[Lady Justice 41] - Lady Justice and Terror on the Tracks

by Robert Thornhill

  “You’re right,” he replied. “Good thinking. I have an idea.”

  A few minutes later, a worker arrived driving a fork lift. He gently picked up the toilet and carried it a block away where the bomb squad was waiting.

  I learned later that it was indeed a bomb and the timer was set to go off at one o’clock.

  Officers were sent to check the other 699 toilets, but no other bombs were found. But it would have only taken that one.

  I could only imagine the panic that would have ensued if the bomb ignited. I had seen the people along the parade route scatter for cover when the car was careening down the street. The thought of hundreds of thousands, packed into a small area, suddenly fearing for their lives was unthinkable.

  I watched the crowd cheering for their heroes, unaware that disaster had been averted because two clumsy, frozen hands accidently dropped a pair of gloves into the crapper.

  CHAPTER 13

  “It was HIM!” Mostafa said. “I know it was HIM!”

  “Who are you talking about?” Yasir asked, trying to calm his comrade.

  “The old man! The one who found the bomb we planted on the ammonia tanker. He is the one who discovered the bomb in the toilet!”

  Yasir was shocked and confused. “How is that possible? Seven-hundred toilets, and this same man just happens to wander into ours. How do you know it was the same man?”

  “After planting the bomb, I stayed in the area to watch. I knew it was set to go off at one o’clock, so I planned to move away at twelve-forty-five. It was twelve-thirty when I saw him go in.”

  “But how? Didn’t you put the package off to the side like I instructed?”

  “I did, Yasir. I swear!”

  Yasir shook his head in bewilderment. “What kind of fool inspects the bowels of a filthy toilet?”

  Yasir’s jaw clenched. “These two old men have spoiled everything. I can’t explain how or why, but one thing is certain. They must both be eliminated before our next attempt!”

  Mark Davenport called his team together in the Kansas City office of Homeland Security.

  “Were you able to find anything?”

  “Yes, Mark,” one of his agents replied. “There were cameras all along the parade route. Fortunately, one was at the intersection where the portable toilets were located.”

  “And?”

  “We got a hit. It was Mostafa Jafari who planted the bomb. He was there early, about seven o’clock. We got Walt going into the toilet at 12:30. Jafari hung around until the fork lift arrived to pick up the toilet.”

  “Damn!” Mark muttered. “That means that Jafari knew that it was Walt who screwed up his plan again. Make sure we have someone sitting on Walt’s building 24/7. These guys have to be really pissed at my brother.”

  “We have three guys rotating eight-hour shifts.”

  “Good. Were you able to track Jafari after he left?”

  “Yes, we got him on street cams. He’d parked several blocks away. We were able to trace his movement until he turned onto some side streets. That’s when we lost him. The good news is that we have him driving a black van. We ran the plates and found that it had been stolen.”

  “Well, that’s a lead,” Mark said. “Contact the Kansas City police and have them issue an APB on the van. Tell them not to engage. Just let us know where it’s located.”

  “Will do.”

  “We have to find these guys before they strike again.”

  Maggie had just left to go to the real estate office when I heard a knock on the door.

  It was Dad. He looked up and down the hall to be sure no one had seen him, then slipped inside.

  “What’s up, Dad? Why all the secrecy?”

  “Next week is Valentine’s Day. I want to plan a surprise for Bernice.”

  “That’s really nice. How can I help?”

  “I’d like for you and Maggie to go out with us --- you know --- to dinner?”

  That took me by surprise. “You mean like on a double date?”

  “Yes, like that. Unless you’ve already planned something for Maggie.”

  Actually, I hadn’t. With all the football stuff going on, it hadn’t occurred to me that Valentine’s Day was right around the corner.

  “No, I haven’t yet.”

  “Well then, what do you say?”

  The four of us had done many things together, but it was always in the context of a birthday, Thanksgiving, or some other celebration. We’d never actually been on a double date together.

  “Uhhh, I don’t see why not. What did you have in mind?”

  “Bernice has always wanted to go to the Melting Pot on the Country Club Plaza. I hear it’s a pretty swanky place.”

  It was swanky all right. We went there once with Ox and Judy. My robust friend has an appetite to match his size. He wasn’t thrilled having to cook tiny pieces of meat one at a time in boiling vegetable broth. The goodies dipped in warm chocolate for dessert was my favorite part.

  “We’ve been there once,” I replied. “Maggie loved it, so let’s do it.”

  “Good!” Dad said, clapping me on the back. “Remember, hush, hush. It’s a surprise.”

  I learned long ago that I can’t keep anything from Maggie, so I let her in on Dad’s plan. She thought it was precious.

  “Where are we going?” Bernice asked as we headed to the Country Club Plaza.

  “It’s a surprise,” Dad said. “Something special for my sweetie.”

  “Oooooh!” Bernice cooed, “This is so romantic.”

  Maggie reached over, squeezed my leg, and gave me a wink.

  I pulled to the curb in front of the restaurant and let Dad, Bernice and Maggie climb out.

  Bernice squealed with delight when she saw we were going to the Melting Pot.

  “Oh, John! You remembered!”

