She nodded holding up her .38 revolver.
Craig pulled his pistol case from the crate. Inside was a 9mm Beretta handgun. He loaded a magazine into it and dug the pistol into the back of his jeans.
Before walking outside, he stopped and turned to Nick, as if remembering something.
“There’s one last thing I need from you.”
“What?” Nick asked.
“Your laptop.”
He looked at Craig jokingly, but his smile dropped when he saw that his father was completely serious.
Twenty minutes later, Craig and Husein had set up tripwire traps around the entire perimeter of the cabin. The thin fishing line tied from tree to tree was obscured by grass and was virtually invisible. Several brass sentry traps, loaded with a cotter pin and blank .22 charge, had been fastened to the lower trunk of each tree. When breached, each trap was rigged to blast, alerting anyone inside the cabin of advancing intruders.
They all went back inside, to get out of the sun, and wait.
“Wish I would have gotten a minute to enjoy this place,” he said. He hugged Rachael tightly.
“How long will you be gone?” Nick asked. “What if they try to hurt you?”
Craig went to Nick and hugged him. “Not long. Everything is going to be okay.” Craig didn’t know how else he could reassure him. “It’s not the best plan, but it’s our only option.”
“And you’ll bring my laptop back?” Nick asked.
Craig laughed slightly. “Yes, I’ll bring it back. And your mom’s phone, too. Eventually.”
With that, Craig said goodbye and he and Husein started toward the back door.
“You both be careful,” Rachael said. “I mean that.” She rushed toward Craig to give him one last hug. He took in the scent of her hair and spoke softly. “Be back soon.”
As they walked outside and down the steps, Craig could sense Husein’s apprehension.
“Don’t worry,” Craig said. “I’m not going to let them hurt you.”
Husein’s eyes remained fixed as they walked past the rear of the cabin and over the tripwire that had been set between the trees.
“It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s you,” Husein said. “These men will stop at nothing to kill you. And if they catch me, the torture will be endless. They must know that I killed Ma’mun by now.” Husein suddenly stopped walking, as if having second thoughts. “Can’t we just run? Do we have to face them?”
Craig stopped and turned toward Husein. “They may have Rachael’s parents. Besides, they’ll never stop pursuing us.”
Husein grew agitated. “I think that you want to face them. Some American code of honor thing. Do you really think you’re going to take down their entire organization?”
Craig took a few steps closer to Husein and spoke calmly. “I don’t expect to do anything beyond protecting my family. All I’m asking from you is what we discussed. Take a concealed spot and cover me. If it looks like I’m in trouble, aim and shoot. Just like before. I just need enough time to recover my pistol. The first wire trap will startle them once breached. They’ll panic. That’ll give us a moment to engage. Every one of them has to die. No exceptions.”
“But more will come. You must know that.”
“I do, but—”
Suddenly, Rachael’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. Craig clutched the phone and pulled it out. It was his number on the screen. Ghazi was near.
“Yes?” he said.
Heavy static filled the line as Ghazi’s voice came through. “Where have you been? We’ve been calling you.”
“Terrible reception out here,” Craig answered.
“I trust you haven’t been on the phone with the FBI or anyone else since last we spoke.”
“I wouldn’t be able to if I tried.”
“For your sake, I hope that’s the case. We have your handheld radio. Maybe that would suit you better.”
“That’s fine. I have one here,” Craig said, looking around. He covered the phone and asked Husein to run back and get a handheld from Rachael. Husein sprinted off as Craig held the phone to his ear.
“Are you there?”
“Yes,” Ghazi said. “Make sure you have the radio on you.”
“Are you close?” Craig asked.
“Do you have the laptop?” Ghazi asked.
“Yes, but remember what I said. My family is off-limits.”
“Yes, yes. Keep up your end of the bargain and we shouldn’t have a problem.”
Craig knew that they were both lying to each other, which more than justified his plan to fight back. He didn’t believe for a minute that they were going to spare his family.
