by Levi, Steve;
“That better be a rope,” said Gerry. “I don’t want to believe he can fly.”
“It’s a rope all right. Now he’s untying the end of it and letting it fall. No one is going to be following him using the rope. He’s left everyone behind him on the top of the building. Clever boy. They can see him but not do a darn thing about it.”
Gerry looked back to the roof top. “There isn’t anyone there.”
“Gerry. Look!”
Gerry turned back to the parking garage and there, on the upper most precipice, the figure had jumped up onto the ledge. He was looking directly at them, a dozen yards down the street and three stories up. The figure gave them a salute and then cat-walked to the northeast corner of the parking garage.
“What’s he doing now?”
“He’s got another rope.”
“What?”
“Yup. And there is goes!”
As Gerry watched, the figure dropped off the roof of the garage. Again, he fell only four or five feet and then plummeting down the steep hillside toward the State Office Building. It was another rope slide. But this one was a zip line.
It was at that very moment Gerry and the cameraman realized why they had been required to set up the camera at exactly where X marked the spot. It was the only spot with a clear view of the front door of the State Office Building. The rest of the hillside was bushy but someone had gone to great deal of effort to make certain there was no visual obstruction between the precise location of the television camera and the front door of the building. Half a foot forward or back and the doorway would have been obscured by brush.
“Keep shooting.”
“I am, I am.”
The distance to the State Office Building was so great Gerry could not see what the figure was doing.
“He made it all the way down, right?”
“Right down to the big tree next to the entryway. Now he’s unhitching himself. He’s turning this way and waving. Still got the Elvis mask on. Waving again and now he’s gone. Inside.”
Hearing the sound of voices, Gerry turned and saw a passel of personnel on the top of the adjacent building. “Get a shot of those guys. Run the camera up the slope for effect.”
“Don’t tell me how to do my job.”
Chapter 57
Other than Gerry and her cameraman, the only person to see the figure plummet from the top of the parking garage down the hillside to the State Office Building was Henry Harrison. He was hurrying down Third Street from the National Archives toward the back of the Blankenship Building when he heard a whizzing sound overhead. He looked up just in time to see a figure with an Elvis Presley mask sliding down a rope less than a dozen feet overhead.
Harrison immediately picked up his cell phone and dialed the AIC. “Why aren’t your people watching the State Office Building?”
“We are!” came a voice over his cell phone. “He’s inside!”
Two minutes later, just before two unmarked cars and six squad cars arrived at the front entrance to the State Office Building, the four double-wide doors were flung open. It was 4:30, on the nose, and every bureaucrat in Anchorage flooded out of the building.
Gerry caught it all on tape.
Chapter 58
The Fisherman lugged a cement block out of the back of his car and loaded it onto the boat. He strapped a rope around the inside brace and tied it off with a bowline. He didn’t want to have it popping free when it hit bottom. He left out about six feet of rope and cut it. To the free end he tied the drawstring of a cloth mesh bag.
Next he loaded a plastic bag of clothing and tossed a pair of tennis shoes under the boat’s seat. He dragged the ice chest along the pavement and levered it up to the gunnels and then plopped it inside the boat. Finally he took a half-full tank of gas and loaded it aboard. He attached the hoses and gave the engine a quick start. It popped right to life. He smiled as he looked at his watch.
“Almost Showtime!”
Chapter 59
“What kind of bozos do you have working for you?” Harrison was almost dancing with anger. “We had our boy! He was in a vault in a basement with no way out! We had the building locked down! Locked down! And your bozos let him get away!”
The AIC was just as livid. “You sent your people in way too early. There was no way the perp was going to come out the front or back door. What do you think he is, some novice?! He’s a professional. He never intended to go out the front door! Or the back door! He knew the basements were connected! While your men,” the word men was said with derision, “were slamming their way through the metal grate, the perp was into the next building, the building you had not secured.”
“The building was not secured because it was your job!” yelled Harrison. “You were told to cover the area, do the things the FBI is supposed to do. You didn’t do your job. We did our job! You didn’t do yours!”
“Oh, we did our job all right. Your people don’t even know what their job is!”
Back and forth the two went at each other. It was like a tennis match where the ball was being batted back and forth viciously. One man would throw a charge and the other would bat it back. It was giants in conflict and no one else in the room said a word.
Noonan was about to interrupt when Ayanna came into the Command Center with a Manila file. The sly smile crossing her face indicated she would enjoy sticking around and watching the political pyrotechnics.
“Apparently I’m the only one here who knows time is short,” Noonan said as he pulled Ayanna out of the Command Center.
“Again! This is happening again and I can’t watch?”
“Those two are doing exactly what the perpetrators want them to do: fighting among ourselves. They are very clever people. This is going to come to a conclusion very quickly and we don’t have a lot of time. So far we don’t have much to work with. What’s with the paper work?” He indicated the folder under her arm.
