by R. A. Lamb
“Fine so far,” Kat volunteered.
“Are you keeping our boy out of trouble?”
“Trying my best,” Kat looked into my eyes and grinned that grin. “We’ve found a safe place. Do you want the address?”
“Not right now. I’m not sure there’s not another mole lurking. Hendricks may not have been working alone. I do want you to keep in touch with me. If things go wrong, activate that devise I gave you. We’ll come running.”
“Anything else, Hank?” I spoke into the phone.
“Yes, promise me you’ll stay hidden this time. Let us do our work. No more help. Got it?”
“Got it Hank. I promise,” I grinned and held up my crossed fingers so Kat could see them.
I picked up the remote and found a Brad Pitt action movie on HBO. Kat came out of her room wearing a pale green nightshirt and curled up on the couch next to me. We watched the movie. It was over at 11:00.
“It’s been a long day Todd. See you in the morning.”
“Night Kat.” I watched her walk down the hallway. God I loved the way she walked. The news came on and I turned it off when the sports reporter finished then headed toward the bathroom to change into my sleeping shorts and brush my teeth. I opened the medicine cabinet and noticed a little box sitting beside the tooth paste. On one side it read ASSORTED COLORS OF LUBRICATED…. I took one out and tapped on Kat’s door.
“Yes?”
I opened it. “Are you asleep yet?”
“Not yet, why?”
“I wanted to see if this color matches your nightshirt,” and I stepped inside.
Kat was plugging in the coffee when I woke and stumbled into the kitchen.
“Sleep well last night, Cowboy?”
“Great,” I grinned, “you?”
She didn’t answer my question, “Guess we missed our chance to find Alkobar and you promised Hank we would let them do their job.”
“I have an idea and I do remember sort of promising some of that.” And I held up two sets of crossed fingers.
We rented some new wheels, a silver, two door GTO, and abandoned the other rental at a mall. About midafternoon Kat and I parked where we had a good view of the Black Dragon Fireworks Company parking lot. It was a long shot and likely our last hope of tracking down Alkobar. What made it worse, Ponytail’s cycle was nowhere in sight. The hours dragged by. I held the 35 mm digital camera in my lap while Kat used the binoculars to check who was coming and going.
It was after 5:30 and the Black Dragon lot was almost empty. I guessed Kat could read my disappointment.
“We knew the chances were slim. We gave it a good try, Todd.”
“Let’s wait a few more minutes just to make sure. Okay?”
Nothing happened. I set the camera on the console between us and turned the key in the ignition.
“Wait Todd,” Kat raised the binoculars, “There’s someone coming out.”
I focused the camera. We watched intently as Mr. Chanley, the office manager came out with a thin man wearing a black dragon jumpsuit and cap pulled down low. They talked for a minute then Mr. Chanley locked the front door and they both walked to a tan four door sedan. The thin guy opened the back door and slid a backpack from his shoulder to the seat. Mr. Chanley opened the driver’s door and got in; the other man opened the passenger side and pulled off his cap. Jet black hair cascaded over her shoulders.
“Todd.”
My heart jumped in my chest. “Got you,” I whispered and clicked the camera. It was the girl from the terrorists’ apartment.
We followed Chanley’s car west on Interstate 66, and exited on Lee Jackson Memorial Highway to Chantilly. They turned south onto Majestic Lane and pulled over in front of a two story white frame house next to a one story brick with a For Sale sign in the front yard. A familiar maroon Honda was in the driveway.
My chest began pounding.
The girl got her backpack and walked to the front door. Chanley didn’t leave until he saw the door open and a man wave. It was Mohan Suk Alkobar.
The girl went inside, Alkobar closed the door and Chanley drove away. Kat picked up the camera and snapped several pictures of the house as we slowly drove by. We had done it, I thought.
“I can’t believe what just happened,” Kat said.
Her cheeks were flushed. “Is your heart racing too?”
I nodded.
