That didn’t soak in right away. His suppliers were going to come after me? Great! I felt a chill and wondered what Phil would think about that. I pushed the thought aside and focused on Gardner. “Since we’re both targets now, maybe you can tell me more about what happened between you and Duncan.”
“What? You’re insane.” He turned toward the door and reached for the handle.
I pressed on. “I gather it was your drug money that paid for most of Duncan’s experiment.”
He had stopped and was glaring at me when tires screeched. We both turned toward the sound. A black Audi sedan was roaring up the street in our direction. The barrel of an Uzi protruded from the back window. My Marine Corp training and memories of Afghanistan took over. I yelled, “Get down!” and shot my hand past him and grabbed the door handle. I yanked it open and pulled him with me as I dived inside. He rolled to the left and I rolled to the right.
As the door swung shut behind us, the bottom erupted in a shower of splinters. The gunner had been smart. He’d aimed at floor level, but the brick fascia on either side of the door had protected both of us. The door wasn’t so fortunate.
The sound of the car dwindled rapidly in the distance. My heart was pounding as I got to my feet and offered Gardner my hand. “Are you alright?”
He refused my hand and scrambled to his feet on his own. “You see what I mean?” His voice shook. He looked around in obvious panic. “What the hell do we do now?”
“We calm down and call the police.” I looked around at the dozen or so students lying on the floor. “Anyone hurt?”
The students got up slowly and checked themselves, shaking their heads or murmuring “No.”
I pulled out my phone and tapped 9-1-1. Around me the murmur turned into a clamor as the students expressed their terror. Gardner stood across from me looking dazed. “My God, they’re already after me. What am I going to do?”
I finished talking to the emergency operator. “The police will be here in a minute. They can protect you.”
“But when they find out why I was being shot at, they’ll throw me in jail.”
“Look, I’m not at all fond of drug dealers, but I’m going to leave how you handle the police up to you. I’d suggest simply telling them exactly what happened, and answer any questions as truthfully as you can.”
That – leaving Gardner to tell his own version of his involvement – might have been the biggest mistake I ever made.
Chapter 34
Robbie Martin, Channel 12 6:00 O’clock News: “Breaking news. We just received a report of a drive by shooting on the campus of James Harrison University. No injuries were reported, but one the dormitories incurred minor damage. The police are on scene, as is our reporter, Shari Lawson. Shari what can you tell us about the shooting?”
Shari Lawson: “I have an eye witness to the shooting with me, Edina Christian. Edina what did you see??”
Edina Christian: “I was walking to the campus library when this car pulled away from the curb down there.”—[pointing. The camera panned to the location.]—“It accelerated like a dragster. I watch a lot of drag races. There was a couple standing at the top of the stairs into that dormitory over there.”—[Again the camera panned to the location and zoomed in on the shattered door of the dormitory.]—“They ducked into the dormitory and shut the door right before the shooting started. I hope they weren’t hurt.”
Six O’clock News – Channel 12
Day 15, 7:30PM
When I walked into my condo, I was still a little shaky. Getting shot at does that to you. Two tours in Afghanistan and I was never shot at. Okay, I don’t count the mortar attack since none of the mortar rounds came anywhere near me. Those bullets at Gardner’s dorm were close enough to shower me with splinters from the door. My anxiety must have shown when I got to my apartment because as soon Kitt saw me, she ran up, grabbed me by both arms, and looked me over from head to foot. “What in the world happened to you this time?”
I have to admit I was getting tired of telling people about my latest life-threatening adventures. I tried a half-hearted attempt to make light of it. “Would you believe a drive by shooting?”
Her jaw dropped. “That was you? You made the news … again.”
That didn’t surprise me. It had been that kind of a day. I continued to make light of the shooting, but my raw nerves kept spoiling my act. “I did? I hadn’t heard.”
The look Kitt gave me said it all. “That Wonder Woman act doesn’t fool me. How bad was it?”
I hung my head. “It was bad, really bad. The bullets missed me by inches.” I brushed my hair and wood splinters fell out. “It was that bad.”
“Were you scared?”
The obvious nature of that question annoyed me. “No, I got a real kick out of it, Major Obvious. … Of course I was scared.”
She appeared contrite. “Sorry, I can see that. But you’re okay other than that, right?”
“I’ll live, but I may need awhile to get over these shakes. How did you find out? You said it made the news.”
She nodded. “It was on the radio while I was driving home. You know: ‘Breaking News! Drive by shooters target university dormitory.’ Were they shooting at you?”
“I honestly can’t say. I don’t think so, but they were definitely shooting at Gardner.” Kitt gave me a questioning look, and I realized I hadn’t really talked to her since the apartment had been ransacked and that she had no idea who Gardner was. We walked over to the couch and sat down while I gave her a summary of what had happened.
When I finished, she was silent as if digesting what I had said. She crossed her arms, raised one eyebrow and started to lecture me, “You know, you’re a trouble magnet. Sounds like you’re going to need a bodyguard…” She shifted gears when she saw my face change. “What’s that expression about?”
