Perspectives, An Intriguing Tale of an American Born Terrorist

by Jeffrey Shapiro

  “How? How is it going to happen?”

  “A helicopter, loaded with explosives, is going to fly to Lexington and one of the F-18’s is going to take it out.”

  Carly’s voice came from the living room. “Daddy?”

  Jonathan turned to Mary, “Don’t hurt him anymore, he’s cooperating!”

  “Don’t leave me in here with her. I’ll do anything, please Jonathan. Jonathan, don’t leave….please, Jonathan.”

  “She’s not going to hurt you.” He looked over at Mary and she nodded.

  He ran out of the room to grab Carly. She was standing by the front door in her nightgown, sucking her thumb and holding Bruiser. “I can’t sleep, Daddy. I hear mommy screaming at Uncle Bob and then there’s awful noises. Please make it stop Daddy. I’m afraid.”

  He picked her up, carried her upstairs, and gave her a big hug. “Okay, sweetie, I’ll make it stop.”

  “Mommy is going to kill Uncle Bob?”

  “No, sweetie…Mommy would never do that.”

  “Yes she would…..Mommy is not the same. Please don’t let Mommy kill Uncle Bob.”

  “I won’t let her.”

  “Will you lie down with me for a minute?”

  “Only for a minute.”

  Jonathan flipped the channel until he found one of Carly’s favorite shows, The Cosby Show.

  He stayed with her for a minute until she fell asleep. He kissed her on the forehead.

  “I love you sweetie.”

  About halfway down the stairs Jonathan knew he’d made a mistake. He leaped down the last four steps and ran to the kitchen to see what he feared the most. Bob lay on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, his throat slit wide open and the long knife buried into his chest. Mary sat in the chair covered with blood.

  “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “But, he killed my baby.”

  Chapter 23

  “Sir, it was as you suspected, there’s no plane,” said Davidson to the Director.

  “Are you sure?” asked the Director.

  “Absolutely. There’s no debris, no impact crater and no black box. Everything was staged sir. We’ve put out an APB with flight service to all FBOs, but we haven’t heard anything back yet.”

  “Where could he be?”

  “With that airplane, anywhere in the world, sir.”

  “PD, they’re alive, it was all a diversion,” whispered the Director into the phone.

  “Do you think she’ll contact Islee?”

  “That’s what I’m guessing. We’ve tapped her phones, but God knows what’s going on in that fucking head.

  Chapter 24

  It was 3 a.m. and Jonathan and Carly were asleep. Mary slipped down to the living room and called her cousin Islee on the cell phone that Jonathan had purchased in Texas. She woke Islee from a deep sleep.

  “Islee, it’s Mary. Are you awake?”

  “Yes,” she answered groggily. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in Occaquan with Jonathan and Carly.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been on the television. Everyone is looking for you.”

  “I’m okay. Islee, you need to listen to me. We’ve been duped. It’s different, not like we were led to believe.”

  “Mary, how do you know this?”

  “Bob Runyan is alive, I mean he was alive and he told me everything.”

  “Mary, you’re scaring me. What did you do?”

  “Islee, you have to hear me. They are only furthering their cause and not ours. They used us as terrorists so that they could get more money and support from the American people. All we did was entrench the very administration that we were trying to destroy.”

  “Mary, are you sure?”

  “Yes, they used us to destroy the Federal Building and now they are staging another attack on Tuesday in Lexington. It’s all staged, Islee, they made fools out of us.”

  “Mary, what are you going to do?”

  “Can you find friends who have lost loved ones?”

  “Yes, there are many.”

  “I’m going to end it all. All the bullshit.”

  “Mary, your words are frightening me.”

  “I’m going to use their own plan against them. But I need your help. All we need to do is to convince Jonathan to fly one of those F-18s on Tuesday. They’re fully armed and they use them to protect the President and Congress. Our President will be giving the State of the Union Address. If Jonathan gets into that plane, he’ll do the rest.”

