“As safe as I can tell. No obvious bugs and my laptop is secure, so if you need to email Jenny about anything…”
“I’m fine. She said you guys would fill me in when I got here. I already let her know I arrived.”
“So, everything went okay in Milwaukee?”
“Yeah. Stopped the attack. Had to kill a couple guys though. Was hoping I wouldn’t have to do that.”
“You killed two men in the middle of a festival?”
“It was at night. They were trying to stash weapons for the other guy. I was there when they showed up.”
“And they spotted you?”
“I was careless. Didn’t account for them having night vision. Lucky the one on the boat was a poor shot.”
“Can’t be easy shooting from a boat.”
“I would have made that shot. The rifle was amazing. He almost had me.”
“How’d you get rid of the bodies?”
“Fired up the boat and sent them away from shore.”
“That explains this,” Miriam said as she showed Rachel an article on her laptop.
“That’s them. So, the boat made it ten miles out before a passing fishing boat found it? That worked better than I thought it would. So, Miriam, you know what’s going on?”
“Ahmed had an idea while you were headed to Milwaukee. We intercepted some messages between Khalid and some of his people in Morocco. He’s planning on meeting them at a set of coordinates in the middle of the Atlantic. He’s going to sink his ship and go home on theirs.”
“Smart move really, sink the ship that brought the bomb over.”
“Except that it never delivered the bomb.”
“Yeah, Jenny told me that much. So, what’s Ahmed’s plan?”
“He sent contradictory messages to Khalid. Change of plans. He’s meeting a sea plane instead of a ship. We’re going to take him on board Ken’s plane and fly him straight home.”
“It can’t be that simple.”
“That’s why Ahmed and I came. As long as we can talk Khalid and his men onto the plane, we have them.”
“What if there’s a fight?”
“Why do you think you’re here, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”
“Khalid’s an extremist. If he sees you, he’ll know something’s up.”
“It will just be Ahmed in the back when they’re boarding. Once they’re strapped in and we’re airborne, I can come back to serve them drinks or food. I brought a burqa.”
“This food…you plan on having a special ingredient in it?”
“Exactly. Once they’re out, you and Casey can secure them better.”
“And if there’s any trouble, we come charging out of the cockpit guns blazing.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Where are the guys?”
“Room next door.”
“Okay, sounds like a hasty plan, but it just might work. You think Ahmed can pull it off?”
“He’s from Saudi Arabia and has extremists in his family. We’re just hoping Khalid isn’t expecting someone he recognizes.”
Rachel was about to respond, but yawned instead.
“Why don’t we pick this up in an hour or so. I’m exhausted.”
She put her head on her pillow and was out in seconds.
In the room next door, the mood was livelier. The men were well into their second pizza while they formulated the plan.
“It’s going to be a crowded cockpit when we land. If all goes well and they board quietly, we have Miriam bring them a snack when we’re airborne. They’ll be sleeping like babies in a minute or two and then we can tie them up good for the flight back.”
“How are you going to be on fuel? I remember the range on that plane,” Casey asked.
“She has larger fuel tanks now, and Ahmed changed the meeting place. We can fly from here to San Juan where we’ll top off and head out. We should have plenty of fuel to pick them up and return to San Juan. From there we’ll just fly back the way we came down. We take the…scumbag…back to Ohio and hopefully Avi can get him to talk.”
“So that’s the whole plan now? Get Khalid to talk? And if he doesn’t talk in time?”
“I’m assuming he won’t,” Ahmed said, “So I’m trying to narrow down the possible targets and date ranges. When we thought the bomb was going by road, I thought we had it nailed down, but now we just don’t know. I’m still leaning toward the 11th.”
“Why not the 4th?”
“Not enough time. We know they swapped the bomb out before they got here, but how far out was that done? They simply don’t have enough time to get everything into position for an attack that soon. I still think that banner plane company in Miami looks awfully suspicious. What better way to deliver a bomb to a sporting event?”
“If you’re right…”
“Either way, the plan is we all fly back to Ohio, then Miriam and I get off the plane with our guests and the rest of you head straight to Miami.”
“We can’t just roll on the banner company. If they see us coming, they’ll just change their plans.”
“Which is why you have to catch them with it. You can’t snoop around the place and arouse their suspicions. We also have to assume that they might use other airstrips to throw us off.”
“That’s going to be cutting it close. They could be hiding the bomb anywhere in the city and won’t move it until the last minute.”
“We’ll have Nyangumi fully fueled and hanging out. Not sure what we can do, but do we have the tail numbers from all the planes operated by Aero Ads?”
“Yes, I have the that right here,” Ahmed said, “I’ve also been searching for maintenance records on all three aircraft, but this laptop isn’t quite what we have back at the office.”
“Would that help?”
“You’re the pilot. I’ve done some reading about banner hauling. Most of the planes used are Cessna 172s, which is what these people have. The banners create a lot of drag and these planes have small engines and are stripped as light as they can be. Some use handhelds and even have the radios stripped out. They’re trying to save as much weight as possible. It’s just a hunch, but it seems like the plane they want to use would have some recent work done to it.”
