Bishop's War (Bishop Series Book 1) (19 page)

Benji shrugged. “As you wish.”

John stepped out of the room and grabbed the other terrorist by his broken elbow. He cut short the high-pitched scream with a vicious back-handed slap and pulled him into the dungeon to witness the “interrogation.”

“Allah, have mercy upon me.”

“Allah may, but we won’t. I always said that no one should ever be tortured, no matter what. You guys changed all that for me today. I need answers and I need them now. You tell me everything you know or you’re next on the table.”

“I swore unto God that I would never betray my brothers.”

The screaming went to another level as Benji focused his attention on his subject’s private parts. He touched the white hot flame to places where no man wants to feel searing heat and agonizing pain.

“Well, I just swore to Chris Valdez that I’d find all your friends. What’s it gonna be? Me, or Benji’s barbeque?”

“I will tell you what I know.”

“Just so we’re clear, you hold back, or if I think you’re bullshitting me for even a second, you go on the table and then we start over from the beginning.”

“Yes, yes I will tell you everything. Please, I cannot watch this. He is my cousin. I cannot watch my cousin die.”

“I just did,” John said.

Chapter 26

Gettin’ Busy

Baruch Housing Projects
LES, NY

New York City
taxis work twenty-four hours a day with the drivers switching every twelve. They change shifts at 5AM and 5PM so that each driver gets to work either the morning or the evening rush hour and there’s always a mad scramble to get last minute passengers in the late afternoon.

The driver cruised slowly through the projects after dropping off his final fare before going off duty. All day he had been listening to radio coverage of the terrorist bombings and the news of the president’s surprise visit to the United Nations.

“Here comes one now.”

“Drivin’ slow, too.”

“Let’s do this.”

“Remember, don’t waste his ass.”

“Unless…”

“The only unless is if the motherfucka’s about to drop a hammer on yo ass. We ain’t cappin’ some innocent dude just cause he’s drivin’ a fuckin’ cab. That just disses Chris’ memory and puts more heat on his fam.”

“You right. I’m just hyped and itchin’ to get busy on these Jihad motherfuckers.”

“We all are, but even if we do find one we keep his ass alive. We’ll fuck him up good, but then we hand him over to Benji.”

“I hear you. Yo, does that little dude really chop people up?”

“My nigga, you don’t wanna know, and you most definitely don’t wanna be asking.”

“Yeah, my bad.”

“Let’s go.”

The four young men had hoodies pulled over their heads and bandanas over their faces when they stepped in front of the yellow cab. Two held Mack 10 submachine guns, one held an Uzi, and the leader of the group had a Beretta 9 millimeter automatic in each hand.

“Step out the car Mohammed!”

“Please, I am working very hard for my family. Please not to rob me, please!” the driver pleaded as he held his hands up, and nervously got out of the cab.

“We don’t want your money. We just need your ride. Check him, then look up front and in the trunk. If he’s clean, and the car don’t have none a that bomb shit, then he can step.”

“You a terrorist, mothafucka?” one of the youngsters asked him. He held an Uzi to the driver’s head while another emptied his pockets.

“No sir, no sir. No terrorist. I love America and working hard for my family.”

The teenager inspecting the front seat area of the cab gave a sharp warning whistle. “He’s one of ‘em.”

“You sure?”

“No doubt. There’s a bottle a liquid nitro up here.”

“Liquid nitro?"

“Yeah, check it out.” He came up carefully holding a clear plastic bottle without a label. It was filled almost to the top with a dark yellow liquid.

“You ain’t no bomb expert, and that ain’t nitro.”

“The fuck is it then, you so smart?

“Piss,” said the leader. Still holding his pistols, he scanned the surrounding rooftops for pigeons. Flocks of pigeons would be released to indicate a warning from the direction of any impending danger.

“What?”

“Piss mothafucka. Cabbies don’t take bathroom breaks, they just piss in a bottle while they’s stopped at a red light.”

“That’s nasty.”

“It’s way past nasty, but we ain’t here to shake the man’s hand. Give him back his cash and light it up.”

They pulled out the plastic gas can from behind a tree and doused the car from bumper to bumper. The whoosh of flame ignited by a cigarette sent fire high into the sky.

“Liquid nitro?” Where’d you come up with that shit?”

“I dunno. Musta seen it on TV.”

“Dumb ass.”