“Oh crap! When you mentioned bodyguard, it reminded me that I went to talk to Gardner without Phil. I’ll probably get a chewing out when I see him tomorrow.” I thought about it though. When I told Phil he could take the day off, I hadn’t had any reason to think I needed protection. The shooting was a total surprise, and it had all happened extremely fast. I was so shaken afterwards I forgot about questioning Gardner and really didn’t get any information out of him. I wondered if I could even find him now. “Gardner’s probably gone into hiding.” I slapped my forehead and groaned.
She didn’t seem to see the relevance of that. “If I were you, I’d worry more about the threat on your life. I’d bet if your reflexes were any slower, you would have been collateral damage today even if you weren’t a target.”
“What do you mean ‘if I weren’t a target?’ I just happened to be in the way when they went after Gardner.”
“You’re forgetting what you just told me about Gardner. Didn’t he specifically say the drug people will come after you as well? That suggests to me that they could have already been targeting you.”
My heart stuttered at that thought. Then denial kicked in. “But why? I don’t know anything except that Gardner was dealing. I don’t know any of his operations or his connections. He was just trying to scare me. Besides, I already have a bodyguard.”
“You saw the shooter and the car …” I watched as she mentally changed gears. “You have a bodyguard?” Her expression was so comical I nearly laughed. Suddenly all the tension I had been feeling vanished.
I carefully kept a straight face and said, “Yeah, I have a bodyguard. Jake Coffee somehow finagled a Homeland guy to keep me out of trouble while I’m investigating the explosion. Phil’s been a lifesaver – literally. Speaking of him, he and I need to talk.”
“The guy you said would chew you out?”
I nodded.
Mentioning Phil had reminded me of something I thought of a few days back, an idea that kept coming back to me. To make a legitimate case against Bednarik, I had to find someone who would admit selling C4 to him – solid evidence that would at least suggest a connection between him and
the explosion and had to be followed up.
At that time I had been reviewing what I knew, trying to answer how Bednarik had gotten enough C4 to blow the whole building and how he had done it without leaving a trail. Phil and I had even considered that he might have made the batch himself. The internet had instructions for manufacturing the stuff, but Phil had searched the Homeland database for people buying the chemicals and not found enough sales to suggest anyone making C4. Even the suspect engineers on Homeland’s watch list we had talked to had made it clear they weren’t about to supply the amount he would need – blowing safes, okay, but mass murder, hell no! That meant Bednarik had to be buying it himself. To do that he must have managed to get an authentic looking engineering certificate so he could buy from a legitimate supplier. Getting a legitmate certificate in his own name would have left a paper trail that couldn’t be hidden.
While I was chewing on that, I must have had a glazed look in my eyes because Kitt snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Samantha.” she had a perplexed look on her face. “Where were you?”
“Sorry. I was thrashing over an idea I had a few days back. I zoned out completely, didn’t I?”
She just nodded.
I ran through my thinking with her, and she kept nodding. Finally she asked, “There must be public records of engineers who are certified to buy and use explosives. I assume you’ve looked at them.”
“I have and so has Phil.”
She continued, “Say this Coach Bednarik had gotten a counterfeit certificate. He couldn’t use his own name on it because he would be giving away his real identity in case anyone started checking. And he wouldn’t be on a list of legitimate explosive engineers. If he used a phony name, again he wouldn’t be on the public record of legitimate engineers. In other words, I don’t see any way he would have had a chance to hide his own identity except by using a real engineer’s name and a fake ID. Even then he’d have to go to a supplier who didn’t know the real engineer. Otherwise, the supplier would spot him as a phony.”
She paused. “Are you with me so far?”
I nodded. It was so obvious. I should have already figured that out.
She continued. “Okay, here’s the kicker. The real engineer would know that he hadn’t bought the C4. You can go to the suppliers and ask if any new engineers had bought from them recently. Then you could check with those engineers to see if they actually made the purchase. That way you should be able to pin down which purchases Bednarik was likely to have made.”
That made sense to me, and even better I had a passable photo of Bednarik we could show the suppliers. I grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. “That’s it! Thank you! Thank you!”
My cell phone rang. Phil was calling. I answered with, “Hi, Phil.” I’m sure I sounded elated as I felt.
He brought me down not too gently. “Sam, was that you on the news tonight?” He sounded angry.
“You mean the drive by? Yes, I was there.”
“What the hell happened?”
“I had gone to see Gardner to try to squeeze more information out of him. I hoped I could use his drug dealing as leverage. He didn’t want to talk in front of the other students, so we went out front to talk about it. We had hardly closed the door when a car came roaring up. They must have been waiting for Gardner. They made enough noise it got my attention before they reached us. I saw the gun, and we ducked back inside and behind brick walls just in time.”
“In other words, you came within inches of being killed.” He growled.
“I have pretty good reflexes,” I said defensively.
“Dammit! This isn’t funny. I’m supposed to be protecting you, and you nearly got yourself killed. You need to let me know where you’re going and when so I can be there.”
“Phil, you didn’t have anything to do with this. They were after Gardner. I just happened to be in the line of fire.”
“You do realize it could have been Calderon’s goons, right?”