“Probably a lot more nothing. After I contacted your office I tried nosing around Homeland Security. I got nothing but as I was leaving I saw Harrison headed in the opposite direction from the Blankenship Building. I wondered what he was doing so I followed him.”
“Good girl.”
“Thanks, I needed the encouragement. He made a beeline for the National Archives where he started harassing the historians there about a business active in Anchorage in 1964 called Anaktuvik.”
“Anaktuvik?”
“Yeah. He even spelled it for them.”
“That’s what he wanted?”
“He wasn’t very nice about it. They told him they couldn’t help him since Alaska was a state in 1964 and any business in Anchorage would be a state business. He left in a huff.”
“Anaktuvik?”
“Right.”
“What’s this?”
“After he left I asked the historians if there was anything he hadn’t been told. They said Anaktuvik is a Native village in the Brooks Range – way north of Fairbanks – and they didn’t know of any business in Anchorage with the exact name.”
“And?”
“I asked them about city and state records and they told me to go to the Anchorage Museum. I told them it was an emergency and they placed a call for me.” She smirked, “They said I was a lot nicer than Homeland Security.”
“I can imagine.”
“There is a list of businesses licenses on the Internet and there are some businesses with the name Anaktuvik in them but none as far back as 1964. The earliest were in the 1970s and were Native businesses.” She held up the folder. “I’ve got a list here but I don’t think there’s anything for us. There are two interesting things about Anaktuvik. First, it was not a traditional Native village. It has an odd history. It wasn’t established because it was near a resource like a salmon stream, berries or a good hunting area. The Wien brothers established it as a refueling place for their bush planes. They moved people into the area.”
“And the second thing?”
“It’s famous fo
r its masks. Natives make a unique mask in Anaktuvik Pass. You can find them all over town.” She showed him a photocopy of a mask. “There’s a glitch, though. No one started making those masks until long after the earthquake.” She showed Noonan a FAX copy of an Anaktuvik mask.
“I’ve seen these around town. They’re from Anaktuvik, eh?”
“Yeah. That’s it. Nothing else.”
“Why was Harrison burning jet fuel to find out about Anaktuvik?”
“That I don’t know. Just that he was.”
Noonan thought for a moment. He looked at the mask and then held it up. “Does this look like Elvis Presley to you?”
Ayanna laughed. “Not a chance.”
“Well, I don’t know what Harrison was looking for and neither does he so it makes us even. Ask the Alaskan who works for the Seattle Police Department, the one who identified the walrus whisker, if it means anything to him. Make sure he reports back to you first, not to Homeland Security.”
“Roger.”
“Make it quick. I expect the next call from those perps to come any minute now.”
Chapter 60
Henry Harrison cleared his throat. It was for effect only. Everyone was already quiet, waiting for him to say something. He had come into the room of relatives like an emperor – because he had allowed three television cameras into the room. The camera people were under strict orders to allow questions. That was the way Harrison liked it. Lots of camera shots and questions. Then he could edit out the bad questions. The good ones he had already salted. Relatives had been hinted at what questions were best to ask. All in the name of security. National Security. It was what he had told them. For security reasons. Had a nice ring to it. It was the nice thing about working for Homeland Security. Security was in the title. He didn’t have to say why security was necessary. Only that it was ‘security.’
Harrison turned sideways for a good profile shot. He was talking on a cell phone, listening actually, and occasionally saying something official. The person at the other end of the line did not acknowledge a thing he said. She was the weather person and every ten seconds she gave the time, weather and advised her listeners to shop at Safeway or Walmart or the other local businesses paying for the advertising time.
Harrison said “Yes, Sir,” and hung up the phone. Then he turned to the audience, placed his hands on the sides of the podium and said, “Thank you for being here.”
It was dead silent.
“I want to let you know everything is going to be wrapped up within two or three hours, four at the outmost. I cannot tell you very many details except arrangements are being made as we speak to make certain all of the demands of the extortionists are being met. The safety of the hostages,” he leaned forward and emphasized “your loved ones” and then he returned to his majestic presence, “is our first concern. We have been assured there have been no injuries and all hostages are in good health and being taken care of. All I can say now is to be patient for another two hours.” He looked around the room, “Any questions?”
There was a hubbub but no one said anything. Then a single hand went up in the back. “Do we know where the hostages are located?”
The single question Harrison had been hoping someone would ask.
“We are fairly sure they are in the Seattle area. Homeland Security is directing the FBI and Seattle police in the checking of all buildings large enough to house 95 people. There are not many so I expect we will have some word soon.”
“How will they get to Anchorage,” someone else asked.
Harrison again smiled. This was the second of three questions he wanted to answer. It was as if he had been salting his own news conference. “Homeland Security is making arrangements to have them flown to Anchorage. If we cannot find an empty plane they will be put aboard every available flight. As they are loaded aboard, we will announce the names so you will know exactly when each person has left Seattle.”
