The traffic heading toward Virginia suddenly stopped, blocked by a cab that had come to a halt about 100 yards past them. A single woman got out, looked both directions, and began walking toward them.
Kevin had trouble seeing her face through his dirty contacts. The tall, slender form matched Erica’s height, but her hair did not cascade over her shoulders as Erica’s did. The woman wore a T-shirt and shorts and carried a bag at her side.
Despite his blurred vision, Kevin had no doubt. The distinctive, purposeful stride and long legs gave her away. It was Erica.
* * *
On her cab ride from the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station, Erica had been careful to look out for any signs that she was being followed. In fact, for the last day and a half, she’d carried out an almost paranoid observation of her surroundings. If Kevin’s abductors knew what she was about to try, it would certainly fail.
Up ahead, Kevin made no sign that he recognized her. She couldn’t see the two men behind him clearly. One wore sunglasses and a baseball cap and the other’s head was covered by a hood. She guessed that they were the same two that had kidnapped Kevin from the parking lot at Virginia Tech.
Erica didn’t see anyone else, but that only made her more nervous. She knew they had to be around somewhere and thought of all the clichés. A parked car with a man reading a newspaper, a sidewalk vendor, a jogger taking a slow walk to cool down. But as far as she could tell, there was no one else around besides the normal traffic. She didn’t like it.
She walked slowly toward them, trying to detect any unusual movement in her periphery. Footsteps pounded behind her. She clutched the bag close to her chest and whirled around to see a sixty-year-old woman focusing on the ground as she jogged past Erica. Erica tried to calm herself and continued toward the middle of the bridge.
When she was fifty feet from Kevin and his escorts, she moved toward the side of the bridge and held the bag over the railing as she walked. It was a concrete railing about a foot wide and at shoulder level, so Erica had to stay close to the edge with her arm outstretched. Inside the bag was a kayaking pack she’d bought yesterday at an outdoor store. She’d wrapped the pack in a canvas bag to hide the fact that it was waterproof.
Thirty feet away from Kevin, she stopped. She could tell from this distance that she was right about the men’s identities. Barnett and Kaplan. Barnett was in jogging shorts and a cap, and Kaplan’s bulky frame looked at home in the sweatpants and sweatshirt he wore. She could also see that Kevin’s hands were cuffed in front of him. They shoved him and began to walk toward her.
“Don’t come any closer, Barnett, or whatever the hell your name is,” Erica said, shaking the bag. “I’ll drop the notebook in the river.”
“If you must know, Miss Jensen, my name is David Lobec. To my left is Richard Bern. How do I know you that you have what I want in that bag.” Lobec held a pistol to Kevin’s right, out of sight of the passing traffic.
“First, I want to know if Kevin’s all right.”
Lobec nodded for Kevin to speak.
“Except for a couple of bruises,” he said, “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Considering the circumstances, I’d rather be doing what I was doing the night my parents died.” She looked at the river, hoping to give an impression of sadness to Lobec and Bern. Then she looked back at Kevin.
His eyes flicked twice to the river. He nodded almost imperceptibly. “I think I know what you mean,” he said.
Good, he got the message. Now they had to find the right time. Maybe they could make it a few yards down the bridge before they attempted her plan.
“Miss Jensen. The contents of the bag?”
Still holding the bag out as far as she could, Erica unwrapped the Kayaking pack inside the bag, out of Lobec’s sight. She withdrew the Adamas Blueprint and flipped a few of the pages to show him the writing.
“And the videotape? You have that as well?” said Lobec.
She replaced the notebook and took out the 8mm videotape. He seemed satisfied. She stuffed it back in the kayaking pack and velcroed it shut. Her arm was again outstretched over the water.
“I suppose you expect me to trust that those are the originals and that no copies have been made.”
“Just like I have to trust you to let us go once you have them. Now let Kevin go or I’ll drop the bag in the water and no one will ever see the Adamas Blueprint again, especially Tarnwell.”
“I don’t care,” Lobec said.