“They’d either want to really lighten the plane or increase the engine power,” Ken said, “Not much concern over fuel economy for a one- way trip like that.”
“I’m going to keep searching and see if I can find anything. When are we leaving?”
“6:00 am sharp. We have to see a friend of mine in San Juan.”
Qadira
At sea
Khalid was stretched out in his cabin, trying to relax. His hunch was right. He was told there was a diversionary operation in the States to try to draw operatives away from Mexico, but he suspected there might be more people in play and the little decoy proved it. He saw the two black men follow the truck from the docks. He could only hope the ruse was successful, and he had no reason to believe it wouldn’t be. They would have no way of knowing where the bomb was handed off and where it was headed. Everything was in place and a few days from now the Americans were going to pay a steep price for their arrogance.
All that remained was to sink this ship and make it back home, and even that was in place. There was a new message in the draft folder with a new set of coordinates and a different contact, but those things happened. Some delay with the ship from Morocco and the seaplane would pick him up instead. He had no idea what the range was on those things, but it would get him home a lot faster than another ship would, and that was fine with him. The charges were already set below the waterline and he had the detonator in his briefcase. When they were on board the plane, he would detonate the charges and confirm the sinking before taking off. There was nothing left but the wait.
July 3, 6:00 AM
Ken pulled back on the yoke and took off from the smooth surface of the Gulf of Mexico and began the climb to cruising altitude as he set a course for San Juan. In
the back, Casey, Rachel, Ahmed, and Miriam were on a secure call with Jenny, wearing noise cancelling headsets to overcome the engine noise.
“So, this rich couple from Miami disappeared and you think the terrorists might be behind it?” Casey asked.
“Call it a hunch,” Jenny said, “but they left on their yacht and haven’t been seen or heard from since. That yacht had a helicopter.”
“That would make it easy to move the bomb around, and no international border to worry about either, except one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You say this couple is famous?”
“Richard and Martha King from Miami.”
“The owner of the Marlins?”
“Yes, that’s what it says here.”
“Everybody and his brother is going to be looking for that yacht, or the helicopter.”
“That’s true, but they could have made superficial changes to both, new name on the yacht or a new tail number on the helicopter. Still, I think it’s suspicious, and it does fit Ahmed’s scenario.”
“Uh guys,” Ahmed said, “I think I might have something here.”
“What do you have?” Jenny asked.
“I started searching maintenance records for the planes run by Aero Ads in Miami. One of them had a pretty good overhaul the other day, whole new engine.”
“What is the significance of that?”
“The plane is a Cessna 172 and previously had a small engine that was adequate for hauling banners, but if you’re planning on carrying some extra weight besides the banner you’re towing, you might want a little more power.”
“Okay, if they’re gonna slip a helicopter into Miami with a nuke on board, why go to the trouble of switching it to the Cessna? Why not just fly it to the target with the helicopter?” Rachel asked.
“Because you see those banner planes all the time over sports stadiums. Aero Ads has a contract to fly a banner over the stadium on that day. Actually, they’ve flown banners almost every game for the last two weeks. The Cessna won’t arouse any suspicion,” Ahmed said.
“Anyway, we have a couple days to put that plan together. How about the mission at hand?” Casey said.
“I have the snacks ready,” Miriam said, “pastries and tea for our guests, guaranteed to have them out like a light in a minute. I’ll come back here when the plane’s flying level and serve them.”
“The tricky part is getting them on board,” Rachel said.
“Khalid replied to the message. He’s expecting to see Abdul Hussein, which is me. I’ve done enough digging. Hussein does exist, and luckily for us is also from Saudi Arabia and has never met Khalid. As long as you two are ready in case something goes wrong.”
“We’ll be on the other side of that door with guns drawn,” Rachel said.
“Well guys, I'm going to get off the line here,” Jenny said, “I think we go with the assumption that the bomb is on the yacht, or already in Miami via helicopter and that it will be switched to the Cessna on the day of the attack. We will formulate a plan of attack when you return with Khalid. I’ll leave you to your mission and I expect a full report when you’re heading this way. Good luck.”
32
Qadira, at sea
July 4, 2:00 PM
Khalid stood on the bridge with the captain of the ship and looked at the sky, watching for the plane that was to meet them.
“How close are we to the coordinates?” he asked the captain.
“Only a couple kilometers. Will the plane be here on time?”
“My people know better than to be late.”
“I’m going to radio down to the engine room to have Abu kill the engines and join us. Have the rest join us here. By the time they get here, we’ll be there and we should see the plane by then.”
Khalid felt the engines stop and called the remaining crew to come to the bridge. A couple minutes later they were all there and they could just make out a small speck approaching. The speck grew larger and began to descend, making a perfect landing a hundred yards off their starboard bow. The ramp at the back of the plane lowered down and Khalid could see a young man standing on the ramp and waving at them.
“Let’s go then,” Khalid said as he made sure he had the detonator in his pocket.
