Andrew Britton - Ryan Kealey 2 The Assassin  

THE ASSASSIN

Ryan Kealey series Book 01

ANDREW BRITTON

Synopsis:

More than a year has passed since Ryan Kealey prevented the assassination of multiple world leaders in the nations capital. While his work is brilliant, hes considered damaged goods. Now hes about to become a key player in a plot of unimaginable scale. For something big is about to go down in New York City.

When a top Iranian source reveals that Iran is planning to bomb the United Nations, U.S.

Intelligence begins counter-measures. Only Kealey sees it as a smokescreen for another, far more involved plot. But getting anyone to believe him isnt going to be easy. With only his ally, Londons newest assistant chief, Naomi Kharmai, by his side, Ryan will have to operate outside the lines in order to prevent a terrible attack in a city on lockdown.

A weapon of catastrophic power has been stolen from war-torn Iraq and has made its way to the U.S. The man who has it is Kealeys nemesis, William Vanderveen, an international criminal mastermind who has no objective other than pure terror and who will stop at nothing to achieve it. Making matters worse, Vanderveens being helped by someone on the inside with high-ranking security clearance. Even the halls of the CIA are no longer safe from possible espionage and treason. Now, as Kealey and Kharmai race to put the pieces together, they will confront a ghost from the past and be forced to question the people they trust most in a desperate investigation where only this is for certain time is running out.

PROLOGUE

BAGHDAD

Anita Zaid folded her arms as she glared across the cavernous lobby of the Babylon Hotel. Not for the first time, she found herself hoping that the target of her righteous anger would suddenly come down with some sort of exotic fever, something specific to overly glamorous, thunder-stealing network reporters. Better yet, maybe her menacing stare could somehow infect the woman with subconscious doubt, leading to an irrepressible stutter whenever she stepped in front of the cameras. Anita momentarily brightened with this notion but knew it was asking a lot; unfortunately, Penelope Marshall had a reputation for handling the crushing pressure of televised journalism with the skill of a seasoned pro, despite her relative youth.

It should have been perfect. Anita was fortunate enough to have the best source possible, a cousin assigned to the Ministry of Defense. The mans access was incredible and well worth a generous stipend, which her employer would have gladly paid. In this respect, however, she was lucky again. All her cousins assistance cost her was the occasional visit to his modest home on the outskirts of Baghdad, where he was given to bad cooking and good-natured but endless complaints about the Americans, much to the dismay of his long-suffering wife. His latest tip had arrived just forty minutes earlier, and for once, Anita was in the perfect position to act on it, bored senseless and lounging over cold coffee in a Green Zone caf with Tim Hoffman, her American cameraman. Twenty minutes and a couple of irritating stops at various checkpoints had seen her out of the zone and into the leafy streets of the Jadriya residential district, the unlikely site of the Babylon Hotel.

As she looked for a hole in the building crowd, Anita brushed her hair back from her face and sighed in mounting frustration. She had worked for London-based Independent Television for five years now and was beginning to wonder how much longer she could put up with the long hours and low pay. Her position as ITVs Middle East correspondent was a natural fit, as shed been born and raised in Mosul before immigrating to England at the age of seventeen, where shed earned a BA with honors in English at Cambridge. Intellectually speaking, she knew she was too young to be burned out she had just turned thirty-six, after all but at the same time, she couldnt help but feel that she might be missing out on better-paying, lessdemanding opportunities. The desire to move on to something better had grown stronger in recent months, and days like today definitely didnt help.

The trouble had started soon after theyd arrived at the hotel. Spotting the bulky black cases in Hoffmans hands, the manager had stopped them as soon as theyd walked in, insisting that Zaid pay for a room if she intended to set up camp in his lobby. What the man really wanted was glaringly obvious and not at all surprising. Anita was very familiar with the way things had worked before the American invasion, when bribes had been the rule rather than the exception.

In the months leading up to the war, Saddams Information Ministry had strictly controlled the movements and access of every Western journalist, and she had quickly learned to adapt, though not before enduring several heated arguments with the tightfisted accountants at ITV.

Unfortunately, the Babylons manager had demanded immediate payment in cash, which Anita didnt have on hand, and the delay had given somebody time to send word up to Marshalls room. Penny Marshall was CNNs latest and brightest star, a twenty-something blonde from New Zealand. After hearing the news, the young woman had somehow managed to hustle downstairs in the space of three minutes, looking like shed just stepped out of make-up. As it turned out, her presence at the hotel was pure coincidence. Her cameramen she had two of them, Anita noticed, with a twinge of jealousy had followed her down a few minutes later, shabbily dressed men with identical beer bellies. On arrival, theyd staked their claim in loud and spectacular fashion, which was exactly what Anita had hoped to avoid. The presence of both camera crews had opened the floodgates, and now every journalist in the city seemed to be aware of the mans imminent arrival. Zaid had clearly suffered the most; what had started as a respectable shot was now obscured by a rectangular lens hood and the heavily teased hair of the regional correspondent for CBS News.

Anita, weve got to find something better, Hoffman finally said, poking his bearded face out from behind his camera. From this position, Ill have him on-screen for less than five seconds, and thats a best-case scenario. The interviews out, you know. He wont hear one word over this bloody lot.

She turned away, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Despite having been born and raised in New Hampshire, Hoffman had been adopting British speech patterns for as long as shed known him.

At first, she had shrugged it off, thinking it was a joke, but then, less than two weeks into their partnership, shed been disheartened to learn just how seriously he took his British heritage.

Anita had coached him against the annoying habit on several occasions, but this time she let it slide and began weighing her options, trying to visualize the shot from various locations. The second-floor balcony was no good; from where she was standing, she could see that the angle was all wrong, and besides, there seemed to be a number of security men blocking the stairs. At the same time, pulling back wouldnt help in the least; in fact, it would put her on the outskirts, where her separation from the crowd, ironically, would be too great. Viewers wanted a sense of excitement, a sense of being in the thick of things, but they also wanted exclusive material. A good compromise was nearly impossible to find, and Hoffman wasnt helping at all.

You know, Id be surprised if the man even shows up, he remarked in a languid drawl. Once he finds out the press is here, hell probably stay in the zone. Besides, if he was coming, he would have been here an hour ago.

Hell come, Anita said, trying to push down her own rising doubts. Although the Sunni-dominated insurgency had been surprisingly quiet of late, the number of attacks had been increasing steadily since 2003, rising at a rate of approximately 14 percent per year. In accordance with the growing threat, Baghdads major hotels especially those that catered primarily to Westerners had substantially enhanced their collective security measures, but the danger was still very real. This place is like a fortress, Tim. Didnt you see the gates outside?