She was taken aback by the statement. Kevin furrowed his brow. By the look on his face, even Bern seemed puzzled.
“I’m serious,” Erica said. “I’m going to drop it.”
“I certainly hope you’re serious,” Lobec said. “Go ahead. Drop it.” Then he turned and shot Richard Bern.
CHAPTER 35
Kevin had been ready to act ever since he realized what Erica was planning. When Lobec said, “Drop it,” Kevin knew that was the time. He twisted and swung his arms at Lobec.
He brought his arms up and into the side of Lobec’s head, which was just above Kevin’s arm level. At the same time, he heard Lobec’s gun fire, but he didn’t let that slow him down. The full force of Kevin’s blow snapped Lobec’s neck sideways and he staggered away.
Kevin ran to the side of the bridge while Lobec was stunned. Erica was already standing on the concrete railing. He shouted, “Go!”
Erica jumped.
Kevin didn’t bother climbing onto the railing. He dove over it, praying that the river was deep enough for him to make the running dive.
As he fell, Kevin could just see Erica entering the water in a perfect pike position. Kevin had no control and spun end over end. He tried to stabilize his trajectory in the two seconds of freefall he had, aiming his feet at the water. Then the soles of his feet slammed into the murky Potomac.
He sank for what seemed like forever despite his attempts to stop. Finally, his direction reversed. The impact had almost knocked the wind out of him, and his lungs were already crying for fresh air. He kicked furiously.
Just when he thought he was never going to breathe again, he caught a glimmer of light and kicked harder. He broke the surface and gasped, the crisp morning air filling his lungs.
Kevin looked around for signs of Erica. He didn’t see her. He took a deep breath, about to dive back under and begin a search when he heard, “Kevin, over here.”
He spun around. The impact of water must have jarred his contacts loose because all he saw was an indistinct blur of a head bobbing in the water. She had already swum twenty yards to the next bridge pylon. She waved for him to swim in her direction and disappeared behind it. He tried to swim freestyle, but the shackles on his hands made that impossible. The best he could manage was a lame breaststroke.
Kevin paddled as quickly as he could to get past the next pylon and under the bridge. As he came around the pylon, he looked for Erica’s face, but instead he saw a large object come into view. It bobbed on the surface of the water next to the concrete wall of the pylon. On top of the bobbing object, a figure moved. As he got closer, he saw letters painted on its side. He squinted. Lady Luck. It was a boat.
“There’s a ladder on the left,” Erica called from the deck. “Hurry. They could be here any minute.”
Kevin sputtered through the water. “I’m swimming as fast as I can. The handcuffs aren’t helping.”
He gripped the top rung of the ladder with both hands and lifted his feet to the bottom rung. Erica grabbed his hands and pulled, heaving him up so that he lay on the deck with his feet dangling over the back. From this position Kevin was able to sit up. Although he couldn’t make out any details, the boat looked to be about a 16-footer.
“What can I do?” he said, trying to catch his breath.
“Here. Untie this mooring while I start her up.”
“Show me where it is.,” he said, rubbing his eyelids. “I think I lost my contacts in the jump.”
Erica escorted him to the tie-down. He got to wo
rk while she cranked the engine. Unfortunately, Erica must not have been in the Boy Scouts like he had. Instead of a slip knot, she had used a granny, and the constant tug of the river had tightened the bond.
“Do you have a knife?” he said.
The engine roared to life. “No!” she yelled over the sound of the motor. “I didn’t think to…Wait a minute. Yes!” She went over to a bag under the cowling. “Your Swiss army knife. I picked it up with the other stuff in the lab.”
She handed it to him, and he quickly sliced through the nylon cord. Free from the restraint, Lady Luck began to float away from the pylon.
“Clear!” Kevin yelled.
Erica gunned the engine, and the boat shot forward, its bow rising high above the water’s surface. Within seconds, they were cruising South on the Potomac at 25 knots.
“Where are we going?” Kevin said.
“Bayshore marina. That’s where I rented this. The truck’s parked there. I bought you some dry clothes. They’re in the bag. So’s your gun.”
