The two men nodded.
One of them handed the radio to Mustafa. “It just came over the police scanner. The second procession just cleared the Philadelphia City Limits.”
Grabbing the radio, Mustafa keyed the mike, “Leaders you are to proceed. I repeat. You are to proceed.” Each leader responded in turn. Mustafa smiled and looked at the other two men. “Let us go and begin. We must move to make sure we’re in position before they close down the area.” They each got into their respective vans and drove off.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Kate watched as Belle turned and walked away from Mustafa. He looked both irritated and surprised by the conversation. He seemed quite animated as he talked to the two men and, with uncharacteristic hurriedness, they scrambled into their vans and started out of the neighborhood.
“Jordan?” Kate called over the radio as she put her car in gear and followed the vans from an appropriate. “I think we’ve got a problem.”
“Say again, Kate.”
“Belle and Mustafa just had a conversation outside of his house and, when it was over, Musfa and his pals left in a big hurry.”
“Okay, but who’s Belle?”
“She’s the woman who talked up Reggie when we were installing the audio and video in Mustafa’s house. She’s the nosey neighbor, sort of like the neighbor in the old “Bewitched” re-runs.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was. I think she told him about the cable guys being there and he’s figured out it was us. They are high tailing back to you, it looks like.”
“All right. This could really throw a wrench into our plans. The children seem to be moving into position for something. Where are Stan and Max?”
“They’re right behind me. We’ve got Mustafa and his guys in sight. They seem to be following their same route from earlier.”
“Kate, I think you should go pick up Akmed. If Mustafa’s figured out what happened at his house, he might put it together that Akmed talked to us. Stan, Max. can you keep up the surveillance?”
“We’ve got them — unless they split up again.”
“Okay, but I agree with Kate,” Jordan told them. “More than likely, they’re going to be coming back here to the Mall.”
Kate turned and headed down a side street, to get to Akmed’s store. Stan and Max continued along Third Street. Eventually, the vans did the same maneuver as before and turned down various side streets, which left Mustafa’s van for Stan and Max to follow.
Mustafa didn’t turn where he had before, but continued on. Max glanced at Stan, saying, “Looks like he might be going somewhere else.”
“Maybe. But, he could turn at any of the next few streets and still come out at the Mall.”
The van finally turned right on Race Street, instead of left, as it would have if it were returning to the Mall. As Stan also turned right, he and Max saw the van turn left into a parking lot. Stan drove past as Max identified the company. “City of Brotherly Love Cleaning Service.” Looks like he’s a good employee and showed up for work.”
Stan pulled a U-turn at the end of the street and slowly headed back. A block before the cleaning service’s building, he pulled over. “Well, let’s see if he pulls a complete shift.”
Chapter Sixty
Mustafa couldn’t tell for sure, but felt it was a possibility that whoever was in his house had also watched him and had probably followed him. It hadn’t been his plan to come to the office. He’d wanted to head to the target; but, he thought he might be able to throw off his tail by coming to work. They would know this was where he worked and it shouldn’t seem odd for him to be there. He also knew that, if they stayed out on Race Street, they would never realize the company had a dock area on Query Street, on the other side of the building. He could walk out the back, jump in one of the other company trucks and be on his way. But first, he needed to make a call.
“Hey, Mustafa! I didn’t expect to see you here today. I thought you took the day off to be with you nieces and nephews.” the receptionist looked up as he entered the office. She was always nice to Mustafa and, when he’d first started, had helped him around the office.
“I forgot to drop some things off for one of the crews at the Mall. And, my truck is acting up. Could you have Carlos take a look, Judy? And, I’ll need to borrow a truck. Is anything available?”
“Well, Mustafa, you are in luck! We just got two new vans in yesterday and they’re sitting out back. Carlos just got temporary tags for them, but they don’t go to the paint shop until next Monday. Have some keys.” She tossed the keys to Mustafa.
He smiled. “Judy, you saved me once again. I’ll be back in the next hour or so.” Mustafa knew he would never be back to the offices of the City of Brotherly Love Cleaning Service, but how fortunate to get a new van with a temporary tag and no signage on the sides. A plain white van in Philadelphia. How many could there be?
He moved through the building and into the warehouse at the rear. The phone on the back wall wasn’t in use, so he walked over and picked up the handset. He dialed the number, hoping the person to whom he needed to talk would answer.
“Hello, South Philly Hardware. How can I help you?” It was the voice he wanted.
“Without saying my name, do you know who this is?” Mustafa asked.
“I do. What do you need?”
“I need you to take care of the problem we discussed. It is time. It must be done quickly! By doing this for me, you will have what you want. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I’ll take care of it.”
“You are a good man. You deserve this reward for your support of our efforts.”
“Thank you,” the voice responded. There was the click of the connection severing.