“Tell your friends, no more cabs,” the leader said to the cabbie.

The four young men were confident on their home turf. They slowly tucked away their weapons and casually strolled into the maze of connecting buildings.

The driver stared at the burning car, unable to comprehend what had just happened to him. He quickly gave up trying to figure it out and took off running.

At area cab stands where off duty cars were lined up, Molotov cocktails sailed through the air setting dozens of the closely parked taxis ablaze. All over the city, cabs were targeted. Kids on bicycles pedaled up to them, puncturing tires with knives and ice picks. Once disabled, the kids would jump onto the hoods and spray paint a simple three word message on the windows: “NO MORE CABS!”

New York FBI Headquarters
26 Federal Plaza, Downtown Manhattan

Captain Jimmy Ryan sipped his fifth cup of black coffee of the day. Since the initial attack on Union Square three days ago he’d only been able to snatch a few hours of sleep here and there. The coffee barely dented his fatigue, but there was just too much to do.

“What do you plan to do about Valdez’s war on taxis?” SAC Terry Hall asked.

Like Ryan, Terry was exhausted. He hadn’t slept at all. Though he’d showered and shaved, hot water couldn’t erase the dark circles under his eyes, or the deepening lines in his face. Managing the search for Amir Khan while keeping Washington continuously updated was taking its toll.

“I’m not going to do anything about it.”

“Come on Jimmy. They’re attacking cabs all over the city. We can’t sit back and do nothing,” Terry said.

“My friend, as you already know, since I got the call we’ve arrested four terrorists. That’s four so far. Four,” he said again, holding up his fingers for emphasis.

Before the first cab attacks started, Jimmy received an anonymous call on his mobile phone. The caller suggested that once the cabs were disabled they would be part of a crime scene and could then be thoroughly searched. Jimmy had every available bomb squad member out in patrol cars inspecting the damaged taxis. Two had explosive residue in their trunks and the other two had pictures of both John and Felix in their glove compartments. All four drivers also had unlicensed firearms in their possession. They were immediately arrested and were now being questioned.

“We can’t allow this shit to happen in our town. Look out the fucking window Jimmy! You can still see the smoke from the burning cabs.”

“Yeah, I see it, and I’m good with it. Gonzalo’s methods may be crude, but we needed some blunt force trauma to get things moving. Anyway, we’ve already arrested a bunch of his baby vigilantes. Not one over sixteen. The other thing is, they haven’t injured a single person. They just disabled the vehicles. I asked them what they thought they were doing and they said they were, ‘getting busy for Chris.’ They said they were trying to help us and wanted to get back to what they were doing. I personally let two of ‘em go and asked ‘em to stop burning cabs so all the evidence doesn’t go up in flames.”

“You set them free?! You asked them to what?!”

“You heard me Terry. I let them go to pass on the message. Like it or not, this is one of those rare occasions where the good guys and the crooks have a common goal… and a common enemy.”

“I should have you arrested for what you’ve done, Jimmy.”

“You’re tired, and I know you don’t mean that. I know you’ve got the president and the whole fuckin’ world watching you on this, but the fires are gonna stop and now you’ve got four live terrorists in custody. That’s a big win for you, buddy.”

“Maybe. Maybe, you’re right,” Terry said wearily. He leaned forward, his elbows on his desk, and rubbed his temples with the palms of his hands.

“Your guys making the other arrests?”

“Yeah, as we speak.”

“That’s another win and quick progress.”

“The press and Washington don’t see it that way.”

“They don’t know shit about investigating and you know it. You’ve done a great job so far, my friend, but you’ve gotta get some z’s before you fall over or make a bad decision. You shut it down and I’ll make sure everyone on our side keeps gettin’ busy too,” Jimmy said with a smile.

He guided his friend over to the couch and turned out the lights before leaving. Terry was already snoring when Jimmy carefully shut the door behind him and gave terse commands to the FBI agents and police officers that were waiting for him.

Fort Dix Army Base
Burlington County, New Jersey

“First a five mile run, and now this shit?”

“We’ve been standing out here for two hours.”

“That sun is killing me.”

“You two better shut up and get some focus. Something’s going down.”

“You think?”

“I know. This ain’t no drill. All the officers are looking real tense man. They’re waiting for something.”

“What?”

“Dunno. But whatever it is, I guarantee you, it ain’t gonna be good.”

