The Matter of the Deserted Airliner

by Levi, Steve;

  “Of course.”

  Harrison dug around in his desk for his personalized stationery. This was the kind of a tip which made history! He wanted to make sure he got every drop of legacy he deserved! On his own personal stationery! With a time and date stamp!

  “OK, I’m ready.”

  “Anaktuvik”

  “What?”

  “Anaktuvik. It’s spelled A-n-a-k-t-u-v-i-k. It’s an Inupiat Eskimo word. Just like the Pass.”

  “The pass?”

  “Anaktuvik Pass. It’s in the Brooks Range north of Fairbanks.”

  “That’s the clue?”

  “Half of it. There was an organization in Anchorage in 1964 by that name. That’s your clue.”

  “That’s not much of a clue.”

  “It’s not the clue that’s given that’s important, Mr. Harrison.”

  [Mr. Harrison! It was Mr. Harrison! They knew him by name!]

  The voice continued. “A clue is something you follow to find something more important.”

  “How should I follow this one?

  “Well, if it were me, I’d go down to the National Archives. It’s on Third Avenue just up the hill from the new state office building. They’ve got a whole bunch of really smart people working there who would know how to find out about Anaktuvik.”

  “National Archives, eh? I wasn’t aware there was such a place in town.”

  “You might want to keep the clue under your hat,” the voice said confidentially. “You know how the FBI is when it comes to sharing credit.”

  “Oh, yeah!” snapped the Director.

  “Now let’s get to the reason I called, Mr. Director.”

  “I’m listening.”

  The Director loved to hear his voice. He even loved it more when the person used the term “Mr. Director.” His grandchildren and their children’s children were going to be so proud of him!

  Chapter 48

  As soon as the bulkhead door was secured from the outside, the two men assigned to guard the hostages began the painstaking search of the compound for the corporal. At first they assumed he was hiding in one of the empty buildings. Where else could he have gone? 30 seconds into the search, it ended. Just beyond the line of sight of the electric eye over the bulkhead door they found a pair of blankets tossed over the razor wire. The blankets were punctured and ripped.

  “Son of a. . .” snapped one of them.

  “Not so fast,” his partner said. “We check everywhere else first. This could be a ruse.”

  “It doesn’t look like a ruse to me. How long before he finds a telephone?”

  “It’ll be couple of hours. If he’s smart he’ll follow the road but stay in the trees.”

  “Do we have a couple of hours?”

  They both looked at their watches.

  Then they looked at each other.

  “I’ll make the call,” the taller one said.

  Chapter 49

  At 3:30, the Command Center went from professional to tumult the instant Henry Harrison – “just like the President” – came storming through the door. It wasn’t so much anyone was doing anything important at the moment, save waiting for the clock to reach 4 p.m. The functional web of agents on the street and squad cars on patrol had already been established. Everyone was primed for the next drop.

  Then Harrison showed up.

  Worse, he showed up with his minions. Eight of them. All political appointees.

  “What’s going on here?” The AIC was not pleased to see Harrison.

  “I’m in charge here,” snapped Harrison. Then, to the assembled law enforcement and security personnel, all of whom were looking at him he said it louder. “I’m in charge, now. We’re not going to any more fu. . .” he caught himself just in time, “screw-ups.”

  There was a moment of deathly silent. Then, to a man (and woman) everyone’s gaze shifted from Harrison to the AIC. The AIC’s face was ashen for a moment. Then it went purple.

  Chapter 50

  Noonan pulled Ayanna out of the Command Center just as the proverbial excrement came in contact with the rotating metal blade. She half-stumbled rather than walked out of the room, Noonan pulling her by the elbow.

  “Aw,” she complained. “It was just about get fun!”

  “Fun we don’t need now. Let’s go to your office!” As they moved down the hallway away from the Command Center they could hear the ensuing uproar.

  “I just love it when men fight,” Ayanna sighed.

  To have called Ayanna’s office small would have been an overstatement. To have called it an office would have been an overstatement as well. What it actually resembled was a large table with a single drawer pushed up against a cement wall–in a hallway. There were three other tables alongside hers, all with single drawers and there was a single phone on one of the tables. All of the tables were obviously desks because they had blotters and personal items.

  “This is Airport Security?”

  “From the moment. Homeland Security snagged our regular offices. We ended up down here. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  “We aren’t really in our office much. We don’t need the phone because we all have cell phones. It’s actually a blessing. The Homeland Security people now have to put with all of the bureaucratic garbage while we can actually do our job. Do you know much paperwork the department requires us to fill out?”

  “I can imagine.”

  “No you cannot. Not in your wildest nightmare. Well, we let them fill out their own paperwork. If they can’t find us, we can’t fill out the paperwork.”

  Noonan sat on the edge of one the tables. “Well, while they fight the turf war,” he indicated the Command Center with a shake of his head, “we’ve got to do the heavy lifting. The bad boys have deliberately included Homeland Security.”

  “That’s stupid.”