  “You don’t mean?”

  “Yes, we’ll end it all. It’s the only way.”

  Chapter 25

  Bill Reed was roused from sleep by the shrill ring of his bedroom phone. It was 3:30 a.m.

  “What!” He yelled into the phone so loud that he startled himself and woke up his wife Melissa.

  “Sir, we have found them. Mary Anderson called her cousin about 15 minutes ago. They’re back at their house in Occaquan. Would you like to hear the recording?”

  “Yes, play it now!”

  The Director listened intently to Mary’s words and put the puzzle pieces together. They found Bob and killed him, but first Bob told them everything he knew, which was only the next step and not the whole plan, which fortunately he didn’t know. His mind worked quickly and he thought, “So now she knows about Lexington, but most amazingly she has come back on track about completing out ultimate objective. Yes Mary, you’re right, it all needs to end.” When the recording ended, there was a long period of silence.

  “What do you make of it sir?” asked the analyst.

  “Nothing, it’s all gibberish, probably an elaborate code. I’ll have it interpreted in the morning.”

  “Should I send agents to pick them up?”

  “No, you’ve done enough for tonight. I’ll take care of it.”

  “But sir, they might get away.”

  “That’s all, do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “The Director hung up the phone, lay back on his pillow and fell into the most peaceful sleep he had experienced in months.

  Chapter 26

  onathan and Mary decided it was time to leave Occaquan Forest, this time for good. Mary seemed relieved, almost happy with the evening’s events and to Jonathan’s amazement showed no remorse at the brutal killing of their ex-friend Bob Runyan. With Jonathan, however, it was a much different story. He had never before experienced an interrogation quite as emotional and brutal. Perhaps it was because, for objectivity purposes, the agency did a good job of separating agents who had been personally involved from their suspects. Mixed into Jonathan’s confusion was the unpredictable and uncontrollable behavior of Mary which he rationalized to be more the instinctual protection of a mother, than any deep rooted evil. The final ingredient was Carly. She was there; and even though she didn’t hadn’t seen anything, she must know in her mind that her parents were torturers and murderers. There could be no explanation that she would ever understand or any way to know the emotional scars that it had left. She didn’t ask any more questions about her Uncle Bob, as to where he was or if he was okay; she simply withdrew deeper into a make believe land of Teddy Bears and Barbie Dolls, a place where parents don’t mutilate and torture those whom they love.

  Immediately after the killing, they had carried the body and put it in the trunk of the rented Buick and Mary had scrubbed the kitchen with Clorox, while Jonathan went downstairs to determine how much the pilots suspected or had figured out about what had happened one floor above. The pilots seemed to be in good spirits when Jonathan walked through the door. They were sitting on the blue sectional sofa drinking beer, watching a movie and munching on a big bag of pretzels. They motioned Jonathan to sit down, remaining fixated on a car chase that was obviously a pivotal moment of the movie. They were quite drunk. Neither asked what had happened above and both seemed very content with the accommodations that Jonathan had provided.

&nbs
p; “You boys want to go home?” asked Jonathan cheerfully, knowing it would break them free of their stupor.

  Jenkins turned his head and answered “Hell, yes. But can we watch the end of this first?”

  “Sure,” said Jonathan.

  Jonathan tossed the keys to his Corvette to the pilot and the keys of Mary’s BMW to the co-pilot. “Whenever you’re ready, the cars are in the garage.”

  “Thanks man,” said the co-pilot. “You got a great place here.”

  Mary was not comfortable in simply letting the pilots go and worried that they had heard Bob screaming upstairs during their interrogation.

  Jonathan reminded her of the soundproofing in the house, especially between the middle and lower levels, but she wasn’t convinced. “If they had heard anything, they were pretty good actors, because they looked completely chilled. Those boys are so drunk that they don’t even realize that I told them that they could go home to their families. I’m ready to go,” said Jonathan.