“I’ll be standing roughly a quarter mile from my cabin in an open clearing, waiting for you. Are you still on the road?”
“We are close.”
“I’ll be here. Just me and the laptop.”
“Good.” Ghazi said. Then he hung up.
Craig lowered the phone and looked up as Husein came running back with a radio in hand.
“Thank you,” Craig said. “Now let’s find you a good spot and do this.”
***
The fifteen-passenger van slowed to a halt at the bottom of a hill where they saw another familiar-looking van of their own parked to the side of the dirt road. Ghazi instructed the driver to pull up behind the abandoned vehicle and park.
Accompanying him were ten other militants who had taken the long ride from their headquarters in Minneapolis to Craig’s house in Rockville, Maryland. Initially tasked to assist the other stakeout team in finding Craig, they were alerted to his precise location by a tracking device in Ma’mun’s laptop.
At headquarters, they had lost contact with the team watching Craig’s house, and feared the worst. Omar was beside himself, shouting into Ghazi’s phone, threatening the harshest punishment if they failed to bring Craig to him. Nothing, it seemed, was more important.
Ghazi had it all planned out. The bartering of Craig’s in-laws. The threats against his family. All of this would bring Craig out of hiding.
They had lost the trace on Ma’mun’s laptop—Craig had since shut it off—but they had a general idea of where he was. And with the discovery of the stolen van, Ghazi knew that they were close. The heavily shaded woods provided cover, but it also gave Craig a similar advantage. Ghazi knew this. As they parked, he turned to his men—young men, all of them armed and wearing camouflage clothing, bulletproof vests, and black bandanas. He spoke softly.
“Keep your eyes open. Stay alert at all times. The American is near.”
The men, all quiet, nodded. Ghazi took a red bandana and wrapped it around his head. He glanced down at the open laptop resting on his knees and studied the map showing on the screen. A single yellow dot remained—the last known signal from Ma’mun’s laptop.
The driver, a tall, skinny man with a goatee opened his door. One of the men in the back opened the rear double doors as they all gripped their weapons, ready to get out. Ghazi turned and pointed a finger at them.
“Don’t take this man for granted, mark my words. He’s a trained killer.”
“We can take care of him, don’t worry, brother,” said a young man with a scruffy chin beard named Hafan. From the back, several of the others joined in, laughing.
Ghazi’s tone grew more angry and forceful. “You fools have the memory of a fish. This American killed over twenty of Ma’mun’s men in Detroit. You saw with your own eyes what he did to the men watching his house.”
“But you forget one thing, dear Ghazi,” Hafan said. All eyes turned to him.
“What is that, Hafan?” Ghazi asked.
“That you’re with the best now,” he replied, high-fiving a man sitting next to him.
Ghazi wasn’t amused. “You won’t find it very funny being dead, I can tell you that now.”
The militants then piled out of the van, paying his warnings little mind. Frustrated, he reached into his pocket for his cell phone and then dialed, waiting with i
t pressed against his ear. Finally, someone answered.
“Yes, this is Ghazi. Do we have the parents?”
There was a slight pause as the man on the other end explained. Ghazi’s mouth dropped.
“What do you mean they disappeared? How?” His face flushed as the man continued to explain.
“I don’t care if they’re no longer in the house. Search the entire neighborhood if you have to.”
The man interrupted him, trying to defend himself. Ghazi would have none of it.
“If you didn’t see anyone leave, that means they’re still in there. And if they’re not there that means they slipped out somehow. I don’t think I need to remind you of the consequences of losing them.”
The man continued pleading his case and making excuses. Ghazi shut his laptop and stepped out of the van. He cut the man off and shouted into the phone. “Everything we’re doing right now is tied to this. If your team fails, Omar will have your heads. That, I guarantee you!” He hung up in anger. His blood pressure was already rising and they hadn’t even found Craig yet.
