The guard nodded slightly. “Intelligence never sleeps.”
Jim tried not to laugh at the comment. He picked up another box of equipment and turned for the ramp. “Let’s light this candle.”
The pair worked their way back to the lower level and the guard held the door open as Jim stepped through.
“…and the nun says, ‘Who said I was a woman?’ Get it? She said…” Deric trailed off.
“What’s going on?” Jim asked, dropping the box on the table.
“Just checking if this guy is even human. I think he’s a terminator or something.” Deric dug through the box of junk. “No sense of humor at all.”
Jim pulled an oscilloscope and attached it to the exposed circuit board. “Okay. We have the proper square wave. I need you to go to the different sensors and give me a voltage check.”
Deric stared at him and shook his head. “Dude, there’s like thirteen thousand different sensors in this building.”
Jim nodded. “Better get moving then, huh?”
Deric stammered and stared at the two guards. “We have to check them ALL?”
Jim shook his head. “I’ll direct you to the problem ones. There’s only a handful.” He gave him a silly grin and Deric blew his breath out, feeling he had dodged a bullet.
He turned to the escort and motioned toward the door. “Shall we?”
The guard seemed to hesitate. He glanced at his supervisor, who nodded. “We are relieved in a few moments. Perhaps it would be best if you waited for the reliefs to get here.”
Deric shrugged. “Who am I to argue.” He eyed Jim, who nodded.
“We can wait a few minutes. If you want to clue in your relief on what’s going on, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t want anybody getting roughed up for doing their job.”
Gregg came over the coms quietly. “That might be our ticket. Wait for the guards to leave then slip Bridger in long enough to walk out.”
Jim and Deric both nodded to themselves, wishing they could reply.
BOBBY SNAPPED THE last picture then closed the document. “I think that’s it.”
“They’re about to do a guard shift. You need to be ready to move.”
“I need an exit strategy.” He pulled the SD card from the side of the camera then checked its internal memory. He placed it on the desk where he had inadvertently left it earlier then slipped to the door. “I’m ready to move.”
“We have movement all over the place, Bridger. Wait one.” Bobby blew his breath out hard and waited until Gregg came back. “You’re gonna have to be quick. People are moving all over the place.”
Bobby placed his hand on the door handle, squeezing the brushed metal in preparation. “Standing by.”
“Don’t forget your clearance badge.”
Bridger frowned as he pulled the fake credentials from his breast pocket. He clipped it to his coveralls and waited.
“In three, two, one…move!”
Bridger yanked the door open and bolted for the stairwell directly in front of him. “Door!”
He heard it click just prior to reaching for the handle. “Move it Bridger. System resetting in five, four, three, two…” Bobby slid to a stop on a landing between levels and froze. “System active.”
He could feel his hands squeezing open and shut with anticipation. “I can hear people in the stairwell,” he whispered. “Tell me I’m clear to the lower levels.”
“Not yet you’re not. The system will reset in five, four, three, two…GO!”
Bobby took the stairs two and three at a time, passing the fourth floor landing and reaching the third before the system threatened to come back.
“Active in five, four, three, two…”
Bobby hit hard on the landing between the third and fourth floors just as Gregg yelled “Stop!” He prayed that his attempt at pushing it didn’t cost them.
“They’re doing the guard change now. It should only be a few minutes,” Gregg announced. “Oh no…no, no, no…you’ve got incoming.”
Bridger fought the urge to growl and maintained his frozen position. “Where and when?”
“Two incoming from the third floor stairwell.”
“Shit,” Bobby muttered. “And with employees entering, you can’t tell if they’re security or not.”
“Nope. I lost track of the Cerberus guys nearly an hour ago.” Gregg leaned closer to his computer screen. “System resetting in five, four, three…”
Bobby heard the steel door open below him and held his breath. Two male voices echoed in the concrete and steel stairwell and he heard the scratching of leather soles on the non-slip pads as the two men began climbing the stairs.
“They’re coming up,” Bridger whispered.
“Play them, Bobby. It’s your only chance.”
Bobby suddenly began turning slowly, looking upward toward the ceiling.
“Can I help you?” A male voice asked.
Bobby glanced toward the man, a surprised look on his face. “I’m sorry. My supervisor sent me to check out the stairwell sensors…but damned if I can locate them.”
The man stepped up closer to Bobby and reached out toward him. “Who are you?”
Bobby gave him another surprised look then suddenly smiled. “Sorry. I’m one of the techs sent to repair your security systems. We got a work order and…” He pulled his fake security badge from his coveralls and handed it to the man. “I’m Brian. See?” He smiled at him while the man reached out and tugged at his sleeve.
“Why don’t you come with me, Brian?”
Bridger fell into step with the man, the second man following them down the stairs. “I’m sorry to interrupt you fellas so early in the morning.” Bridger clomped down the stairs. “I know you guys must have a ton of real work you need to be doing.”
“No problem, Brian.” The first man led him back to the third floor and into an office. He picked up the phone and dialed the main security office. “Yes, this is Bowman on three. Do we have contractors on sight working on the security systems?”
