Jerome Stone walked into the room and looked at Granowski, showing the first emotion Jack had seen him exhibit. He rolled his eyes up, closed them, quickly shook his head, and frowned. Sure Thing and Squeaky followed Jerome into the room.
“Sorry we had to drag you in on a holiday.” Jack handed Sure Thing a large bottle of Mountain Dew. “Maybe this will make it up to you.”
Sure Thing sat across the table from Jack. His jacket was soaked and he was using some napkins to wipe the water from his shaved head. “Can somebody get a Coke for my friend?”
“Regular, not Diet,” Squeaky added.
Granowski and Jerome looked at each other at the sound of her voice. Granowski nodded, giving Jerome permission to fulfill her request.
Sure Thing opened the bottle and took a long drink. “Damn, that’s good. I had a couple of beers at a barbeque this afternoon, before the rain started.” He struggled out of his wet jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. “I need something to get me going.” He stood by the table wearing flip flops, cargo shorts, and a Hawaiian shirt.
Granowski and Ross sat at the ends of the table, the same one they had been at earlier, with the plans for the building laid out in the middle. The fluorescent lighting buzzed in the ceiling above them.
“We’ll catch you up.” Jack leaned forward against the edge of the table. “Our suspect has been robbing banks, but it appears he has a bigger target than the bank and its money. He’s tried to harm both Ross and myself.” He pointed at the plan on the table. “The Fed seems to be what he has his sights set on. We found these at his apartment.”
“So you know who he is?” Sure Thing asked.
“We do now. And he’s not stupid. We would have caught him by now if he was, so we need to figure out what he’s really up to. Or we need to find him.”
“Maybe I can help there,” Sure Thing said.
“Maybe you can. In a little while we’ll show you a room that’s got all sorts of techno stuff that will get you drooling.” Jack sat back and looked at Ross to give him a chance to speak.
“Are there any shipments of money in or out of the bank scheduled?” Ross asked.
“Not for a couple of weeks,” Mark answered. “Maybe you’re early?”
“Maybe we’re not,” Jack said.
“Right, maybe you’re not.”
“And the Fed Wire is secure?” Ross asked.
“One, it’s secure,” Granowski said.
“Nothing’s secure,” Squeaky said.
Mark looked at Squeaky. “It’s not,” she said.
“It’s secure.” Granowski looked back at Ross and continued. “Lots of monitoring, redundancy, and security controls.”
“So you know when you’ve been robbed.”
“Let him finish, Squeaky,” Ross said.
“And two, it’s not even operating right now. We’re down for the holiday. We come back online at one o’clock.”
“Well, then you’re secure until one o’clock.”
Granowski looked at Squeaky and then at Jack. “We’ve never been robbed.”
“What time is it now?” Jack asked, wiping his hands over his face.
Jerome walked back into the room and handed Squeaky a plastic bottle of Coke. “Eleven o’clock.”
“Squeaky said it. We’re secure at least until one o’clock.” Jack looked around the room. “If he’s after the Fed. Let’s split into groups and figure out what’s up.”
Ross brought a Styrofoam cup of coffee to Jack and set it on the table. “How many times do we need to look through these plans?”
The blue prints were turned to the page depicting the drawings for the vault. Jack supported his head with both hands, his elbows resting on the table. “Nobody’s breaking in here. Look at this. The vault’s what, thirty or more feet underground and the concrete walls are at least two feet thick, filled with steel bars.”
“Jack, look.” Ross pointed to the cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of them. Small circles radiated out from the center as if something had been dropped in the center of the cup.
“Something’s vibrating.” Jack picked up the cup and took a drink. “They have all kind of big equipment in here to count the money. It could be that.” He set the cup back down and put his palms flat on the table to see if he could feel anything.
Alarms started blaring and strobe lights in the ceiling blinked. Jack stood up, put his hands over his ears, and thought, not again.
