by Siegel, Alex
"That's right." Norbert nodded. "Damn, that man is good."
"Well, we now know Xavier will be in Chicago in three days. We don't know exactly where, yet. Supposedly, he's going to meet me before the attack. We'd better call Aaron."
Marina took out her phone, dialed a number, and placed the phone face up on the desk.
"Hello?" Aaron said through the speaker.
"This is Marina. I'm with Hanley and Norbert in Hanley's office in Washington."
"What are you doing there?"
"Visiting a member of my team," she said, "if that's all right with you. By sheer coincidence, he just got a surprise phone call. Can you guess who it was from?"
"Xavier," he said. "He's coming to Chicago. He wants the Unit to attack my fake headquarters. Hanley, did you play along?"
She looked across the desk at Hanley. He shrugged. How did Aaron know?
"Yes, sir."
"Good," Aaron said. "You have to bring your entire Unit here. Xavier will need to see a convincing show of force."
Hanley frowned. "But, sir, they'll just get caught in the crossfire when the real action starts."
"It's a messy situation you and I will have to manage together. My plan still has gaps, unfortunately, especially at the end. Marina, I would like your entire search team to be there, too. It could take all fifteen legionnaires to hunt down Xavier if the situation turns into a train wreck."
"Of course," Marina said. "Are you going to tell me what your plan is, yet?"
"You haven't figured it out? I'll let you think about it some more."
"Smug bastard."
"Hey," Aaron said, "I heard that. It should be quite a party. The legate will also attend."
"Really?"
"She'll be the star of the show, and I'm inviting Yule. Is that all? I have a lot of work to do. We're still touching up the new building, and that has to be finished before Xavier gets here. Then I have to organize a protest march."
She stared at the phone. "What the hell are you talking about? A real protest march?"
He chuckled. "Some days this job is so much fun it's indecent. I'll see all of you in Chicago soon. Get here as quickly as possible. Norbert, take the next flight out. The twins are going crazy without you, and Smythe can't deal with them anymore. Bye."
The call ended, and she put away her phone.
After a long moment of silence, Marina turned to Hanley. "Have you finished cleaning up your personal affairs?"
"Why, ma'am?" he said.
"Because after Chicago, you're going to San Francisco with me. Race Hanley is about to disappear from the world forever."
* * *
Aaron watched the lights above the huge door of the service elevator. The new headquarters was on the twenty-second floor, but the lights only went up to twenty. There was nothing on the twenty-first floor but death.
"It was nice to have a little vacation, sir," Norbert said, "but I'm glad to be back. I really missed the twins."
Aaron looked over at him. Norbert wore a heavy brown coat and blue jeans. A big grin matched the round shape of his face.
"They certainly missed you," Aaron said. "I've had to listen to their whining ever since I got back. No offence, but your relationship with them doesn't seem very healthy."
"It's a unique situation, sir. They have unique needs, and I'm happy to take care of them. They've been chatting with God a lot lately."
"I saw it happening on their monitors. It looks like a bunch of alien math."
Norbert nodded. "The Lord is very interested in that project. He told me that directly the other night."
"You didn't tell me you spoke to God."
"It was just a short conversation, sir. He thanked me for taking good care of the twins."
This project must be more important than I realized, Aaron thought.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. He walked through the entry area where Jack would eventually have his security control booth. Beyond was the enormous open space where the rest of headquarters would be built. Tiny square windows along the walls allowed a little sunlight to sneak in. Work lights with bare incandescent bulbs provided most of the illumination. Aaron sniffed and wrinkled his nose. The air smelled of rotting garbage. I need to get my people out of here, he thought. This situation has gone on too long.
Bethany and Leanna ran across the room and almost knocked Norbert down. There were tears in their eyes.
"It was awful!" one girl said.
"He put ketchup on our hotdogs!" the other said.
"And he made us brush our teeth ten minutes early!"
