Back-Tracker

by Bob Blink

  “No one knows how to block an area so large,” Carlson explained. “We have raised the possibility and were told it wouldn’t be effective.”

  “Any word on the containers and where they might have been manufactured?” Carlson asked, looking at another of the agents. They had to get on to other issues and not get bogged down on an approach that wasn’t going to work.

  “There are three likely candidates in a five hundred mile range. We will be checking those today. If they were manufactured outside that radius, we will have little chance of discovering where anytime soon. Have we rejected the possibility they were manufactured outside the country?”

  “It remains possible,” Carlson said, “but that would mean a significantly greater smuggling effort with the increased chances of being discovered. I’d like to assume that the manufacturer is local until we learn something that proves otherwise.”

  While it didn’t have to be the case, this was an act of terrorism, and the initial thought was that it was motivated from outside the country. The most likely group was one of the Middle East groups that had frequently made threats against the country, and had carried out attacks before. Carlson had assigned agents to check out all of the Muslim community, especially those mosques and organizations that were known to be militant and radical in their beliefs and oratory.

  “There is definitely something in the works in the Muslim community,” Agent Neil Austen said when it was his turn to report. “Our snitches and undercover people have reported increased activity in several of the mosques in the area. There had also been sightings of several heavy hitters. I sent you pictures of two men spotted locally that no one knew were in the country. While there is no proof as yet, it’s probably a safe assumption that the activity is related to what we are finding.”

  “We’ve talked with people at NSA, but they have not noticed the usual increase in chatter when something like this is in the works,” Laney said. “That suggests they have gotten smarter, or someone else is controlling the overall effort.”

  “I’ve put together a list of those organizations we are most suspicious of at the moment,” Carlson said. “I’ll be meeting with the Director after this meeting asking for additional manpower so we can mount around the clock monitoring of the locations on that list.”

  Carlson knew that there were other groups that weren’t above mounting an attack against the United States, but while Jake hadn’t actually said anything specific, the fact he was comfortable with the path she had the team heading suggested to her that they were focusing in the right area. The attacks the past summer against ISIS in the Middle East and their promise to bring the battle home to the United States were something she had thought of the first time she’d learned of the hidden canister of anthrax.

  Disappointingly, the other groups had little to report this morning. While the various agents completed their reports, Carlson’s secretary stepped into the room and handed her a folded note. Carlson read it quickly, and then signaled an end to the meeting.

  “Something has come up,” she said. “We’ll meet in the morning as usual. Make sure that Jim Laney learns of anything important that you discover.”

  As the others filed out of the room, Carlson signaled for Jake and Laney to come with her.

  “There might be an opportunity to learn something about one of the more radical groups on the list we were discussing earlier. Apparently there was an altercation between members of the mosque and one of the black gangs in the same area. Several of the gang members and one of those from the mosque were killed, and a couple more are in intensive care. When the police tried to gain entry to the mosque to arrest some of those involved, they were met with armed resistance. A SWAT team will be making an attempt within the hour. I think you should go and see what is happening. This feels like more than the usual friction and fighting between the two groups.”

  Laney nodded. “We can have a look without revealing our interest. The police response is a reaction to the killings and wouldn’t automatically be connected to the weapons, assuming they are even involved.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping,” Carlson said. She looked at Jake, and from the look in his eyes she knew he knew more than he was revealing, but also that she was right. Those in the mosque were involved.

  “You’ll want to contact a Lieutenant Sam Baker,” she said. “He’s in the fifth district. You can meet him at the mosque. The address is on that note.”

  When Jake and Laney arrived at the scene of the confrontation, the SWAT team was just arriving. It took a moment to locate Lieutenant Baker, and when they did they had to wait while he finished briefing the leader of the SWAT team. Baker noted them standing to one side, and when he finished with the officer, he turned and walked over to them.

  “I assume you are the FBI agents I was informed were coming?” he asked, looking less than happy to see them. “What do you know about this situation?”

  “Nothing beyond the police summary my boss was provided,” Laney replied. “We have another interest in the group and would like to participate in the raid in case we can find something relevant to our own case.”

  “You can’t wait until the SWAT team finishes?” Baker asked.

  “We don’t want to reveal our interest, and are also afraid that what we are looking for might be destroyed when they realize your SWAT team is breaking in,” Laney said. “It would be best if we went in at the same time.”

  Baker frowned, and Jake could tell he was against it, but politics won out.

  “The Captain already called and said I was to support whatever you asked. Your boss apparently put pressure on him to cooperate. The risk is yours, however. The SWAT team can’t be distracted trying to watch out for you.”

  “Understood,” Laney replied.

  He and Jake returned to the agency car where Laney opened the trunk. They both donned vests and helmets. Laney retrieved a combat shotgun from the truck, and Jake accepted the short barreled M4, filling his vest pockets with spare magazines. Then they hurried over to where Baker was speaking with the SWAT team leader. He was explaining to the man that he would have to accept the two agents. The team leader looked closely at Jake and Laney as they joined the waiting members of the SWAT team. Jake saw the man’s eyes evaluate him. They were eyes Jake had seen before. This was one of the two cops who were on the short list he had given Carlson.