  I pulled away and drove to the parking garage a block away. The first level was full, but I found a spot on the second one.

  Our meal was just as I remembered from the last time. We cooked bite size pieces of chicken and steak in vegetable broth, then topped off the evening dipping strawberries in melted chocolate. Bernice loved every minute of it.

  After signing the credit card receipt, I announced that I would retrieve the car and meet everyone at the front door.

  “I’ll come with you,” Dad said. “I need to stretch my legs and walk off some of that chocolate.”

  We gave our ladies a peck on the cheek and headed to the parking garage.

  We had just reached my car when a black van pulled up beside us and two men in ski masks jumped out.

  They had guns pointed at each of us.

  “Get in the van,” one of them ordered. “If you struggle, we will shoot you right here.”

  I figured Dad wasn’t going to go without a fight, and I also had no doubt that if we struggled, our captors would shoot us as promised. If we complied, it would at least buy us some time.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, holding up my hands. “We’re going.” I turned to my father. “Do it Dad. Get in the van.”

  Dad grumbled something under his breath, but did as I asked.

  As soon as we were inside, the van took off.

  The two men that abducted us took off their masks. That wasn’t a good sign. At this point they didn’t care if we could identify them because they weren’t planning on letting us live to tell anyone.

  “It’s them!” Dad said. “It’s those A-rabs who planted the bomb on the Amtrak train.”

  “The old man is correct,” the driver said, “and now you will both pay for sabotaging our plans.”

  “You must be Yasir Patel,” I said, trying to engage the man, “and these lackies must be Mostafa Jafari and Ahmad Shirazi.”

  One of them whacked me on the ear. “We are not lackies! We are soldiers fighting in the name of Allah.”

  The driver seemed surprised. “You know our names.”

  “Of course. Your fingerprints were all over the bombs you made.”

&nbs
p; “Ahhh, yes. The bombs. Tell me. How is it that you and the old man found them all?”

  “Just lucky, I guess.”

  “Well, my friend, your luck has run out. Mostafa, bind them and gag them. I have heard enough of their blasphemy!”

  “Agent Davenport. An officer spotted the terrorist’s van on the Country Club Plaza. It’s heading north on Southwest Trafficway.”

  “Tell the officer to stay with it, and keep us updated on its location. Tell him not to engage until we get there. Let’s go!”

  Mostafa had taken duct tape and wrapped it around and around our bodies, covering everything from our shoulders to our feet. I felt like a mummy I had seen at the King Tut exhibit. I could wiggle my fingers and that was about it.

  After a twenty-minute ride, I felt the van pull off the pavement and onto a gravel road. Five minutes later, it came to a stop.

  “We have arrived,” Yasir announced. “Unfortunately, it is the end of the line for you.”

  When the sliding door flew open, I could see we were next to train tracks.

  “Since the two of you seemed to be smitten with trains,” Yasir said, “I thought it would be fitting that a train would be the last thing you saw in this life.”

  He turned to his comrades. “Put them on the tracks. In the middle, not touching the rails.”

  Being wrapped as we were, it took both of them to carry us to the tracks.

  After being unceremoniously dumped in the gravel bed, Yasir looked at his watch. “Ahhh, right on time. In a few minutes, a coal train will arrive and end your miserable lives. You’ll not be spoiling our future plans.”

  I knew he was right. I could feel the vibration of the tracks as it approached. The vibration grew stronger and I knew it would soon be on us.

  As I laid there, possibly taking my last few breaths, I could have been thinking a thousand different thoughts, but the thing that popped into my mind was a line from the old Coasters song, Along Came Jones.

  And then he grabbed her (and then)

  He tied her up (and then)

  He threw her on the railroad tracks (and then)

  A train started comin' (and then, and then!)

  And then along came Jones

  Like Sweet Sue, I was hoping Jones would come to the rescue.

  Then I heard another voice. “You there! Hands in the air!”

  It was my brother, Mark and his agents, but I was afraid he was too late. The train was close enough its light was flooding the area.

  “Quick!” Mark said. “Grab hold!”

  I felt strong hands grasp my body and pull me clear of the tracks just as the train rumbled by.

  Mark pulled the tape off my mouth. “Dad!” I gasped. “Is he ---?”

  “Yes,” Mark replied, “We got him out just in time.”

  Then I heard him. “Damned A-rabs!” I knew he was okay.

  Our abductors had been on the other side of the tracks, and by the time the mile-long train had passed, they were nowhere to be seen.

  Mark had saved our skin, but the terrorists were in the wind and would no doubt strike again.

  CHAPTER 14

  Maggie and Bernice had waited patiently outside the restaurant for about fifteen minutes. When we didn’t show up, they walked to the parking garage. Finding the car exactly where we left it and us nowhere in sight, Maggie feared the worst and called Mark.

  Thankfully, Mark had been alerted about the van by a Plaza cop. When he heard that we were missing, he put two and two together.

  He arrived just in time. Another two minutes and Dad and I would have been like those pennies kids used to put on railroad tracks.