“Mine too.”
I turned left onto Popular Tree Road, out of sight of the terrorists’ house and pulled over.
“What do we do now Todd, call Agent Holland?”
I had a blank look on my face. It all happened so quickly, I thought. What now? I didn’t have a clue. “I’m thinking, give me a second.”
We continued to Plaza Lane and turned right, toward Lee Jackson and pulled into a shopping center parking lot just before we got there. All the while my mind was spinning.
“Yeah, we call Hank. I dialed and put it on speaker. When Hank answered I started off low key even thought my heart was pounding. “Hank, did Emuri give it up?”
“No he’s not talking. We’ve moved him to a maximum security cell and put him on suicide watch but the laptop turned out to be a gold mine.”
“How so?”
“It’s given us names and places of several money sources including a warehouse with a large stash of marijuana. We’re in the process of picking up the suspects now.”
“I hope you’re sitting down, Hank, because I’m about to make your day.”
Hank listened intently. “Where are you now?”
I gave him our location.
“I don’t suppose it would do any good to ask you to go to your safe house.”
“Probably not, we want to see him caught this time.”
“Then here’s what I want you to do.”
We waited over an hour. It seemed like ten and retraced our steps. When we turned back onto Majestic Lane, we could see the line of patrol cars in place and men with flak jackets and helmets taking their positions. I glanced down a side street. There were several ambulances and fire engines waiting silently with lights flashing. Paramedics and firemen were busy checking their equipment and people were standing on their porches or talking in small groups. Kat and I parked and made our way to the taped off area and line of officers. We saw Hank. He was in a suit, wearing a headset and holding a megaphone in one hand, his other arm in a sling. Hank was talking to a group of men in plainclothes and a policeman in uniform. I shouted his name; Hank turned and walked over to us.
“They’re with me,” he told an officer raising the tape so Kat and I could scoot under. “Stay close and for once do what I say when I say it.”
Kat and I both nodded. “Has anyone shown themselves, I asked?”
“Not yet but thermal imagery shows seven hot spots. Two upstairs and five down. We are trying to make phone contact now.
We do know they grabbed two neighbors and forced them inside.”
Kat gasped, “They have hostages? What are you going to do?”
“We’re trying to make contact. The hostages were identified as Angela Hopkins and her husband Fred they live next door and were out walking their dog when we started to form. Someone in the house came out and forced them inside before we were in position.”
I turned to Hank, “Did you see who did it?”
“No, another neighbor did, last name Turner. He said it was a woman with long black hair. She had a gun.”
I brushed a bug away that was buzzing around my head, “I’ll bet that’s the woman we saw with Mr. Chanley. He dropped her off here.”
“Mr. Chanley?”
“Right, he’s the manager for the Black Dragon Fireworks Company. Remember, Mr. Chanley is the one we interviewed and he showed us around.”
“We’ll check him out.” Hank turned to Kat, “What about you; remember anything else?”
“Only that Lester told us we could tour the site when they started to install the fireworks.”
“Lester?”
&n
bsp; “Kat glanced at me, “I mean Mr. Chanley. He’s the one--.
I chuckled, “During the tour he came on to Kathy. She’s the reason we got the invite to see the fireworks installation.”
Kat firmed her lips and swatted my shoulder.
Hank paused, “Do you think he’s involved, Todd?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think so. He was pretty open with us. He did try to make a move on Kat, I mean Kathy at the fireworks company but that was all. The only thing suspicious is that he gave the woman with the long black hair a ride here.”
Hank rubbed his forehead and adjusted his headset, “Kathy, if he likes you it may come in handy later.”
An officer approached Hank, “We’ve made contact, Sir.”
“Where’s the phone, son.”
“In the command center trailer, this way, Sir.
Kat and I followed Hank into the back of the trailer. It was cramped inside, full of electronic equipment. A monitor showed the house where the terrorists and hostages were. Another screen showed thermal images of the occupants. An officer sitting behind the console handed Hank the phone.
