Thinking Like Omar
“Okay, but there’s a flaw in the statement. Mohammed was not on the list,” countered Kelly.
Ali was ready to address this point. “Agreed, he was not on the list, but he, like you, showed up at the meeting, and Omar saw you both together. If Mohammed remembers meeting Omar in Madrid, Omar might remember meeting Mohammed. If so, he is sure to find Mohammed’s address and pay him a visit right away. Omar’s plan faltered because of Mohammed and for him to find out Mohammed’s address would be very easy.”
Kelly looked at the back seat of the car and said, “So, you’re going back to Mohammed’s house, armed to the teeth?”
Ali smiled. “Should I interpret that to mean being prepared for any contingency? Then yes, I am armed to the teeth!”
Kelly looked at the back seat again. “What’s in the bags? Guns? From where did you manage to get all that shit?”
Kelly’s comment invited a short snort from Ali. Without removing his eyes from the road, he said, “Please. In your country, guns are available on the corner of every street. The common people here are better armed than the army in my country! Guns in your country—very easy to get.” After pausing for about twenty seconds, he added, “I am surprised that you could make out that those are weapons in the bag. Good work for a girl, eh?”
Kelly agreed with Ali’s comments on the availability of weapons in her country. She decided to ignore his comments about her knowledge of weapons and after a brief pause, she said, “I do not understand. Why Mohammed’s place and not my place?”
Ali had already thought about this. In fact, since the day of the bombing, he had been thinking about Omar and Omar alone. He wanted to understand Omar’s way of working, his way of thinking, so that he could outsmart him at his own game. He didn’t want his opponent to catch him unaware at any point. “I’m betting that Omar will think what I would think if the situation were reversed—that one Iraqi would take in another. Omar is thinking that I should be at Mohammed’s place since we belong to the same country and the same cause. The day of the bombing, we ran out of the building together. If I’m thinking like Omar then I’m thinking that Mohammed and I should be together, helping each other. Omar will come looking for me at Mohammed’s place. He would think of targeting two people in one visit. There cannot be a better deal for him than this.”