Harvath turned to walk up the stairs, but had to wait for a group of passengers being led by a Delta operative to come down. As he looked up, Scot recognized the faces as those he had seen earlier in first class.

“Great, what the hell is this?” said Morrell to the Delta operative when he reached the bottom landing.

“These are the VIP passengers from first class and those who were involved in a direct standoff with the hijackers. We’ve been instructed to see to their secure evac and get them to the EgyptAir clubroom for debriefing. It’s a madhouse upstairs, so we’re taking this group out Alpha Team’s rabbit hole and down the ladder.”

The Delta operative didn’t wait for Morrell’s permission; he didn’t need it. He already had his orders. He politely but forcefully indicated with his weapon that Morrell should back up, and then he waved his group toward the exercise facility.

As Meg Cassidy made her way down the stairs, Scot could tell that his original assessment of her had not been wrong. She was definitely beautiful. She had also definitely been through the ringer. Her eyes were glazed over and she was shaking. As she neared the bottom step, she faltered and fell forward right into Harvath.

He deftly moved his weapon out of the way and caught Meg with his left arm. He helped her regain her feet, but knew that if he let go of her, she would fall to the ground like a rag doll.

“Are you all right?” Scot asked.

Meg didn’t respond.

“What’s happening? Is she okay?” came the voice of Mayor Fellinger as he broke ranks and came back to see what was going on.

“I think she might be in shock, sir,” said Harvath.

“Wait a second. I know you, don’t I?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, we met about a year ago in Chicago at a party fund-raiser.”

“That’s right. I remember you now. You were on President Rutledge’s Secret Service detail, correct?”

“Yes, sir. Agent Scot Harvath.”

“I guess I shouldn’t ask what a U.S. Secret Service agent is doing all the way in Cairo with a Delta Force team, should I?”

“Probably not. You do have quite a memory, though, Mr. Mayor.”

“I never forget a face. Let’s hope Meg here doesn’t either.”

“What do you mean?” asked Harvath, who motioned to one of the Delta guys at the top of the stairway to throw a blanket down to him.

“From what I’ve been told, no one has found the two hijackers dressed in black jumpsuits. They were the ones running the show. They wore masks, but Meg said she saw the face of one of them. She also said she shot him in the head. She’s an amazing woman. We all owe our lives to her.”

The Delta operative upstairs whistled to get Scot’s attention and threw him down a couple of blankets. Harvath wrapped them tightly around Meg as he continued to help hold her upright. For her part, all Meg could do was stare straight ahead. Scot quickly took her pulse. He wanted to know who this woman was and what role she had played in helping to subdue so many of the hijackers. But it would have to wait.

“She’s going to need medical attention,” said Harvath.

“If she’s seen who I think she’s seen,” broke in Morrell, “she’s going to need to be debriefed first.”

Meg stiffened under Scot’s arm. It was very subtle, but Harvath felt it nonetheless.

“Back off, Rick. The first thing this woman needs is medical attention, and that’s the first thing she’s going to get.”

Ex-Army and now a career politician, Mayor Fellinger could smell a pissing match coming a mile away, and diplomatically stepped in. “Agent Harvath, I’d like it if you could see your way clear to escorting us off the plane and helping Ms. Cassidy get the medical attention she needs. The president and I go way back, and I am sure he would appreciate any assistance you can give us. That is of course”-Fellinger paused to look directly at Morrell-“if you can be spared.”

Morrell had no idea why people liked Harvath. In his opinion, the guy was nothing but trouble and he would be glad to be rid of him. “Fine. Go ahead,” he said. “But I want to know where this woman is at all times, and once she receives medical treatment, I want to talk to her. Understood?”

“You’re all heart,” said Scot as he pushed past Morrell into the exercise facility.

The room looked like a bomb had gone off in it, which was pretty much what had happened. Alpha Team’s ribbon charge had blown a rectangular hole clean through the underside of the airplane and up through the floor of the exercise room. Weights and splintered cables were scattered everywhere. Exercise bikes and treadmills were overturned, and all of the plate-glass mirrors, which once covered the walls surrounding the room, were now shattered.

Harvath helped direct Meg Cassidy through the maze of twisted metal and broken glass that littered the floor, and then gently lowered her down the ladder to Mayor Fellinger.

When Scot hit the tarmac, he wasn’t surprised to see soldiers and police everywhere. The perimeter was so tight, not even a scorpion could have sneaked through. If Hashim Nidal was not already among the dead and was somehow trying to hide among the passengers, he’d be nailed for sure. There was no possible way he could get out of this one.

24

Hashim Nidal was a fool. Trying to have his way with the American woman was an unwise and unprofessional act. She may have been beautiful and may have represented everything he hated about America, but he had allowed his desire to consume him. By molesting the American woman, half-witted Hashim had brought consequences upon them that could never have been foreseen. Though he had been warned once, he still could not help himself, and that had cost them dearly.

Hashim’s masked comrade had discovered him lying on the floor of the upper deck, where the American woman had left him to die. Praise indeed belonged to Allah in that the bullet had not entered his skull, but had just grazed him. It had been enough to make him lose consciousness and he had bled profusely, but he would live. The scar it would leave would hopefully serve as a reminder to him of his foolishness. His mistake had cost the organization not only millions, but tens of millions of dollars, which could have been smuggled out of the airport along with them.

It was only through sheer force of will that Hashim’s accomplice had been able to neutralize the Alpha Team and successfully drag him to their hiding place deep within the bowels of the plane. They had underestimated their enemy, and because of it, all of their months of planning and training were ruined.

Now they had no choice but to wait. All of their soldiers were dead. It was a calculated loss. Contrary to what they told their devout followers, they had suspected that the plane might never leave Cairo and that many might die. As part of their contingency plan, they had prepared for either an assault or the need to create a diversion themselves by detonating several charges throughout the plane, but not so soon. They had hoped to ransom at least one of the VIPs. Either the mayor or the airline CEO. One ransom would have helped their cause incredibly, but to get paid both would have been an answer to their prayers. They needed the money desperately and now they were left with nothing, less than nothing in fact, because the execution of this mission had been expensive. With America’s war on terrorism waging, it seemed that everything these days was very, very costly.

Hashim’s impulsiveness would one day be the ruin of the organization. Abu Nidal had not worked as hard as he had to have it torn asunder by his idiot son.

Hours passed, and finally Hashim Nidal and his accomplice felt themselves moving. A forklift removed the crate from the cargo hold and transferred it to a flatbed trailer with several other matching containers. Everything was being done under strict military supervision. Though armed teams had swept the cargo bay repeatedly once all of the passengers were off the plane, they were still leaving nothing to chance. The crates were driven to a customs warehouse adjacent to the terminal along with all of the passenger luggage from flight 7755.