Hank looked tense as he spoke, “This is Agent Holland, FBI. We have the house surrounded. Who am I speaking to?”
I leaned toward Hank and faintly heard the reply, “Names don’t matter now do they, Gov’na?”
Hank cleared his throat, “If you release the hostages and come out we promise none of you will be harmed.”
“Well Gov this is my promise. If you pull your men off and give us safe passage out’a here we’ll release… What’s your name?”
I heard a woman crying in the background.
“We will release the Hopkins when we’re in the clear.”
“You know that’s not going to happen, Alkobar.”
“So you do know who I am, then you know I mean what I say.”
Hank and Alkobar traded words for a few more minutes. The console operator motioned to Hank. “The hostages have been moved, Sir, looks like they took them to an upstairs room. The thermals show one laying horizontally, probably on a bed, another seated in a chair and a third standing holding something, probably a gun.”
Hank handed the phone to the command center officer and raised his good hand to his headset.
I had never seen Hank look as serious as he spoke into his mike, “You are aware there are two hostages, Commander,” Hank said and then he listened. “Very well, if it comes to that.”
Hank motioned to an officer, “Get Alkobar on the phone again.”
Kat and I stood in silence. She reached for my hand, we knew something was going down but what? I motioned toward Hank to get his attention, “What’s going on?”
Hank ignored us and spoke in a monotone into the phone, “You have five minutes to release the hostages and give yourselves up.”
Everyone in the trailer heard the yelling coming from the phone. None of us knew what it was about. We did hear Alkobar say, “This will prove to you I mean what I say.”
On the thermal image screen there was movement in the upstairs room. The standing image bent down to the one seated. Both then moved toward the front of the house.
On the monitor we saw an upstairs drape pulled to the side showing a man standing in front of the window. A burst of automatic fire erupted. The glass seemed to explode as the man was thrust out through the window, his body hit the porch roof and Fred Hopkins fell lifeless to the ground.
We heard Alkobar shout into the phone, “That should prove to you--.”
Hank threw the phone aside and spoke into his headset, “We’re moving now, Sir.”
Kat and I raced after Hank as he burst out of the trailer and ran toward the SWAT commander.
Hank shouted, “We have orders to take the house. Are your men ready?”
The SWAT commander countered, “You know there is still a hostage in there.”
“I know. It’s a chance we’re going to take.”
Kat and I crouched behind the line of patrol cars. The police commander motioned, “SWAT’s in position. Snipers are on rooftops and the assault team is set. No actual visuals on targets as yet, only thermals.”
The commander motioned to his group of men. I counted at least ten, dressed in black riot gear, wearing helmets and carrying automatic weapons and shields. The captain raised his fist, the men took their position.
Hank called out over a speaker, “This is your last chance. Lay down your weapons and come out. You have twenty seconds.”
We waited. Nothing from inside.
“Any of the thermals moving,” Hank asked an officer who had radio contact with the command trailer.”
“No Sir. Five bogies identified, none moving toward the door”
“Five? Hank turned. “Send them in, Captain.”
The commander opened two fingers of his fist and extended his arm toward the house. In unison the assault team in full riot gear with gas masks, leveled their automatic weapons, held their blackened shields in front of themselves, advanced through the perimeter of squad cars and into the street. Two flanking members leveled tear gas guns and fired canisters through upstairs and downstairs front windows. I heard the shattering of glass and hiss of the gas. Two more were launched. There was automatic rifle fire from the house. A barrage of bullets from an upstairs window strafed along the front of the line of advancing officers, ricocheting off the street and into the squad cars in front of Kat and me. The sound of small arms fire reverberated from a downstairs corner window. I pushed Kat to the ground and lay on top of her. Glass shattered as the car window above me disintegrated and rained down on my back. I peered under the car watching the march of black boots toward the house. One of the officers fell and gripped his leg as a terrorist bullet claimed a victim. The SWAT team was at the sidewalk when the blast erupted.
