Without my family, where would I have been? I felt a wave of anxiety come over me that felt colder and more deadly than the wave of seawater that hit the Take Down. In my mind, I was trying to swim out of it again, but there was no light above or below. Just darkness. Cold, eternal, paralyzing darkness.
CHAPTER 74
MULTITASKING
I suppose it was time to regroup. Once planes were flying again, Little arranged for a Learjet to take me and Al back to California, my office and my team. I wished I could enjoy the perks of flying in a private jet, but I was still shaken from my near death experience and anxiously awaiting the next shoe to drop. Monica was right. I always thought of myself as the Master Problem Solver. Maybe some problems you just can’t solve? And if I continued down this road, would I lose Monica and my family by divorce or worse? I felt like there was a huge weight pressing down on me, pushing me into my seat. I fell asleep for the first time in days.
With the time difference from flying to the West Coast, it was only 5:00 Pacific Time when I arrived. It felt like I had been awake for days. I walked down the main hall of the office. It was quiet except for the security guard Al arranged standing at the door of the lab. It felt good to be back, calmer somehow.
“Hail the conquering hero,” Bart quipped as I walked in.
“Maybe, the conquered hero,” I said. I surveyed the room. Loretta was there and gave me a big hug. Just feeling another warm human being felt so good. I could smell Chanel No. 19, her favorite. I pulled her closer.
“You survived and took down a group of terrorists. I’d say you did pretty well,” she said.
“Well the Leopard is still out there. Who knows what else he has planned. The power outage, the plane crashes and cutting the Internet cables were probably just warm ups. I feel like something big, maybe much bigger is coming.
“The guys have been working hard on trying to figure that out,” she said. “But wait a minute. I thought LaSalam was in the sub?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you something important. We finally found Sith, the captain of the Last Chance. He was well hidden in a compartment beneath a trapdoor covered by a rug. Guess that was his Plan B. Anyway, when Little leaned on him, he folded. He told us his boss that escaped on the sub was not the Leopard at all, but his brother Momar, nicknamed the Cub.”
“Holy shit. Excuse me, but this gets crazier by the minute.” She lapsed into thought. This was a lot to process.
I looked around the room and saw our Scaggers, Jay and Jazzle, intensely focused on their screens, clicking away. “Hi Guys!” I said. They both waved without looking up. “What have you got?”
Jazzle was a crazy-smart twenty-something young woman from the Philippines. Her dark hair and light brown skin only magnified her green eyes. She turned and smiled. “Glad you’re back. Bart, Jay, Killer and I have been trying to pick up any communications in and around New York City that matches our profiles.”
“Wait, how do you have access to that stuff?”
“Remember who we work for during our day jobs. So, do you really want to know?”
“No, no, that’s OK. Carry on.” I smiled. I love really smart, techy people. Once you figure out how to communicate with them and not piss them off, you can be in for a wild, but great ride.
There was a crackling sound behind me. I turned as one of the large OLED screens came alive. There was Frank. “Hey, we missed you, son.”
“I really missed you all too. It might have been permanent, if it wasn’t for Al and the Coast Guard.”
“Hey, did you forget we’ve digitized you just like me. It’s not too bad living in the digiverse and here I am.”
“I know and I don’t mean any knock against you. I’m just not quite ready to make the digital leap if I don’t have to. I mean, I still want to be able to hold Monica and Evan. I still want to enjoy the sensations of the real world.
“And have sex,” Bart said. Everybody laughed.
“We’ve made some progress in that area too,” Frank said.
“What, in your free time?”
“Sam, you forget. When you’re digital like I am, you don’t need sleep, and you can multi-task tens of thousands of tasks at the same time. It’s actually quite liberating and exciting.”
“But no sex.” Bart again.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You seem to have only one thing on your mind. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re in the middle of an international crisis.”
“Hey, I can multitask too. Can you see my right hand?”
