by Helin, Don
Well, she thought, better get to the unpacking. On the way toward the stairs, she ran her fingers over her pride and joy, the Hepplewhite end table. It had set her back a great deal of money but had been worth every penny. Uh oh, dust on the tabletop, and her mother was coming down this weekend. Better get out the dust rag.
Jackie centered the tiered silver dish on the table and rearranged some of the wrapped taffy on the first tier. She had bought the candy at a shop in Old Town, made to the specifications of a Colonial era recipe.
Jackie hauled her suitcase up the narrow staircase, dragged it into the bedroom, and set it on the bed.
When she opened the suitcase, the envelope Sam had given her lay on top of her clothes. She set it aside. She’d call General Gerber in a moment.
She’d finished unpacking and reached for her cell phone to call the general when the doorbell chimes sounded. Jackie hurried downstairs and pushed the talk button on the speaker. “Who is it, please?”
“Federal Express … package for you.”
Jackie reached over to open the door when she remembered the camera Alex had insisted she install. “You never know who’s at your door,” Alex had said, “so don’t take any chances.” Because of her work on the task force, Jackie had agreed.
The men had installed the camera last week. She pushed the on button. It flashed an image of two men at the door, both dressed in FedEx uniforms. Why did it take two men to deliver a package? Neither of them was the driver who normally delivered to her address. That gave her pause. She adjusted the angle of the camera, but couldn’t see their truck.
Jackie hurried over to the window and looked outside. She couldn’t see the men because of the trellis beside the door, but she saw no FedEx truck on the street.
She walked back to the intercom and pushed the talk button again. “I’m not dressed. Could you please come back later?”
“Listen, lady, you’re my last delivery for the day. I need to get back to the office. Just open up; let me give you this package; I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait a minute. Let me get dressed.” She grabbed her cell phone and pressed the speed dial for Alex.
“Popogolis.”
“Alex, Jackie McCarthy.”
“Hi, Jackie. What’s up?”
“My suspicions.” She briefed Alex on the two men.
“See if you can stall them, but for God’s sake, don’t open that door. We’ll be right there.”
Jackie walked back to the door and pushed the intercom. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
“Lady, we ain’t got all day.”
She checked the camera. Now there was only one man at the door. What had happened to the other one?
The sound of glass shattering startled her. The back door banged against the wall. Footsteps echoed in the hall. Her heart caught in her throat.
Jackie remembered the envelope. My God, she thought, I’ve got to hide it. She turned to run up the stairs. A figure grabbed at her as she hit the third step. She tripped, regained her balance, and ran up the stairs, turning at the landing. Footsteps sounded behind her. Terrified, she ran down the hallway.
She slammed the door of her bedroom and locked it. Her heart beating wildly, she grabbed the envelope and looked around. Protect it. Shove it under the mattress.
A loud thud sounded, and the door rattled.
The dresser, she thought. Push it against the door. She struggled to push it but managed to move the dresser against the door as a force hit it again. The door buckled.
Jackie leaned her body against the dresser and pushed with all her strength. “Oh, hurry, please.”
The banging on her bedroom door intensified. She saw splits in the wood. It wouldn’t hold much longer. She leaned against the dresser with her back and pushed with her legs. The muscles in her legs hurt. Her heart beat wildly.
The front doorbell chimed. A pounding sounded on the door. A voice called, “Ms. McCarthy, are you in there? It’s the police. Are you all right?”
A voice whispered from the other side of the door. “Cops.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. A door banged.
Jackie felt herself shake. A weakness started in her knees. She put her hands on the dresser to keep from falling.
Alex sat in one of the yellow overstuffed chairs across the coffee table from Jackie. A second agent stood by the door.
Alex put her hand on Jackie’s arm. “Thank God we put in that TV camera and you used it.”
Jackie nodded, still nauseated. She hugged herself and took deep breaths to keep from trembling.
Alex squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be all right.”
Jackie nodded again but couldn’t speak. The envelope Sam had given her hung loosely in her right hand.
“Did you see either of the men?”
“They had hats on … I couldn’t see their faces. I’d recognize the one man’s voice. It was unique, high-pitched for a guy.”
Alex nodded.
“The one who did the talking was tall, well built. He wasn’t fat. Just plain big. The second man guy was much shorter, wiry. Sorry I can’t give you a better description.”
“Both had on FedEx uniforms?”
“Yes.”
Alex thought for a moment. “The tall guy could have been masking his voice.”
Jackie took a sip of tea. She tucked her hands under her thighs to stop the trembling. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard the glass shatter.”
“They made a mess of your back hallway,” Alex said. “We’ll get the door patched up before we leave.”
“Thank God the police got here when they did. That bedroom door wouldn’t have held much longer.”
“Quick thinking when you spotted they didn’t have a truck.”
“Sam asked me to get this envelope to General Gerber. I had planned to call to see if he wanted me to bring it in today.”
“I’ll take it to him,” Alex replied. “He wants a report.”
“Thanks.” Jackie handed it to her. “How about their vehicle?”
