She scrawled out a few words on the pad for show and stood. “I’ll grab my gun and my creds.”
She pulled her duffel out of the closet and geared up while she considered the situation. Did Kent have devices in his room as well? Highly likely. There was nothing she could say until she was sure they were not only out of the room but out of the hotel.
Forge had known everything about the investigation from the outset, and they had been looking at it all wrong. They didn’t need a plumber to fix a leak—they needed an exterminator to eliminate bugs.
Chapter 50
Nina rushed down the hall on the thirty-first floor to the elevator, barely letting the doors close behind Kent before repeatedly pounding the L button for the lobby.
As they descended, Kent regarded her with mounting concern on his chiseled features. “Nina, what the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing. I’m just anxious to get back to the team.”
“You seem anxious in general.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t psychoanalyze me.”
The elevator doors slid open and she hurried out. Kent matched her strides, appearing as if he wanted to say something but was keeping silent with difficulty.
She found her team beside the idling Phoenix police command bus, which took up a corner of the parking lot. Portable lights had been set up, allowing an overflow of detectives and patrol officers to share incoming reports from the field in the search for the gunman.
She waited impatiently while Buxton finished speaking to a patrol supervisor, who thanked him and went inside the packed command bus.
“Any sign of Forge?” she asked, hearing the breathlessness in her own voice.
“He’s a ghost,” Buxton said. “City cams show him abandoning his car on Grand Avenue. Patrol just checked out the empty vehicle, which was illegally parked along the side of the street. He left the rifle inside. Video shows him on foot heading westbound on Roosevelt Street. He went inside a homeless shelter. PPD is checking everyone inside, but it looks like Forge grabbed someone else’s jacket and slipped out before they locked the place down.”
“EOD checked out the drone,” Breck added. “No explosives. Forensic techs are going over it now to see what we can recover, but it doesn’t look promising.”
Nina couldn’t wait any longer. “I know how we might be able to flush him out.” She motioned for the rest of the team to follow her to a quiet corner of the parking lot away from the bustle.
She glanced around, making sure they were alone, then dropped her voice. “I found a listening device attached to the desk lamp in our hotel room. There was a red-and-black-striped electrical wire sticking out of it, exactly like—”
“The one in the drone,” Kent said. “That’s why you were acting weird.”
“Where is the device now?” Buxton asked. “Did you deactivate it?”
“I figured we could use it to lure him out, so I left it where it was,” she said. “Where it’s probably been since we checked in.” She let it sink in that their investigation had been compromised from the start. “We’ve been trying to figure out how he could have set up an ambush attack when I made up my mind to go jogging less than ten minutes before I was out the door.” She turned to Breck. “The only person I mentioned it to was you.”
“In our room,” Breck said on a groan. “I also told Kent where you were when he came looking for you a few minutes later.”
“That works,” Kent said. “If Forge was eavesdropping, he would have had enough time to send up a drone so he would know when you were getting close to the hotel. He would also assume you wouldn’t have a weapon. You were alone, unsuspecting, and vulnerable.”
Buxton looked at Nina. “You mentioned a way to flush him out?”
She was certain her supervisor had planned to bench her earlier but now seemed to have granted her a stay of execution. Time to push her luck as far as it would go.
“Forge wants to finish what he started with my birth family twenty-eight years ago. He’s watching and listening in the hotel room. Why not use both of those facts to our advantage?”
“What exactly do you have in mind?”
“After we clear this scene in a couple of hours, we go back to our rooms. We all talk about the shooting, and discuss how I’ll be featured on the eleven o’clock news tonight. SSA Buxton will order me to catch a flight back to Washington tomorrow. I’ll argue against it.”
“At least you’ll be true to character,” Buxton muttered.
“Tomorrow morning, the rest of you will leave for the PFO, but I’ll stay in my hotel room to pack for my flight.” She hesitated, making sure she had the details worked out in her mind. She would get only one chance to convince the others. “After everyone else is gone, I’ll take a phone call from a CI, and I’ll put it on speaker so Forge can hear the conversation.”
Buxton looked as if he might have expected anything but this. “How would you have a confidential informant in Arizona when you work out of Virginia?”
“I wouldn’t,” Nina said. “But Forge doesn’t know that. We can pretend that an informant provided information to me when I was in Phoenix a few months ago. Forge would know I was in town on a big case recently. It would be plausible.”
“And why is this mystery CI calling you, Agent Guerrera?”
“The CI will say he has time-sensitive intel on a new case, but he doesn’t want to talk about it over the phone.” She waved a hand. “Make it domestic terrorism or something, doesn’t matter.”
Buxton pursed his lips. “Keep going.”
“I tell him I’m leaving soon and ask him if he wants to drive me from the hotel to the airport so we can talk on the way. He’s too scared to be seen with me in public, so he wants to meet me somewhere on the way to Sky Harbor where there aren’t many people around instead.”
Buxton closed his eyes and tilted his head back as if summoning patience. “Let’s say—for argument’s sake—that I approve of this . . . plan.” He leveled his gaze on her again. “What happens next?”