“Good thinking. How far?”
“The marina’s about fifteen minutes from here. We should have plenty of time to get to the Capitol.”
The Capitol. Their meeting with Congressman Sutter. Kevin looked at his watch. It was 7:15. She was right. They still had time. The meeting wasn’t until 8:00.
“Jumping off the bridge,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m impressed.”
“I’m just glad you understood the reference to my diving meet. I didn’t want Lobec to even get a hint that we’d try that.”
“When did you get the idea?” Something itched in his left eye. He rubbed his eyelid to dislodge it.
“Two days ago, when I got the phone call. I didn’t have much time to think. When I lived here six years ago, I biked to work every day. I came from the Virginia side, over the Arlington Bridge, and around the Mall. I always saw boats on the river. I didn’t know if it was deep enough to jump until yesterday when I checked the navigation charts at the marina. They said it’s up to ninety feet deep in the middle. It was a chance.”
“I’ll take jumping into a river over getting shot any day.” There was definitely something caught in Kevin’s left eye. He tried harder to work it out.
To the left, a white rounded shape rose above some trees. He’d never been to DC before, but Kevin recognized the Jefferson Memorial’s domed top from photographs. An engine roared above them. Kevin looked up to see a jet. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like it had just taken off. It banked to the left and headed up the Potomac.
“National Airport,” Erica said, pointing to her right.
“All I can see are blinking lights.”
“About a half-mile ahead is the end of the runway. Looks like the bleachers are still there.”
“Bleachers?”
“Yeah. The jogging path goes right by the airport. Someone set up bleachers just on the other side of the fence surrounding the airport. A lot of people take breaks and watch the planes taking off. Three more are ready to go.” Erica paused. “Why did Lobec do it?”
Kevin looked at her. “You mean shoot Bern?” She nodded. “He probably wanted Adamas for himself. Once he got all of us out of the way, he could disappear and sell it to the highest bidder. Of course, after he applied for the patent. It would be no good without the patent protection.”
“Who was the guy in charge? The Texan?”
“Yeah, Clayton Tarnwell. He owns a mining and chemical company. Tarnwell would probably go after him, but this guy Lobec is smart. He would have gotten away.”
Kevin massaged his eyelid, working the object down from the top of the eyeball. When he realized what it was, he turned and ducked to get out of the wind. Slowly, carefully, he worked it down until it was over his cornea. He blinked several times to clear his vision.
“Got it!”
“Got what?” Erica said in a confused voice.
“My contact. The left one didn’t come out after all. It just got pushed up under the top eyelid.” Kevin looked around at the boat. For the first time, he could see the inside of the fiberglass hull in detail. The bow was open and lined on either side with bench seats. An aisle split the main console, which had a bucket seat behind it on either side. More bench seats lined the aft section. A 100 hp Mercury outboard thrashed a spray of water into the air.
When his eyes reached the top of the ladder fastened to the back of the boat, he stopped. Erica had been focusing on piloting the boat since they left the bridge, and Kevin’s eyesight had been too poor to notice before. But now that he had his corrected vision back, it was stomach-wrenchingly obvious.
One hand curled over the back of the boat, knuckles fiercely gripping the hull. Then a grimacing face rose above the hand. David Lobec’s eyes locked with Kevin’s. Kevin could only stare in disbelief as Lobec smiled and continued to pull himself up.
CHAPTER 36
After he had been hit in the head by Hamilton back on the Arlington Memorial Bridge, Lobec had been dazed for only a second, but it had been enough for the two of them to jump over the side of the bridge without Lobec firing a shot. It was uncharacteristic of Lobec to get distracted, but he had taken undeniable pleasure in shooting the insufferable Bern. The temporary lapse had been enough for the resourceful Hamilton.
Lobec had recovered quickly from the blow and run over to see Hamilton splash to the surface, his girlfriend already taking cover under the bridge at the next pylon west. Unfortunately, some of the passing cars stopped upon seeing what happened, and their passengers got out to investigate, leaving no chance for Lobec to take them out from above. Jensen and Hamilton disappeared under the bridge.
