The Speaker thought it over for a few moments. “You’re asking me to allow a shoot out on the Floor of Congress. There has to be another way.”
“Sir, if you have a better plan of action, we’d love to hear it,” said Worthington.
“If we redirect all the people that are going to be present, including those in the balcony, won’t the perpetrators hear of it?” asked the Speaker.
“They very well may, sir, but we can’t have them in that auditorium if shooting erupts. The Capitol Police will know, but we can jam their handhelds so they can’t communicate amongst themselves. My best guess is that they are not on site but will arrive shortly before the swearing in, because of an anonymous tip of an impending attack so, it would be perfectly natural for a swat team to enter the Chamber to defend those present,” said Worthington.
“So, the upside is I, er, we save a whole lot of lives by clearing the Floor before an attack and if there isn’t an attack, then it’s just a false alarm by the, eh, FBI,” said the Speaker.
“Yes, sir,” said Worthington, wanting to shoot the Speaker himself.
The Speaker, after being advised of the need for absolute secrecy, left Quantico and headed back to D.C.
T.J, Kintrell, Dixon, Stryker and the rest of the team huddled to work out strategy and tactics.
“Well, T.J., looking on the bright side, if nothing happens, you’ll be transferred to Scrotum Falls, Oregon,” said Kintrell.
“Yeah, and you with me,” said Worthington.
“How are we going to move all those people without alerting the killers? There are what, four hundred odd Representatives, their families, staff members and the press,” said Dixon.
“We’ll have to close off the balcony. We’ll have some cover story for the people that were set to enter there. We can evacuate the people on the Floor through the doors that flank the dais, and get them to a secure location guarded by our agents. The rest of us will lay in wait behind the dais and on the sides of the auditorium. We’ll have six agents on the balcony above the dais to give us additional fire power. Shortly after they enter the chamber, our agents will secure the hallway outside so they can’t escape. Spotters will be all over the capitol, so when they see six SWAT guys moving around, we’ll know. I’m not crazy about jamming the radios of the Capitol Police, but I see no alternative. These guys are most likely excellent shots, so rules of engagement are shoot to kill. Hopefully, we can talk them into surrendering because of our superior numbers and defensible positions, but it’s not very likely,” said Worthington.
“Our guys will have full body armor and M-4s with automatic fire capability. Our ammunition will be armor piercing. Hopefully, there’s won’t be. We have to assume they’ll have grenades, so I can’t stress enough the need to take these guys out as soon as they make their move,” added Worthington.
“One thing, these guys are trained operators so the second they see the trap they will seek cover, most likely using the desks. We should lay down fire directly at the desks if that’s the case. They will no doubt try to lay down suppressing fire as one group retreats, then the other group will do the same so the first group can retreat. We can’t allow them to escape the Chamber, else they’ll no doubt take hostages and kill at will. They won’t panic,” said Kintrell.
“Well, this has all the earmarks of a perfect cluster-fuck,” said Stryker, eliciting a few chuckles.
Each of them were assigned positions and given fields of fire by Worthington.
Kintrell then spoke with Worthington. “Let me talk to these guys before we open up on them. Maybe I can reason with them.”
“It will also give them time to come up with tactics, maybe lob a few grenades at us. I know you feel a certain kinship to these men, Tom, and so do I, but they’re killers. I don’t think they’ll have any compunction about killing you. In fact, they may be highly motivated to take you out if they know you’re responsible for foiling their plans,” said Worthington.
“I know you’re right, T.J., but I feel I owe them that. These guys put their life on the line for their country, probably more than once, and all they got for it was the short end of the stick. I’d just like to try.”
Worthington thought it over for a few seconds then said, “Let’s wait till we see the conditions on the ground, Tom.”
“Roger that, T.J.”
There were six Secret Service agents in the meeting. They were tasked with protecting the Senate in case there were two attacks. They assured the FBI that they would have enough men on hand to thwart any attack on the Senate. Both Kintrell and T.J. thought it unlikely they would target the Senate, for there were far fewer targets and just as much danger from defenders, but better to not need, than need and not have.
Twenty agents of the ATF were also on temporary duty to the FBI. Their job was to be in plain clothes with body armor underneath, and to be milling around in front of the dais to give the appearance of congressmen and women. The whole team would be in communication through ear buds. As soon as the shooters entered the Floor, word would go out and the ATF agents would draw their weapons and take cover behind the front rows of desks. Once the trap was sprung the killers would be facing a superior force of trained shooters from the sides of the Floor as well as the balcony and dais and from the front rows. Their position would be untenable with the doors secured behind them.
They would have to surrender, thought Kintrell, no matter how good they were they couldn’t survive what they would be facing. He also knew that plans had a tendency to go awry once someone got kicked in the balls. He thought of Lanny then, and couldn’t help but feel a little sadness. It’s probably killing her that she can’t be here, he thought, and it will be killing me when I have to leave the Bureau, not necessarily the job but not being able to see that face, hear that voice and that laugh she had, the way her lip curled when she was concentrating on something.