“Move out!” Ghazi shouted, slamming the van door shut. He felt along the bulky green-colored camouflaged vest he was wearing. There were plates on both sides, shielding his chest and back. The weight of the vest bore down on his shoulders, but the discomfort, he felt, was worth it.
After seeing the bodies following the Detroit factory shootout, they would have to be crazy not to take precautions. He took his Glock pistol from his side holster and pulled the slide back, chambering a round.
He brought his sunglasses down from their resting position on his forehead and then joined his team, gathered at the tree line on the other side of the van. He held his cell phone out to see how many bars he had. Only one remained. It was time to switch to the handheld radio.
He stuffed his cell in his right pocket, holstered his pistol, and pulled the radio out. The men cocked their rifles with carefree smiles on their faces. Ghazi turned the radio knob and heard crackling static. He pressed a side button with his thumb and spoke. “Hello?” All he could hear was more static.
Their driver, Nidal, casually leaned against the hood of the van holding a shotgun. He watched as Ghazi puzzled over the radio. “Do you need help with that thing?”
Ghazi flashed him an annoyed look. “No, I can work it just fine. The American might not be in range yet.
“So what do we do now?” Nidal asked.
Ghazi pointed to the forest. “We travel west to their cabin. He will be waiting for us. This way,” he said, walking toward the tree line where the other militants were standing in the shade, waiting.
“We cannot fail this mission,” Ghazi warned. “I want everyone spread out and keeping their proper intervals. When we encounter the American, no one is to shoot him. He is to be taken alive.” Ghazi looked around. “Understood?”
The militants grumbled in unison. Hafan raised his hand. He had a snarky expression.
“What is it?” Ghazi asked.
Hafan looked around first, ensuring that he had the attention of the group. “What if he fires at us first? What are we to do, stand there and take it?”
Other militants murmured in protest, looking at Ghazi, demanding answers. Ghazi waited for them to quiet down before he spoke. When the words did come, he spoke calmly and slowly as if they were students in a classroom. “First of all, the deal was that he would be unarmed. Now we know that to be very unlikely. So what do we do?”
The militants looked at each other, but Ghazi answered before anyone could respond. “We cover him from all sides and be prepared to defend ourselves if necessary. Your first move should be to subdue him. From there we take him to the van, kill his family and the Chechen boy and bring their heads back to show him.”
Hafan raised his hand. Ghazi looked further annoyed. “Yes?” he said.
“Why not take the Chechen boy, too? It was, after all, him who killed Ma’mun.”
“Yes. I too have heard of the small bloody footprints found near Ma’mun’s body, but have not received instructions about the boy, only that he is to be killed like the others.”
“Nonsense,” Hafan said. “He should be kept alive and tortured for his treacherous role against us. It wouldn’t be the first young boy you’ve done that to, would it?”
The other militants nodded along and voiced their support. Nidal, the driver, stepped forward.
“I do believe Brother Hafan has a point. This Chechen is as deserving of vengeance as is the FBI man. It would be a shame to send him off prematurely.”
“We’re here to follow orders, not dictate our own terms,” Ghazi protested.
Hafan cut in. “What difference does it make? We kill him now, or we kill him later. Omar won’t care either way.”
Feeling outnumbered, Ghazi gave in. “Very well. If he can be taken alive, do so. But shoot him on sight if you must. The priority is the American.”
Now in agreement, the men covered their faces with black ski masks and marched off, with Ghazi leading the way. They spaced themselves at wide intervals in a single flank, intent on covering more ground with the greater distances between themselves.
Ghazi was pleased to see them coming close to their goal, but his eyes remained fixated ahead, past the trees with their heavy branches and thick vines. He believed that, if given the chance, Craig would ambush them. His pistol was drawn. His finger caressed the trigger. In his other hand he held the radio, trying again to reach Craig. A faint voice finally crackled through the speaker. Nidal, walking closest to him, took notice.
“Did you hear that?” he asked. “It’s him. I heard a voice.”