“Nothing yet. By the time Officer Peterson got around back, they were already outside. Hopefully we can come up with a witness. The Alexandria police are going house to house now.
Jackie concentrated to calm her nerves. “Working with the task force has made me suspicious of everything.”
Alex looked out the window, rubbing her hand on her knee.
Jackie leaned forward. “What?”
“I think we screwed up.”
“Why?”
“You shouldn’t have gone on that trip with Sam.”
“I came to that conclusion, too. That’s why I tried to hide the envelope.” Jackie thought for a moment. “At first I assumed they were just trying to get in to rob me. But that didn’t make any sense in broad daylight. Somebody must not have liked my meeting Kaminsky. They know I can identify him.”
“We need to get you out of here for a few days.”
“You think that’s necessary?” Jackie asked.
Alex nodded. “Sam’s gonna freak.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Sam paced around the second-floor room in the Harrisburg Holiday Inn, banging his fist into his palm. The room had the standard conference room look—a rectangular table that seated ten people, a credenza in the corner with a phone on it, and extra chairs lined up along the walls. A podium had been placed along the front wall. The room smelled of stale air and too much smoking.
Alex had set up the meeting that included Bob O’Brien, Agent Stoner, and Agent Monar.
Sam pointed at Stoner. “You’re the guy in the Pasta Basta Restaurant. I saw you a second time at the bookstore.”
Stoner smiled. “Guilty as charged.”
“I thought you were my contact.”
Stoner’s face grimaced into a frown. “I figured as much.”
“Stupid to let me make you. I hope no one else did.”
O’Brien chuckled. “Take it easy on him, Sam. He’s FBI, not CIA.
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Alex put her hand on Sam’s arm. “Relax. We had a close call yesterday, but Jackie played it like she should have. We’ve moved her to a safe house until we can get this straightened out.”
“I never should have let that happen … told Kassim to get bent when he pushed me to get someone to travel with me as a cover.”
“Quit blaming yourself,” Alex replied. “There’s enough blame to go around.”
Sam dropped into a chair. “All to bring that fat-ass, cigarette-smoking, son-of-a-bitch back with us.”
O’Brien smiled. “Tell us how you really feel about the professor, Sam.”
Sam walked over and opened the blinds. Dust fell off the edges. “We let Oliver get ahead of us on this one. That can’t happen again.”
The smile disappeared from O’Brien’s face.
“She’s safe now,” Alex replied, “but you’re right. We can’t let that happen again.”
Sam paced around the table. “I’ve been debating how we organize ourselves. I need another FBI contact. Oliver could get suspicious if his men see me around you, particularly since some of them have met Jackie.”
“I don’t think so.” Alex wiggled her eyebrows. “We’ll bill it as an affair. Your buddies in the militia will understand that.”
Sam didn’t answer.
“It’s the perfect cover,” Alex continued.
Sam looked down and put his hands on the table, making little tents with his fingers. “I don’t know.”
Alex hit Sam on the shoulder. “You bastard.”
“Goddamn! What was that for?”
“You weenie. You don’t think I’m tough enough, do you?”
O’Brien masked a smile, seeming to enjoy Sam’s discomfort.
“It’s not that, Alex. It’s just that things are gonna get rough before this is over.”
“Yeah, you need a fucking man. A broad can’t cut it.”
“You’re not very big, Alex. Some of these guys are huge.”
Alex stalked around the room, then stopped in front of Sam. “Try and get rid of me.” She punched his chest with her finger. “I don’t know if you’re tough enough or, more importantly, cool enough to pull this off. What happened to Jackie really pissed me off. I’ll find the clown who tried to hurt her … punch his lights out, with or without your help.”
“I think we understand one another. Save your anger for the militia,” Sam said. He thought to himself, Hum, she’s got teeth.
Alex plopped down in one of the chairs at the table and started swinging the chair back and forth. “Now see if you can figure a way to get me on the inside. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
“That’s gonna be critical,” O’Brien said.
Alex reached inside her briefcase and pulled out a tape recorder. “I want you to go over everything again. We may have missed something important. Bob and Agents Stoner and Monar haven’t heard the entire story.”
“Oh jeez, is that really necessary?” “Just do it, Sam.” She turned on the recorder.
Sam paused for a moment to organize his thoughts, then summarized his efforts over the past week to train the members of General Oliver’s militia. He reviewed what he’d told Alex about Popeye and his Nazi background as well as Popeye’s role with the Pennsylvania Skinheads.
“Do you have any idea what General Oliver plans to do with Kaminsky?” O’Brien asked.
“Not yet. He has a PhD in chemistry. They must want him for technical advice.” He smiled. “Sure as hell isn’t for his physical prowess.”
Alex cut off the recorder. “What’s next?”
“I resume training Oliver’s men tonight. We’ll start by going over explosives. They’re picking things up fast.”
“What can I do?” Alex asked.
“Just hang loose until I figure a way to get you into the operation.” Sam began to pace again. “In spite of the incident with Jackie, I don’t think they’re on to me.”
