by Ken Fite
THIRTEEN
DIMITRI WAS SEATED next to Makar, reading the news reports on the man’s laptop, when he leaned back in his chair and stared across the room, thinking. “I am reconsidering your plan, Makar.”
Andrei looked up over his screen and glared at Dimitri. He did not speak immediately and instead looked back to his screen, deciding on the best course of action that should be taken given their current situation.
“Andrei,” continued the young man, “I agree that we strike early, but how will we know when to begin?”
“If you are not comfortable with striking now, then we can coordinate with our man on the inside. But he would prefer that we did not call,” he answered with a hint of irritation in his voice. “But if you take the advice of my friend here—” he gestured to Makar “—then we move forward. But understand, Dimitri, that this could create complications for us, as it deviates from the plan we have all agreed to follow already.”
Andrei’s reply was both sharp and calculated, a way to answer the question while pointing out the obvious flaw with the new plan that had been suggested. Looking to his right, Andrei locked eyes with Makar, who had made a logical suggestion to get the men out of their predicament and get things back on track. Deep down, Andrei knew that the new plan Makar had suggested might work, but he didn’t want things to get back on track. He wanted the plan to fail to show Dimitri that he was incapable of leading the operation.
“Then tell me,” said Dimitri as he leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, “how do we proceed? If we want to initiate this phase of the plan earlier than originally intended, as Makar has suggested,” he said, turning briefly to his left before continuing, “should we begin now, or should we continue to wait?”
Sitting up straight, Andrei replied, “We wait.”
The young man pushed his chair away from the table with his legs and stood. He rested his hands on the back of his chair and glanced down at Makar. “I would also like to hear your thoughts on this.”
Makar looked across the table and saw the expression on Andrei’s face, urging Makar to agree with him. Turning to his right, Makar became nervous. “There are pros and cons to both approaches, Dimitri.”
“Explain.”
“If we proceed now, it will create chaos within the organization. They will refocus their efforts. Other agencies will pick up the slack. It will create a temporary distraction, which will be dealt with. But—” he paused and looked up at Dimitri, who was still hovering over him “—it could also help draw out our target.”
“And if we wait?”
Makar checked his watch briefly before answering. “If we wait, then we can play this out a little longer. Maybe Andrei is right, Dimitri. There is no need to rush anything. We wait as long as we need to. Why play a card if we do not have to?” Makar lowered his gaze and made eye contact with Andrei, who nodded his appreciation. “I agree with Andrei. We should continue to wait until an opportunity can present—”
Before Makar could finish, Andrei’s cell rang again. “Tell him we will wait,” ordered Dimitri, agreeing with the two men and making the decision to continue to delay the next phase of the coordinated attack.
But Andrei held the phone up to his face and quickly glanced back at Dimitri. “That is not who is calling.” Answering his cell, Andrei listened carefully, keeping his eyes fixed on the other two men as he listened. Andrei smiled and told the caller to give him a moment to relay the information. “It is our other man, Dimitri. After three days of waiting, our other target has retrieved his vehicle. He is on the move now.”
A smile grew over Dimitri’s face. He walked around the table, closer to Andrei. “Is he following him?”
“Yes.”
Dimitri looked down and nodded to himself, realizing that he was being presented with a new option. “Where is he going?” he asked as he leaned on the table in front of Andrei and stared down at the man.
Bringing the burner phone back to his face, Andrei asked the person on the other end of the line for their location and where he thought their target was headed. “He just crossed the river and is passing the Southwest Waterfront. He appears to be heading to the Hoover Building. Do you want him intercepted?”
Dimitri thought about it and then answered, “No. Tell him to follow from a distance and not be seen.”
Andrei relayed the order and kept the burner phone pressed hard against his ear, providing Dimitri and Makar with the play-by-play as their man followed the target throughout the streets of Washington.
“He’s slowing down,” said Andrei a minute later before a surprised expression appeared on his face. “Dimitri, he did not stop at the Hoover Building. He appears to be going to DDC across the street.”
“Quick,” ordered Dimitri. “Have him back off and call our other man. Try to get a visual confirmation.”
Andrei did as he was told and immediately contacted his other man in the field, waiting on a motorcycle on D Street with a view of both DDC Washington and the FBI’s Hoover Building directly in front of him.
“It’s me,” said Andrei. “There should be a black SUV approaching the building. Do you see it yet?” After a moment, Andrei looked at Dimitri and shook his head, prompting the young man to stretch out his hand.
Taking the phone out of Andrei’s hand, Dimitri said, “Listen to me very carefully. I need you to make a visual confirmation on the man who is approaching the building. He should be passing you any moment now.” Andrei and Makar watched the young man as he began to pace around the large Persian Room.
Ten seconds passed before a smile appeared across Dimitri’s face. “Excellent,” he said. “I want you to wait five minutes, then proceed as planned. I will have Andrei contact you when we are ready to begin the next phase. Do you understand?” Dimitri paused to hear the man’s confirmation before disconnecting the call.
Handing the phone back to Andrei, Dimitri went to his chair and remained standing. “He has a visual on our target. He’s entering the building now. We will execute the next phase of the plan in five minutes.”