  “And just leave them here?”

  “They’ll sober up and figure it out.”

  “And what are they going to do?”

  “They’ll go home and see their families and then tell the agency that we kidnapped them and brought them here and the agency will send a hundred people and search the house, but we’ll be gone. As long as they don’t suspect anyone’s been killed, there won’t be any forensics. You did get all the blood from the kitchen?”

  “Yes, I went over the floor, counters and walls twice.”

  “I’m guessing the Director has figured out that the Lear didn’t crash by now, so we’re not giving up much.”

  “We’re giving up a lot of geography. They’ll know we’re in Virginia. I don’t like it,” answered Mary.

  “What do you propose we do?”

  Mary gave him a cold stare.

  “No way, we’re not killing innocent people. What in the world have you turned into?”

  Mary looked ashamed. “I’m sorry, sweetie. But I just don’t see any good at all coming out of letting those two guys go.”

  “Well we’re going to and that’s final, we’re just going to have to deal with whatever it brings. Do you understand?

  “What about the body? We just can’t just leave it in the trunk.”

  “Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “In the river?”

  “We have to cover our tracks.”

  .

  It was 6 a.m. and Carly fell asleep as soon as she was in the back seat. Jonathan made a nice little bed for her in the back seat and surrounded her with pillows and several bears. He put her head on her large pillow and she continued in a sleep filled with twitching and moans.

  “Why do you want to go to Charlottesville?” asked Jonathan.

  “I have a friend there we can trust. I called her and she said we could stay with her for a few days.”

  “Do I know her?”

  “No, just a college friend.”

  Jonathan drove a few miles and then started to convulse as he choked back tears. Mary reached a hand over and put it on his shoulder.

  “Do you realize what’s happening to us? We just keep getting deeper and deeper into this, but I’m not sure we’re any closer than when we started. What are we going to do, Mary?”

  “I think we’re a whole lot closer than you think,” answered Mary.

  “How can you say that? We’ve killed 2 people, both federal agents, we’re being hunted as fugitives, what the hell good can we do?”

  “Jonathan, I’m going to tell you what you told me. You have to pull yourself together.”

  “But who are we fighting? Who are we looking for? Where is the enemy?”

  “Jonathan, they’re right before your eyes. The agency, the administration, you heard Bob, they staged the whole thing. The terrorists are sitting in the political seats.”

  “It scares me to admit that you’re right, I’m sorry. But what can we do? I’m so confused, I don’t even know how to fight back.”

  “There’s something we can do. Can you find out the names of the pilots flying those planes?”

  “What planes?”

  “The F-18s.”

  “Probably.”

  “With their addresses.”

  “Yes, Mary what are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking about ending this shit once and for all. Fly the plane, Jonathan. Who knows if they’re planning to intercept that helicopter or let it fly right into those tanks? Wait and see, monitor it and if nobody tries to stop it, go and stop it yourself! Then we’ll know for sure. We’ll know what kind of people we’re really dealing with. And then, if they have no plan to stop it and you’re sure that they intend to let it crash into those tanks, put an end to it once and for all. They’ll all be in the same fucking place. The ones who sanctioned it, the ones who sanctioned July 15th, the ones that have been doing it for the last 10 years. Who knows? Maybe they’re responsible for 9/11. Do it for me Jonathan, do it for Matthew, do it for Carly!”

  Jonathan slammed on the brakes and pulled the Buick to the side of the highway and slid over only a few inches from her face. “Listen to me Mary. You’re losing your mind. What you’re suggesting is insane. No matter what they did to us, I’m not going to become one of them.”

  “Is it an act of terror or are you saving more children from being incinerated in buildings or suffocated in debris? Jonathan they’re going to blow up a liquefied natural gas plant in Kentucky.”

  “I don’t know if that’s true Mary.”

  “But certainly you checked. Is there a large gas plant in Kentucky?”