“Are these guys going to get away with it?”
Harrison felt like yelling Bingo! Three out of three and the first three questions out of the gate. He leaned forward, tilted his head a bit. “Right now our first obligation is to the hostages. Once they are free then we can concentrate on running these miscreants to ground. They can run but they cannot hide. Once they have the final payment and the hostages are released, well, ladies and gentlemen, it becomes a brand new ball game.” He looked at his watch. “This is all for the moment. I will try to be back here in an hour for an update. Thank you very much.”
With a bureaucratic flurry, he was gone.
Chapter 61
Right on the dot of 5:30, Ayanna got the call.
“You want what?” snapped Ayanna into her cell phone. She was incredulous.
“You heard what I said, Love,” came the voice again. “Start filling Unicorn 739 with fuel. When it’s filled to capacity, I’ll call back. I’ll know when the plane is fully fueled when the trucks pull away. No tricks now. Just fuel the plane. While you are at it, have the ridiculous collection of guards pulled off the security detail. We don’t want any trouble this late in the game.”
“Are you planning on flying out?” She was incredulous. “Where do you think you can go?”
“Never you mind,” said the voice. “Just fuel the plane to capacity. When it’s full, have the fuel trucks leave the area. I also want security sweeps of the plane. Run your security people through it to make sure no one is on the plane. I mean no one. Not a human, not a dog, not a GPS. Nothing. Got it?”
“I got it but it’s going to take some time. Getting a large plane ready to fly will take an hour of so.”
“You’ve got time – but not much more than an hour. Don’t play us for fools this late in the game. When the plane’s full, clear all runways for takeoff.”
“You don’t think you’ll get away with this do you?”
“So far we have,” the voice was no sweet. “When I see the fuel trucks pull away, we’ll talk again.”
“What about the hostages? When will they be released?”
“As soon as we are over international waters. Relax, everyone is well. No one is going to be released until we are well on our way.”
Before Ayanna could say anything else, the cell phone went dead.
Ayanna turned to Noonan. “You won’t believe what they want.”
“Sure I can. I heard what you said. They want to fly out.”
“Where are they going to go? It’s a long way to any place from here. Who’s going to let them land?”
“No way of knowing but so far they’ve been one step ahead of us. They must have some sort of a plan.”
“You don’t sound as sure of yourself as you did a few hours ago.”
“Until this all plays out we’re not going to know what is what. Like you, I’m concerned about the hostages first.”
She was exasperated. “We can track a plane. We’ve satellites and radar and AWACS. Even if they drop below the horizon they’ve got to land somewhere.”
The detective shook his head. “Clever people, these thieves. I’m sure they have something elaborate planned. Do you have the final $10 million in diamonds?”
“Not yet. We should get them within an hour or so. Probably about the same time the plane gets refueled. Of course, we can slow down the re-fueling.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll give you 95 reasons. Until the hostages are released we’ve got to play their game.”
“This does not make me happy.”
Chapter 62
“Gerry, dahling, it so good to talk to you.”
“This is getting old and I haven’t got much of anything. All I’ve gotten is a handful leads everyone else is getting a few minutes later.”
“Gerry,” the voice was soothing, “this is a very big game with lots of players. You’ve been treated well and it hasn’t cost you a thing.”
“May be true but you’ve got this whole city on edge. Everyone�
��s a detective now. We’ve got people listening to the radio driving up and down the streets waiting for something to happen. It’s crazy.”
“All in the plan. All in the plan. The more people there are on the street, the better. Now, we’re about ready for the last drop. $10 million in diamonds. You want to make sure you are in the right place at the right time. It may be a bit difficult but I am sure a woman of your ingenuity can swing it. Let me tell you where to set up your camera so you can see our greatest feat.”
“I’m listening.”
Chapter 63
“So this is what $10 million in diamonds look like,” said Ayanna as she ran her fingers over the stones. She picked one up and held it to the light. “Beautiful.”
“Now you know why they call them ‘a girl’s best friend.’” Noonan smiled.
“You’ve got to find a man to go with ‘em,” said Ayanna. “A rich one.”
“Best of luck,” Noonan said as he fingered the leather pouch. He played with it for a moment and then handed it to Ayanna. “In they go.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. Then she rolled the diamonds into her hand and poured them into the pouch. Noonan cinched the pouch shut and she held up her empty hands toward the AIC. “See, nothing in my hands.”
The AIC did not smile. He did not think anything was funny.
“OK, listen up.” The AIC gave a whistle bringing the room to instant silence. “This is the last drop, the end of the $25 million. The second we drop these off we are through with the negotiations. Then three things happen at once. We wait for the hostages to be released. We track the airplane these buggers are going to be flying and we bring the dirt bags in.”
There was a round of here, here.
“Now,” said the AIC, “we have to wait.”
