"You forgot bandit," Drake interjected.
At the thud of the aircraft landing gear and the sudden jerk of a full reverse engine stopped their diatribe, or at least Justin assumed it did. Thankfully it was too loud in the cargo hold of the aircraft to hear if they kept going.
He unbuckled his harness as soon as the plane stopped shuddering. He crossed to the bag that contained his equipment and lifted it. Raising his head, he met Jacob's amused look. The bastard. In the future, he was going to ensure O'Malley's was out of 2009 Tor ‘Beckstoffer To Kalon - Clone 4’ Cabernet Sauvignon every time his brother showed his face.
The ramp opened into nothing but darkness. Several of the men around him, loaded down with packs, headed down the ramp. He adjusted his bag in his hand and followed. They crossed the tarmac with only the strobing lights on the aircraft breaking the perfect black of the night.
"No landing lights for the pilots?" He asked Chief.
"They were on. They are turned off immediately so we can unload without any satellite imagery. If unfriendlies have infrared, we'll be seen as a heat source, but they won't know what we are unloading."
The two black jeeps that had been strapped into the cargo bay roared to life. When they rolled down the back ramp, several packs and his bag went into the rear one. Jacob and the Doctor were in that vehicle, and thankfully, his brother motioned for him to climb in. The twins and Chief were in the other. Jacob got in, put on a pair of night vision goggles and started the engine. As Jacob put the vehicle into gear and pulled away, Justin looked back and caught a glint of moonlight off the other jeep that shadowed their movements.
Doc's arm rested on the front portion of an M4. He knew what the weapon was because Gabriel had forced him to qualify with several different types of guns. He glanced over at his brother armed with three handguns, that he could see, and a knife that would make Crocodile Dundee envious. All he had was his brain and his skill. It would be enough. It had to be. He settled into the seat and gazed out the window into the darkness. They had a long drive ahead of them.
Chapter 23
Dani startled awake, not realizing she'd fallen asleep. She pulled her legs back toward her trying to conserve body heat. She was so cold. Her shoes and coat were gone. The cream-colored wool pencil skirt she wore was filthy and damp. She glanced around her cell noticing for the first time the plastic bucket in the corner. Her mortification didn't stand a chance against her body's needs. She quickly made use of the pail and returned to her corner. She pushed into it even though the cement wall was cold and leached body heat from her. She wrapped her hands around her knees and leaned forward just until her back and shoulders were off the wall. There was a loud shout of laughter outside her door. She heard people out there occasionally. Once, someone pounded on the door and sent her terror spiking, before a laugh echoed and the sound of their footsteps faded away. She dropped her cheek on top of her knees and stared at the side wall.
They wanted something from her dad. Danielle knew him well enough to know he'd give any amount of money to get her back, but if they wanted weapons? She closed her eyes tightly. She'd heard her dad's lecture about weapons falling into the wrong hands. He was a stickler for government regulations and compliance. He would never knowingly allow a criminal to illegally possess one of his weapons. No, if they wanted weapons, she knew he wouldn't pay.
She straightened and shoved more tightly in the corner when footsteps halted outside the door. She blinked as bright light flooded her six by ten cell. A rusty, dented, metal bowl hit the floor along with a plastic bottle of water. Half the food in the bowl fell onto the floor.
"Eat," a man grunted, before the door shut again. Danielle crawled to the center of the room and grabbed the water bottle. She could tell the cap had been opened. She unscrewed the top and sniffed the water. If they wanted to drug her again, it would probably be easiest to do it at meal time. She took a sip of the tepid water and recapped the bottle. If there were drugs in it, she wanted to mitigate the magnitude of the effect. The bowl contained a broth with beans. Danielle balked at the smell. She needed to eat, but she wasn't going to eat that. At least, not today. She pushed back into the corner. It was getting darker. The small window at the very top of her cell no longer illuminated her cement prison. Danielle dropped her head back. She wondered if her father had called Justin or if work had called him when she hadn't shown for her scheduled meetings. How long had she been gone? Where had they taken her? She didn't hear any city sounds, so probably somewhere upstate? Maybe? Wherever it was, it was quiet. No aircraft or vehicle sounds. There was no distant wail of emergency sirens or the erratic punctuation of horns and with a window at street level, it should. No, she was outside New York City, and that wasn't good. She could be anywhere upstate or maybe they took her south towards Virginia? There were a lot of places they could hide her out of sight, fairly secluded areas not more than a long car ride outside of the city.
