by Robert Cuma
Leaving Hannah behind to help Tina, I grabbed Gina and took off in a hurry. When we arrived at the coffee house, Tom was waiting. As we entered the store, I told Tom to follow us as we quickly left. Tom was walking behind us as we turned down a quiet side street. About halfway down was an alley. I told Gina to stay on the street to keep a lookout. Tom turned down the alley and we were alone.
Tom said, “This must be hot for you to be making all these maneuvers.”
“It is Tom, extremely hot, first of all, your ambassador, is dirty. He’s an important figure in the Hightower group. There’s dirty money in foreign accounts all over the world with his name on them. Also, a dirty bomb is on its’ way to Rome and right now that’s all we know.”
“Whoa, Steven, how do we handle this one?”
“I think we must check on the Hightower people. Are they in town or have they fled? If they are gone, that means they’re in on it. The same goes for the ambassador.”
“Funny you should mention him. He left here this morning to meet with the ambassador in Paris. He told me he would be gone for a week.”
“That’s okay we’ll deal with him later. Right now I need your people to pick up all the Hightower clowns in town including the CIA chief, Leonard Hill.”
“I don’t have much jurisdiction outside the embassy to arrest anyone.”
“No problem, I’ll have a detachment of Carabinieri to assist you.”
“Okay, I’ll be waiting at the embassy for some assistance.” Tom left immediately after our conversation.
On the way back to SISMI, I had Gina call her father to dispatch troops to help Tom round up the Hightower people. The charges would be terrorism. He was already aware of the bomb threat and was more than willing to send in troops to assist Tom. When we got back to the command center, Tina was in high gear. She was working the entire technical staff to death. They were checking cameras and intercepting all communications in and out of the area. I still was amazed at the intensity in which she worked. Her mind was faster than most of the people she was working with. Her fingers were dancing across the keyboard coming up with different scenarios for everyone to follow. Then she exclaimed loudly, “Stop, everyone stop, Steven, come here, please!”
I quickly went to her workstation and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Look at camera three on the upper monitors. The guy I’m zooming in on is one of my father’s goons.”
“Where is that place?”
“It’s across the street from Vatican square.” Gina quickly got on the radio and moved some of the undercover police into the crowded area. Once there, they told us they had a fix on the suspect. Gina told them not to grab him yet but to stay close. One of the policemen looked up into the camera so we could see his position.
Carlo arrived about that time and quickly started asking questions. Gina briefed him on what we had so far. He agreed to follow the suspect rather than take him in right away.
I said, “Tina, keep a camera on that suspect at all times. Follow him wherever he goes. Gina, Carlo, I think we should get people from both your groups who can identify other possible suspects.” They both agreed and made some calls. In a few minutes, other agents arrived and began to study the monitors. One of Carlo’s agents spotted another one of Bono’s people in the crowd. The two suspects soon joined-together and approached an unidentified man standing on a corner. The two grabbed the man as a car pulled up to facilitate a possible kidnapping. Carlo quickly radioed the agents in the area to move in and arrest everyone. This was a good call on his part but I didn’t think these guys were in on the bombing plot. In a matter of minutes, Carlo's men had all the suspects in custody.
Once we had the prisoners in our building, they were taken to separate interrogation rooms. Carlo went to talk to one of them while Gina and I spoke with the other guy. The driver of the van was placed in a holding cell. We all felt the targeted guy was a victim and we could interrogate him later. The guy in the room with Gina and me was the one Tina identified. Gina had our prisoner handcuffed to a chair. She went to a cabinet in the room and took out some duct tape. Quickly, she wrapped the tape around his ankles and covered his mouth. Gina slowly walked over to the two-way mirror used for observation and pulled the shade down. I stood there and watched her in action. She had an eighteen-inch pointy steel rod in her hand. She calmly spoke, “You know I don’t want you to talk until I have some fun.” The suspect’s eyes kept getting bigger as he watched Gina walk around the room. She continued, “I’m going to destroy your manhood, then we’ll talk, agreed!” she shouted. The prisoner began to shake his head rapidly in a negative direction as Gina approached him. She toyed with him as if he was her prey rather than her lawful prisoner. Then she sat on the table right in front of him, placing her feet on his knees and forced his legs apart. He fought but to no avail. She raised the steel rod in the air with the pointy side down and with two hands plunged it downwards. It struck the chair one inch from his genitals. The suspect began to scream under his gag. She pulled the rod out of the chair and began the process again. This time she hit a little closer to her target. The man shook his head back and forth trying to plead with his captor. He began to wet his pants uncontrollably as he continued to beg with his eyes.
Gina spoke again, “Will you tell me what I need to know?” The gagged man began to move his head in the affirmative. She ripped the gag off his mouth as she continued, “What were you going to do to the guy you tried to kidnap. And what are you doing in Rome? If you lie, we start over again and no mercy this time.”
“We were there to rough him up a little, the guy owes us money,” as he spoke in an unsteady voice.
“Who do you work for?”
“I work for Bono, you should treat me nice.” Gina raised the rod in her hands again.