Alex pulled out a folder and spread some papers on the table. “It’s time we talked about potential threats. We’ve analyzed the risks … listed the five top options that could bring us to our knees.”
The theme from “Star Wars” floated out of his jacket pocket. Sam grabbed his cell phone. He looked at the number. “Jackie’s home phone.”
He pushed the button. “Thorpe.”
“Sam Thorpe?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to my daughter?” a man’s voice said. “I can’t get a hold of her. General Gerber said she’s been moved and put under FBI protection. I don’t even know where she is. What are you doing to her?”
Sam covered the mouthpiece for a moment. “I have to take this.” He pushed the door open, walked out into the main hallway, and pulled the door shut behind him.
“Look, Senator, I can’t talk about this operation now. We felt that Jackie could be in danger, so we took precautions to protect her.” Sam walked down to the end of the hall and looked through the sheer curtains into the street below. A black Mercedes pulled into the lot.
The senator’s voice echoed in Sam’s ear. “Every time she gets involved with you, she gets hurt.”
“That’s not true.”
“Dammit, it is too.”
The conversation was going nowhere.
“I demand to know what happened.”
“I’m sorry, Senator, but that’s not possible.”
“Well, you’d better stay far away from her. I’ll use every bit of influence I have to stop you from seeing her. I’m a personal friend of the president’s. I don’t know what she sees in a vagabond like you.”
“Senator, your daughter is thirty-six years old. Don’t you think she can decide for herself who she sees and doesn’t see?”
“Don’t get smart with me, Thorpe. I can crush you, and I will. Now leave my daughter alone.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Senator, but I care for Jackie and will not leave her alone.”
“Then you’ll suffer the consequences. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll destroy you.”
A click, and the line went dead. Sam sank down onto a chair at the end of the hallway and put his face in his hands. The senator’s words hit home. Sam could have gotten Jackie killed.
The hand felt soft on his shoulder. Sam glanced up to see Alex leaning over him.
“Guess that conversation didn’t go very well.” She pulled on his arm. “Come on. Let’s go. The best thing you can do for Jackie is to get these bastards.”
Once Sam had taken a seat at the conference room table, O’Brien launched into his summary.
“One of the biggest risks we face is an attack on one of our chemical plants. There are some 15,000 plants across the country. They produce a wide range of petrochemicals, fertilizers, toxic gases, and pesticides.”
“Aren’t they using just-in-time-shipping?” Sam asked. “That should cut down on the amount of inventory stored at the plant.”
O’Brien nodded. “They still are a tempting target, though.”
Sam leaned forward at the table and made a note on his laptop. “Security?”
“Wish I could say it was good,” Alex replied. “EPA has been unable to demand increased security because of industry pressure on some of our weak-kneed politicians. We’ve had a number of media investigations that show inadequate security at the plants. More needs to be done.”
Sam leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “We’re in deep shit.”
“There’s more.” Alex turned a page in her notebook. “Our water distribution system has more than 170,000 public systems. That provides countless opportunities to contaminate drinking water with biological, chemical, or radiological agents.”
“Did you say 170,000? I had no idea.” Sam made a note. He doodled around Alex’s name, then crossed it out so no one else would see it.
“Interruption of the supply would hurt manufacturing, energy generation, and any number of water-intensive organizations.”
Sam nodded. “To say
nothing about the poor bastard in Peoria trying to get a glass of water.”
“It gets worse,” Alex replied. “More than 1.7 million carloads of hazardous cargo are carried by rail each year.”
Bob O’Brien jumped in. “And most of that is either explosive or toxic.”
“He’s right.” Alex said. “On any given day, around 76,000 trucks transport hazardous materials on our highways. A couple of M16 assault rifles could put millions of people at risk by causing an explosion or a leak.”
Sam thought of his daughter. What kind of a world would she have to live in? “What about nuclear?”
O’Brien nodded. “There are a little over one hundred commercial nuclear reactors at about sixty power plants around the country. More than half are near cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago. Each of those plants represents a dirty bomb that could inflict untold havoc.”
“Security?” Sam asked.
O’Brien sighed and shook his head. “Security guards lack training, weapons, and adequate numbers to repel a terrorist attack.”
Sam did another drumroll with his pencil on the table while he contemplated these risks. “We need to establish a priority. What are the most likely risks?”
O’Brien pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here’s what we have. On the nuclear side, Three Mile Island is located just south of Harrisburg. That has to be a tempting target. Remember what happened in ‘79.”
The TMI disaster had occurred only eighteen months before Sam entered the service. One of his best friends lived next to the plant.
“I’ve compiled a list of chemical plants in the eastern part of the state for you,” O’Brien continued. “And I hate to even think of the hazardous material scenario.”
Sam glanced over at Alex. “Aren’t there a number of hospitals and university research facilities in the area that utilize nuclear material?”
Alex grimaced. “It’s extensive.”
“This gives me something to go on.” Sam took the disk with the list on it. He could wipe it clean if Oliver seemed suspicious. “I know likely targets. Now I need to find out where Oliver’s planning to strike and get that word to you.”