I bit. I looked down and his right hand was out of sight, moving under the desk. Loretta spit out her coffee she laughed so hard. “OK, that’s enough. Frank, what have you been working on? Anything good?”
“We may have had some success tracing the signal that detonated the submersible with the Cub aboard. It went through multiple servers and a secure satellite uplink, but it has a unique packet-identifier that allowed us to follow it despite the encryption.”
“Please explain for us lower level geeks.”
“It’s like DNA. You can change your outward appearance, add disguises and even mutilate a body and the DNA remains unchanged. If you can track or test for the DNA, you can find what you’re looking for. In this case, the DNA for a detonation signal to a specific target is pretty unique. We think we have a pretty reasonable idea of its origin. Now whether the Leopard is at that location or just one of his agents or they’ve set up a physical relay station there, we can’t tell unless you physically go and look.”
“I noticed, you said ‘you.’ I’m not sure I’m ready to go back into battle again.”
“I didn’t mean that you personally have to go. Call Al, or even better Little, and let them handle it. And by the way, did I mention we don’t have an exact location. We have a two to three block radius.”
“I have a Hasidic friend who walked me around his neighborhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There were 10,000 people living in a two to three block radius.”
“You’ll figure it out. Bart will give you the information and you can do what you think best with it.”
“Great.”
There was a soft knock on the lab door. “Not you again.” I smiled. I was just happy to be alive and Nancy Lu’s beaming smile made me happier.
“I heard you had an exciting time in New York. I’m glad you’re OK and I’m glad you can swim,” she said without a hint of sarcasm. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“For you, sure. On the record or off the record?”
“Whatever you want.”
“OK. Let’s go to my office.”
CHAPTER 75
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
Maybe, it’s time for the End Game, the Leopard thought. “My opponents have made a number of unexpected defensive moves, but I am still the aggressor. I control the board, but I fear our location may have been compromised by now. I know you have done everything you can to encrypt our communications, but these devils are very clever. I’d almost call them ‘worthy opponents’ if I did not despise them and what they stand for.”
Eskabar listened, still shaken from the Leopard’s angry outburst and his threats earlier. He hesitated to speak or question his master, but he needed to know what to do. “So sire, what would you like me to do now?”
“I think we must leave New York. Follow me.” LaSalam led Eskabar into the computer network server room where all their files and servers lived. There were racks of servers from floor to ceiling. Tiny red lights flashed on the racks. You could hear a quiet hum over the air conditioning. The air smelled like ozone, purified but faintly chemical.
Eskabar waited for instructions. LaSalam closed the door and looked out through the one-way window at the rows of young men clicking away on their computers. Eskabar joined him, standing by his side, also looking at the young men. “Viktor will meet us at the next location. I need you to terminate them.”
Eskabar knew better than to question the Leopard’s orders, but he needed to m
ake sure. He tried to keep his voice level—no emotion, even though he’d come to care for these boys. “Sire, I just want to confirm. You want me to terminate them all right now, immediately?”
The Leopard began to redden again, then calmed himself. He needed Eskabar’s cooperation. His unbridled anger would be counterproductive. He took a deep breath. “Yes, right now.” Eskabar went to the wall beside the window where there was a large red toggle switch in a secure glass case. He pulled a key ring from his pocket and fumbled nervously for the right key. With his hand shaking, he turned the lock on the glass case and lifted it. He looked once more at LaSalam for some sign that maybe he had changed his mind, but the Leopard silently nodded once. Eskabar pulled down on the switch lever and a faintly visible mist emanated from the vents in the office ceiling. Slowly some of the young men began coughing. One of them stood up, turned and looked at Eskabar through the glass window. A look of disbelief on his face, he coughed, spit up a white foam and doubled over convulsing on the floor. The others one-by-one fell to the floor in a kind of mass epilepsy as the deadly poison did its worst.
LaSalam watched the horrifying scene from the window with a faint smile on his face. Unable to watch, Eskabar turned away. After a few minutes, the Leopard broke the gloomy silence. “Good. That’s done. Now destroy the servers.”