  “Here’s the layout,” the leader said, turning his attention back to the task and forgetting momentarily about Jake and Laney. He showed the group the satellite view of the compound he had unfolded and supported against the side of one of the SWAT vehicles. “The mosque compound occupies a full third of this block. It is surrounded on three sides by the high concrete wall you see. That wall has razor wire along the top, and no penetrations. The city police are watching the rear, but we don’t expect anyone to try and escape out the back way. Across the front serving to enclose the main courtyard are a pair of buildings. Between them is the only entrance, gated with large steel retractable pillars to prevent the passage of any unauthorized vehicles. I’m told the two buildings are dormitories. Beyond them is the main courtyard, and in the back the main mosque. That’s where we want to go. There is also a garage and a small utility building off to the right near the back of the compound.”

  The team leader made a couple of pointed suggestions to the two squads of men, then walked over to Jake and Laney.

  “You bring up the rear. Once we have secured the area, you can look around all you want.”

  “Happy to see us, isn’t he?” Jake said, but Laney didn’t reply. He was focused on the compound, thinking about the layout.

  The front gate was locked, but the SWAT team blew the lock without pause, allowing the two squads to advance smoothly into the compound. They encountered fire as they passed out of the narrow driveway between the two dormitories, taking cover behind a large fountain and several statues that were positioned near the dormitories. The dormitories themselves were not useful f
or defense. While the walls facing the street out front were of thick concrete with special extended windows that gave a wide field of view of the street, the walls on the inner courtyard were made of thin wood. They wouldn’t have protected the team from the rifle fire coming from the mosque. Between their current position and the mosque were more than thirty yards of open ground, all exposed to the fire from the roof and windows of the mosque.

  “This way,” Laney said as he turned to the right suddenly, heading into the dorm.

  “Laney, no,” Jake said, but it was too late. Laney was already moving quickly into the structure and was out of earshot.

  “Damn it!” Jake cursed. He’d told Laney they needed to stay with the SWAT team. He had emphasized that was what they had done before with success. He’d thought that would be enough of a warning. By now Laney should know that Jake had done this before and knew what was going to work. Instead, the agent had seen that the SWAT team was pinned down, and reacting to the situation had set off on a route he thought would loop him around to the side, hidden by the dorms. He had seen the side door to the mosque and apparently hoped to make his way there, and get inside while taking a minimum of fire. Unfortunately, Jake and Laney had tried that together, only to find that the defenders were very aware of the soft spot in their defenses, and had set a trap for anyone who tried to come that way. Laney had been severely wounded, Jake had never learned how badly, as he had taken a couple of hits himself before back-tracking and bypassing the attempt. He’d hoped they could stay on script, using his knowledge of what had worked last time to protect them, but now Laney had already gone off on his own. Jake couldn’t back-track out of any trouble that developed, and any actions that Laney took might have an adverse effect on the final outcome.

  It made no sense to follow after Laney. That would simply lead both of them into the ambush Laney was headed for. Instead, Jake followed after the SWAT team, made a right turn at the end of the dorms, and ran rapidly toward the concrete barrier that directed any vehicles into the garage along the far right side of the compound. Several shots whined off the barrier as he dropped flat behind it, then crawled on hands and knees toward the far end. He could hear shots being fired from the open space between the dorm and the garage, and as expected he found Laney kneeling behind the rusty remains of an old car that sat there. He was trying to use the engine block to protect himself, but he was taking fire from both a sniper in an upper floor of the mosque, and a pair of defenders shooting from inside the large open door of the garage. Because of their relative locations, there was no place that was completely safe, and no way at all to advance. Jake could see that Laney had been hit in the left arm, but he was still handling the shotgun with both hands, so it couldn’t be too bad.

  “Laney,” Jake shouted when there was a momentary lull in the firing.

  Laney looked his way. Jake pointed back at the dormitory, but Laney shook his head and pointed toward the side door of the mosque. It was clear that Laney wanted Jake to take out the sniper, and then they might have a shot at the side door. It might work. It might get them inside. But it would be the two of them against however many were inside, and it would leave the SWAT team still pinned down out front. Most importantly, that’s not the way it had gone down before, and Jake didn’t want any changes. He needed for events to proceed as he remembered.

  Laney pointed again at the sniper and then at Jake. Then he pointed at the garage and himself. His meaning was clear enough. If Jake would take down the sniper, he’d handle the two shooters inside the garage. Once that was done, they would have a clear shot at the side entrance.

  Jake shook his head again, and pointed back the way Laney had come. Laney shook his head.