  “No, it’s smart. What they have done is added one more bureaucratic layer of confusion to the crime. With the FBI in charge, there was some semblance of order. The FBI can get things done,” he paused, “eventually. Then there is Homeland Security and it does not have a clue.”

  “How did the bad boys light the fire under Homeland Security?”

  “I don’t know – yet – but they did. We were told they were going to muck up the next drop with Homeland Security. I just didn’t know how they were going to do it.”

  “Any special reason the dimwits are coming into the ball game this late,” Ayanna paused, “I mean Homeland Security. Usually they let everyone else do the work and then grab the headlines.”

  “No idea. I do know three things we have to work on. First, the extortionist who talked to me on your cell phone said his path and mine had crossed many years ago. Apparently I arrested his brother but not him. His brother died in prison and there was a five year difference in their ages. The extortionist also said he had been waiting for years for the time to be perfect to pull off this heist when I was in town. I assume he wants to embarrass me. It gives the perp an Alaska connection. Since I am going to be making the next drop, what I need you to do is coordinate with my office in Sandersonville and the Anchorage Police. Have my staff go through every one of my cases, starting with the oldest first and look for an Alaska connection. When we find the connection it will be the clincher on who he is. I’ve arrested a lot of perps who had younger brothers. See if you match the names of those arrested with those who have died in prison.”

  “Could be hard.”

  “In reality, no. Just get the names of those who were arrested and run them through the Social Security Death Index. It’s on line. In my career I’ve arrested, maybe, 200 perps. You can zing through the Death Index looking for 200 people fairly easily.”

  “How will the Social Security Index tell me which ones died in prison?”

  “Look at the place of death.”

  “OK. What next?”

  “I hate to ask you to do it but someone has to.”

  “Am I g
oing to like this?”

  “No but we need to get it done. The perps told Homeland Security something. Something important. Important enough to want them to take charge. Usually Homeland Security just tags along and claims credit. This time we’ve got what’s his name. . .”

  “Henry Harrison.”

  “Yeah, just like the President. Harrison. He’s really worked up. Means the perps have told him something motivating him to really get in charge. We can’t have a split command. You have to find out what motivated Homeland Security to get involved.”

  “So you want me to spy on the spy masters?”

  “Use your feminine wiles. Something put a burr under their butt. Go visit them in your old office.”

  “So you want me to go into the lion’s den as well?”

  “Think of it as the call of duty.”

  Ayanna shook her head. “OK, but it seems like a waste of time. You said three things. What’s the third?”

  “We’re up to drop three. This means we’ve got one more to go. The next one is going to be the big one, a $10 million drop. Once they have the diamonds, the hostages have no more value. I don’t see the perps killing the hostages. They are not going to release them until they are in the clear. We’ve got to be prepared for anything. Open a back channel to the Seattle Police.”

  “Back channel?”

  “Right. You call them from here. Make sure you know everything they are telling Homeland Security. Right now we’re clearly not being told everything Homeland Security knows. In a nutshell, it’s not good news.”

  “You really want me to go to the wall.”

  “Only you can do it. The FBI and Homeland Security are in the middle of a cat fight over who’s in charge, just the way the perps want it. Somebody’s got to solve this crime. It’s up to us because we’re not the FBI or the Homeland Security.”

  “All right. What are you going to be doing in the meantime?”

  “Going back to Command Center and wait for my phone call.”

  “Aw. You have all the fun!”

  Chapter 51

  “Gerry, dahling, are you ready to rumble?”

  “I’ve been waiting for your call for hours.”

  “Are you in the downtown area?”

  “Just like you told me to be.”

  “Good. Now listen carefully. You have to set up your camera in one particular spot. I’ve put a mark on the sidewalk for you. The camera has to be set up in the exact spot, not five feet to the left or right. On the spot. On the exact spot. With the camera pointing the way of the arrow. Do you understand?”

  “I understand. Where is the spot?”

  “I will tell you at 4:10. On the nose. It will be in the area of the old courthouse. Be in your car ready to move.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Chapter 52

  Back in the Command Center, Henry Harrison and the AIC were both on phones. From the dual conversation it was clear both were talking to superiors somewhere up the administrative chain of command. Everyone else in the room was standing around with the classical stern, professional law-and-order look. It was easy to tell the agents from the Homeland Security people. The former were around the desk of the AIC and the latter were standing shoulder-to-shoulder like the front line of an offensive team protecting their quarter back.

  Then Ayanna’s phone in Noonan’s pocket started buzzing. Noonan answered it.

  “Time for our little rendezvous, Captain.”

  “I have been waiting for you call.”

  There was a deathly hush in the room – with the exception of Harrison and the AIC on their respective phones.

  “Do you have the diamonds?”

  Noonan looked up from the phone. “Just a second.” He looked at the FBI agents. “Are the stones ready to go?”

  There was a general murmur of indicating yes.

  “Yes. Now don’t you have me running around too much. I’m an old man.”

  “Not to worry. Since you don’t know Anchorage I’ll have to give you all the directions you need. Do you know where the old courthouse is?”

