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This was what he'd been waiting for.
    He turned and dashed down the middle of Tahtakale Cad, paralleling the route the Iranians were now on, dodging cars and trucks, staying off the sidewalks to avoid the thick clots of pedestrians. The backpack was secure. The weight of the Glock felt right.
    He cut left on Yeni Cami Cad, then left again on A++iASSek Pazari Sok, now on a collision course with the Iranians. The jostling crowds were thick and he had to slow. He passed stalls filled with enormous mounds of spices, their yellows and oranges and reds and greens impossibly bright under the incandescent bulbs strung up above them. Tables were piled high with candies and honey-soaked pastries and fruit. The air was thick with the mingled aromas of spices and coffee and tobacco smoke. Peddlers cried out warnings above the din as they maneuvered pushcarts around clusters of shifting shoppers.
    At the corner of Tahmis Cad and Hasircilar Cad he could see them coming toward him, about forty feet away. His heart was beating hard now. He checked his perimeter and sensed nothing amiss.
    He moved left, pausing in front of one of the corner windows of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, one of the city's oldest coffee shops. Ben had been here a half dozen times during reconnaissance, and there were always at least ten people lined up at its two corner windows waiting to buy quantities of the house-roasted beans. It was a logical stop for the Iranians. Even if they didn't stop here, though, they were going to pass right by. He would be able to see them through the store's windows.
    He moved back, pretending to examine the colorful cookware in the stall adjacent to the coffee shop. He pulled the hat down low and unzipped his jacket. His heart was hammering.
    A minute later, the first VAVAK guy appeared through the adjoining corner window. He made a right and stopped not ten feet from where Ben stood. The scientists were in front of the adjoining window now, lined up with a dozen other people to purchase some of Kurukahveci's famed beans. He couldn't see the second VAVAK guy, but it was a safe bet he was somewhere a short distance behind them.
    Ben closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then let it out. Another. And again.
    He pulled a guidebook from one of his pockets and slowly walked past the VAVAK guy while examining it. He didn't consider what he was about to do. He focused on the book.
    At the corner in front of the coffee shop, he looked left. There was the second VAVAK guy, as he had expected, behind the scientists, twenty feet away.
    He looked straight, then right, just another addled tourist trying to orient himself. He detected no problems.
    He dropped the guidebook back in his pocket and headed back to the first VAVAK guy. He walked past his position without looking directly at him. He saw in his peripheral vision that the VAVAK guy was watching him now. It didn't matter. It was too late.
    He passed by the VAVAK guy's left side. As he did, he let his right hand drift inside his open jacket. By the time he was three steps past the VAVAK guy, the Glock was out. He pivoted counterclockwise, stepping through with his right foot, and brought up the Glock from five feet away.
    The VAVAK guy had just enough time to widen his eyes. Ben pressed the trigger. There was a quiet pffft and a neat black hole appeared in the VAVAK guy's forehead. His head jerked and a spasm passed through his body. Then his knees buckled and he slid to the ground. Ben was already moving past him. He rounded the corner.
    The scientists were at the window now. The second VAVAK guy saw Ben moving past them, the Glock at his side, approaching with unmistakable intent. Someone from around the corner screamed.
    The second guy reacted instantly, reaching inside his jacket, but an instant was all he had and it wasn't enough. Ben was too far away to be sure of another head shot. He brought the Glock up in a two-handed grip, put the front sight on the VAVAK guy's chest,