“Okay, okay, take it easy!”
“We want to know about the cargo of the Canton Seas. What can you tell us about it?”
“The cargo was supposed to be drugs and some munitions. Other than that, I don’t know anything.”
I chimed in and said, “What do you know about Abdullah Azure?”
“I never heard of him.”
“Gina, persuade him some more.”
“Okay, he’s in Italy somewhere but I don’t really know where.”
“What went on with the phony coast guard ship?”
“What do you mean?”
Gina still perched on the table began to push the steel rod into his groin. She asserted a small amount of pressure and said, “You’re beginning to bore me so start talking without any bull!”
He responded quickly, “Okay, we transferred the vital cargo from the large ship to the bogus coast guard ship. We moved up the coast to a small cove north of the Pozzuoli area. Once there, some Arab looking guys with a van were waiting. They took the three crates off the boat and left the small port in a hurry.”
“Do you know what was in the crates?”
“No, I was told not to ask any questions. Just drop off the cargo and leave the boat where it was. Then my boss called and told us to go to Rome. Once there, we were supposed to rough up the guy you caught us grabbing. That is all I know about this job, I swear.”
Gina asked, “Do we believe this idiot?”
“I think he’s telling the truth, otherwise he wouldn’t be here in Rome.”
The thug asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, hotshot, you delivered a nuclear weapon to those terrorists. They will be detonating it right here in Rome sometime in the next few days. You must feel something for your country.”
“Hey, my mother lives here in Rome. I would never be a part of something like that.”
“Good, tell us every detail you know about the cargo and the people with the devices.”
“The crates were put in the van with two men. There were three guys in a follow car with Abdullah in the back seat.”
“Can you identify any of the terrorists from pictures?”
“Sure, b
ut what’s in it for me?”
“Probably your freedom if you can identify these guys.”
“What about my partner?”
“He’ll never know what you told us.”
Gina was out the door immediately and returned quickly with a laptop computer. She placed it in front of our informant as a slide show of known terrorists faces began to flash across the screen. Every time one was identified, Gina wirelessly sent the photo out to all police and SISMI agents’ cell phones. It was an all points bulletin with the highest level of priority. Once we were done with the informant, Gina told Carlo to release him and to have his undercover people shadow him everywhere. This was Gina’s show and she was doing a great job.
Awhile later, we sent agents and police to the top of Saint Peter’s basilica. From there, they used high-powered telescopes to view the streets leading to the Vatican. Gina and I returned to the command center where Tina was diligently working at her post. She told us Hannah was following a suspected terrorist. By now, Rome was brimming with a large security force. With all the police activity going on around the city, no one was aware of the true danger.
15 - The Bomb
_______________
I watched Hannah on the monitors as her image was tracked from the many cameras around the city. She was moving quickly through Rome hot on her suspect’s trail. I became concerned once she was out of range of the city’s surveillance system. I immediately called her cell phone. She answered, “Hannah speaking.”
I asked, “Where are you? We lost your position. Are you okay?”
I’m near the main train station on Via Cavour. My ribs hurt a little but the guy I’m following is Abdullah’s right hand man. He just went around to the back of a building. I’m going to follow him.”
“Wait, Hannah! I’ll be there shortly!”
“Steven, you worry too much. I’ll be fine.”
Tina exclaimed, “I’ve got her on camera! She’s near the train station!”
“Show me where!” As Tina showed me Hannah’s location, I asked, “Does anybody know where this building is located?”
One of the policemen responded, “I know where that house is.”
“Well, get me there as quick as you can!” Leaving Gina behind, the two of us were out the door in a flash. The SISMI headquarters was about a mile from our destination. Without lights or sirens, the officer drove me there in a matter of minutes.
Upon our arrival, I went flying out the car door and down the alley where we last saw Hannah. I told the officer to call for plain-clothes backup and to surround the area without any fanfare. Once I got to the back of the building, I came upon the rear of another apartment building. It was a rundown three-story dwelling. I cautiously opened the door and went inside. I started to listen by each apartment on the ground floor. Everything was quiet. Moving to the second floor, I listened again. At one of the doors, I heard men talking in Arabic. This was it and I was about to kick the door down. Immediately a hand went around my mouth and I turned to see sweet Hannah’s smiling face.
As she pulled me away from the door, she whispered, “Come with me. We can hear what’s going on from back here.” We retreated into the darkness under the staircase.
I held her for a moment and said, “I’m glad to see you are okay.”
“Steven, stop worrying so much, I might get the wrong impression,” as she smiled at me.
“Get whatever you want, I just care about you.” I kissed her forehead and continued, “Now, what are they talking about in the apartment?”
“From what I can make of it, they haven’t divulged their plan yet. We should stay quiet and listen.” I told Hannah to stay put while I went up to the roof to call my police partner. Once I got him on the phone, I informed him of the current situation. He told me there were plain-clothes police all over the street and on the rooftops. I asked him to follow anyone who left our building since we needed a lead to the location of the bomb. After the call, I returned to the floor where Hannah was supposed to be waiting. No one was there. I quickly crashed through the door of the suspect’s apartment. The place was empty. I immediately called the police who were stationed outside. They told me nobody came out of the building. I told them to close in because the suspects are gone and so is my agent.