"And he gave us chocolate ice cream with nuts!"
Norbert hugged the twins until they stopped chattering at him. It was a tender moment, but it made Aaron uneasy.
Smythe was standing at a distance with a haggard expression on his face.
Aaron walked over and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder. "Thank you."
"Don't ever let me tell you I don't appreciate Norbert's contribution to the team. I don't know how that man puts up with those two."
"Come on. They're very nice young ladies."
"Yes," Smythe said, "until you break one of the thousand little rules they live by. Then they pester and whine and whimper until it's fixed. They're relentless."
"What do you expect?" Aaron said. "They're Spears."
He went back to Bethany and Leanna. They were still clinging to Norbert, but they seemed calm enough to have a rational conversation.
"I have another project for you two," Aaron said. "It's a tricky one that involves electronics."
The twins looked at him with their big brown eyes. He had their full attention.
"Xavier is going to try to blow us up," he said. "I'm assuming we'll be able to find the bomb in time and disarm it. The hard problem will be finding Xavier after that. Somehow, we have to quickly follow the trail from the bomb back to him. We'll only have a minute."
"Will he use a wire or a radio detonator, sir?" Bethany said.
"I don't know. Radios are more convenient but less reliable. We have to plan for either contingency."
She looked at her sister. "If it's a wire, we can splice it and turn it into a long line transmitter. Then we can look for the reflection impulse at the other end."
Leanna nodded. "And if it's a radio, we'll use triangulation to find the source of the signal, but we'll need the frequency. One of us will have to analyze the detonator."
"I'll do it." Bethany faced Aaron. "It should be easy, sir, but I'll have to disarm the bomb myself. I need to study it."
"I'm not comfortable with that idea. It means taking you into a potentially lethal situation."
"I know you'll protect me, sir. You always have."
Aaron frowned. "I guess I don't have much choice. Norbert, you'll stay with Leanna."
"Yes, sir," Norbert said.
"Fuck." Aaron rolled his eyes. "This thing is getting complicated."
Chapter Twenty-two
Xavier looked through a pair of binoculars at the old plastics factory on West Cermak Road. It was certainly a large building. All the bricks and concrete made it look like an old fashioned fort. The dirty exterior added to the impression of something that had survived a war. All the windows were completely covered with wood. Big red and white signs warned people to stay out by order of the Environmental Protection Agency. The skull and crossbones symbol was used repeatedly.
As Xavier examined the building closely, he found evidence that somebody hadn't obeyed the signs. The front door was made of riveted steel, and it looked brand new. Some of the wood on the windows had also been replaced very recently. A tarp on the roof covered a large object that had the shape of a missile launcher. Concrete gargoyles decorated the edges of the roof, and they didn't match the otherwise unembellished architecture. The mouths of the gargoyles faced downwards. Defensive turrets, Xavier thought. Nice.
He turned around and started walking. The Chicago headquarters was just his secondary targe
t. He would get to it eventually, but at the moment he had bigger fish to fry. A fish named Ethel in particular.
He needed to find a staging area for the Special Missions Unit. The building had to be big enough to hide a hundred and fifty men and their weapons. It had to be a safe distance from the plastics factory but still close enough to allow a surprise assault.
This part of Chicago was rough. Everything was made of weathered bricks and concrete. Most of the original industry had left the neighborhood a long time ago. Some buildings had been converted to condominiums and some were still vacant. Xavier expected vagrants were occupying the latter. Ugly overhead wires ran along all the streets. Many buildings had old fashioned water towers on top. It was a barren and inhospitable place to live, and the nasty cold weather didn't make it more inviting.
Xavier came to a small cement factory that looked closed. The front gate was locked with a chain and padlock, but his lock picks opened it easily. A big white building was at the center of the factory, and he checked it out first.
The open interior of the building was empty except for some rusty remnants of equipment. The echoing space was as large as a gymnasium. Offices ran along one wall, and there were just windows everywhere else. It looked like a good place for men to gather before an attack.