A quick flash of red caught her attention. She stood and walked over to the far side of the cell. There it was again. The tiniest flash of red. She got close to the wall and stared through the darkness. A camera. She immediately glanced at the pail. Maybe it wasn't a wide-angle lens. Her captors were watching her. Not that she could escape. The only way out was through the ceiling, and that wasn't an option. The walls were smooth and even though she could free climb proficiently, getting up these walls and being able to work her way into the ceiling was next to impossible. Danielle inspected the corner under the camera. She might be able to crabwalk her way using the side walls as support, but without equipment, she'd fall before she could remove the ceiling tiles and figure a way out. Not only that, but there was a little problem called a camera. Danielle scurried to her corner at the sounds of a person walking. She waited, but the person outside the door lingered. There was no sound for several moments and then she heard the sound of footsteps echoing as they left. A chill of fear ran down her spine. Of all the things she'd been through, that pregnant pause outside her door scared her the most. Why did they stop? Why had they left? What had they wanted? Her mind chased thoughts down terrifying rabbit holes. She wiped away a tear that escaped. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with Justin. She prayed her father had made the right choice and knew if he did, the right choice wouldn't result in a happy ending for her. At least she'd had happiness for a little while. She closed her eyes and hugged her legs. Justin's chiseled features and dark hair filled her mind's eye. She should have told him she loved him. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. She knew that, and still she hadn't told him her truth. Her mother's maniacal laugh ran through her memories. At least they hadn't said goodbye. She'd cling to that.
Justin crawled up to the edge of the wooded area behind the flat-roofed fortress comprised of smooth forty-foot-plus walls of concrete block covered in beige plaster—typical middle eastern construction. The sun was just starting to set, and he could see the guards walking on the top of the sandstone structure. The walls were smooth without handholds and the moat circled the entire compound. But he didn't care about that. He held Jacob's binoculars and examined the construction and angles of the outside walls. The team had moved as close in as they dared so he could look for a way in. There was only one option and that was a chimney climb. There was a jig in the wall making a three-sided rectangle of the sandstone. If he could reach that jig, he could get up the wall. He'd drape over the top when Jacob gave him the all clear, then the earpiece would be turned off. He didn't need or want help beyond that point. Jacob's team would take their places after he’d cleared the wall and then he'd find a way to neutralize the alarm system. His eyes swept the building one more time. No visible power lines meant a generator or underground power. Both were easy to ascertain and depending on what power source they used, he'd know where to go to nullify the alarm system.
"You can climb that?" Jacob's hand extended asking for the binoculars again.
Justin passed them to him. "Yes. No problem." He wasn't concerned about the clim
b. He'd make sure his equipment was secure, so it didn't make any noise, and then he'd scale the forty-foot walls.
"How are you going to get across the moat?" Dixon, or Drake, whichever, had bellied up beside them.
Justin pointed toward the far corner. "There is a rock halfway and a log on the other side that I'll use."
"Dude, you do realize the expanse of that jump, right?"
He whipped his head toward whichever twin was talking to him. "I know how to do my job. What about you? How are you crossing the damn moat?"
"Oh, hell, that's easy. When we get your word the alarms are defeated, we take out those four guards and cross the bridge. The gate is opened, and we traverse to the main building, go through the front door, taking out anyone in our way, and then we head downstairs, get the lady and get out. You make your way out while we are inside."
Justin swiveled his head toward Jacob who nodded in agreement. He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes.
"You going to sleep, dude?" That came from the twin on the opposite side.
He shook his head. "Running the blueprints through my mind. I have two possible power sources, and I need to determine the most likely place for the panel to be positioned. If I have a primary, secondary and tertiary location selected for both, I'll find the panel faster."
"That wall is at least fifty feet high." Doc sat with his back against the tree, blocked from view by a large outcropping of branches.
"I'd estimate forty to forty-three feet," He replied.
"Where do you think the power will be?"
"In a compound this size, I'd have a structure to house the incoming electrical and fiber or telephone cables. If the main structure has an UPS, it could be there also.”
"A UPS?"
"Uninterrupted power supply or maybe a secondary generator." He kept his eyes closed. He knew what he had to do, and he knew how to do it. The wildcard factors here were numerous. Personnel, power, positioning, type of alarm, type of triggering system, redundancy and most of all, where were they were keeping Danielle.
"Let's pull back. We'll break open some MREs, grab a bite and rest before we begin. We have at least four hours before it’s dark enough for you to scale that wall without being seen.
Chapter 24
Justin braced himself against a rock in the copse of trees where the team had been earlier. He'd made sure there was no tripping hazard and waited for Jacob to give him the all clear. The guards on top of the wall weren't exactly precise with the time of their patrolling, and it was making it difficult to judge when both would be facing away from the far corner of the wall.
"Go now." Jacob's voice triggered all his pent-up energy. He flew towards the bank and launched himself toward the rock in the middle. His forward momentum landed him on the far side of the outcropping. He hit the rock on the ball of his foot and sprang forward, landing on the dead log. The ground was flat in front of him, so he drove his weight forward and down, onto his hands, where he executed a front flip into a cartwheel and then a forward roll into the shadows of the wall. He pushed his back against the wall and regrouped. Jacob would never let him live that down. He'd added tumbling to his workout routine about ten years ago. It was an extremely effective tactic to keep your forward momentum going while traveling a wide distance quickly.
"Shit son, that was fucking impressive." Jacob's voice in his ear freaked him out for a moment. He made his way down the shadowed recesses of the fortress wall and to the chimney-shaped jig. He switched his backpack around and put his arms through it, so it hugged his chest. Bracing his back against the sandstone, he lifted his legs until he was suspended between the two walls. He slid his arms down and pressed back lifting his back away and up about six inches. His feet followed. Arm press, back up, feet follow. The process repeated over and over until Justin was below the lip of the top of the wall. He was drenched in sweat, and his legs and arms were shaking. He braced himself and waited for Jacob to send the all clear.