By the time I made it to street level, the place was jam-packed with policemen. The one in charge told me they came in the front and the rear of the building. No one saw anybody leave. I anxiously asked the police to search every apartment in the building while I, along with several others, went down into the basement. All we found there was a furnace and some empty storage bins. When I returned to street level, the police told me every apartment was vacant. I couldn’t believe I lost Hannah just that quick. Something wasn’t right. The police continued to search the area and all the surrounding buildings. It wasn’t long before Gina arrived on the scene. While everyone continued to search the area, Gina took me aside. She said, “Tina received a text message from Hannah.”
“What did it say?”
“She said the terrorists where on the move in a hurry and for her to tell you that she was following them. She also said when she finds out their destination, she’ll call in.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better. How could she disappear into thin air?”
“Easy, Steven, easy, Hannah is an extremely capable girl.”
Gina and I left a team of undercover police at the building, while we returned to headquarters.
Once we arrived, Tina told me she was extremely busy since I left. She had been trying to reach Hannah via text messaging for a while but there was no response. I took Gina and Tina to another office where a computer workstation was located. I said, “Gina, we must find Hannah, quickly!”
“I know, Steven, I know.” Gina directed her attention to Tina and said, “Tina, start up this computer,” as she pointed to the one on the desk. Tina immediately complied. Within a minute, the screen was bright and Tina was awaiting instructions from Gina.
Gina said, “Tina, logon to this site,” as she pointed to a web address located on a page in a small notebook she took out of her pocket. Tina complied. The site was for the Rome building records department. After Gina gave Tina the password for the site, Tina quickly located the building where Hannah was last seen. We were not surprised to find out the building was owned by one of Bono’s corporations. The site contained maps and a live search of the area. Tina took us through a virtual tour of the building and its history. She turned the dwelling around in every direction so we could observe all aspects of the structure. We couldn’t see anything unusual. Then Gina exclaimed, “Wait a minute! Tina, take us back down to the basement.” Tina immediately dragged the mouse until we were all looking at a view of the basement. Gina continued, “There! Right there,” as she pointed to the storage area. “Look at the width of the wall behind this area. It’s abnormally wide.”
I asked, “It is a little wider than the other walls, what, do you think is there?”
“I’ll bet it’s a dummy wall. It looks like the houses my father designed. If you look closely behind the wall, you’ll see enough space for a corridor of some kind.”
“Well, it is a lead and we should act on it.” The three of us jumped up and headed for the suspect building. Gina’s driving got us there in a flash. Once we arrived in the area, she told the local police to continue their search while we went to investigate the basement. We tapped on the walls behind the storage bins. One section seemed to be hollow as we followed it to a crawl space above the storage bins. I lifted Tina up to see what was there. She crawled around for a bit until she found a latch and released it. Gina and I pushed on the section of wall until it moved revealing an open corridor. This exposed a circular staircase leading to a lower level of some sort. As I helped Tina down from the crawl space, Gina went to get a flashlight out of the car. When she returned, all three of us slowly and cautiously went down the stairs. It became darker as we descended to a lower floor
about thirty feet below the surface. I did notice there was enough room to lower crates to this level. Gina scanned the area with the flashlight. The only way out was a door at the end of a long corridor. Gina led the way while Tina hung on to my arm. Tina softly exclaimed, “This sure is a spooky place!”
“Stay real close,” I said. I had to pull hard on the door to open it. As we all walked through the portal, we found ourselves on some train tracks. We started to walk single file in one direction. Again, Gina flashed the light down the tracks a little. It appeared that we were on a sharp curve of a train system.
Then, at that very moment, the loud screeching sound of a fast moving train came around the curve of the track headed straight for us. We all quickly slammed ourselves against the wall of the tunnel just in time as the passenger train sped by us. The train with all its’ power passed within a foot or two of our perch. We all locked our hands to each other for some security. It was a matter of thirty seconds before the train passed but it felt like forever. We all took a deep breath and ran back to the door that led us here. Once there, we regrouped.
Gina exclaimed, “That was a close call!”
“Too close,” I confirmed.
Tina asked, “Do you spies ever lead a quiet life?”
I answered, “Tina, you know that you love it. You’re a natural for this business.”
“Well, you’re probably right, Boss but where do we go from here?”
Gina said, “That train looked like part of the local metro system. It crosses under the river and there are two stops near the Vatican.”
I responded, “The weird part is they don’t have to get that close, with the bomb to do significant damage. I think we should continue with this lead since it's the only one, we have. Tina, if you want to go back upstairs, I will understand.”
“What, and miss solving the biggest threat this country has seen in a long time! No way, I’m going on with you guys.”
“Okay, you and Gina go in the direction of the train and I’ll go in the other. We should walk about ten minutes then come back to this location. We’ll go after the next train passes.”