  “On Fourth Avenue?”

  “Correct.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Of course, you know where the new courthouse is.”

  “A couple of blocks away.”

  “Good. There are a number of buildings sharing the same side of Fourth Avenue as the old courthouse. There’s one building known as the Blankenship Building. It even says it on the outside.”

  “Blankenship building?” Several of the FBI agents nodded. So did two Homeland Security people.

  “What do I do when I get inside the Blankenship Building?”

  “Go to the Third Floor. At the end of the hall you will find a janitor’s closet. Open the janitor’s closet and you will find a note with instructions. Make sure you follow the instructions on the note. Precisely.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Take Ayanna’s phone with you.”

  “Exactly when am I supposed to be at the Blankenship Building?”

  There was no answer. The phone was dead.

  “I’d say you mean right now,” Noonan said to the phone receiver.

  Chapter 53

  To anyone in the law enforcement business, the entourage escorting Noonan to the Blankenship Building in downtown Anchorage was more farce than force. Since it had not been determined whether the FBI or Homeland Security was in charge, both were. As neither would bow to the authority of the other, neither was in charge. Rather, neither was not. Thus neither was in charge, it was a split command at the top.

  With a split command on top it also became a split command beneath. The Anchorage Police, who took their instructions from the FBI, maintained a loose net of patrol cars around Anchorage. Not being privy to the inner workings of the Command Center, their function had not changed at all. This was a federal case and therefore the Anchorage Police were an appendage of the federal system and the FBI represented the federal system.

  Sort of.

  Maybe.

  Then again, no one had told the Anchorage Police Department boo so the men and women in blue were following the old orders which were to support the Feds – whoever those Feds happened to be.

  The FBI agents who were not actually at a command level were told to “follow procedure.” In this case, however, there were no procedures to follow. In most cases, and particularly in areas of low population like Anchorage, the FBI, in essence, looked over the shoulder of the local police. It didn’t have enough agents on the ground to run an operation of this size and never expected to. So, with the top of the food chain in turmoil, the agents on the street were told to maintain a thin surveillance screen around the Blankenship Building but to be prepared to move as the drop off point was moved.

  The real difficulty from the law and order standpoint was Homeland Security. Most important, it was not a law enforcement entity. Since it was populated with individuals who were political appointees few of whom had any law and order experience, it was bull in a China shop. Its minions did not understand crime scene protocol, undercover work or the black arts of crime prevention.

  Further, the Homeland Security at the top was split as well. Henry Harrison had left his Second-in-Command in charge of the operation with strict instructions to seize whatever square footage was necessary to capture the extortionist. This was in direct contradiction to the instructions under which the FBI operated. In cases of kidnapping, the FBI will track and follow the perpetrators until the hostage or hostages are released and then wrap up the case. Homeland Security, in the persona of Henry Harrison, clearly believed the best way to resolve the matter was to seize one extortionist and then hold him or her – her if she were the ultralight pilot – as a hostage as leverage with the gang.

  Harrison, in the meantime, to the shock of the AIC was not even going to be on the streets when Noonan went into the Blankenship Building. He was going to be two blocks away, at the National Archives, on a mission he would not discuss wi
th the AIC.

  The chain of command was thus one of blunder and bumble with no one person in charge.

  The block on which the Blankenship Building stood was the last city block on Fourth Avenue to have survived the Great Earthquake in 1964 and the subsequent renovation. Because of the unstable ground beneath Anchorage generally and Fourth Avenue in particularly, the entire north side of Fourth Avenue had slipped outward and downward during the quake. Further east on Fourth Avenue, the buildings had fallen six or seven feet and collapsed under their own weight as their cement foundations were snapped and twisted to rubble. The damage was less severe on the west end of Fourth Avenue where the Blankenship Building stood. Here the earth only dropped about three feet and the foundations of the buildings, though cracked, still supported the weight of the buildings. As money being tight in 1964, the buildings were simply patched and re-used.

  Originally a bank, the Blankenship Building, was so named because it had been bought for a song by Herman Blankenship for pennies on the dollar after the earthquake. Its vault had been in the basement and the offices on the first floor. The vault was both a blessing and a curse. It had been so well constructed it supported the weight of the building even as others on the same block were coming down. But, at the same time, the cracks in the basement were so severe the bank did not feel comfortable with a vault it did not deem burglarproof. So the bank moved across the street and Herman Blankenship ended up with the habitable building. A second, third and fourth floor were added over the next 30 years. As the Blankenship family knew, it was only a matter of time before the value of the downtown property became so inviting the building would be destroyed. So repairs were at a minimum. It was a tawdry building on one of the most expensive lots in Alaska. It was only a matter of time before some multinational corporation with very deep pockets snapped it up.

  Noonan, wedged between two Homeland Security minions in the back seat of a limo, was escorted to the front of the Blankenship Building where two of the three men in the front seat were let out. Their job was to secure the front door, make sure one came out until Noonan did. Then Noonan was driven around to the back entrance.