Granowski stuck his head in the door. “Stay here, don’t go anywhere!” he yelled over the alarms.
Jack leaned towards Ross until his mouth was near Ross’ ear. “Or it could be something else. Let’s go see what’s going on.” He looked at Sure Thing and yelled, “you two get to the control room and see what’s going on there!”
Emergency lights were blinking in the hallway. The alarm continued to sound. It grew fainter as Ross and Jack walked down a hallway, away from a speaker, only to grow loud again when they rounded a corner to face a different alarm blaring from the ceiling. Men and women hustled through the halls. Jack and Ross went with the flow, following the people who had donned helmets and protective vests, the people exuding a strange calmness who seemed to have a destination in mind.
They followed the jump-suited group of six dressed in black down the narrow, fluorescent-lit stairwell one flight and out into another hallway. The hallway was quiet except for the murmur of voices as twelve uniformed, heavily armed Federal Reserve guards stood in a group.
“OK, listen up.” Granowski stood on a chair at the end of the hall. Jack waved from the back of the group. When Granowski saw him, he squeezed his eyes shut before he continued. “There’s been an explosion underground in quadrant E4. We don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t fireworks. This was big. It’s not a drill. The vault’s secure, but we need to find out what this was.” Mark pointed at the group on his left. “Team one, you’re going underground from down here.” The group of four nodded as one. “Team two, get outside and come in underground from the east side.” Mark looked to his right. “Team three, you’re above ground patrolling the grounds.” He pointed to the back of the groups. “Back there we have two visitors from the FBI. Don’t shoot them unless I tell you to.” He paused one beat, then another. “Go.”
The teams dispersed as ordered. “Agents Miller and Fruen,” Granowski yelled out. “Please wait.”
Jack spoke out of the side of his mouth as they waited for Granowski to make his way back to them. “Looks serious to me, Junior.”
“What do you think is going on in our office?” Ross asked.
“We’re probably the only ones with the FBI that know anything is going on.” Jack turned to Ross. “Let’s listen more than we talk and see what we can learn.”
Granowski approached them and walked on past. “Didn’t I ask you to stay put?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Follow me, gentlemen.”
Chapter 49
Granowski stopped in front of a plain, steel door. The room was simply labeled with a number next to the doorframe. He held a plastic key card in front of a sensor; there was a soft, short beep and he entered a number in the keypad on the wall left of the door.
“Double security?” Jack asked.
“You get five seconds to enter your number once you’ve scanned your card.” Granowski pushed on the door. “Follow me.”
Jack and Ross followed him into the room.
Faint lighting lit work areas where it was needed. There were groups of people in twos and threes focused on the task at hand. Nobody looked up when they entered. Sure Thing and Squeaky were already working with people in the room.
Granowski led Jack and Ross over to a bank of monitors. “We’ll be able to monitor the teams and what’s going on from here. The teams will be in place shortly.” He pointed up at the monitors to the left that showed video feeds from outside of the building. “The police are blocking off the streets around the Fed. Nobody will be driving past until we’re clear to wh
at’s going on.” They could see the flashing lights from the patrol cars and the absence of traffic on Hennepin Avenue.
“What do you think happened?” Jack asked.
“There was some sort of underground explosion. It was big.”
“We felt something,” Jack said.
Granowski nodded. “Our sensors picked it up immediately and set off our alarms. There are a series of old tunnels under the city and sometimes the tunnel rats set off our alarms.”
“Rats?” Jack asked.
“Well, they’re not rats, but people that like to explore underground. They’re a little…”
“Different?” Ross finished for him.
“I was going to say friggin’ weird or crazy, but different will cover it.” Granowski sat at a workstation, scanned the monitors, and started checking in with the teams on the radio. “Team three, report.” He pointed on the screen to show Jack and Ross where team three was.
A voice filled the room from speakers around the area. “Team three leader. Nothing unusual to report.”
“Team two?”