Mustafa hung up the phone. It was good to tie up loose ends as soon as possible. He walked out onto the dock and saw the two vans parked along the fence. Fortunately, Judy had given him the keys to the one in front. He hopped in, adjusted the seat and mirrors, laughing to himself that he was still following the company’s guidelines for vehicle safety. He placed the gearshift in Drive and started out the lot. He knew he would arrive at his destination within five minutes and the real work would begin.
Chapter Sixty-One
Jordan observed as the teams of children made their way toward the two buildings. One team headed to the building which housed the Liberty Bell. Formerly kept in Independence Hall, a new facility was constructed in 2003, solely to house the Bell and exhibits on its construction and history. Jordan watched as the children entered and queued into the security line.
Jordan turned around. He spotted the other group walking up to the door of Independence Hall, where they were greeted by man in Colonial attire. As Jordan watched, he got the impression the man had been expecting the children. With the Park Ranger still next to him, he asked. “Who is that man talking to those children?”
She glanced over and squinted her eyes. “It’s one of the volunteers. It’s hard to say from this distance; but, I’m pretty sure it’s Sam. He’s great with the kids.”
“I’m sure he is. Can you get a hold of him on a radio?”
“No, they don’t carry radios. Why?”
“Because he can’t let those kids in!”
“What are you talking about? They’re school kids. We always have kids come in.”
“Those aren’t school kids. They’re terrorists!”
“What are you talking about? Just who are you anyway?”
“How many armed Rangers are on site?”
“I’m not telling you that.” She started to pull out her radio to call for assistance. To her, Jordan had moved beyond strange to downright scary.
Jordan took his eyes off the children and turned toward the Ranger. He realized how his comments must have just sounded. He moved his hands to pull out his credentials.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The voice was behind him. He turned and saw another Ranger with his hand on his gun.
&nbs
p; “I’m a federal agent. I was getting my badge. You have a potential situation here.”
“I see that we do, Mr. Federal Agent. Now, why don’t you just move your hand back, and then we’ll all take a little walk.” The man’s voice was annoying.
“You don’t understand,” Jordan began, trying to be patient. “You have four groups of children that have been trained as terrorists, one group entering each building in the Park. You’ve got a major incident going down.”
“Sure we do, buddy. Yeah, the school kids wreak havoc here every day of the week. We can handle them. It’s the nuts like you that we have to waste our time on.”
“Look, I’m here, my partner up by the visitor’s center is watching two other groups. I’m telling you a major incident is going to occur at any moment,” Jordan said, his voice extremely well-modulated, he thought.
“Hey look, buddy. I’m the liaison with the Homeland Security Task Force. I haven’t been given any alert or, for that matter, any information about a bunch of school kid terrorists targeting Philly.” The guy’s voice really was irritating.
Jordan was about to get into the Ranger’s face, when a man and woman sporting Phillies World Series Champion shirts and ball caps walked up.
“Excuse me, officer? Could you tell me why the Liberty Bell is closed?”
“It’s not. You enter right over there,” The H.S. Task Force man responded, as he pointed to the long, rectangular building that housed the Bell.
“Yes, we know. We were just there. But, the door is locked.”
The Ranger looked toward the building and saw there was a large number of people outside. Several were apparently trying the door, only to find it wouldn’t open. He grabbed his radio. “Park Three to LBC One. Over.”
There was no reply, only the crackle of static..
“Park Three to LBC One. Confirm center’s status. Over.”
More static.
“Park Three to Control. Over.”
“Go ahead, Park Three. Over.”
“Anything going on in the LBC? Over.”
“Negative that. Board shows everything normal. Over.”
“I copy that –” The Homeland Security man never finished the transmission, for at that moment, there was a shout from a man coming out the doorway of Independence Hall. “There are kids in there with guns!” He stumbled out of the building and a large red blot was growing on his shirt by the right shoulder. A young Middle Eastern face stuck out through the door briefly, but then quickly closed the door.
The Ranger looked at Jordan. “Who did you say you were again?”
Jordan didn’t answer his question, he took over. “You’ve got four sets of students who have entered each of your major buildings. They are armed with guns and explosives. You need to evacuate the Mall and lock this area down.” Jordan reached back for his radio, neither the Ranger nor the H.S. man attempting to stop him.
“Jordan to Command Center. We have a Code One at Independence Park. We need a full Level One Response. I repeat, Level One. I have contact with Rangers on site. We need Philly PD here ASAP.”
“We read you Jordan; all units in route.”
“William, what’s happening up there?”
“They’ve entered the Constitution Center and the Visitor’s Center. It seems they have both buildings under control. A few people got out, but it looks like they’ve held most people inside.”
“Okay, cavalry is on the way. Stay there and keep me posted.”
Turning to the park personnel, Jordan asked. “We need a command post. Any ideas?”
“The Greene Federal Building has a back up Homeland Security center we could use.”
“Let’s go, then,” Jordan nodded.
Chapter Sixty-Two
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA
Kate pulled into a parking space around the block from Akmed’s store. She started down the sidewalk and glanced up at the apartment, which had been their command center. The street was quiet, with few people out this time of day. She looked through the store windows and there seemed to be no customers. She saw Akmed in one of the aisles, as he straightened the merchandise on the shelves. Benny was behind the counter on the phone.