“If you want to take him out, then we should do it now,” urged Andrei. “Proceed within the next minute. Five minutes is too long to wait, Dimitri. By then it will be too late.”
Dimitri smiled again and placed a hand on Makar’s shoulder. “And what do you think will happen?”
Makar shook his head, not following where the young man was going with this. “There will be chaos,” he finally replied. “Panic. The entire building will go on lockdown. If we miss, our target will be safe inside.”
“Trapped inside,” replied Dimitri, squeezing Makar’s shoulder. “The Bureau is across the street. They will send in a team to secure the facility. Until that happens, Jordan will be trapped inside with no way out.” Dimitri smiled and patted Makar’s shoulder. “My brother is right—let us have some fun with our target.”
Letting go of Makar’s shoulder, Dimitri ran a palm over his scalp as he turned around and started to think through the possibilities of what he could do to the man. “Let him feel as helpless as I felt when I learned the news of my father,” he said softly as his smile broadened. “Now we’re really going to have some fun.”
FOURTEEN
ENTERING THE UNDERGROUND parking garage of the new Washington DDC field office, I stopped at the guardhouse and showed my credentials to the woman inside and watched as she looked them over. “Executive Office of the President,” she said, holding my badge up as her eyes darted back and forth, comparing the picture to my profile. “What’s your business?” she asked in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
“I work for the president of the United States,” I replied. “There’s an ongoing investigation on the cyberattack from today. I’m here to assist the Bureau and represent President Keller on the matter.”
“Just a moment,” the woman said and closed a small sliding window and picked up a phone.
Glancing at my rearview mirror, I saw a man on a motorcycle drive by slowly
, looking in my direction. The guy saw me notice him. Suddenly, he turned, looked over his shoulder, and sped off down the street. The sound of his engine was loud and echoed throughout the first level of the garage as the woman slid open the window and stretched out her hand. I reached out and accepted my credentials back from her.
“You know where you’re going?” she asked.
“No, ma’am.”
She stuck her thumb out and jerked it behind her. “Only two levels, you’re on the first. I suggest you go up to two and park there. Not a lot of staff here yet, there should be plenty of parking near the entrance still.”
I smiled and thanked the woman as she pressed a button to raise the bar to let me enter. As I passed through, I heard the engine from the bike again. Turning my SUV to the right to drive the vehicle up to the second level, I saw the biker pass by slowly. This time, he wasn’t looking in my direction, but he did slow as he passed the entrance to the garage and disappeared a few feet ahead, just out of my line of sight.
Deciding it wasn’t anything to worry about, I continued to drive my SUV up the steep turn and around the curve, where I found three rows of vehicles. One to my right next to the field office entrance and the other two rows on my left. I noticed an empty spot in the far corner, so I pulled into the space and parked.
Going through my messenger bag, I grabbed my phone but left everything else on the passenger seat. I didn’t feel like dealing with security if it was anything like the Chicago field office. I just wanted to get in, help support the team to figure out how to stop the ransomware attack, and then head over to Charlie’s.
I walked quickly to the entrance, passing the line of vehicles next to the door, and slowed as I approached. Two guards were seated behind a desk. Both looked me over as I opened the door and stepped inside.
I reached for my credentials again and handed them to the man on the right. “I’m here to see Chris Reed.”
He accepted my badge and looked it over as the guard on my left stared blankly at me. “Agent Reed with the Bureau?” the man on the right asked as he looked up at me and slowly handed my badge back to me.
“Yes,” I said. “He’s here, working with DDC on today’s cyberattack. He wanted me to meet him here.”
The man nodded. “I know Reed, but haven’t seen him yet. You sure he’s not over at the Hoover Building?”
My eyes narrowed as I slowly shook my head. Looking past the men into the secure facility, I saw a frenzy of agents and analysts inside. “There must be some kind of mistake,” I said and dug into my back pocket.
Finding my cell, I started to call Chris before realizing that I didn’t have a signal from where I was standing. Maybe if I was a little farther inside the field office, I’d be able to get a strong enough signal, but right now I had no way of calling my friend. “He said he was headed here to work with someone.”
“And who was he going to work with, Mr. Jordan?” asked the guard on my left, speaking for the first time. The way he said it told me that he was suspicious of me. I didn’t blame him and had hired men at the Chicago office just like him to keep the team I led safe. “Have a name?” he added, looking me over.
I hesitated and glanced up again to look through the glass doors and took a deep breath. “Jami Davis.”
Looking down to the guard on my left, he nodded his approval. “Alright, have a seat. We’ll make a call to let Agent Davis know you’re here. In the meantime, my friend here already scanned your badge, so go ahead and sign in for me,” he said, looking at the registry on top of the counter. “If Davis is expecting you,” the man added, his eyes making sure we understood each other, “she’ll come out and get you.”
“Fine,” I said as I grabbed the pen from the clipboard and signed the next blank space on the registry.
Setting the pen down, I decided to remain standing as the guard on my left dropped his gaze and ran a finger down what I guessed to be a listing of employees at the small field office. He picked up the phone, looked back at the listing, and punched four digits into the phone as I felt my heart starting to race again.