“Team two leader. We’ve entered the tunnels. There’s definitely been a disturbance. There’s a lot of dust in the air. Our lights can’t penetrate very far. We’re proceeding slowly ahead.”
Jack noticed Granowski tense up and focus on the monitors. “Ten-four, team two. Slowly but surely ahead. Stay in contact.”
“How can you talk to the teams underground?” Ross asked. “I wouldn’t think their radios would work through the rock.”
“They run hard line back to a transmitter station they leave behind by the entrance,” Granowski answered without looking back. “Team three. Report.”
“Definitely evidence of a detonation. We can smell it in the air. We’re going on respirators and moving in deeper.”
“Now what?” Jack asked.
Granowski stayed glued to the monitors. He was leaning forward with both elbows on the surface. Jack watched as his eyes moved across the monitor bank in front of him. Granowski held a pen in his right hand and fiddled with it; he stuck the end in his mouth, pulled it back out, and scribbled something on the pad in front of him. He used his thumb to click the plunger on the pen like Morse code. “Now we wait.” He put the end of the pen in his mouth, and then spit it out. “I wish I had a friggin’ cigarette.”
The explosion pushed air through the tunnel, followed by a muffled roar. The Governor crouched down and leaned against the wall as he waited for the pressure from the blast to move past. It was right on schedule. Once the main blast dissipated, he got up and hustled ahead through the dust-filled air. He held his right hand out and kept in contact with the wall. His headlamp reflected off of the particles flowing on the air waves through the tunnel, filling the shaft with a glow and making it impossible to see ahead. He had to make it to where the controller was set up to carry out the rest of his plan.
The Governor had a smile on his face and felt like a giddy kid on Christmas morning. He thought about the money that would become his in just a short time. The air cleared and he checked his bearings. A few more tunnels to work his way through and he’d be ready for the real treasure he was after.
Jack looked at his watch and paced around the room. It had only been five minutes since the last team checked in, but it seemed like hours. “Ross, we have to do something.”
“They’re doing it, Jack. There are two teams down underground and they’ll have news for us soon.”
“I can’t wait.”
“You’re worse than your kids.” Ross grabbed a chair and wheeled it over to Jack. “Sit down and relax. We’ll know as soon as they know something.”
“You sit, Junior. I have to move.” Jack walked across the room and watched the monitors, standing behind Granowski. “It’s still raining out?”
Granowski answered without looking back. “It’s raining.” He tapped his pen on the desktop. “The good thing is that the weather is keeping people away. There’s hardly anybody out there.”
“No media trucks yet?” Jack asked.
“Not yet, but if they show up they’ll have to stay back. We’ll put out a story about a missing puppy in the sewer or something.” Granowski turned and winked at Jack.
Jack continued to stare at the monitors. The roads were shiny from the reflection of the streetlights and the lights from the buildings reflected off of the wet surface. A monitor above broadcasted the local news. Everything seemed normal there, with the focus on the weather and the impact to Fourth of July celebrations. Jack drummed his fingers on the work surface and asked without turning from the multiple views laid out before him, “Is there a schedule for the teams to check in or do we just wait?”
“We’re on ten minute intervals unless something of interest comes up sooner. The teams are working in close quarters so they can communicate without radios, but they’ll check in.”
Jack pushed back from the console. “How much longer?”
“Three minutes.”
“Three minutes, three days, it’s forever sitting here waiting.” Jack started walking towards the door.
“Jack,” Ross started after him. “Jack, where are you going?”
“I can’t wait around in here, Junior.” Jack grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.
Jack stood in the tiled hallway and looked left, and then right, trying to remember which direction he came from, or which way looked like it would get him outside. He was going crazy sitting in the room not knowing what was going on underground. He needed to get closer to the action.
The door hissed behind him as it slowly closed, pulled shut by the piston designed to keep it shut. The right looked familiar. Jack turned to head down the hallway. “Team two to base,” he heard from inside the room, causing him to stop and lean back into the doorway. The closing door bumped into his shoulder as he held it open a few inches.