Bridger prayed that Agent Bowman didn’t dig too deep or he was going to make a really ugly splat when he rode him out of the third floor window.
He watched as Bowman nodded then hung up the phone. “You’re supposed to have somebody from security escort you in the building.” He leaned back and crossed his arms, his brow hiked.
Bridger nodded. “I know, but they’re in the middle of shift change.” He shrugged. “We only have a few more sensors to go and me and my team have been here all night.” He sighed dramatically and slumped his broad shoulders. “I was really hoping to just wrap this work order up and get a couple hours sleep before…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
He heard the steel security door slam open and a Cerberus guard marched through the third floor. “Where is he?”
Bowman waved his hand out of his office and Bridger gave his best defeated look when the guard stepped into view. “Sorry. I was just trying to wrap this up…”
“You know better than this. You have to have an escort every step of the way.” The man glared at him then nodded to Bowman. “Thank you, sir. I’ll take it from here.”
He tugged at Bridger’s sleeve and led him to the third floor fire door.
Bobby stepped into the stairwell and suddenly squared his shoulders and stood up straight. “How the hell?”
Steve Gibbons shot him an award winning smile. “Ryan’s waiting on the road.”
“How did you get here? In that get-up?”
Steve shrugged. “Let’s just say that one of the Cerberus guards will have a ton of ‘splaining to do once he wakes up.”
“You hijacked a security guard?” Bobby’s voice bounced as he followed Steve down the stairs. “Respect, man.”
Steve pulled open the steel door and pointed to the hallway. “Jim and Deric are in there.”
Deric spotted the pair then hefted the canvas tool bag, nodding to Jim. “We’re done, fellas. Thanks for the help.” The men turned from thei
r security escorts and walked to the door. “Call us if you have any more problems.”
Gregg chimed in across their coms. “And my attacks are done. They should have clear sailing, unless you boys royally screwed their systems.”
Steve waved at the other two security officers. “I’ll escort them to the truck.”
The two guards nodded and the four prayed that they didn’t compare notes on the “new guy.” Steve practically trotted to the loading bay doors and pushed them open. “Hustle up guys. I gotta get clear before they catch on.” The three men rushed out to the van, Steve on their tail. He patted the side of the van as he ran out to the parking lot and to the missing security guard’s car.
Steve started the car and pointed it out of the parking lot. Just as he cleared the guard shack, he slowed the car and held the portable radio closer to his ear. “Fuck…” He keyed his coms. “They know! Bug out!”
Steve twisted in his seat and stared across the growing expanse as security personnel swarmed out of the building. “Move it!”
En Route to Multan, Pakistan
* * *
MAMOON SAT QUIETLY in the passenger seat as Balil drove the stolen Toyota. More than once he had threatened him if he didn’t stop his sobbing. “Sameer is gone. That was his decision. You had nothing to do with it.”
“He was your friend, Balil. So was Tariq. How can you be so unfeeling?”
“I will feel later when we are safe.” Balil continued to stare in the mirrors, praying that they could achieve their journey without being caught.
Mamoon sighed and squirmed closer to the door. “They blame us, Balil.”
“No, they blame Muhammed. It was he who ordered the flags. It was he who didn’t show up to his own gathering. He is to blame, not us!”
Mamoon groaned. “Yet, still they blame us.”
Balil slammed on the brakes and turned to stare at his former boss. “They will NOT blame us once we get someplace safe and tell them that we had nothing to do with the deaths.”
“But I blame us. The flags came from our own hands.”
Balil reached across the seats and grabbed a handful of Mamoon’s shirt. “You cannot afford to wallow in your own self-pity! Do you hear? If you convince yourself that we are responsible, then nobody will believe us.” He pushed at Mamoon, setting him against the door. “I will not be persecuted by an ignorant mass for something I did not do.”
Mamoon turned sad eyes to him and shook his head. “We killed them, Balil. Do you not see?”
Balil blew his breath out hard and put the stolen car into gear again. “I do NOT see.” He turned his eyes to the road but his mind was already racing. He would not allow a murderous mob to take his life for something he did not do, no matter how badly Mamoon wanted to be blamed.
He set his jaw, his mind racing. Yes, he had cared for Tariq. And he could tolerate Sameer, even though he was a fat, chain-smoking slob. He used to respect Mamoon, but the man had lost his intestinal fortitude. He had been castrated; now he was willing to roll over like a dog that had been beaten too many times. He glanced at his former boss once more and knew, if he didn’t snap out of this, he’d have to ensure he couldn’t cry to anybody else of their responsibility in the attack.
Langley, VA
* * *
DARREN CHESTERFIELD SNAPPED awake, his head spinning. The alarm claxons sounded throughout the building as he spun in his chair, confused. He fought to concentrate as sleep tried to lull him back into its dark embrace.
He forced himself up from his chair and stumbled to the door. He grabbed at a woman rushing by, stopping her. “What’s going on?”
“Security alert.” She looked panicked as she scanned the area. “Unknown number of perpetrators breached the building.”