For the benefit of the bystanders, Lobec pointed at Bern and yelled, “My God! That man shot him and jumped off the bridge!” Then he began running.
If there had been men stationed at the ends of the bridge, they could have intercepted Jensen and Hamilton. But he had lied to Tarnwell. Extra men wouldn’t have fit into Lobec’s plans. Just before he had left for the rendezvous, he had told them to stay at the mansion.
Lobec ran toward Virginia, pausing at the next pylon to see if he could find them. That’s when he heard the boat’s motor fire up and realized they would get away unless he did something. He knew that there were only a few small docks north of the bridge, so he took a chance that they were headed south.
Lobec tucked the SIG Sauer he’d used to shoot Bern into the waistband of his shorts and sprinted through the slow-moving traffic, crossing the six lanes in seconds. Without stopping, he leaped off the opposite side of the bridge. When he surfaced, the boat was roaring out from under the bridge three feet in front of him. He lunged forward and barely grabbed the aft ladder as the boat skimmed by. He gritted his teeth as the force of the jolt dislocated his left shoulder, nearly ripping his arm from its socket. He couldn’t be sure, but it appeared that neither Hamilton nor his girlfriend had seen him.
It had taken all of his concentration to keep his legs from being tossed by the waves into the exposed propeller. After a minute, though, he was able to raise himself enough to get a foothold on the ladder. Then the climb had gotten easy. He had not been surprised to see Hamilton watching as his head rose above the boat’s edge. He even smiled at seeing Hamilton’s shocked face, although the surprise had come earlier than he had hoped it would.
Hamilton’s inaction lasted only a fraction of a second. Cursing, he began fumbling with a bag lying next to him. The girl turned around and screamed when she saw Lobec.
“Shake him loose!” Hamilton yelled.
Lobec was not all the way into the boat and had to hold on tightly to keep from being thrown into the water as Jensen tossed the boat side to side.
Hamilton found what he was looking for, withdrawing a Glock pistol from the bag. He chambered a round. Then he yelled in the girl’s direction.
“Okay. Stop the boat.” Hamilton held the Glock with both hands. They were still chained together by the handcuffs.
Jensen pushed
the throttle to STOP and turned to face Lobec.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” Hamilton said.
Lobec was still only halfway into the boat and could not draw the SIG Sauer in his waistband because his right hand was holding him onto the ladder and his left was useless. He couldn’t raise his arm enough to grab the pistol let alone fire it accurately.
With the Glock trained on him by the marksman Lobec knew Hamilton to be, Lobec slowly eased his legs over the side of the boat without trying to draw.
“That’s far enough,” Hamilton said. “Now with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand grab only the butt of the pistol in your shorts and drop it on the deck.”
At a range of three meters, Hamilton would not miss if Lobec tried to draw the awkward pistol and silencer combination. He did as he was told and dropped it to the deck.
“Good. Now slide it over here with your right foot.”
“Or what,” Lobec said. “Or you will shoot me?”
“You killed my father. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your head off.” Kevin had to raise his voice to be heard over the sound of jet engines powering up at the end of National’s runway.
“Kevin, don’t,” Erica said.
“He will not, Miss Jensen. And I have a very good reason for you not to kill me. You’ll never know what this is all about. Besides, I am an unarmed man. I know for a fact that you have never shot anyone in your life. And you won’t shoot me.” He moved his left leg forward. Even with his dislocated shoulder, Lobec merely had to get close enough to disarm Hamilton. At most, two arm’s lengths away would do it.
With the quickness of a cat, Hamilton shifted the gun and shot Lobec in the left calf. Lobec stumbled, for the first time surprised by Hamilton, but he caught himself before falling, balancing on the other leg. He didn’t look down. The pain was no worse than other gunshot injuries he’d endured, probably little more than a flesh wound.
“Are you convinced now?” Kevin pointed the pistol at Lobec’s head.
The Adamas Blueprint Page 26