“Base here,” Granowski answered.
Jack stayed still and listened to Granowski and the team.
“We need an ambulance where we came in. We’ve got two bodies and one survivor.”
“Get the survivor out. Leave the bodies until you’ve assessed and secured the scene. I want to know what happened down there.”
“I need to get Jack,” Ross said to Granowski.
Jack pushed the door open. “I’m here, Junior. Let’s go.”
The sky was black with water pouring from it, splashing as it hit the ground already saturated with pooled water. “It’s still raining.”
“Thanks for the update, Junior.”
Jack and Ross ran across the grass and down the hill to where the team would be coming out of the ground. Ross, with one arm in a sling, wobbled as he ran. Jack slipped twice on the wet, grassy slope. The first time he saved himself. The second time he fell on his butt with a splash.
“You all right?” Ross asked.
Jack rolled over in the soaked turf and pushed himself up. “I’m OK. Let’s get down there and see what this guy has to say.”
They made it to the entrance cut into the side of the hill and stood by the black, wrought iron gate that hung open on its hinges. One of the Federal Reserve’s incident team stood inside the opening out of the weather. He swung his assault rifle up when he saw Jack and Ross. “Halt!”
Jack put his hands up, palms facing the guard. “Hold it, buddy. We’re with the FBI.”
The guard kept his weapon pointed at Jack while he looked him up and down. Jack could see a look of doubt on the guard’s face as he took in Jack’s shorts and polo shirt.
“Listen. Granowski knows we’re here. Didn’t he tell you we were coming? We wanted to see the survivor the team is bringing out.” The guard relaxed a little at the mention of Granowski and the tip of the gun dropped a little lower and to the left so it wasn’t pointed directly at Jack.
“ID?” the guard asked.
Jack slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his credential. He held on to one side and let it flip open to reveal his ID and
FBI shield.
The guard swung the weapon back and away from Jack and Ross. “Sorry, I’m a little jumpy.”
“You have every reason to be,” Ross replied, speaking for the first time since they had seen the guard.
“Any news on the survivor or how long it will be until they get him out?” Jack asked.
“Sounds like he’s mobile. His hearing’s shot from the explosion.” The guard put his hand to the side of his head and adjusted his earpiece. “They should be out in about ten minutes.”
Jack looked at Ross. “Guess we didn’t need to hurry down here.”
The rain continued to fall on Jack and Ross as they stood outside the entrance. Water dripped off of their noses and chins. Their wet hair stuck to their heads and blades of grass clung to Jack’s legs from his fall.
“Can we come in out of the rain?” Ross asked.
The guard stepped over a half step and made room for Jack and Ross to enter. “Sure, just be careful of the wires and equipment.” He motioned to the box and black cables that ran along the ground into the tunnel to maintain contact with the teams inside.
“Thanks. We’re drenched.” Ross stepped forward and squeezed past the guard.
Jack stood in the rain, not moving inside to the protection from the weather.
“Come on in, Jack. It’s not raining in here.”
Jack stepped forward enough to get a little protection and turned around to look back outside the cave. “I’m fine here. It’ll be crowded in there and they’ll be bringing the prisoner out soon.”
Ross tried again. “Come on, Jack. He said it would be ten minutes. No reason to keep getting wet.”
“I’m fine, Junior,” Jack replied back over his shoulder.
“Jack, you claustrophobic?”
Jack didn’t reply.
“I’m fine where I’m at, Junior.” Jack turned and looked into the cave. “We didn’t introduce ourselves,” he said to the guard. “I’m Jack and he’s Ross. Agents Miller and Fruen.”
“I’m Alex,” the guard answered with a nod of his head. He turned back towards Ross. “Officer Butler.” Then he returned his gaze to Jack and whispered, “I don’t like the tunnels either. That’s why I’m guarding the entrance.”
The Ninth District - A Thriller Page 20
