The Templar Reprisals (The Best Thrillers Book 3) by James Best (read any book txt) 📕

greater risk takers, thus their empires are more often imperiled. By the way, do you know what you get when you give someone one hundred million dollars?”

“I’m sure you’ll tell us,” Evarts said.

Lewis chuckled. “A frustrated billionaire.”

“Very funny. But tell me how many of these three-thousand-plus are carrying water for the Ikhwan and the Templars?”

“Our guess is under a hundred. But it’s enough. Arrangements vary, but a compromised billionaire can easily hide tens of millions and launder much more. In a few situations, the Ikhwan owns the entire enterprise lock, stock, and barrel. The entrepreneur has become a mere caretaker.”

“Okay,” Evarts said, “let move on. We can come back to finances later.”

“The Ikhwan headquarters? It shifts around. We believe every three months. Usually to another Islamic country, but not always. At the moment, we think they’re headquartered in Jakarta. That’s in Indonesia.”

“We know where Jakarta is,” Baldwin said irritably.

“Most Americans don’t,” Lewis said with a condescending smiled. “Last, the caliph, or leader, of the Ikhwan is named Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim.”

Baldwin sighed. “That’s the Prophet’s full name.”

“Indeed,” Lewis said. “You know something about Islam.”

“Enough to call bullshit when I hear it,” she said.

“The leadership of the Ikhwan is a triumvirate, and for official duties, the caliph takes the name of the Prophet. The other two are merely referred to as ẓahīr, which means assistant or helper. They are really advisors because the caliph doesn’t lead, he rules. There is a backup triumvirate located in a distant city. The heir apparent leads this second group. They pray, read the Qur'an, audit operations and finances, advise the caliph, and stand ready to take over if the caliph is taken out or dies of natural causes. Right now, we don’t have a fix on the location of the backup triumvirate.”

“That’s it,” Baldwin said. “The Ikhwan’s money is concealed in legitimate enterprises, the leader adopts the Prophet’s name, and the triumvirate moves every three months. That’s not much help.”

“I’m not sure what you expected. If we knew more, we’d destroy the Ikhwan in a heartbeat. Lives have been lost to learn this much.”

When Baldwin seemed to let the matter go, Lewis looked quizzically at Evarts.

Evarts nodded. “You can go, but next time make an appointment … and leave your buddies at home.”

Lewis stood up.

“Next time, they’ll send someone else.”

Chapter 36

Evarts kept his attention on the security screen until after a car picked up Lewis and disappeared down the road. He felt relief. Evarts didn’t like the man, and hated how he had disrupted their lives. Evarts made a phone call to his dispatcher to have the car followed.

When he reentered the great room, Baldwin asked, “Why’d you let him go?”

“We couldn’t hold him without fabricating a crime,” Evarts answered. “There’s no evidence that would tie him to the assailants ascending our back hill, nor did the assailants commit a serious crime beyond suicide. Besides, we may learn more from following him … although I doubt it.”

She nodded. “What are you going to do about Megan?”

“Nothing. Now that I know she’s the snitch, the advantage is on my side.”

Baldwin smiled broadly, “We do pretty good theater.”

“Yes, we do. But I’m concerned we may not have been as successful as we think. Lewis is a cagy bastard.”

“You’re the cop, but my impression was that he gave us what he had.”

“Let’s hope so … and we have the men we picked up cruising our street. Maybe we’ll learn something from them.”

Evarts felt at a loss and just looked at Baldwin for a long moment.

“What now?” she finally asked.

He shrugged. “Back to the Biltmore. This house has been the scene of three attacks. I don’t want to tempt fate.” He picked up their drink glasses and rinsed them in the bar sink. After he set the three glasses on a drain board, he said, “When we get back to our suite, I want us to write notes for Standish. She’s got point on this.”

Baldwin stood. “Good. She’s got a good head. Greg, do you have someone watching the street? Can we get out of here without being noticed?”

“I did, but he followed Lewis. He reported all clear before he left.” He walked out from behind the bar. “Let’s get out of here.”

The keys to the two rentals were on the respective consoles. They drove out of the garage together and stayed close on their way back to the Biltmore. Evarts drove behind so he could keep an eye out for a tail. He saw nothing suspicious but still phoned Baldwin to advise her to drive toward the university and double back so he could be sure. He still spotted no tails, so they drove on to the Biltmore and parked in the designated spaces for their bungalow. They slid quietly into their cottage unseen.

After he secured the deadbolt, Evarts felt a pang of hunger.

“Supper?” Baldwin asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Evarts responded.

Evarts order by phone and when room service arrived, they hadn’t yet completed their recap memorandums they had started for Standish. He was famished and decided the remainder could wait until morning.

After a while of eating quietly, Baldwin said, “You’re thinking hard. Care to share?”

“Trying to find a way out of this predicament. I see three options. Run and try to disappear. It would take a week or so to covertly stash money somewhere and then we could follow it. New IDs are not a problem. Maybe we wouldn’t need to leave forever. Just a long, long vacation. The second option would be to fight. We would need to use the police force as a shield and build an alliance with the Army for offense. Through the Army, we gain access to other government resources. The Army wouldn’t set us up as bait like the Templars, but they would call the shots and demand to know everything. The third option would be to go public. Tell the world everything that has gone on. When the Ikhwan learn we are not