Darren’s eyes widened, his mind clearing instantly. “Where are they? Are they apprehended?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know what I’ve heard, and that may not even be accurate.”
Darren launched from his office, his coat in hand. He hit the security door to the stairwell and nearly bounced off of it. He stared at the steel door then turned to the others gathering nearby.
“They’re locked down,” a black man stated, rubbing at his wrists. Apparently he had hit the door hard trying to get clear of the floor.
“Lockdown?” Darren shook his head then rushed back to his office.
He slammed his door shut and reached for the phone. Just as his hand grasped the receiver, the base echoed the digital ring. He knew who it was before he lifted the receiver.
“Colonel. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Apparently your Mister Bridger decided to play the odds and infiltrated us during the night.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Darren knew better than to ask.
“Of course it was him. Probably aided by his friends with Baba Yaga, if I were to hazard a guess.”
“Are they still in the building? Do we have them?”
“I don’t know and…I don’t know. I can’t get a straight answer from our security contractor.”
“Fucking Cerberus,” Darren swore under his breath. He never cared for their gung-ho cowboy attitudes and now they were the ones who had egg on their face. “I’m locked down. I can’t…” He paused, his eyes pulled to the window.
“What’s that?” Colonel Nelson asked.
“Outside.” The phone slipped away from Darren’s ear and he stepped closer to the window. “I don’t fucking believe…” He felt anger rise up in his chest and he slammed the phone against the corner of his desk. For just a moment, he’d forgotten who was on the other end. He lifted it back to his mouth quickly. “Colonel, I’ll have to call you back.”
27
Langley, VA
* * *
“THEY KNOW!” STEVE’S voice screeched across the earpieces. “Bug out!”
Bridger braced himself as the van slid to a stop. “That’s our cue, boys! Move!” Deric threw the van into park as Jim pulled the pins releasing the faux interior side panels.
Bobby scooted to the far forward edge of the compartment and tugged at the false wall separating the rear compartment from the forward compartment.
Deric ran to the rear of the van and pulled the wide double doors open and swung them out to the side. “Move it!” Steve’s voice warned as the men climbed into position.
Jim glanced through the wide front glass of the van; dozens of armed men dressed in black poured out of the building and headed straight for them. “Outta time guys! Go!”
Deric hit the electric start on his motorcycle and kicked it into gear. One by one, the enduro motorcycles shot from the rear of the van and jumped the curb of the parking lot.
Bobby pulled the visor down on his helmet and suddenly the markers painted on the trees came to life. They practically glowed through the special coating and he pointed the motorcycle in the right direction.
Deric glanced back at the security personnel gathering near the van and prayed that they could put effective distance between them before they opened fire. He turned back to the glowing directional markings when his left side mirror exploded.
“They’re firing!” he shouted over the scream of the engine. He twisted the accelerator farther and kicked the bike down a gear, trying to put as much distance between him and the shooters as possible.
Each of the riders lined up with the narrowing arrows painted across the grounds and Bobby’s eyes widened when he saw the placement of the ramps. He goosed the throttle just before his front tire hit the metal incline and heard the engine rev past its limits when the bike took to the air.
He landed hard right behind Jim and nearly lost control as he pointed the bike through the woods. “Remind me to kiss Jay’s wife for this!” Jim yelled.
“Bridger, you can kiss Roger,” Deric laughed.
“Kiss him yourself,” Bobby shot back, just as the trees cleared and the hole in the chain link fence shot past. He applied the brakes hard, but the bike
went over the embankment, falling to its side and sliding down the soft dirt with Bridger scrambling behind it.
He came to rest at the bottom of the embankment near the paved road where Ryan stood patiently with the black SUV. Bridger scrambled to his feet and started the bike again, riding it up and out of the ditch.
Ryan watched the three men navigate into the abandoned-looking garage and Jim locked the padlock behind them. “Where’s Steve?”
Ryan glanced at his watch then pointed toward the road. “I believe that’s him.”
The trio turned to watch as Steve trotted up the pavement, most of his security uniform missing. A column of black smoke rose over the crest of the hill behind him. “They’ll get around that quick enough.” Steve pulled the door open to the SUV and yanked his suit coat and tie out of the rear seat. “Shall we?”
He held the door while the three men in coveralls crawled inside. Ryan started the truck and pulled carefully onto the road. “No rush there, bud, but I think the entirety of the US federal fucking government is looking for us,” Bridger shouted from the rear.
Ryan smiled coyly. “As they have been since this shit-show started.” He continued down the road then turned quietly onto the main highway. “But they aren’t looking for an SUV from the president’s own secret service detail, now are they?”
Bridger glanced to Deric and Jim. “Did you know about this?”
Both men shrugged.
Steve twisted in the front seat, buttoning his dress shirt. “This one was my idea. The only vehicles on the road with a ‘do not stop’ order attached to the tag number is one of these.” He smiled as he wrapped his tie around the collar. “I had an ex-girlfriend that was secret service. She let it slip one time that…well, let’s just say that her lips weren’t the only thing that was loose that night.”
Flags of The Forgoten Page 24