  Jake set his rifle on the ground and crossed his arms. Then he pointed back the way Laney had come. A series of shots smacked into the vehicle that Laney was using for cover. Jake could see the agent was cursing, and finally he looked back at the dorm, then at Jake and nodded. He wasn’t going to be able to hold out where he was, and couldn’t advance without Jake’s help. Laney fired a pair of quick shots into the garage, and then started to sprint back toward the dorm. Jake lined up on the window where the sniper was and fired a series of shots. He shot half a magazine, the rounds slamming into the concrete wall around the window, causing the sniper to duck away from the window, but none came close to hitting him. Then Jake turned and ran into the dorms after Laney.

  “What the hell is the matter with you anyway?” Laney shouted at Jake when they met inside the dorms. “All you needed to do was drop that sniper and we could have made it inside.” Laney paused for breath, then added. “Is that all the better you can shoot? I thought from your record you were an accomplished rifleman. You emptied half a magazine at him and never connected.”

  “I didn’t want to hit him,” Jake explained. “I told you we need this to go as it did before. I don’t know what happened to that sniper last time and whether it matters. We didn’t engage him at all last time, and I certainly didn’t want him killed. Hopefully your running off hasn’t screwed things up. Now we have to get back to the SWAT team.”

  The two men glared at one another, but there was no way Laney could advance without Jake’s help and he knew it. Finally he said, “Let’s go.”

  They caught up with the SWAT team leader at the fountain. The team was still pinned down, unable to advance.

  “I thought you might have changed your mind,” he said when Jake and Laney moved up close to him.

  For the next ten minutes the defenders and the SWAT team exchanged fire, but it was clear they had a standoff. The SWAT team wasn’t going to be able to advance without taking serious losses.

  “We need more men with shields,” the leader said finally. He was about to make a call, when Jake reached out and stopped his arm as he raised the phone to call.

  “These guys like tunnels,” Jake said. “They will wait until you make a move, then a number of their fighters will appear behind you and catch you in a cross fire.”

  “There’s a tunnel somewhere?” the man asked.

  Jake pointed toward the dorm on the left. “In there. In one of the closets. It leads over to the mosque.”

  “How do you know about this tunnel?”

  “That’s complicated,” Jake said. “Give me a couple of your men. We can make our way over and secure the other end. Once we’ve done that, they can call and you can send most of your force over. We can use their own trick against them.”

  The team leader hesitated, then nodded.

  “We’ll be inside waiting for your people,” Jake said, then motioned for Laney to follow him.

  “How did you know about the tunnel?” Laney asked once they were alone inside.

  “Last time they called in additional people. When they made their push, the defenders did exactly what I described. It was a slaughter.”

  “What about us?” Laney asked.

  “I doubt we would have made it,” Jake said. “I didn’t wait to find out. I back-tracked to the time when the SWAT leader was going to call for help, and told him what was there.”

  “How come you waited so long to reveal it this time? We could have gone in earlier. It might have saved someone from getting hurt.”

  “Timing,” Jake explained. “I know what is on the other side now. I don’t know what was there ten minutes ago or ten minutes from now. Because I’m without my usual ability, I have to rely on what we learned last time. You have no idea how restricting it is.”

  They were interrupted as two men in SWAT gear hurried over to them.

  “I’m Chris Holland,” the lead man said. “This is Gil Hoffman. We were told to report to you.”

  “Bob Trask,” Jake said, taking the hand of the second cop who was on the list of possible leaks to his identity. He would like to have avoided the names, but anyone who wanted to know it would be able to learn who has been consulting to the FBI on this effort. “This way,” he said, and led the other three down the hall.

&n
bsp; They walked down the hall as Jake led them to the large utility closet halfway down the building. He opened the door, switched on the light, and walked over to a large cabinet that appeared solidly attached to the wall. Jake reached up on top, tripped the hidden catch, and pulled the unit away from the wall, revealing the stairs and the dark tunnel below.

  “Flashlights are okay,” Jake said. “It’ll be still closed up on the far end.”

  Leading the way down, Jake was the first into the darkness. They moved quietly, single file, as they traversed the narrow tunnel that passed under the disputed courtyard above. When they reached the far end, Jake used signals to indicate there was one guard above, and where he was positioned. Then he stepped forward, found the latch that would open the exit, nodded to the others, and they all doused their lights.

  Jake opened the door, and Chris and Gil hurried through, followed by Laney and finally Jake. A short burst from the MP5 signaled the death of the lone guard. As Jake had predicted, no one else was around.

  “Let them know,” Jake said. “You can keep watch here, and Gil can go back and direct them over.”

  Jake motioned to Laney. “This way,” he said.

  “Where are we going?” Laney asked. “You don’t want to wait for the others? There might be more than the two of us can handle, especially the way you shoot.”

  “Not this way,” Jake replied. “Most of the defenders are up on the upper level. This hallway leads to the imam’s office. Can’t you smell the smoke?”

  Laney hadn’t realized that was what it was until Jake mentioned it.

  “What’s going on?” Laney asked.

  “Burning records and other documents,” Jake said. “I smelled it last time I came up from the tunnel.”

  Moving as a team for the first time, Jake and Laney headed down the hallway. Once they reached a pair of closed double doors made out of solid wood, Jake set the M4 against the wall and withdrew his Sig.