The Hunt for Truth

by Sury Patru Viswam

“Samir and Sania’s neighbor. His wife was the one who works in the security business, who…” Arya was interrupted by LT Cooper before she completed her thought.

  “Yes. I remember now,” LT said, clearing his throat.

  “Tom gave us the security code to enter the premises, and he also shared Samir’s locker number.”

  “Jesus Christ. Why the heck he didn’t do that before?” LT asked, wondering out aloud why Tom waited till now to share information about Samir’s locker.

  “We didn’t ask.” Arya hesitated before continuing, “We thought Samir was missing and didn’t suspect him to be involved in the attacks.”

  “Did Halladay share the combination for Samir’s locker?”

  “No. He doesn’t know that.”

  “That is what I thought. What is your plan to get Samir’s locker opened? I hope you were not planning to shoot your way in.”

  “Of course not, LT.” Arya couldn’t believe LT thought that they would have thought of such a dumb plan. “Tom Halladay mentioned that there is an intercom or a remote phone on the premises that would connect us with the supervisor.”

  “Got it. You were planning to invoke the 9/11 attacks and get the supervisor to open the locker.”

  “Pretty much it. If the supervisor didn’t budge, our presence would at least secure the locker until we get a warrant to get the locker opened.”

  “Okay, good.”

  An uncomfortable silence filled the line for thirty-odd seconds before LT’s deep voice came back on. “Okay, this is what I want you to do.” LT started with an authoritative tone. “I want you and Edgar to clear the perimeter of the rowing office, but I don’t want you to go inside.”

  As Arya raised her voice to express her displeasure about LT’s directive, LT cut her off. “Arya, listen; I want you and Edgar to follow my instructions. No going inside, am I clear?”

  LT’s voice was so loud that Edgar could hear him clearly.

  “Loud and clear. We won’t go inside,” Arya said with a gloomy voice. “Can I at least ask why? Because if we go in and call the supervisor, we could get the ball rolling before the brass descends on the location.”

  “Because you might be right about the follow-up attack. There is enough verifiable intelligence now to confirm that a biological attack in New York City was planned by Al-Qaeda to take place after the planes hit the towers.”

  “Oh, my God. We are right,” Arya exclaimed in shock.

  “Yes. That is why I am asking you not to go anywhere near the lockers. What if you are right, and the biological agents were stored in those lockers. We have no idea if it is Sarin or Anthrax. Both you and Edgar are neither trained nor equipped to secure and safely handle those biological agents. You might even accidentally set it off.”

  Arya had heard enough to know LT was right. She was nodding her head as LT finished his thought. “You are right, LT. We will secure the perimeter.”

  “Good, good. I will call Agent Taylor and get a team out there that handles biological agents.”

  “We are almost rolling in. Anything else, LT?”

  “Call in your backup before you step out of your vehicle. I am serious.” Those were the last words from LT before he disconnected the call.

  49

  The cruiser came to a stop in front of a T-junction. On the right, they could hear the Schuylkill River breathe, and on the left, there was a narrow meandering road.

  “The office must be on the left,” Arya said, gesturing to the narrow road by pointing her left hand towards it.

  “You sure? I remember Tom mentioning the rowing office was by the river.” Edgar flipped the lights from low beam to high beam to get a better view of the place. “Maybe, we shot by it.” Edgar raised his suspicion.

  “I don’t think so. I was watching the road like a hawk, and I didn’t see any office,” Arya said confidently.

  Edgar glanced towards the meandering road on his left and said, “You want to check it out?”

  Arya nodded. “We are already here. Let us…”

  Before Arya could complete her sentence, a muffled sound shattered the silence and stopped her mid-sentence.

  “What the hell was that? Is it a gunshot?” Arya asked, replaying the muffled sound in her head.

  Edgar’s first instinct was to turn towards the direction of the sound, and his gaze shifted towards the narrow meandering road. For the next five seconds, he replayed the muffled sound in his head, and he became certain about the source of the sound.