After several moments, the guard finally got a hold of Jami and told her that she had someone waiting for her in the lobby. He said my name, paused, and repeated it again before adding, “Yes, I’m sure, ma’am.”
Dropping the phone back into its cradle, the guy looked back at me with approval. “She’ll be right out.”
I crossed my arms and looked back through the glass doorway and started thinking about Jami. We hadn’t said much to each other at Margaret Keller’s funeral. It didn’t seem appropriate, so we had kept the conversation light, focusing on the memories of the first lady instead of the unresolved issues between us.
The glass in the doors and the entire wall separating the interior of the field office to the small lobby where I stood was textured. While I could see movement inside as employees passed by, I couldn’t make out faces. Waiting for Jami to arrive, I watched the occasional passerby, wondering if it was her as an employee walked past me every few seconds. Then in front of me, I noticed someone headed straight for the door.
It opened slowly as I caught myself holding my breath.
Jami was stunning. She wore a white blouse underneath a black jacket with black pants. She tucked a lock of her shoulder-length brown hair behind an ear and squinted as she stared at me. “Blake?” she said to me.
“Chris asked me to meet him here to help with the ransomware attack.” I looked at the guards to my right. “They’re telling me that he hasn’t been here today.” I looked back and shrugged. “Maybe he’s on his way.”
“He’s not coming,” she said and gestured for me to follow her in. “Come on, I’ll bring you up to speed.”
I nodded and walked past the two guards. Jami held the glass door open. I grabbed it and followed her in. Once inside, I let go of the heavy glass door and just stood there, looking around the new field office as Jami crossed her arms and stared at me taking everything in. “Looks just like the one in Chicago,” I said as I continued to look all around. Jami narrowed her eyes and glared at me before turning to leave.
As I started to follow her back, there was an explosion behind me. The force of the blast pushed me forward, and I landed on top of Jami, knocking her down. I put my arm over her as I heard a high-pitched sound. When I opened my eyes, Jami and I turned back and saw black smoke billowing into the building.
FIFTEEN
A FEW SECONDS later, orange flames appeared from the lobby with the dark smoke continuing to billow into the building. A small team of guards ran past us as Jami and I sat up and DDC went on lockdown.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking over to Jami, and she nodded.
An alarm was triggered, and I heard a clicking sound from all of the doors inside the building locking at the same time. I got to my feet and helped Jami up. We looked out into the gaping hole that had just been created at the entranceway now being manned by four guards as they looked over the bodies of the two men I had spoken with when I arrived a few minutes earlier, and I realized that both of them were dead.
Keeping an arm around Jami, we continued to slowly walk backwards while the rest of the field office workers gathered around us, staring at the growing flames and realizing that DDC had just been bombed.
“Get Bill Landry on the phone!” yelled a woman approaching from behind, referring to the Bureau man in charge across the street. I turned and saw the middle-aged woman working her way through the group of agents as Jami stepped away to distance herself from me, and I realized that I still had my arm around her.
The special agent in charge moved past us and, when she got to the entrance, looked over the bodies of the two guards before staring out into the garage, taking in the damage that had been done. I heard the warble of sirens in the distance growing louder as the woman turned and started to walk back toward us.
“Are we still operational?” the woman yelled to one of her analysts.
“Still going,
ma’am, no issues. Systems are up and running,” a voice somewhere behind me yelled back.
“Are we missing anyone?” she asked, scanning the faces of her team, and then her eyes locked onto mine.
“Landry’s on for you, ma’am,” another voice shouted from a deck of cubicles behind me, and I noticed that the special agent in charge was wearing a wireless earpiece, which she pressed. She brought Bill Landry up to speed on the situation, warned him to get his people to lock down the Hoover Building in case a second attack was imminent, and asked for his assistance to bring a Bureau team in to secure the DDC facility.
As she continued to speak with the Bureau man, she kept her eyes fixed on mine. I understood why.
I looked away, trying to think through the last several minutes before the bombing and replaying what had happened in my mind. I had pulled into an open spot and parked. No other vehicles were driving through the garage, as far as I could tell, when the bomb had detonated. I remembered looking out into the garage briefly as I waited on Jami to come get me from the lobby, and I hadn’t seen anything unusual.
That was when I remembered the man on the motorcycle at the entrance to the parking garage.
The alarm turned off, but all the doors within the building remained locked. I checked my cell and confirmed that I still had no coverage. I realized that I needed to get closer to the window on the other side of the room so I could try to get in touch with Chris Reed or Morgan Lennox. Then I had a better idea. Turning to Jami, I said, “Morgan told me that he was working with you and a man here named Simon Harris.” Looking across the large room, I added, “I need to talk with Simon right away. Can you take me to him?”
Looking back, I noticed the SAIC still staring at me as she finished her phone conversation with Landry. Jami started to scan the crowd, looking for Harris. When she couldn’t find him, she pointed to the last cubicle at the end of a long row of workstations near the windows and said, “Simon’s desk is at the end.”