlük’s money had been discovered and the information passed on to Hakan Kaplan.

      Kaplan had initially refused to accept the news, but his source was impeccable. A bank teller loyal to Özgürlük had discovered the cash