The floor was solid concrete. He looked up. A storage loft ran along the apex of the roof from one end of the building to the other, and it was accessible by iron ladders. Electric winches were available to lift heavier items, but he expected they didn't work anymore. He climbed one of the ladders, and the pain in his injured thigh made him clench his jaw.
The long loft was packed full of debris, including crates, broken equipment, and leaking canisters. Apparently, the owners of the factory had used the loft as a private garbage dump. This will do very nicely, he thought.
Xavier climbed down. He walked to the far end of the building and went outside. A river ran along the back of the property. Wooden docks showed where barges had once delivered raw materials for cement, but the wood was half rotted away now.
He looked across the river at the many buildings on the other side. There were a lot of good places to hide over there, and a lot of windows that could be used for observation. He loved working in dense urban environments.
This is definitely the right place, he thought. Rhiannon will finally get her justice here.
* * *
Aaron and Smythe were standing in the baggage claim area of O'Hare Airport. More than any other part of the airport, the baggage claim showed Aaron the tremendous scale of the operation. There were so many carousels he couldn't see them all from his location. Travelers arrived in waves of hundreds. Thousands of voices blended together, creating a continuous stream of human noise. Even the screaming babies were drowned out.
The FBI Special Missions Unit was easy to identify. Many had Army uniforms, and the rest wore the blue business suits favored by FBI agents. As each man found his luggage, he moved off to the side. Hanley was trotting around with a clipboard and a folder full of paperwork. His men stood at respectful attention whenever he approached.
"That's another task we have to deal with," Aaron said.
"What, sir?" Smythe said.
"Hanley's men have to see him die while he's in Chicago. He's going to San Francisco after this."
"I'm sure there will be opportunities to fake his death considering what is about to happen."
"It would look more convincing if somebody actually shot him," Aaron said casually.
Smythe turned to him. "Sir?"
"A bullet in the gut doesn't kill right away. You'll be able to heal him."
"You and Marina are a perfect couple." Smythe raised his eyebrows. "You're both very nasty pieces of work."
"Thank you." Aaron nodded.
A bald man with baby pink skin approached. He wore a sharp gray business suit and carried a small suitcase. Oversized black sunglasses were wrapped around his oddly shaped head.
Aaron grinned. "Right on time."
Yule shook his hand firmly and then shook Smythe's hand. "It's a great pleasure to see you again, gentlemen."
"Thank you for coming back to Chicago on short notice. I'm sure it wasn't easy to get away for the second time."
"No, thank you for allowing me to help kill the man who killed me. That's a unique opportunity."
"How is Odelia?" Smythe said.
"Why are you asking me?" Yule said. "You called her this morning."
"You know about that?"
"I keep a close eye on all the members of my team. You've called her ten times since we left Wisconsin."
Smythe blushed.
"Don't worry about it." Yule patted Smythe on the arm. "We should have that video conference system working in a couple of days, so you can see each other's faces."
"Thank you, sir. I'm extremely grateful."
Aaron looked over at Hanley. For the moment at least, Hanley seemed to be idle. He was staring at his clipboard with a puzzled frown.
Aaron whistled loudly. Hanley looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw Aaron. Hanley glanced at his men, but none of them were paying attention to him. He trotted over to Aaron.
"Sir," Hanley said in a low voice, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I came to pick up my friend, and I decided to welcome you back to Chicago at the same time. This is Yule, the commander of Los Angeles. This is Hanley, soon to be legionnaire in San Francisco."
Hanley leaned forward and stared at Yule. "Excuse me, but what's wrong with your face. Your eyes..."
Yule lifted his sunglasses for an instant. His giant yellow cat eyes blinked at Hanley.
Hanley drew back. "Shit!"
"Be quiet," Aaron said sharply. "What do you know about bomb detection?"