Ghazi held the radio to his mouth and pressed the button. “Come in. Hello? Speak louder. Can you hear me?”
“Yes…” the distorted voice said.
“We’re headed west toward Lake Hewitt. What is your current status?”
There was a slight pause, then the voice came in. “You should have close to a two-to three-mile walk from where you’re at. I’ll be here. Waiting…”
Nidal overheard and groaned. “Tell him to start walking. There’s no reason we should have to go so far.”
Ghazi, who had already expected a walk from the earlier coordinates, attempted to suggest the idea. “Why don’t you meet us halfway?” He released the voice button when Nidal began whispering to him.
“Especially,” Nidal said, “if he’s going with us anyway. Who is he to make such demands of us?”
Craig’s voice came through, unwavering. “I’m not leaving this area until I know that my family is safe. Period. You want me? You want this laptop? Make the walk.”
Then, more static. Ghazi tried to get him back on the line, but there was no answer.
“Careful, Ghazi,” Nidal said. “We could be walking into a trap.”
Ghazi looked around semi-nervously. He held his arms up and shouted out to the militants, “Spread out farther! We need to cover more ground.”
The militants did as they were told, expanding to a length of over one hundred yards. With the growing and unmistakable tension in the air, they marched on, ready to eliminate anything and anyone in their path.
***
Craig knelt behind an exceptionally wide oak tree that provided plenty of shade from the sun. He kept his eyes forward, expecting to see the advancing militants at any moment. He considered their arranged meeting to be rife with deception on both ends. For all he knew, Ghazi and his unknown number of militants were only minutes away. He felt fortunate to have put the trip wire into place—his most important element of surprise.
Husein sat propped against another tree fifty feet behind Craig, holding the AK-47. Upon Craig’s signal, he was to take a position flat on his stomach, concealed by the tall patch of grass surrounding the tree, and be prepared to fire. Craig had briefly instructed him in breathing and aiming techniques, and had told Husein that once he received the signal, to keep firing, if only to provide a distraction.
“Are you good o
ver there?” Craig asked, looking over to Husein.
Husein gave him a thumbs-up, trying to put on a good face. “I feel a little sick,” he said.
“What?” Craig said with his hand to his ear.
“Nothing,” Husein answered. “Just not feeling well.”
“Everything is going to be okay,” Craig said. “Just remember what I told you.”
Husein nodded. “These people scare me. I hate them.”
“You’d have to be a fool not to be afraid, Husein. And I’m not too fond of them either.”
They continued to wait, talking to each other in brief comments, and as Craig’s stomach growled, he realized that they had missed breakfast. Things had happened so quickly, they completely overlooked eating.
A twig snapped in the distance. Craig rose to his feet and looked out. Nothing but trees and bushes as far as he could see. Craig took comfort in the fleeting moment of tranquility before the expected carnage.
Craig looked at his watch: just after the half-hour mark. It was 11:10. Not even noon, yet he was facing terrorists bent on revenge. Nick’s laptop rested on the ground next to him. He had quickly explained to Rachael that if anything were to happen to him, she had to take the real laptop and get it to the FBI.
She wouldn’t dignify the suggestion, insisting that anything happening to him was not under consideration. With the threat of death in the air, Craig wondered how his family could ever go back to normal. But they were all alive, and they had each other, which was more than he could ask for. With his eyes locked on the clearing ahead, Craig placed his pistol on the ground behind the tree and stood up. It was time to give them the signal.
He picked up the laptop and walked ahead to an open spot in the forest where he had set up a pile of sticks, moss, and leaves. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit it. The flames started out small but soon spread into a fire just large enough to be seen from a distance. He fanned the flames, creating smoke that drifted up, smelling of old brush. Husein watched curiously as Craig turned around to face him.
“Be ready! They should be here any minute.”
Husein’s face was stricken with panic. Craig could feel it within himself too: an increased heart rate, a hotness in his face, and sweat building at the back of his neck. He picked up the radio and called Ghazi.
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