  Unfortunately, the terrorists made their escape while the train rumbled by. Also unfortunately, their van was on our side of the tracks. That meant that they would be stealing another vehicle and Mark would have lost his only link to the terrorists.

  After our harrowing misadventure, Dad and I needed a few days to decompress. Neither of us ventured out of the building. I even had Willie bring in the morning paper for me.

  Finally, on the third day, I figured it was time to get out and ‘get the stink blown off,’ as my grandmother used to say.

  I called Dad and asked if he’d like to have lunch with me at Mel’s Diner. He said ‘yes,’ and off we went.

  I had chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy and Dad had hamburger patties with grilled onions and fries. We topped off our meal with huge slices of Mel’s home-made pie.

  Stuffed to the gills, we headed back home for an afternoon nap. You can do that stuff when you’re old and retired.

  When we arrived back at the building, we found Jerry and Bernice on the second-floor landing. They were staring at a strange object. On closer examination, it appeared to be an old garden gnome straddling a train engine.

  “Where in the world did that come from?” I asked.

  “I found it on the front porch,” Jerry said. “I was going out for a walk and it was just there. It was in a cardboard box. There was no name on the box, so I opened it. There was a tag on the statue that said, ‘For John,’ so I brought it upstairs. Since John has really been into trains lately, I thought Bernice might have bought it for him.”

  I turned to Bernice. “Well, did you?”

  She shook her head. “Nope! Wasn’t me, but if you look real close, it kinda looks like John, except for the beard and moustache.”

  “Dad, did you order it?”

  “Hell, no. I think it’s ugly. Why would I want a garden gnome? We don’t have a garden.”

  Maggie wasn’t home, so I called her cell. “Real quick, did you order a garden gnome riding a train for Dad?”

  “What in the world are you talking about?”

  “Uhhh, nothing. Gotta go.”

  I turned to my friends. “Out! Get out of the building! Now!”

  I stopped on the first floor and grabbed the Professor. Once we were all on the front lawn, I called 911.

  “This is Walt Williams. Send the bomb squad to my building --- and hurry!”

  Fifteen minutes later, the guys in their protective gear entered the building. On the one hand, I hoped there was a bomb in the little statue. If not, I was going to look pretty stupid. On the other hand, I cringed when I thought about my building being blown to bits.

  While we were standing there wondering if we were about to be homeless, a man I’d never seen before strolled up.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m one of Mark Davenport’s guys. I’ve been watching your building.”

  “Then you weren’t doing a very good job. Someone left a bomb on our doorstep.”

  “You mean the UPS guy? He was the only one I saw all day. Pulled right up in his UPS truck. I didn’t think anything about it. Just a delivery guy doing his job.”

  Thirty minutes later, a man came out of the building gingerly carrying a protective case.

  His partner stopped to talk. “There was a bomb all right. A timer was set to go off at nine o’clock when everyone would be in the building. Good thing you called us.”

  I noticed Jerry was a little green around the gills. “I --- I carried that thing up the stairs. What if I’d dropped it?”

  “Then we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Dad replied, grinning.

  Another close call. Twice in one week the terrorists had tried to get Dad and me out of their way. This time they had endangered everyone I love.

  It was time to turn the tables. We had to get them before they finally succeeded in getting us.

  I gave Kevin a call.

  CHAPTER 15

  Kevin listened intently as I told him about our latest bomb scare.

  “They’re really good,” I said. “They must have known that Mark had somebody watching the house, so they hijacked a UPS truck while the driver was making a delivery. When the guy dropped off the bomb, Mark’s guy didn’t think a thing about it. The cops found the truck abandoned two blocks
from our house. Nothing missing. They boosted it just to make everything look legit.”

  “So what do you have in mind?” Kevin asked.

  “This is the second time in less than a week that they’ve gone after Dad and me. My guess is that they’ll keep trying until they succeed. It’s time to quit playing defense and go on offense.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “They obviously have someone watching. They tailed us to the Plaza the other night, then hit us when we weren’t paying attention.

  “I say we put a tail on their tail. You find a spot up the block and watch. I’ll leave to run some errands. You watch and see if someone is following me. If so, you tail the tail. Maybe he will lead us to where they’re holed up.”

  “I like it. Give me fifteen minutes to drive away and circle back. Give me a call on your cell when you’re ready to leave.”

  Fifteen minutes later, I called Kevin. “I’m leaving. Keep your eyes peeled.”

  I kept the cell phone on speaker and left it in the seat so we could communicate without someone getting suspicious.

  “I’m heading to the grocery store to pick up a few things.”

  I pulled away from the curb and drove two blocks when I heard Kevin. “Bingo! You’ve got a tail. Blue Chevy, two cars back. Just do your thing. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  I was in the store about fifteen minutes. I deposited my groceries in the trunk and headed home.

  “He’s still with you,” Kevin said. “What do you want to do now?”

  “It’s going to be dark in less than an hour,” I replied. “I’ll park and carry my groceries inside. Then I’ll sneak out the back, circle around the next block, and join you. When I don’t come out again, he’ll think I’m in for the night and leave. We’ll follow him home. As soon as we know where he and his pals are holed up, we’ll call Mark and let his team do the dirty work.”