"A lot. We're an anti-terrorism group. Searching for bombs is a big part of what we do. Our equipment is state-of-the-art."
"I'll need to borrow some of that equipment along with instructions for how to use it. I'll come by your hotel this evening. Have everything ready for me."
"Yes, sir," Hanley said.
"Get back to your men. They're starting to look at us."
Hanley nodded. "One more thing, sir." He faced Smythe. "I never really thanked you for healing my knee. You did a perfect job. I feel like a young man again."
"You're welcome. Go."
Hanley walked off.
"Can we leave?" Yule said.
"Yes," Aaron said. "The preparations aren't done, and we're running out of time. I'm sure Xavier is already in Chicago."
* * *
The sign by the gate read "Sure-fire Blasting Services." Xavier drove past it and entered a parking lot.
The company's main office occupied a blue-gray metal building. The explosives wouldn't be there, so Xavier wasn't interested. He looked past the office to a huge empty field beyond and spotted a concrete bunker. It was half-buried in the middle of the field. Obviously, the good stuff was in there.
A chain-link fence with razor wire on top completely surrounded the field. A security gate was the only way in. Xavier drove over to the gate and stopped in front.
An old man wearing a blue-gray security guard uniform came out of a booth. He looked cold. Xavier put him out of his misery with a bullet.
Xavier jumped out, stuffed the body back into the booth, and grabbed a key ring. Then he threw a switch to open the gate. He drove down a narrow access road and stopped in front of the bunker.
His next obstacle was a heavy steel door that looked like it had come from an old fashioned prison. Xavier tried keys until he found one that unlocked it. He looked around and didn't see any sign of trouble. He went into the bunker.
Long shelves held boxes of explosives. There were all types, but the majority of it was simple dynamite. Xavier was hoping for something with more kick. After searching for a few minutes, he found twenty pounds of C-4, but it didn't seem like enough for the job. He loaded that box and two hundred pounds of dynamite into the trunk
of the car. As he was walking back and forth, he discovered ten pounds of Semtex, so he grabbed it.
The harder problem was finding a detonator. There were blasting caps and detonation cord, but he needed something that worked at long-range. He wanted to be several hundred yards away from the explosion. Unfortunately, it appeared he would have to build a radio detonator himself. He knew how, but he also knew the things were notoriously fickle, especially when they were custom built.
He filled a box with useful parts and went out to the car. Nobody had noticed the dead guard, yet. Whistling a cheerful tune, Xavier drove away.
* * *
Hanley was standing in front of the hotel where the Special Missions Unit was staying. He carried a metal suitcase in each hand, and they contained several types of bomb detectors. He still wore his FBI suit, which was getting rumpled, but he had been too busy to change. He was shivering in the cold winter night. He hadn't thought to grab a coat and now it was too late.
A brown sedan drove up to the hotel. Aaron was driving. Hanley ran over and put the suitcases in the back seat.
"Get in," Aaron said. "You're coming with me." For some reason he was wearing a tuxedo.
Hanley furrowed his brow. "I am? Why, sir?"
"Listen carefully because this is important. When a commander tells you to do something, do it. Questions come afterwards. I shouldn't have to explain that to a military man like you."
"Yes, sir." Hanley quickly sat in the passenger seat. The interior of the car was warm.
Aaron drove away. Frost on the windshield glittered as he passed yellow street lights.
"May I ask now, sir?" Hanley said.
"You may."
"Where are we going?"
"We have a lot of out of town guests in Chicago tonight," Aaron said. "I'm throwing a party for them. Marina wants you to attend."
Hanley settled down. He could handle a party. There were certainly much worse places to be taken late at night. "What guests, sir?"
"Yule, who you met at the airport, the legate, her bodyguard, and Marina's entire search team. My team will be there, too. I rented an entire restaurant so we would have some privacy. Just be careful around the wait staff. They aren't with us, and if they overhear something, we'll have to kill them."