Chapter Six
I had only a limited amount of time to speak with Aferdita, confirm she was indeed KVSPARROW and set up a second meet where we’d have more time for discussion. I also needed to get a feel for her motivations, not only those professed or concealed but also those of which she might, depending upon her level of self-awareness, be unwitting. This is a difficult thing to do and something usually done during the development phase of source recruitment. I had nothing to go on here and would wing it. If I could establish sufficient trust to keep her as a source, assuming she was the source, then the DIA case officer to whom I handed her over would have to work out the rest on his own. My priorities at this point were threefold. First, establish the actual source, second, set another meet location and time and third, gain some insight into the source’s placement, access and motivation. That being the case I started with the truth.
“Dita, you have to know that the people for whom I work are very nervous about me meeting you. They didn’t think anyone knew how to use the email to pass information to them and they suspect that this whole thing is a trap.”
I was watching her closely and despite the low light level was able to see her expressions fairly well. Aferdita nodded as I spoke as if I was confirming for her something she expected. When I finished speaking I waited a moment to see if she would jump to fill in the conversational gap, something often done by people who are under stress. She didn’t take the bait but waited until it became clear I was waiting for her. Then she nodded again and whispered a quick reply.
“Luli said no one was to know how he sent messages to his friend from the Embassy. He was very careful and worried about being found out. But I made him tell me how he was doing it. It was my idea, my plan after all. I wanted to know. It was my right to know.”
Her voice got a bit faint at the end but she continued to look me in the eyes, switching her focus from one to the other as if searching for signs of my understanding. I continued to look pleasantly interested and waited. Once someone starts to talk it’s often best to let them continue and only interject when specifics are bypassed. This was, after all, mostly an interview, not an interrogation. Dita watched me for a moment longer and then continued.
“Luli was my brother. He…I…we got involved in things beyond us. I wanted to get out of where I am, Luli felt bad and wanted to help. He felt responsible. Working with the Americans was my idea; it was my plan to help get me out. If he gave them the information I gave him maybe they would help me escape. You Americans can do anything you want. You could get me out and let Luli continue to be a big shot. That was the plan but now…now he is dead and I am in a worse place than before.”
Here she stopped, apparently unwilling to speak further until she had some indication of what I was thinking. There is a give and take to all conversations and she needed to be prompted in order to assure her that I, and more importantly the people I represented to her, was interested in what she had to say.
“OK. I didn’t know Luli had anyone else helping him. He never told his friend. And his sister? That is a surprise as well. I want to help you, we all do, but we need to know more so we can figure out what to do. Can you start from the beginning, tell me what you need to escape from, how Luli was helping and what your plan was?”
Aferdita nodded. “My brother was always ambitious. He was too young to really be part of UCK but he worshipped them and hung around anyone with a connection to them. They found ways to use him, watching people, making deliveries, things like that. He was always good with people and they liked him. Then he got a job with UNMIK; he was a translator and got to know many important people. The mafia who had been a part of UCK decided to bring him in closer, to use him more. They made him feel important. They used his hero worship and youth and pretty soon he was spying for them. But these were not the people who fought for freedom. They were the ones who fought only for themselves. They were still friends with many Serbs, especially the criminals. They care only for how they can gain power to fill their pockets. These were the people whom Luli was working for. He was too young to know them but I am older. I knew them for what they were and they distrusted me because of it. Finally one of them, Enver Saddiqi, a thief and robber and molester of women, he told Luli he wanted to meet me. Luli of course thought he was being shown favor by an important man. He insisted and even brought Enver to our house. I refused to speak with him and threw him out. Luli and I had a great fight after that.”
Aferdita paused, looking down to her left, and then continued, her soft voice going almost beyond hearing.
“Enver did not take this well. He had lost standing, been embarrassed by the family of an underling. He and his men kidnapped me, raped me and told me I would now be his girlfriend, do as he said or Luli would die. This is the type of men my brother looked up to. These are who he wanted to be. It made me sick inside and I feared for him…for what was happening and what he would become. I did not tell him the truth. I tried to pretend that I was only a foolish girl playing games to make Enver want me more. And I hid everything inside.”
She stopped again, this time for several minutes. I’d heard similar tales before and knew she did not require my interjection. She was relating her story in a calm voice, no dramatics or self-pity. If what she said was true, I admired the strength that took and the fact that her concern was for her brother not herself. I kept a respectful silence until she sighed and continued, eyes still downcast.