  “Gunshot,” he mouthed to himself before plucking the radio off its hook. “This is Car 54. Do you read?”

  “Loud and clear, Car 54. Proceed,” The dispatcher announced.

  “Shots fired in Kelly Drive. Calling for backup,” Edgar said, glancing towards Arya and mouthed silently. “Sounded like it was fired with a silencer.”

  Arya nodded, agreeing with Edgar’s assessment when the dispatcher’s voice came back on the radio. “Officer, are you or your partner under fire?”

  “Negative. We are not. We were in the vicinity when we heard the shots.”

  “Backup is on the way. Proceed with caution, and the backup’s ETA is six minutes.”

  “Do you hear it?” Arya whispered, staring right past Edgar into the narrow road.

  “Not exactly. What is it?” Edgar asked, placing the radio in its place.

  “It sounded like an engine.” Arya pointed towards the narrow road.

  The sound was getting more pronounced as time progressed.

  “It looks like we are going to have some company soon,” Edgar said, pulling his gun from the holster.

  Arya soon did the same and asked Edgar to cut out the lights.

  “We have to assume that whoever fired the gun is here for Samir’s locker.” Arya expressed her opinion, and, to which, Edgar signaled his agreement.

  Edgar backed the cruiser by the bend and cut the lights off. They hoped that it would give them an advantage in spotting the approaching vehicle and, in the meantime, making it difficult for them to be spotted.

  Both Arya and Edgar, without blinking, stared at the narrow road, with their Glocks drawn and ready to shoot.

  With every second, the sound of the approaching car began to rise, and at the same time, Edgar and Arya’s heart began to pound a little louder.

  Within a few seconds, as they anticipated, the narrow road shifted from complete darkness to be filled with light from an approaching vehicle.

  At first glance, the oncoming vehicle looked like a truck or an SUV — the position of headlights led them to believe it was not a sedan. It was traveling at a steady pace, but not too fast.

  “Can you make out the number of people in the car?” Edgar asked. However, his eyes never shifted towards Arya from the approaching vehicle.

  “I can’t tell. We have to assume that it is a two-member team, given what we know about how this cell operated.”

  Edgar nodded in agreement. Their earlier analysis revealed a pattern that showed cell members operating as a two-member team whenever they carry out tasks related to their operation. At first, it seemed weird to see them working in pairs, like how cops did. Later they learned that the pairing was done intentionally to prevent breaches in their operation.

  As the vehicle neared the T-junction, it slowed down to make a hard-right turn. This allowed Arya to make out the vehicle type. It was a mid-size truck, and it looked like it was painted white.

  Edgar’s plan was to wait for the vehicle until it gets to the junction and surprise them by lighting up the sky with lights and sirens. If the vehicle refused to stop or take evasive action, they would have the position to crash their cruiser into the truck. Arya, however, was not a hundred percent behind this plan. She would rather shoot at the truck’s tires and jump on them with their weapons drawn. Edgar didn’t want to shoot at the truck without knowing for certain that people in the truck were terrorists. All they heard was a muffled sound, which they presumed was a gunshot. Edgar’s argument was, what i
f they were wrong, and the muffled sound didn’t come from a gunshot. As they didn’t have much time to debate the pros and cons, they decided to go with Edgar’s approach as a starting point. They decided to calibrate the plan and switch to a more aggressive tactic if they became certain that terrorists were in the truck.

  Just as they planned, they took action as the truck neared the junction. The familiar police lightbars lit up the sky, and the blaring sirens shredded the silence of the dark night. A message was blasted over the loudspeakers for the driver to stop the truck. But the truck didn’t stop, and instead, bullets started to fly towards the cruiser. The truck driver must be using some kind of a semi-automatic weapon as the bullets pelted the cruiser at a rapid pace. Edgar and Arya dove from the car as the rapid-fire shattered the windshields and the driver-side windows.

  Edgar took cover behind a tree trunk and returned fire at the truck. In the meantime, Arya ran towards the truck and fired two shots from her Glock. Each shot successfully hit a back tire, making the truck lose its balance and swerve into a ditch.