She turned and entered through the front door, which caused the bell attached to the door to ring. She didn’t make a quick beeline to Akmed, but attempted to be a customer in search of an item. She knew the hardware store probably didn’t have a large number of younger white women who shopped in this store, based on the neighborhood demographics.
Kate turned down the aisle in which she’d seen Akmed. He was no longer there, so she picked up her pace and walked to the end of the aisle. The shelving units were of a height that precluded her seeing over the top, so she had no clue where Akmed might have gone.
Benny said “Thank you” into the phone and Kate heard him shuffle through some items behind the counter. She turned the corner just in time to see Akmed turn down another aisle and watched him walk toward the storeroom. Had he seen her? Did he know why she’d come? Was he trying to get away? Or, did he know why she was there and he was going to grab his things. She continued straight down the aisle, parallel to Akmed. She hoped she could intercept him when the aisle ended and get to him before he reached the storeroom.
“Akmed!” called Benny.
“Benny, what are you doing with that gun?”
“You have betrayed us.” Benny shouted.
“What are you talking about?” Akmed stuttered in confusion.
Kate stopped at the end of aisle. She knew Akmed was just around the corner.
“I have been ordered to kill you,” Benny proclaimed.
“Ordered to kill me? By who? Who has ordered such a thing?”
“You were supposed to help us. You raised Aziz to be a leader for us. You provided the store and the money. Allah is grateful.”
“Benny? Are you part of this? How long have you known?”
“Mustafa befriended me, after you hired me. He showed me the wrongs I had been doing. He showed me the ways of Islam and its righteousness. I believe in what he is doing. I thought you were a believer, also.”
“It’s crazy, Benny. Innocent people are going to die. Mustafa let my wife die. He is not the man you think he is.”
Kate knew time was almost up, and was silently thankful that so many inexperienced people who have the drop on somebody see it as an opportunity to practice their oratory. She could tell by Benny’s tone he wasn’t going to be swayed by Akmed, and she wouldn’t have a clear shot if she came around the corner. She didn’t know where Akmed was or Benny for that matter. The one thing she did know was that Benny must not have realized she was in the store. He didn’t seem concerned. She needed to get into a better position, where she would have a clear shot at Benny. Slowly, Kate moved away from the end of the aisle, well aware of the anti-theft mirrors which hung from the ceiling. The mirrors allowed the person working at the counter to view the various aisles and watch for shoplifters. Kate stayed low, to avoid Benny spotting her.
She moved across the middle aisle, back to the front of the store. Mercifully, Benny and Akmed continued to talk, but it wouldn’t last much longer. Her right hand was on the butt of the Crimson Trace Laser fitted Glock 22. She slipped the pistol out of her holster and moved to the corner directly across from the counter so if Benny hadn’t moved, she would have a clear shot. She’d rather sweat information out of him than kill him, but she wasn’t a cowboy in an old movie who could just “wing” her target. The more of these people they could capture and interrogate, the better chance they would have of finding other cells.
“Benny! Look at what I’ve done for you. I gave you a job. I pay you well. You are practically another son to me. Why would you kill me?”
“Akmed, this is not about me and you. This is about something greater than both of us. We can bring honor back to Iran. We can teach the Americans that their liberties mean nothing. Akmed, you must die for your betrayals.”
“NO!!”
> There was a shot and Akmed fell to the ground. Something metal slid across the floor. Akmed didn’t move.
“You’re under arrest, you terrorist son of a bitch!” Kate commanded. Her radio was in her left hand, a black gun in her right. “I have a man down and need medical assistance at South Philly Hardware. Suspect apprehended. Officer needs assistance.”
Akmed was confused. Kate was there and suddenly, he looked over and she stared back at him.
“Akmed? Are you okay? I mean, you weren’t shot or anything. I shot Benny.” She held the muzzle of her pistol to Benny’s head and pocketed the radio. One-handed, she pulled the apparently unconscious Benny’s arms around behind him, locking his wrists together with plastic tapes. “They’re Flex-cuffs. Got to be cut off,” Kate called over as she dropped on one knee across Benny’s calves and cuffed his ankles together. Her gun disappeared under her coat as she took a third and fourth plastic strip and connected these between Benny’s ankles and wrists, so he would not be able to stand. “He’s not going anywhere, but you and I need to get out of here as quickly as possible. This place will be crawling with cops in a few minutes and, if they find you here, we’ll never get you away.” She helped Akmed up. They went back to the office and quickly grabbed his bag. As they headed out the back door, they heard the sirens just as the first police units pulled up to the front.
They found Kate’s car, tossed Akmed’s bag on the back seat and jumped in. As Kate pulled away, all Akmed could say was, “Thank you, Kate. I had no idea about Benny.”
“My pleasure Akmed. You’re safe now.”
Enemy Among Us-A Jordan Wright Thriller Page 20