“We choose a location between the hotel and the airport where there won’t be much foot traffic,” she said. “Like a warehouse district. Then we get our people in place and do a takedown.”
“We wait until Forge heads toward the location, then pick him up?”
“Yes, but I have to actually go to the meeting spot myself in case he’s watching.” She thought about Forge’s technical skills. “He probably has more than one drone, and he’ll make sure he can see me at all times, or he won’t show.”
“Let me get this straight,” Kent said, looking every bit as skeptical as Buxton. “You want to dangle yourself out there as bait?”
She shrugged. “What better way to lure a fish than by baiting a hook?”
“He isn’t a fish,” Wade said, entering the fray. “Like Cahill said, he’s a snake, and he’ll sense a trap.”
“It’s up to us to sell it,” Nina said. “If it doesn’t work, he doesn’t bite, and we haven’t lost anything.”
Kent rested a hand on his hip. “What if he sends someone else to kill you?”
“Forge always operates alone.” Nina looked to Wade for verification.
Wade nodded his agreement, then said, “What makes you think he’ll go for it?”
“From his perspective, it’s the last time I’ll be alone before I fly out of town. If he doesn’t get me tomorrow morning, he’ll have to chase me all the way to DC, and there are now outstanding felony warrants out for him. He couldn’t board a plane, rent a car, or even get a bus ticket without setting off alarms. His mobility is now severely limited, and he knows it.”
Kent didn’t look convinced. “He probably has a fake ID or two, and he’ll hide out until he can get to you when you’re not expecting it.”
“You’ve made my point for me,” Nina said. “I’d rather take him down now when I’m ready and have a plan in place than spend the next year or two of my life looking over my shoulder.”
Buxton frowned. “Agent Guerrera cannot participate in the investigation until we have the results of her DNA test tomorrow morning.”
“Technically, I’m not investigating,” Nina said. “This is a separate tactical operation.”
Buxton’s dark features tensed as he considered the situation. Nina was asking him to weigh the potential for issues with the prosecution against the potential for future harm to one of his agents.
When Buxton gave her a reluctant nod, she knew the matter was settled.
“We get our best people on this, and we do it in conjunction with the PPD,” Buxton said. “I want every asset we can get.” His eyes narrowed. “This plan had better be tight enough to squeak.”
Nina suppressed a smile. There was one good thing that had come from this shooting. She wasn’t going back to Washington anytime soon. Her testimony as the only eyewitness who could definitively put Forge behind the rifle would be needed for the upcoming criminal prosecution. If they caught him.
She gave herself a mental shake. When they caught him.
Chapter 51
Nina met Special Agent Brad Harper’s gaze, fully aware the Phoenix FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader was not happy with her. Approval for the operation had worked its way through the chain of command, and they had gathered with the PPD’s Special Assignment Unit at their facility to work out the details. Unfortunately, Harper had spent the past hour becoming increasingly annoyed by those details.
“There’s not one part of this operation I’m comfortable with,” Harper said. He cut his eyes to Breck. “Are you having any luck tracing the transmitter signal from the listening device?”
“Forge is smart,” Breck said. “He’s got the wireless signal bouncing all over the place. I can’t pinpoint a source without physically testing the unit. Since we also know he’s thorough—he’ll have more than one bug in the room. He’ll know what we’re up to and shut it down immediately. It’s called redundancy, and it’s what we do when we’re planting . . .” Her face flamed as she turned to Nina. “Holy shit, what if he put a pinhole camera in our bathroom?”
Nina was way past caring if Forge saw her naked. Thanks to her last major investigation, almost everyone with internet service already had. “Frankly, that’s the least of my worries,” she said to Breck, then directed her attention to Harper. “This operation is the only chance we have of catching up to Forge before he kills someone else.”
She made the stakes clear.
Harper didn’t look convinced. “We’re giving up the high ground,” he said. “Puts us at a tactical disadvantage.”
Nina argued her point. Again. “Forge has already used a drone once. There’s every possibility he will deploy another one for recon. If he does, we’ll catch him.”
Nina had proposed a two-mile perimeter around the meeting spot since commercially available drones had maximum range of less than a mile from the controller. If Forge came in person, they would take him down. If he sent a drone, they would close the net around the area, catching him inside. She liked the logic of the operation, but Harper seemed determined to point out flaws.
“I understand why we can’t put countersnipers on the roof, but I still don’t like it.” Harper rubbed the back of his neck. “He used a high-powered rifle earlier. The sonofabitch probably has another one, and he could reach out and touch you at over twelve hundred yards. He’s shown a propensity for a long-range attack.”
“No operation is perfect,” Buxton said, coming to her defense. “What sold me on this plan is that it’s proactive.” When Harper gave him a quizzical look, he crossed the room to point at a photo of Forge that had been taped to the wall. “Our profile indicates Mr. Forge will continue to pursue Agent Guerrera.”
“So why are we offering her up on a platter?” Harper asked.