  Just as soon as the truck crashed into the ditch, two men, who appeared Middle Eastern, climbed out of the truck and began to run away from the detectives using gunfire as a shield. Edgar and Arya were severely undermanned in terms of gunfire. Their Glocks were no match to the Kalashnikova, the AK 47s, in the terrorists’ hands. The bullets were flying from the Kalashnikova at a rapid pace, leaving Edgar and Arya with no choice other than to take cover.

  “Jesus!” Edgar exclaimed. “How the heck did they get that gun?”

  Arya, who was behind a tree trunk, quickly peeked. “Shit. They are getting away; we need to stop them.”

  Just as the words from Arya came out, there was a sudden burst of sirens.

  “The cavalry is here,” Edgar said, giving out a relieved smile.

  For the next minute, the place was filled with heavy gunfire. The cavalry matched the Kalashnikova with the fine American made Colt M4 Carbine automatic guns and returned fire. The stage was set — it was two terrorists against twenty well-trained officers; the fight didn’t last long. By the time anyone could count to ten, two bodies fell on the ground, and the gunfire came to an end.

  A commanding officer motioned his hand to signal two of his men to perform a visual inspection of the terrorists’ condition. The two men, dressed in full protective gear, cautiously approached the fallen terrorists, just like how they were trained to act in these situations. The bodies of terrorists were close to each other, not separated by more than ten feet, and, with one look, it became quite apparent that both of them were dead as a doornail. Their bodies looked like a cardboard box that got stuck in a shredder; the body parts were half-shredded and looked severely damaged. Their bodies were soaked with blood. The 5.56 mm gas-operated rotating bolt bullets traveling at the speed of two thousand nine hundred feet-per-second did what it was designed to do – Kill. There is a reason why Colt M4 Carbine is a preferred weapon for U.S. Armed Forces; it is the deadliest assault weapon designed by mankind.

  “Detectives.” The commanding officer of the unit addressed Edgar and Arya as they approached the officer.

  “Commander Miller,” Edgar addressed the officer. “Who called in the SWAT team?”

  Edgar and Arya didn’t expect the SWAT team to come to their rescue when they radioed in for help. They expected Philly PD to come alone.

  “I am sure you were happy to see my face for a change.” Commander Miller gave a half-smile as he shifted his glance from Edgar to Arya.

  “Come on, Miller, seriously!” Arya rolled her eyes in disbelief. Miller and Arya had a little bit of history between them. They dated a year back, and, to Miller’s dismay, it didn’t last long. When Miller thought their relationship was getting to the next level, Arya called it off without giving a reason. Since then, Miller has been trying to get back together with her without much luck.

  “Good try, Miller,” Edgar jabbed him.

  “What can I say? I thought saving you guys from a couple of rotten terrorists would get me in the good books, but…”

  “Miller, stop it,” Arya scowled. Arya’s tone and body language made it very clear – this was not the time or the place for these jokes.

  “Okay,” Miller sighed, raising his hands. “We are in the operational wing of the JTTF, and we were called in by…” Commander Miller was interrupted by Arya before he could finish.

  “By the FBI. Agent Taylor.” Arya put two-and-two together.

  Miller nodded. “Yes. But not just the FBI, it was also the Chief.”

  Arya nodded, signaling she understood the reason for the Chief calling in on the SWAT. LT Cooper must have briefed both Agent Taylor and the Chief right after they hung up the call with him.

  “Did you find anything on the men?” Arya gestured her hand towards the fallen terrorists.

  “If you are asking about the case containing the biological weapon, I would say not yet.”

  Miller’s answer surprised both Edgar and Arya. They didn’t expect Miller to have been briefed about their assessment of the situation.

  Before the detectives could ask, Miller responded. “Agent Taylor had instructed us to neutralize the terrorists and secure the vehicle by any means,” Miller gestured towards the truck.

  As Arya took a step towards the truck, Miller reached out and grabbed her hand. “No one is authorized to go near the truck. We have clear instructions to secure the truck and wait for the containment team.”