Although Eskabar knew this was the plan all along, actually carrying it out was another matter. He loved his machines as much as he cared for the young men, maybe more. He had been so proud of what they’d been able to accomplish, but he hadn’t been able to really complete the mission and now it was over for them. He went to a keyboard that sat on a small desk next to the server racks and typed a few commands. The whirring of the servers stopped each in succession. The red lights went off one-by-one. After a few minutes, it was deadly quiet.
“Is that it? Are the hard drives wiped?”
“It takes approximately five minutes for a complete wipe.” Eskabar looked at his watch. There was a solitary beep from the other side of the room. Then three rapid beeps in succession. “It’s done.” Eskabar looked drained and weary, like he’d just lost his closest friend. In a way, he had.
“Then, like the Americans say, I thank you for your service.”
Eskabar turned and looked. His eyes were expressionless. He knew what was coming.
LaSalam pulled his Glock from his jacket pocket and fired a shot between Eskabar’s eyes. Eskabar fell sideways, limp onto the floor. It wasn’t necessary, but out of habit, the Leopard fired two more shots into Eskabar’s chest. Then he removed two high-powered grenades from his briefcase, pulled the pins and rolled them down the aisles between the racks of servers. He turned and walked out.
CHAPTER 76
THREE TIMES
Before I did anything else, I had to see Monica. It was getting late, but this couldn’t wait. Al assigned me a bodyguard named Stan. He looked like Michael Cena, and he was going to be my shadow for awhile. We got in the car, a Dodge Charger, that I loved to drive. Punch the gas and it took off like a rocket. But for security, Stan had to be the driver and we proceeded to the safe house.
It was a cabin in the woods like I imagined it, near Lafayette Reservoir. As we drove up the driveway, I could only see a single lamp lit in the front window. The late afternoon sun was hiding behind the tall trees. I hoped Monica was OK. I asked Stan to hang back for a few minutes. Jerry Sanders was standing guard at the door. He looked like somebody out of the old Mr. Universe ads on comic books when I was a kid. You know, with the scrawny Before and brawny After shots. Jerry was definitely the After shot. He knew me, since he did some shifts looking out for us at the lab.
I whispered, “Hi Jerry, everything OK?” He nodded and I put my finger to my lips.
I started to knock, thought better of it and tried the door handle. It was unlocked. Surprising, considering all that we had been through, but we were in the woods and Monica never liked to lock doors.
I went in quietly and as I turned the corner, I saw Monica, her back to me, reading on the sofa, legs up in her summer robe.
“Guess who’s home?” I said.
She whipped around like in a dream. It felt like a dream. Maybe she was frightened at first, but then she broke into a big grin and ran over to hug and kiss me. “I was so scared for you, for us. I’m sorry for the way we left things on the phone.”
I kissed her back hard and lifted her off her feet. I just never wanted to let her go, ever. “I missed you so much. You feel so good.” I smelled the faint scent of lilac, which reminded me of when I first met her. She’d always pick a flower and wear it just behind her ear, tucked in her blonde hair. I loved that. “Where’s Evan?”
“He’s playing video games in his room.” She grabbed my hand and gently pulled me up the stairs. “Come to bed.”
What could be better? I was already aroused.
Little and his team, maybe including Al, were probably already on their way back to New York. I just had to come here first. I wasn’t going to lose my family over a mission. Monica was right. They’d probably do fine without me. Plus, Monica made it worth my while…three times. I hadn’t had that kind of stamina since I was a horny teenager. Just being close to her would have been enough, feeling the warmth of her smooth skin and the loving gentleness in her touch. The sex was a bonus.
“I have to go soon.”
“Why?”
“I think you know and I love that you care. The guys may well have nailed the bastard by then, but if they haven’t…They may need my help.”
“I don’t know. You just got here. I don’t want to lose you. Do you really have to go?”