  “The world’s largest is just outside of Lexington. It is close to the University of Kentucky.”

  “Jonathan, you have to stop being so naïve. What do you want them to do, send you a post card? A helicopter is heading there on Tuesday. You heard Bob. What we don’t know is if they are going to stop it or let it happen. Stop them Jonathan, and then stop them once and for all. You’re the only one in the world who can do it.”

  Jonathan sat quietly.

  He followed Mary’s directions and took highway 20 at Hinton Street and drove east to Carlton Avenue and made a left on Chestnut until she pointed out a small single family home. Mary’s cousin was a teaching assistant at UVA and waited at the door for them. She was a very warm, intelligent woman who seemed dedicated to her work. She was interesting, and he sensed that she was very close to Mary. She also adored Carly. The house was tidy and furnished with very plain furniture. She pointed Jonathan to a bedroom that she had already prepared for Carly. He tucked her in for an afternoon nap and gave her a kiss. When he returned to the living room, they were waiting with a tray with hot water, cups, tea bags and cookies. She started the conversation.

  “Mary told me some of what has happened to you.”

  Jonathan looked over at Mary with disdain as if she had broken some moral code.

  “I used the secure phone,” said Mary. “I knew you were upset in the car and I didn’t want to aggravate the situation.”

  “Aggravate the situation? What the hell’s going on here?”

  “It’s okay,” Islee continued. “I have no reason to tell anyone. Islee continued and told Jonathan about the death of her mother and father by American bombs. “It was the same as what happened to your child,” explained Islee. “Mary was there.”

  “It’s true,” said Mary.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?” asked Jonathan.

  “I couldn’t, I didn’t think you’d understand. I was afraid that you would think that I was a terrorist. Jonathan, we were attacked without provocation and their intent was to kill us all.”

  “Mary, I have to ask you something and you have to tell me plain and truthful, either yes or no; okay?”

  Mary nodded.

  “Did you have anything to do with the July 15th bombing?”

  Without hesitation Mary answered, “No, for Christ’s sake Jonathan, my husband and children were in there.�
��

  Jonathan was satisfied.

  Islee continued with her history and told of her capture, rape and torture by the American military. Jonathan understood the brutality perfectly.

  “They’ve taken everything away from me,” continued Islee. “They took my father and then they stripped my soul of dignity and honor, using me like I was less than an animal!”

  “They took our child,” murmured Mary.

  Jonathan’s mind scrambled feverishly trying to put everything together.

  “Now we can sit back and do nothing or we can do something about it,” said Mary.

  Jonathan rebuked her, “There’s nothing we can do. You can’t beat the most powerful nation in the world. They can do whatever the hell they want.”

  “No, listen, Bob’s given us the perfect opportunity. The plane, the F-18, it will be armed and cleared to fly over the Capital. You can fly that plane! You can prevent the attack and then you can end it once and for all.”

  Jonathan looked at her in disbelief. “Mary please, we talked about this, now let it rest.”

  Mary continued, “Jonathan, they’re all going to be in one place on Tuesday. You can make amends for all the wrongs and destroy this whole government with one blow. All the terrorists will be gone, forever. And then, maybe this world can start over.”

  Jonathan stood up, “You’re crazy, how can you even think like that?”

  “To stop the killing.”

  “That wouldn’t stop it, that would perpetuate it.”

  “We would force them to stop and think, because it would show that there are consequences for their actions.”

  “We, who’s we?”

  “Jonathan, there are others I want you to meet.”

  Islee opened a door that led to her garage, which had been converted into a den. “You can come in now,” she said. To Jonathan’s amazement about 15 people walked into the house. Some were white, some black and some brown. They were from all forms of American life: scientists, pilots, doctors and other professionals. “Jonathan, I would like you to meet my friends. We are kind of a support group for each other. These people have all lost something, just like you and me. They would like your permission to tell you their stories.”