  Everyone on the force knew the containment team’s expertise – securing and handling chemical and biological weapons.

  In the next five minutes, the containment team arrived on the scene along with Agent Taylor.

  Edgar and Arya had to act as bystanders as the containment team approached the vehicle in their fully protected hazmat suit.

  Agent Taylor stood a few feet away from the detectives, monitoring the situation closely. If he was tensed, he didn’t show it. He looked cool as a cucumber and didn’t show any emotions on his face.

  “Agent Taylor,” Arya said, as she approached Taylor.

  “Detectives, I must say you both have surprised me. This is some serious work,” Agent Taylor said, signaling his genuine appreciation towards both Edgar and Arya.

  Edgar and Arya both gave a customary nod and a half-open smile. “Thanks,” they both said in unison.

  At that moment, a voice rang out from the agent close to the truck, which caught everyone’s attention. “We got something.”

  As everyone’s eyes shifted towards the truck, a man wearing a hazmat suit emerged from the truck, holding an aluminum container.

  50

  Three Weeks Later

  October 6, 2001

  * * *

  It had been close to four weeks since the horrific attacks were carried out in the heart of America. By all estimates, more than three thousand lives – mothers, daughters, fathers, sons - were feared dead on that fateful day – September 11, 2001. None of those innocents, when they left their home – kissing their loved ones –, had any idea that would be the last time they would get to see them, embrace them, and kiss them. They did not deserve to die. It was a meaningless attack, perpetrated by evil people for their own twisted reasons in their minds. There is no way God would allow those barbarians to enter heaven for killing three thousand innocent lives.

  The only event in recent history comparable to the 9/11 attacks was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. That attack fundamentally changed the nation’s mindset; it woke up a sleeping giant to confront the evil in the world. That attack made it clear to the American people that oceans cannot protect them, and the only way to be safe is to defeat evil. Just like the Pearl Harbor attacks, the 9/11 attacks had a similar impact on the American psyche. The morning after 9/11, every American knew it in their hearts that oceans could no longer protect them from evil. The evil had to be confronted and defeated. That is the only way to be safe.

  The nation was shocked by 9/11, but their sp
irits were not shaken.

  Every American till their death would remember when President George W. Bush stood atop of the World Trade Center and addressed the American people. He chose simple words to address the nation and send a powerful message to the terrorists camped halfway around the world in Afghanistan.

  * * *

  “I can hear you; the rest of the world can hear you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”

  - President George W. Bush

  * * *

  It was a powerful message that the nation needed to hear. Not only the workers, who were clearing the rubbles of the World Trade Center, cheered this simple message from the President, but the entire nation cheered. It is exactly the message the grieving nation wanted to hear from their Commander-in-Chief – direct and straightforward –; we are going to get those bastards who attacked us.

  The days after the 9/11 attacks, the nation came to know the faces of the evil men who used airplanes as missiles and crashed them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. If not for the heroes of Flight 93, the terrorists would have used that aircraft as a missile and attacked the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The nation owes the passengers of Flight 93 an enormous gratitude for preventing those attacks. They were heroes.

  As the news started to sprinkle out about Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and the terrorist camps being operated out of Afghanistan, certain information was kept out of the public domain. Only a few people knew how close the nation came to experience another attack – a biological attack. A biological attack in New York City would have been catastrophic and could have left the country paralyzed for decades. A very few people knew about the details of that attack. Detectives Arya Martins and Edgar James were part of that very elite circle who knew the top-secret information.

  * * *

  With great knowledge comes great restrictions. The day after nightfall blitz in Kelly Drive, Arya Martins and Edgar James were commanded to come to the Chief’s office at 8:00 AM in the morning with all the files related to the Samir Tariq investigation. When they reached the Chief’s office, they were greeted by not just the Chief and LT Cooper, but three more men. Arya and Edgar recognized one of the men – Agent Taylor –, but they had never seen the faces of the other two men. They both looked to be in their late forties or early fifties, and they carried an air of authority in their demeanor.