“I couldn’t live with myself if something terrible happened that I could have stopped. Besides, I think we are all in direct danger. So we all have to do whatever we can, don’t you think?”
“I guess I understand. At least part of me does. My heart is a different matter. Just be safe and come back to us.”
“I will and we’ll get you out of here as soon as we’ve eliminated the threat.”
“No need to hurry. Jerry’s kinda hot.”
I threw my pillow at her.
CHAPTER 77
THE RUMBLE DOWN UNDER
I landed at LaGuardia the next morning. I had taken the “red eye” flight from California. I got in at 6:00 AM, and I was already feeling the jet lag. I remembered many years ago as a student, flying out of LaGuardia standby to catch a flight back to college one evening. All the flights were full. So I slept overnight in a very uncomfortable black, Naugahyde chair. I didn’t get much sleep as the fluorescents glared down on me and the odor of cleaning fluid wafted in the air. It hadn’t changed a bit.
The Uber I summoned, a little blue Toyota Prius, pulled up to the curb ten minutes later. It was clean and comfortable for a small car. Is Prius the official Uber car, I wondered? The driver’s name was Wilbur Aziz. Mixed marriage or changed name? I wasn’t sure, but I had too much on my mind to engage in small talk.
Wilbur broke the silence. “We can take the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the FDR or take the Midtown Tunnel and save about ten minutes, but there’s a toll which you would have to pay. Which do you prefer?”
“Pay the toll. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“OK. I love my GPS. I’m new at this and it’s a lifesaver,” Wilbur said in perfect American English.
The GPS came to life. A slightly sexy female voice issued the first few sets of instructions as we exited the airport onto the highway. A few minutes later she said, “Take exit 35 for I-495/L.I. Expressway toward Midtown Tunnel/Eastern L.I./Greenpoint Avenue.” Traffic seemed to be moving well. Maybe we had beat rush hour by a bit. Then a different voice, a man’s voice came over the GPS. “Welcome to New York, Mr. Sunborn. Although we have never met, I feel like I know you.”
Wilbur looked at me with an expression that was half puzzled and half shitting-in-his-pants. I felt the same way. I said, “Who is this?”
The GPS man responded, “I know
you are wondering who I am. Unfortunately, Mr. Aziz’s GPS only communicates one way. So I will do the talking and it’s best if you just listen. I believe your friends refer to me as the Leopard, but you can just call me Ahmed. I know you are heading to Broad Street, but I fear that by the time you get there, I will be gone. I’m sorry to have missed you. I tried to meet you back home at the Gorge, but your friend, Detective Favor had other ideas. No worries. I’m sure we’ll meet again very soon, after I take care of some important business. I’m sure you’re wondering how I tracked you down and can talk to you through a GPS. You’ll eventually figure it out. Until then, enjoy your visit to New York. It’s an exciting city.”
I was stunned silent. I’m sure LaSalam had someone track my flight. Maybe he’d even hacked my phone and that was how he knew about the Uber I ordered. If that was true, then he knew the Uber driver and where we were going. From there, it was a small leap to hacking the GPS. I blew out a breath. I had better get a new phone, a burner phone, I thought. Had he taped my conversations with Monica? Did he know where she was? I was having a full-fledged anxiety attack. But maybe that was what the Leopard wanted. He was taunting me. I had to think. I couldn’t let despair overwhelm me. The stakes were too high.
Little and Al stayed in New York overnight but got little sleep. They got up early and were in lower Manhattan, walking the area where intelligence had pointed them. Suddenly, the earth shook under their feet. Could be a subway passing, Little thought. “Did you feel that, Al?”
She stood still, having felt the vibration of the concrete. “Yes, I felt it. Do you think that could be our guy?” They had been searching a three block radius with no luck for almost twenty-four hours.
Wilbur’s little Prius pulled to the curb beside them and I got out of the Uber car. “Hey, guys.”
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