“It became too much. I could not continue to pretend to be Enver’s girlfriend, one of the many he keeps around. I hated him and his friends but could see no way out. I was growing cold inside, dying each day and I knew that soon, if I did nothing, I would become what I was pretending to be. I would rather be truly dead than that. Then Luli mentioned a friend he had met at a party at UNMIK HQ. An American named George who worked at the Embassy. This George was an older man, not like the type Luli usually became friends with. I took care to see this man and to understand that he was a serious person. I decided to risk everything and tell Luli the truth and then ask him to see if this American would help us.
Luli was devastated. He did not want to believe me but he had been around these men enough by now to know what they were like and so he understood the truth. He became very angry, wanting to shoot Enver and be killed himself. It took a long time but I calmed him down and told him that nothing would help or make it right unless we could escape, get away from Kosova and these “patriots”. He agreed to help but it was hard for him. Maybe as hard as it was for me to smile and act as if all was well. He began to get as much information as he could on the cooperation between the radical Muslims, the jihadi, and the UCK who are now gangsters. He ran more errands, brought more people together and became important to the secret dealings they had. For my part I learned more from Enver and his friends. They thought I was won over by the money and the clothes and the life. They talked freely in front of me. I am only a woman after all. Everything we learned I wrote down and hid in my flat. Finally, when I thought we had enough, Luli spoke with George the American and asked if he knew anyone who wanted information and would help him if he gave it.
That was when he began to work with you Americans. I stayed in the background, out of the picture and Luli became your spy. Then he was killed. I want nothing now. Nothing except revenge and so I have contacted you to ask…if I help you will you give me my revenge?”
Hard question to answer really. Of course part of me, the part raised in the Sixties and Seventies on Wayne and Eastwood wanted to rush to the rescue of the helpless female and give the dastardly villains what they deserved. Fortunately there’s been a lot of water under some burning bridges since then and I’d learned that the world was a strange place, often evil and full of people who lie and twist the truth for their own benefit. To take anything at face value was dangerous. Then again I may have a skewed sample due to my profession but since we were in my world, those were the rules that applied. If what Aferdita relayed was true, and it certainly
fit with what I had seen and heard here before, then I felt we had a good shot at keeping her as a source. The problem was that she wanted only revenge and perhaps in time she would want out again. Neither was consistent with her remaining in place and feeding us intelligence. My job right now though was to reassure her, keep her on side and see how we could find a mutually agreeably way to get something we both wanted. I had only a second to process this and knew a delayed response would have a negative impact. So too would an immediate promise to give her everything she ever wanted. If she had been where and with whom she claimed, then she could easily sense disingenuous responses. I went with the truth again, albeit a variation on it that I hoped would work for us both.
“Dita. I cannot give you a full answer now. I did not know this story and do not want to promise anything I cannot deliver. I can tell you this. I am very sorry to hear what has happened to you and Luli and I very much believe in revenge. I want us to work together to give you that revenge, a complete revenge, because these men are my enemies too. To help you though, I will need some things from you. I will need to know more about these men, more about how they found out what Luli was doing and how they knew where he and George would be. We can talk here for a while longer but first let’s set a time and place to meet again where we can talk without interruption.”
Aferdita’s eyes had stopped moving back and forth as I spoke and were now fixed on me as if the truth of what I said could be seen on my skin. I let a little of the boy I used to be, the one who thought the world was black and white and the good guys always win, show through my eyes. I had sympathy for her story and I let that show as well, tingeing my voice with sincerity and holding in abeyance my reservations regarding veracity. She stared for a full minute and then looked away. Her hand rose to brush at her eye and then she faced me squarely.
“OK. I will trust you. I must if I am to have a chance for revenge. We can meet at my friend’s flat in Bregu i Diellit. It is on Qamil Bala. You are familiar with this? She is in Budapest on vacation. I have a key to her flat to care for her plants. No one will question why I go there. Meet me there tomorrow at three.”
I nodded agreement. “That should work alright. If you would, please give me the key. I will meet you there at three and we will talk.”
Aferdita dug briefly in her purse and then handed me a key while reciting the address of the flat. I knew the block of apartments well. I pocketed the key and returned to our conversation.