The six men made their way to a boat that was already prepared and made the short trip over toward the plane. When they got close, Ahmed greeted them in Arabic.
“Welcome, brother. I trust all went well?”
“Yes, it did. Allah smiled on us, as he always does.”
“I am glad to hear it. He smiles on his faithful servants.”
“Yes, he does. I don’t think we have met. You are?”
“Hussein, Abdul Hussein. We’ve corresponded before, but I am honored to finally have the pleasure of meeting you.”
“The honor is all mine, Mr. Hussein. You have served me well.”
“I am glad to serve one who so faithfully serves Allah. Why don’t we all get on board and seated while the sea is still calm. You don’t want to see how this thing takes off in rough seas.”
The six men climbed up the ramp and made their way to the seats on the side of the plane.
“You might want to strap in. It can get a little bumpy on takeoff,” Ahmed told them.
A couple of the men strapped right in and Ahmed showed the others how to adjust the straps and before long everyone was ready. He raised the ramp and went to the cockpit door, telling Ken in Arabic that they were ready for takeoff.
“Before we take off, there is something I must take care of,” Khalid said.
“By all means,” Ahmed replied, and to Ken, “Hold on a minute.”
Khalid took the detonator out of his pocket and pressed the button. He stared intently out the window at the ship. For a while, nothing seemed to happen, then there was a ripple on the water and a minute later the ship started to settle lower. He watched for a few minutes until the ship slipped completely under the waves, then he sat back with a smile.
“We can take off now.”
In the cockpit, Casey and Rachel stood with their pistols drawn and ready, looking through peepholes at what was going on in the back. So far so good. Ken motioned that he was going to take off and that they should brace themselves. Soon the plane was filled with a roar of engines as Ken throttled up and took off, climbing quickly to a cruising altitude.
Ahmed sat next to Khalid and shouted above the noise.
“Sorry about the noisy ride, but it’s the best we could find on short notice.”
“I have endured worse hardships than this, young man.”
“Since we’ve leveled off, I believe we can have something to ease the journey.” He walked toward the cockpit door and addressed Miriam, who came through the door covered head to toe and carrying a tray of pastries, which she served to each man in a deferential manner. She returned a few seconds later with covered cups of tea, which each man took gratefully. She served Ahmed last and returned to the cockpit.
“Thank you, Abdul for your hospitality,” Khalid said as he took another bite.
“You’re most welcome. If you need anything else, please let me know.”
Ahmed ate his pastry, trusting that Miriam had given him an untainted one, and observed his guests. Soon all were yawning and three dropped their tea before nodding off. Khalid managed to drink half of his before he was gone, but within a minute all the men were completely out. He knocked on the cockpit door and told them all was good and fired off a message to Jenny that they were on the way. Casey and Rachel came back and secured the men so they would not be able to move upon awakening and Ken set a course back to San Juan where he would top off the fuel before heading north.
Fourteen hours later, two full size passenger vans sat idling in the parking lot of Jarhead Bait & Tackle. Earl Grant and Clyde Jackson stood outside drinking coffee and watching the water. They heard the approaching plane before they saw it.
“Reckon that’s them, right on time,” Earl said.
“This oughta be fun. Six terrorists at one go. Whatcha figure the odds of a couple of ‘em slipping on the way home?”
“I hear ya buddy, but Jenny said no smackin’ ‘em around, least not yet.”
“Ain’t no fun in that.”
“I hear ya, but she reckons Avi can work on ‘em first, see if they’ll spill the beans to him.”
“If they got any beans to spill, he’ll find out. I wouldn’t mess with that dude, but if one of ‘em gets out of line, all he needs to do is call old Clyde.”
“And I’ll be right with you. These dudes want to mess with America. Not on my watch.”
“Nobody messes with America on our watch, brother.”
“Damn straight.”
“I’ll tell your wife you said damn.”
“And I’ll tell yours you just said it.”
“I heard yours say bloody. That’s just as bad, ain’t it?”
“This ain’t England.”
“We best get ready. Plane’s comin’ in.”
Ken taxied the plane up to the dock and opened the side door, extending a gangplank to the dock. Ahmed and Miriam exited first and came over to stand with Earl.
“You two armed?” he asked Earl.
“Sure, why you think you need to ask?”
“Got some rather unhappy guys in there. Couldn’t hurt to have some extra help moving them, in case they try something.”
When Earl and Clyde joined them in the plane, they had one person to each terrorist and moving them to the vans proved to be uneventful, since they were each handcuffed and escorted at gunpoint. The terrorists were split up, three in each van, for the drive back to the office.
The drive went as well as could be expected, with a rapid- fire exchange in one vehicle between Ahmed and Khalid, a conversation Ahmed refused to translate for Earl’s benefit. The six men were escorted into the basement, five of them to a holding room and Khalid to a separate room where he awaited questioning by Avi.
Ahmed and Miriam went to their desks and went right to work, fueled by copious amounts of caffeine, and were soon joined by Jenny.
Wolf Trap (Casey Reddick Book 1) Page 24