Chapter 30
Georgetown, 11:15 AM
Summers slid behind the wheel of the tactical vehicle as the other five men piled in. Each of the men had two grenades and an M-4, capable of automatic fire. Cole and Talmadge also had M-79 grenade launchers. The activation range of the M-79 is thirty meters, so if the weapon was fired from the back of the chamber it should arm by the time it hit the dais, or so they hoped. The plan was to enter the chamber from the back, secure the doors, fire the M-79s at the dais, then in the confusion that followed take out as many targets as they could. They all wore Capitol Police SWAT gear which Summers and O’Hara had accumulated over the last few weeks. After they had expended most of their ammo and rained a significant amount of carnage on the assembled Representatives, they would then exit the Floor through the doors that flanked the dais. Once out of the Hall, they would make their way out of the building the same way they entered. Three of them would feign injuries using the fake blood they had brought with them. The other three would help them out of the building. Summers would then tell the guard at the entrance to secure the building, letting no one out or in till he received further orders. They would then commandeer two ambulances that Summers had ordered to be at their location before the assault, then make their way to the same airport where the congresswoman from Colorado was shot. The private jet would then whisk them to the Cayman Islands. The plane would not land in the Caymans. It would fly over a spot where the team could safely parachute to Grand Cayman. The plane would then proceed to Honduras. If the plane was tracked, there would be no record of a stop in the Caymans. Once in Grand Cayman, new identities with British passports would be issued to each of them. Arrangements had been made that would see them on their way to Samoa, which had no extradition treaty with the United States. Each member of the team was furnished with a bank account of one point five million dollars. The accounts were issued under their new identities and housed in a Cayman Bank. After they made it to Samoa they would split up. One member would stay in Samoa for a while. Two would go to Andorra, one to Morocco, and the last two to the United Arab Emirates
, where they hoped to continue working where they could put their talents to use. None of the countries they would land in had an extradition treaty with the United States.
They arrived at the Capitol and made their way to the garage reserved for the Capitol Police. Before they left the brownstone in Georgetown, a call was placed from a landline to the Capitol Police about a possible attack.
The men filed out of the vehicle and entered the building. As they approached the checkpoint, Summers greeted the man stationed there, “Hi, Eddy.”
Seeing Summers and O’Hara, Eddy said, “Glad to see you guys, Bill, we weren’t sure you got the message.” He then electronically unlocked the entrance door.
“What do you mean, Eddy?” said Summers, as he and the men entered.
“The damn radios ain’t working. We have to use runners to get messages back and forth. Who got a hold a ya?”
“I don’t know, Eddy, I got a text from someone. At first, I thought it was bullshit because the caller ID didn’t come up, but I thought better safe than sorry. Just a thought, Eddy, don’t let anybody in till I check this out, even if they say they’re FBI, or from any other governmental agency.”
“Should I send a messenger around?”
“No, Eddy, I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, Bill.”
Eddy Tilson watched the six men file through. He recognized Summers and O’Hara of course, but the other four were wearing tinted visors attached to their helmets.
The six men made their way to the Floor of the house. As they entered the hallway leading to the doorways to the Floor of the House, they passed a Capitol policeman Summers didn’t recognize. The policeman nodded to Summers.
Capitol Hall 11:55AM
As soon as the six of them passed, the policeman whispered into his hand, “Six north.”
Worthington, after hearing the transmission, said into his headset, “Attention, attention, targets approaching north side, action imminent.”
Outside the Chamber of Congress 11:58AM
Summers and his men were each facing a door that led to the floor. Curious, he thought, that no one was milling around outside the doors. The radios being inoperable was also strange. It would actually help their cause, but still his spidey sense was tingling. He motioned to Cole. Cole walked over to him. “Something’s maybe amiss. You and I will hold position here while the others enter.”
Chamber of Congress 12:00 PM
Four men burst through the doors and secured the doors behind them. Talmadge turned and brought the M-79 to bear on the dais when he heard something that stopped him in his tracks.
“This is Agent Kintrell of the FBI. Throw down your weapons and move to the front of the chamber. You are completely outnumbered and outgunned. If you make a move, you will be burned down.”
Talmadge noticed the people in the front of the auditorium wearing suits, and how they took cover the moment he and his men entered the Hall. Those people were now behind the front rows of the Hall with weapons drawn. He also could see the men on the dais and in the balcony with weapons pointed. He looked to his left, smiled and said “Semper Fi” then aimed the M-79 at the dais. Before he could fire, multiple rounds penetrated his body armor. He was dead before he hit the floor. The other three men took cover behind the back rows and brought their weapons to bear. They got off a few rounds before a hail of bullets found them. It was over in a matter of seconds.
Summers and Cole, hearing the commotion inside, waited. They then saw men converging on them from both directions. Summers held up his fist. The men approaching them, unsure what was going on, slowed down. Summers then pointed at the men to his right to come forward and then did the same to the men on his left. As they approached, he then made a gesture with both hands pointing to the doors. The men, confused now, went about the task of securing the doors. An agent warily approached Summers.
“Who the hell are you?” said the agent.