“Yeah, you’re right. They’re real tight. Something’s going down, and it’s gonna suck for us whatever it is.”

The thirty-one-thousand-acre base was locked down on direct orders from its commanding general. The troops were wet with sweat, standing at attention with the hot late afternoon sun in their eyes. Most of them thought it was just another surprise drill in the never-ending routine of surprise drills. They were wrong.

The joint military, ATF, FBI and Homeland Security task force came through the main entrance with weapons drawn and ready. Two soldiers broke formation and took off running. Warning shots were fired, and one ended his futile attempt at escape by first throwing his hands up in the air and then lying face down on the parade ground as instructed. The other one wasn’t going out without a fight. He did a crab walk while he frantically reached for the small caliber pistol stashed in his boot. He stopped, stood up, turned to face his pursuers, and pointed his gun towards them. Before he could fire a shot he was cut down by the ominous force of automatic weapons on full auto.

Another private, and a Captain were also rounded up and hand cuffed. They hung their heads, resigned in the knowledge that their fates were sealed. The captain had betrayed his country for his secretly held radical beliefs. The private had done it for money. Their motivations were different, but both knew their lives were over. They would never be free again and life without parole was the best they could hope for.

The origins of the C4 plastic explosives recovered from the Union Square Park attack had been traced back to the armory at Fort Dix. Once the source was identified it was clear that the conspiracy involved multiple military participants and that at least one officer had to be a key player. Three other soldiers were already in custody and the Special Ops interrogators were merciless in their quest for information.

The United Nations
1
st
Avenue and 44
th
Street
New York, NY

Diplomats and leaders from around the world listened intently to the harsh speech being given by the president of the United States. Word of his arrival in New York to visit victims of the attacks traveled fast, but no one at the UN anticipated this. The Secretary of State was scheduled to speak today. They had expected the focus to be on economic globalization, trade balances, and the need to reduce carbon emission around the world. Although everyone knew the terror attacks would be incorporated into the presentation, they did not expect it to dominate the speech. They were wrong.

The president had already been speaking for twenty minutes. His message was strong and clear, hard hitting and aggressive. He was a man known for his composure, and had often been criticized for his almost casual demeanor when confronted with controversy or crisis. Until today he was viewed as a man immune to pressure. Today he did not attempt to mask his controlled anger.

“I have always believed that engaging in war should only be undertaken when all other avenues of communication and diplomacy have failed. I believed that before I took office, and I believe it now.

“I also believe that once every other option has been attempted, once every one of our overtures towards a peaceful resolution has been rejected, once the United States of America has been attacked by an individual, a terrorist organization, or a foreign country, we will spare no effort in bringing them to justice. So today I am speaking directly to those responsible for the cowardly attacks on the brave and innocent citizens of New York City. The world is not big enough for you to hide in. We are coming for you and those that support you. That is not a threat. It is a promise.

“Over the past forty-eight hours, through the diligent efforts of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and through unprecedented multi-agency co-operation, we now have over thirty five individuals in custody that were clearly part of this conspiracy to kill American citizens. I will add that the arrests were not just made here. With the help of our allies, terrorists were captured in Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, London, and Canada. The United States of America thanks each one of those countries for their assistance and for their continued efforts in the war on terror.

“Now, for those countries that are harboring and assisting terrorist organizations, we have some bad news for you. You are now alone and isolated in the world. The leaders of the free world have agreed in principal to sanction the twelve countries identified as terrorist allies. These sanctions range from trade embargos and forfeiture of assets amongst others. Taking the lead on imposing these sanctions, this morning the United States of America has confiscated over fifty-one billion dollars in assets. Believe me, this is only the beginning. The price of aiding and harboring terrorists has just gone up.”

A dozen U.S. aides walked down the aisles handing the lists of sanctions and asset forfeiture packages to the twelve foreign delegations. Several got up quickly and raced out of the room, while others shouted out in protest. The president looked at them with fire in his eyes.

“So now you have something to say? Well so do I. The banks you have used to funnel money to murderers are now closed to you and the businesses you set up to finance terrorism are forfeit. The money is gone for good. It will be used against you, funding training and equipment for all the agencies involved the Joint Terrorism Task Force. If you don’t want to lose more than you already have I suggest you hand us the terrorists.”

He glared at the protesting delegations scattered around the room for another moment before resuming his speech and softening his delivery.