“Dita, I know this is painful to think about but do you have any idea how anyone knew your brother was helping us? And how they knew where he and George would be and when?”
“No”, she replied, shaking her head. “I have thought about it a lot and cannot say. I believe someone betrayed him; it is the only way, but who? This I do not know since he trusted only me.”
I nodded and withheld any comment. Like the man said, three can keep a secret if two are dead and while there were other ways the meet could have been compromised, it seemed possible that Aferdita was correct and there was a third secret keeper somewhere. It was certain that someone somewhere had known about the final, fatal meet. I had that elusive stray thought make a teasing appearance again but couldn’t pin it down and once more relegated it to things to be considered later. Maybe Naim would turn up something. I certainly wasn’t going to give him anything involving Aferdita but in checking on Luli Gashi he ought to come across info on a sister. And comparing that info to Aferdita’s story would be interesting.
We spent a little longer speaking softly under the trees. I stressed the need to tell no one of her contact with us and that we wanted to know many things, all designed to hurt the mafia and through them the jihadi. Some of what we needed to know we’d only learn about as the picture became more clear. Intelligence gaps are not always obvious, especially with a target that is only superficially known. We wanted her to stay where she was for at least a little while so we could learn as much as possible in order to get the most bang for the buck. She understood that and at least did not reject outright my translation of revenge from the more physical and immediate solution she obviously had in mind to one somewhat removed and theoretic. That was a good sign as it meant we might be able to work out a deal which left her in place and able to feed us intelligence. There were essentially two solutions; keep her in place until it was unsustainable or remove her as soon as immediate collection needs could be met. Of course, any delay in extraction also left her in a soul destroying position which, morality aside, meant she would burn out sooner or later. The choice wouldn’t be up to me. It would be made by someone else who would then send another operator out to give her the decision and try to make it workable on the ground. My job was simply to make that choice and subsequent follow through possible. And who knew…it could always turn out that Enver and crew presented a clear and present danger to national interests and someone like me would be assigned to remove them from consideration. I’d let InSol know I was up for it should that be the route taken. Aferdita’s level of veracity in this case aside, I’d seen too many people hurt by these asshats to pass up any chance of taking a few off the count.
Our conversation drew to a halt as there were things we needed to say but this was not the time or place. I reaffirmed the address for tomorrow afternoon and then moved carefully back into position to see the pool and its parking lot. The taxi remained where it had been, all seemed clear. I motioned to Aferdita to go and she stepped out of the tree line as if walking out of a haute couture boutique. A minute or two later and she was in the taxi and driving away. I waited to watch its rear lights disappear toward Pristina and then sent a text to Naim telling him thanks and ENDOP. His reply was a simple OK. I remained for a while longer, waiting out of sheer stubbornness and taking the time to mull over what I’d learned. Subject to verification of course, it appeared that KVSPARROW was the real deal. I’d now need to check on a number of things including the means by which HANNA had been compromised but one of the main goals of this mission was looking like being a success. When I finally got tired of sitting there in the dark I rose, stretched and made my circuitous way back down to Dr. Shpetim Robaj. Taxis were not likely in this area at this time of night so I walked, settling into a steady pace and trying to look like a native, not an impatient American in a hurry. There was a taxi sitting in front of a small neighborhood grocery store about a mile into my walk and I coaxed the driver into taking me to UNMIK HQ. He was on break, eating lunch, but for an extra 20 Euros he decided to delay his repast until I was dropped off.
Downtown Pristina was still in full swing, the place seemed to come alive at night, and the crowded streets and noisy bars and cafés let me blend into the crowd. I’d pulled off the watch cap but left on the gloves. I drew little attention as there were many international aid workers, UN staff and even tourists wandering and enjoying the nightlife. My habitual counter surveillance showed no signs of anyone following me so I slipped into the Grand and headed for my room. The bellhop noticed me and waved, even coming over from his post by the desk to ask if I needed anything. I guess a foreigner, something he knew I was from my registration, coming in before two o’clock looked funny to him. Many took advantage of the Pristina nightlife and partied to the wee hours as often as possible. I made some excuse about having an early day tomorrow and thanked him for his concern. My room looked the same as it had when I left and I locked the M57 and spare mag in the Pelican case, took a quick shower and hit the rack. I would have a lot of thinking to do tomorrow but for now the release of tension combined with the long walks put me straight into a deep sleep.