“Because he already ambushed Agent Guerrera once,” Buxton said. “He’s still at large, so he could strike at any time or place, but if we lay a trap, we can lure him into a position where we control his movements.” Buxton swept a hand out toward the cadre of black-clad tactical personnel on the other side of the room. “We take him down now, when we’re prepared, rather than giving him another opportunity for a surprise attack when we don’t have all these resources in place.”
“Why don’t we put a detail on Guerrera?” Harper said. “I can assign some of my team to—”
“Are you going to guard me around the clock for the next four years?” Nina cut in. “Until recently, that’s how long Forge has waited between kills. He’s demonstrated that he’s patient, and a meticulous planner.”
Buxton stepped close to Harper and spoke in a low voice. “I’ve made my decision. Will your team assist us, or do we rely on the Phoenix police SWAT team for tactical support?”
Nina hid a smile. She had never seen Buxton play dirty. His ultimatum had the desired effect, as he no doubt knew it would.
“We’ll help,” Harper muttered, then raised his voice to address the room. “We believe Forge will only fall for the ruse if everything appears exactly as expected. The teams must be in place and concealed before Guerrera receives the decoy phone call from Detective Perez.”
They had agreed that Perez would play the role of her confidential informant. Kent had volunteered for the assignment, but Buxton felt Forge would recognize him from the downtown shooting incident. Perez, on the other hand, could easily disguise himself to blend in with the local Latino population.
The police SWAT leader affirmed his support. “My team can maintain position for hours if necessary.”
“It won’t be,” Wade said. “When Perez calls Guerrera, she will make it a point to say when her flight leaves. We’ll make sure there’s an actual flight at that time in case Forge checks. That way, we narrow the time he has to act to a small window.”
“We’ll block all ingress and egress points as soon as his vehicle is past our zone of control,” Harper added. “He can go in, but he can’t get out.”
Nina grinned. “Like a roach motel.”
The others chuckled, but Harper’s scowl remained firmly in place. “We’ll have stop sticks, bull’s-eye perimeters, and the air unit up a few miles away. He’s not going anywhere.”
“Let’s go over safety precautions for Agent Guerrera,” Buxton said.
“We’ll have two wireless transmitters on her,” Harper said. “A primary and a backup. One is voice activated, and the other will be hot at all times. She’ll also be able to hear SSA Buxton through her earpiece.”
She looked at the tiny device. There was no telltale curly cord to dangle along the side of her neck. Once tucked inside her ear, the transmitter would be invisible.
“Keep the equipment zipped inside this bag until you get out of the hotel in case Forge has a way to watch you,” Harper told her as he handed her a small black duffel. “Put the com unit on in the car on the way over, where he can’t see you.”
Once she took the bag, Harper continued, “We’ve already scoped out a location for the operation. Guerrera and Perez will make contact by the side of the building. There’s a concrete post there they can use for cover if necessary.” He looked around the room. “As soon as anyone spots the subject, we allow him into the perimeter, where we will initiate takedown procedures.”
A police sergeant spoke up. “If a civilian enters the area, the Bravo team will move in to intercept.”
Some of the tactical team members would be dressed in Phoenix municipal-worker coveralls over their SWAT gear. It would be their responsibility to redirect anyone coming into the area without drawing suspicion, explaining that gas company employees were repairing a gas main and the area would be closed for the next hour or two.
“Let’s divide up,” Buxton said. He tipped his head toward Harper. “You and the PPD serge
ant can fine-tune your deployment while we rehearse the phone call.”
Nina and Perez had sketched out a script for the phone call Perez would make to Nina posing as an informant asking her to meet with him. The call would have to take place in the hotel room, where the bug could pick it up.
Perez held an imaginary cell phone to his ear, and they began to practice their lines.
“Ugh,” Wade said a minute later when they were finished. “We’re going to have to work on that script.”
“Yeah, I’m having trouble buying it,” Kent said.
“This isn’t Shakespeare.” Nina put a hand on her hip. “All we have to do is convince Forge I’m going to be at a certain location at a specific time, that I’ll be alone and there won’t be a lot of witnesses around.”
“I don’t like it,” Kent said. “I want to be on the ground with Guerrera.”
“Ginsberg will be there, posing as the cabdriver,” Nina pointed out. “And Perez will be with me too.”
“But you’ll be out in the open,” Kent said.
“I’m going to be exposed anyway.” She refused to put more people than necessary in danger. “That’s the point. It makes me a more tempting target.”
“We’re going to dominate the space,” Wade said. “We’ll be in control of every aspect of the scene.”
“Let’s look at the time frame,” Buxton said when Kent showed signs of continuing the argument. “We need to give Mr. Forge enough lead time so he can get to the location from wherever he’s hiding.”
“I’m guessing his hidey-hole is close by if he’s still determined to target Guerrera,” Breck said.
“How about we give Forge half an hour, then?” Nina suggested.
“Might be cutting it too close,” Wade said. “He’s abandoned his vehicle and knows we’re looking for him. We need to give him time to get transportation to the location. I’d say give him an hour—any less and he might feel like he can’t make it. He wants Guerrera, but he’s also a control freak. He needs to feel like he has some ability to coordinate his assault, or he may not take the bait.”
A Different Dawn (Nina Guerrera) Page 26