Chapter 19
A rim of fire and brilliant light seemed to separate the roof from the second story. I remembered holding Kat tightly beneath me as the hot gust of debris filled wind showered us with wood splinters and glass. I shouted in her ear but the sound of my voice was erased by the roar of the explosion.
The assault team was knocked flat onto the front yard, their shields lay scattered on the grass. Two appeared injured. The remainder dragged their teammates to safety. The upper story was immediately on fire, part of one wall collapsed and fell on the maroon Honda parked in the driveway crushing the roof.
Hank shouted into his headset. Fire engines started to blare and the whine of ambulances added to the confusion. Quickly the firemen arrived and trained hoses on the fire and the neighbors’ houses. Three of the SWAT team and two firemen donned fire suits and approached the burning house. Smoke was billowing out of the front windows of the lower story. The roof lay on top of the second floor.
The fire chief shouted to the captain, “It’s too dangerous. She’s about to go.”
As the men reached the steps of the front porch the roof made their decision for them. It collapsed through the first floor walls trapping all inside.
There was little to do now but control the flames. The wall of the neighboring brick house was charred and black. The frame house on the other side caught fire but was quickly extinguished. The fire crews trained their hoses on what remained of the terrorists’ house. Nothing could have lived through that.
I felt sick. I didn’t know how long I held Kat but I noticed she was trembling. Her face and clothes were blackened from the smoke and like mine wet from the spray of the hoses. I picked a wood splinter from her hair.
“It’s over Kat, Alkobar’s gone.” We stood and held each other for a long time.
Hank’s words snapped us out of it. “We need to make sure.” He turned to the fire chief, “How soon before we can send someone in?”
“At least several hours, not much left to search.”
“There were five suspects and a hostage inside.” Hank’s voice was a command, “We need confirmation.”
“If you expect IDs you’ll have to rel
y on dental records,” then the fire chief turned and spoke to one of his men.
Hank turned and looked at Kat and me, “This is going to take a while. Why don’t you go get cleaned up. I’ll call when I know something.”
“Yes sir,” was all I could think of.
Kat and I walked to the taped off area. There was a collection of onlookers and lots of news reporters. Microphones were thrust in our faces, camera flashes came from every direction. The reporters followed us to our car shouting questions. There wasn’t much doubt. Kat and I were going to make the evening news again.
We made several twists and turns until we were convinced we were not being followed. It took us well over an hour to get back to our apartment and more to shower and change. I couldn’t seem to get the smell of smoke out of my nose. I sat on the couch staring at the TV. Kat came in drying her hair with a towel and sat beside me.
“As soon as Hank calls we can go back to our normal lives,” I said laying my head on the back of the couch.
“I thought this was normal for you, Cowboy.”
I turned and grinned.
The cell rang. It was Hank. I put it on speaker.
“We had a team scour the burn. They came up with five very charred bodies.”
“Five but there were six people inside plus Fred Hopkins. Was Alkobar one of them? What about Mrs. Hopkins?”
“No way to tell at his point and it gets worse. When our guys searched the basement they found a door. It opened into a tunnel. Craziest thing I ever saw; led to a garage behind the house. Someone is still on the loose. You two need to stay hidden. I have a hunch Alkobar is still alive.”
I had that nervous sick feeling in my gut again. What an emotional rollercoaster. Hank said stay hidden and that’s what we were going to do. I settled back on the couch, held Kat and turned on the TV. CNN Headlines was already showing the explosion and fire.
The commentator spoke while the video clip played.
“On a tip, police and FBI agents surrounded a house in a quiet suburb of Chantilly, Virginia. As the SWAT team was approaching an explosion ripped--”
The video showed the fire, the ambulances and fire trucks arriving and police and firemen fighting the blaze and controlling the onlookers. The camera panned the crowd.