Okay, that thought hadn’t occurred to me. Thinking about it sent a chill through me, but I couldn’t have Phil as my personal bodyguard everywhere I went. I actually didn’t like the feeling of being babysat. “Look, Phil, you can’t protect me 24/7. In fact, you probably shouldn’t be protecting me at all. I don’t know how Homeland is giving you the time to do this when you have a real job to do.”
“I’ve been on vacation,” he said in a small voice.
That irritated me. I’d been taking up his vacation time. “Oh, for Pete’s sake! You’ve got a family. You shouldn’t be wasting your vacation on me.” Before he could respond, I added, “I have some questions for you and then you’re fired.”
He sighed. “I’m fired? … Ask away.”
“Gardner knew his supplier would come after him. He suggested I was going to be a target also. Does that sound realistic to you?”
“Most gangs make examples to ensure no one rats on them. Some might take out their losses on the people who they think caused them. So yes, it certainly sounds realistic. You really need to keep your head down.”
“Great. Okay, here’s my next question. I know explosives dealers are required to maintain records of their sales. Is there a public record of C4 sales?”
“Title 27 doesn’t specify C4, just explosive sales. I suppose you want me to run down C4 sales for you. You realize how many man hours that would take?”
“Not as many as you might think. We know the purchase dates fairly closely. And I can put together a simple program to screen the records. If they’re public, all you would need to do is get the records to me – in digital form. ” Something else occurred to me. “Oh, one other thing. It would be helpful if I was sure of the actual amount of C4. Is forty pounds fairly accurate?”
“I talked to one of my friends who checked out the site. Apparently, that old building was built tough. He said it definitely took forty 40 pounds if it was C4.”
“Great. That should help narrow down the search. The sooner you can get those records to me, the better.”
“Okay, I’ll get them tomorrow and email them to you. I don’t believe it will be as easy as you seem to think.”
“We’ll see. Thanks, Phil.”
“I know I’m fired. Tell that to Jake. But if you need help, just yell. You have my number.”
A brief pang of regret went through me. “Thanks, Phil, for the advice and all your help. See you around.”
Before he hung up, he added, “Sam, keep your eyes open. Some of these creeps don’t think twice about murdering potential witnesses.”
That night I slept with my .45 on the night stand.
Chapter 35
Douglas Marienthal: “Peter Dutch, CEO of International Petroleum, announced today that the company will change its name to International Petrochemicals and start ramping down its automobile and aircraft fuel production in favor of plastics, chemicals, and heating fuel. He stated that oil field workers would be given a choice of a separation bonus or intensive training to prepare for the new jobs being opened under the upcoming reorganization.”
– Nine O’clock News – Channel 12
Day 16, 6:00AM
My dream about being in Afghanistan chased by gangsters waving lighted sticks of dynamite fragmented to the rasping sound of the alarm. Still groggy I rolled out of bed and forced myself to start thinking about the day ahead. Phil was getting me the record of transactions for explosives sales, and I was already impatient to look at them. Since he wasn’t holding my hand any longer—after all, I had fired him—I figured he should be back at work today. I headed for the shower, pondering how soon I could call him without showing how anxious I was.
By the time I finished breakfast, I was seriously trying to come up with something productive to do while waiting for Phil. I had pretty well run out of ideas and was down to the list of kids at Sharon Collin’s party. Was I that desperate? Maybe I should check in on Capt. Romero to see if he had received clearance to investigate the explosion by now,
but I didn’t want to get in his way. Of course, Mary LaMotte was on desk duty, so she wouldn’t be on the front line. Perhaps I could talk to her. On the other hand, I was pretty sure she would have called me if anything new had come up. I thought about confronting Bednarik, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the prospect. I’d have to be very careful, especially now that I’d “fired” Phil. The only thing left was my email. I turned to my computer.
I needn’t have worried about Phil. He had come through with purchase reports from both vendors. The list of purchases was shorter than I had anticipated, and since it was in chronological order, isolating the C4 buys in the target interval was simple. They only amounted to fourteen. To be sure I hadn’t missed anything I looked over earlier purchases. Most of the engineers seemed to be loyal to one vendor … But two of the engineers stood out. Both had abruptly made buys from the other vendor. One of them made three separate buys of twelve pounds each. The other made two purchases of twelve pounds each.
Those purchases where the engineers used different vendors raised a red flag. And the fact that they were all the same amount added to my suspicions. The few other buys mad by those engineers from their regular vendors varied in amount. I added them up. Sixty pounds: that certainly was enough to account for the explosion that killed Reid and then some.
Was it Bednarik? That had to be it; he would have used fake IDs and copies of the real engineers’ licenses to buy C4. But why the same amount each time? I guessed that Bednarik had gotten lazy. Since he wouldn’t want to attract attention to the total he was buying, he would have divided up the purchases, not just in amount but between vendors. It would be easiest to divide the total into equal amounts, and, of course, he would have gone to a seller who wasn’t familiar with the real engineer to avoid the possibility the supplier would recognize a phony ID.
That only left the question of why the extra twenty pounds.
To save time I called each of the real engineers. They both said the same thing. Neither of them had bought any C4 recently, much less from the dealer in question. Bingo.
Damage Control Page 24