"Standby."
Justin got ready to move.
"Now. Go right. The guards are talking to your left."
He flung his left arm over the top of the wall and pulled himself over, dropping to the walkway the guards used. He crouched low and ran across the rampart to a stairway. Justin ghosted down the stairs until he reached the first landing. He pushed into the shadows and observed the inside of the compound. There were old military vehicles and battered pickup trucks. A doorway on the right was open and light spilled into the courtyard. Justin descended the stairs and found the deep shadows behind the trucks. He listened for any indication of a generator. The silence in between the bursts of laughter told him the electric was underground. That meant the panel would be...he reoriented himself. That way. He pushed off and made his way to where he would put the exterior alarm panel. The weeds behind the building came up past his knees. He moved slowly, not sure what lay underneath. He used his hand to trace the back of the building. A water pipe. That was a good sign, it meant utilities. But there was no alarm panel or electrical box. The same for his secondary selection. He glanced at his watch. He needed to find that fucking panel. He made his way to the main structure, which was more or less a mini-mansion.
There were no bursts of laughter from the guards this far inside the compound. A soft hue of gold flowed from the windows. He crossed the lawn activating a floodlight on the back of the house. He sprinted across the lawn and slid into a rose bush. The razor-sharp thorns tore at his arms, the thin material of his shirt caught and ripped as did the skin under it. His gloved hand snapped away the branches that dug into his arm. He planted his back against the darkest corner of the exposed wall. Holding still and trying to remain as quiet as possible Justin turned his head to examine the eaves of the house. The floodlights illuminated everything. There were no exposed camera ports. He lowered his gaze and continued the examination of the exterior of the structure. Nothing. The floodlights went dark causing him to close his eyes tightly to try to regain his night vision.
Doubt crept into his mind. There was no indication of an alarm system, no state of the art alarms to trigger an armed response because of his move across the lawn. He heard and saw nothing. No guards other than those posted above and the ones in the small outbuilding. He lifted carefully keeping tucked tight to the wall expecting the lights to cascade the yard in illumination again. Nothing happened. He glanced up at the floodlights. The sensor must be facing outward only, nothing below it. He glanced at the window beside him. There was a soft golden hue, but indistinct, as if an interior light was casting through a darkened room. He stepped over the majority of the rosebush and dealt with the jabs and tears of the branches he couldn't avoid while maneuvering himself up to the window.
As he'd anticipated the room was dark, but the light from the hall partially illuminated the interior. He examined the double hung window carefully while still keeping his situational awareness on high alert. There were no wires or balanced magnetic switches that he could see. That could be good, or very bad. If the sash had been drilled and the wires were run through the casing, he wouldn't be able to see them. He glanced at his watch. He had little time to find and deactivate the alarm system before the timeline Greenfield had initiated with the terrorists passed. He closed his eyes briefly and pulled in several breaths while he ran everything through his mind again. He had to go with his gut. There was no alarm system for the house itself, but there could be one in the area where they were holding Danielle. He weighed the magnitude of his decision. If he set off an alarm now, he and Danielle were dead. If what his gut was telling him was true and there was no alarm, he could get in, deactivate any alarm system to the basement area and get Danielle out without putting Jacob and his team at risk.
He glanced at his watch again. There were only minutes until the deadline passed. The decision made, he pulled out his knife and inserted it between the sashes. He quickly applied a sturdy pressure and the lock released. He pocketed the knife and zipped the pouch closed before he
pushed the bottom sash up a fraction of an inch. Nothing. A fraction further. Still nothing. He lifted it two inches and waited thirty seconds. A minute. Nothing. Justin lifted the sash and slipped in. Landing lightly, he visually searched all corners of the room looking for motion detectors. Nothing.
He made his way across the room and studied the dead-end hallway from the open doorway. The doors that lined the hall were open, with only one room being lit from the inside. Justin slid down the door casement and closed his eyes, listening for any sounds. The soft tapping of a keyboard and the low sounds of music emanated from the same lighted area. He stood again, and slipped out of the room, and moved down the hallway where he held at the end. A quick glance back to the lighted space ensured he'd made it without alerting anyone. The continued light tap of keys played like a back note as he studied the flow of the house that he could see. The front foyer and formal living area were to his left. That meant the kitchen would most likely be to the right. He peeked around the corner making sure there was no one in that area before he rounded the corner and headed toward where he hoped the stairs to the basement would be.
A door closed and he ducked into the kitchen. A male voice called out, and the person, a man, in the office responded in one of the few languages Justin didn't know. Naturally. He heard solid, heavy steps coming towards him and then turn off down the hall. He took the opportunity to open the first door in the kitchen. A pantry. The second was a broom closet. The third went into a hallway and towards a formal dining room if the chandelier he could see was any indication. He squatted down. There had to be a stairway. His eyes caught on the braided oval rug just to the right of the island. Fuck...maybe? He moved over and pulled the rug toward the island. There it was. A trap door in the floor. He searched the sides of the door. No wires. There were two deadbolt locks. Child's play.
Justin Page 16