“Whelan, Capitol Police,” said Summers. “Our radios weren’t working, so I called the guard station on a land-line and he told me there was some sort of threat, so me and my partner got our gear on and beat feet up here. When we got here, we saw five or six SWAT guys enter the hall going through different doors. I recognized one of them, a Bill Summers, heads up a swat team. When we got to the doors all hell broke loose. We’re about to enter when we see you guys. What the fuck is going on?”
The agent turned away and started talking on his headset.
***
“Okay, hold your positions outside. We’ll sort this out after the scene is secure,” said Worthington. “Bravo team, Charlie team, advance.”
The two four-man teams advanced up the sides of the Hall. Two of the four would advance five or six paces while the other two would cover them, then the two in the rear would leapfrog the two in front, and the procedure would be repeated till they were just outside of the last rows of the hall. Then, by prearrangement, a member of each team slid a flash grenade towards the center of the spaces behind the last row. After the devices activated the team on the left side of the hall quickly advanced and found the carnage that had been wrought by the converging fire of two hundred plus rounds of armor piercing .556 ammunition. One of the attackers was still alive.
A member of the advancing team shouted, “Drop your weapon, drop your weapon!”
The attacker on the ground tried to smile as blood seeped from his mouth and struggled to raise his weapon. The CIRT team member then shot the man through the forehead. The team advanced carefully looking for any possums. After ascertaining that all the attackers were indeed dead, the leader of Charlie team said, “Clear” into his headset.
Bravo team then joined Charlie team at the back of Hall and viewed what was left of the attackers. The agents that were behind the dais and the agents in plain clothes then advanced to the back of the Hall.
T.J. Worthington instructed the agents outside the hall to not let anyone in, then instructed that the jamming be lifted.
***
Outside the hall Summers and Cole were huddled together. Using Summers as a screen, Cole removed the fake blood he had brought with him and applied some to the upper inside of his right arm. They then walked over to the agent Summers had spoken to.
“Listen, in all the excitement my partner just realized that a round must have grazed him somehow, through the door we figure. I gotta get him to the hospital. It doesn’t look bad, but you can never tell.”
Cole smiled at the agent, then lifted up his arm. The agent saw the blood on the outside of the garment.
“Fuckers got me, and I wasn’t even in the fight,” said Cole, wincing a bit.
“You guys better go, there’s nothing you can do here anyway. We’re going to secure the scene, but someone may want to track you down and get statements from each of you,” said the agent.
“Roger that. Have them ask for Whelan and Eckels,” said Summers, as he and Cole strode down the hallway.
***
After Worthington notified the powers-that-be, he, Kintrell and Stryker went to the back of the Hall. After looking at the bodies, Kintrell said, “Huh? There’s only four bodies here T.J.”
“Come to think of it, I only saw four men at the back of the Hall,” said Stryker.
Worthington immediately got on the headset to reach the man who alerted him of the approaching attackers.
“Agent Willers, this is Eagle One, come back,” said Worthington.
“Willers here, Eagle One.”
“How many attackers passed your position on the way here?” asked Worthington.
“Six men, Eagle One.”
“Shit,” said Worthington.
He then instructed the Capitol Police to seal the building, no one in or out, till they heard from him personally.
“How long has it been since they attacked?” asked Kintrell.
Someone answered nine minutes.
Worthington instructed the agents outside to open the center door. T.J. and Kintrell le
ft the hall and approached Agent Detweiller.
“Jim, we got a problem, we’re missing two tangos. There were six men. There are only four inside. Did you see anybody out here that had SWAT gear on?”
“Ah shit, T.J., they left a few minutes ago. One of them was supposedly wounded. They told me their names were Whalen and Eckles. They suckered me, T.J. and I fell for it. They are some cool motherfuckers. Shit man, I’m sorry, T.J.”
“Not your fault, Ron, these fuckers are smooth,” said Worthington.
Worthington alerted the Capitol Police and all FBI personnel to be watchful for Summers and an unknown person, who may be using the names Whelan and Eckles, trying to leave the building.
***
Summers and Cole cleared the building ninety seconds before the order came down to seal it. Cole was holding his arm as they approached one of the five ambulances that were parked in front of the building.
“We have to get this man to the hospital,” said Summers.
An EMT saw the blood on Cole’s shirt. “Were you shot?”
“I think so,” said Cole, then swooned as if he was about to pass out.
“He may be going into shock. Let’s get him inside,” said the EMT.
Once inside the ambulance, with the doors closed, Cole pulled his Glock and said to the EMT, “Do exactly as I say, and nobody gets hurt.”
Summers, in the passenger seat of the ambulance, gave similar instructions to the driver. They then directed the driver to the safe house in Georgetown. As they reached the house Summers used an app on his phone to open the garage door. It was a tight squeeze, but the ambulance just fit into the garage. There was also a black SUV in the garage in the next bay. They escorted the two EMTs through the house and into the basement where they restrained them with plasti-cuffs on wrists and ankles.
Termination Limits: Tom Kintrell Book 1 (Tom Kintrell Thriller Series) Page 20
