Dark Waters (24 page)

A
s night settled in around the buildings that housed the GG&B Engineering offices, Jordan sat still in the passenger seat and watched the security guard finish his rounds. Walker and Haddid were slumped down in their seats. The night was quiet except for the sound of an occasional car passing on the street. The smell of oranges and olives sweetened the air.

“How much longer do we wait?” Haddid asked.

Jordan pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “We go when the guard is done with his rounds.”

Several hours ago, Taylor and Ganani had headed to Tel Aviv to see what they could find out about Lucy and pick up supplies. It took every bit of Jordan’s willpower not to call Taylor for an update. She knew he vacillated between scrubbing the mission and finding Lucy and seeing this through to the end. She could only pray they had gotten a lead on Lucy’s whereabouts. Jordan was supposed to call at twenty-hundred hours. By then, Taylor and Ganani should have ferreted out what information they could and collected the items the team might need—packs, Camelbacks for drinking water, night vision goggles, extra ammo, new com devices, and ropes.

Jordan, Walker, and Haddid had spent the same time planning a break-in at GG&B’s offices to find out what Tibi had stolen.
They had stopped in Haifa and purchased dark T-shirts and pants, solid footwear, and black gloves and masks. Jordan had sketched a diagram of the building from memory, noting the location of the maintenance area where the cleaning carts were kept and the location of the executive offices.

Thirty minutes after their arrival on site, the GG&B offices had closed for the night. The employee entrance was positioned on the street side of the building. The security offices faced the alley. Once the building had emptied, two guards had taken turns walking rounds every twenty minutes. One guard took approximately five minutes to check the outside doors and windows, while the other stayed behind to watch the cameras. So far, neither of the guards had gone inside.

At one point, both guards had jumped up and walked their rounds together. Jordan assumed they’d been put on alert.

Now the guard walking rounds came around the building and jiggled the lock on the front door. He scanned the street, his gaze flitting over their nondescript sedan. Then he headed back toward the alley.

“Okay, guys.” Jordan slapped Walker’s shoulder. “It’s go time. The pass key should get us inside. Head for the stairwell. I don’t know about the cameras there. Hopefully the guards will believe we are the cleaning crew arriving early. If they come and check, Haddid does the talking.”

“What if the pass key has been disabled?” Haddid asked.

“Then we’ll have to break in, which will likely trigger an alarm system, and there’s no way to know if the guards will have backup. Let’s all pray the pass key works.”

As the guard disappeared around the corner, Walker’s hand moved to the door handle. “Ready?”

Jordan pulled a
hijab
over her head. Looking the part of the cleaning crew was easy for Haddid and somewhat easy for Jordan.
Not so easy for Walker. Tall, light-haired, and buff, he oozed Marine. Unfortunately, he was also the one who possessed the crucial element. He was the only one with the know-how to hack the computer system.

The three of them climbed out of the car. Haddid reached the front door first. He looked straight up at the camera and then swiped the pass key.

It didn’t work. Jordan felt the first tremor of fear.

Haddid frowned, turned it around, and swiped it again. This time the red light clicked to green and the door opened.

Walker and Jordan followed him inside. They climbed the short riser of stairs leading to the large waiting area with the tall windows looking out on the street, passed the reception desk, and turned the corner to the bank of elevators and the stair access.

While Haddid headed to the basement for a cleaning cart, Jordan and Walker climbed to the fourth floor. Inside the stairwell, they were tracked by security cameras on every landing.

“Here goes.” Walker tried the handle on the door leading onto the fourth floor, but it didn’t budge. He pointed to a box on the wall. “We need the pass key.”

“Then let’s hope Haddid figures out to open the door.” This would be the first real test of Haddid’s dedication to the mission. If he didn’t open the door for them, they would be trapped: sitting ducks for the security guards.

Walker leaned against the wall and Jordan settled in beside him. She grew aware of the heat of his body, the smell of his new T-shirt, and the cold concrete at her back. “I guess the seventy-two-hour deal is shot.”

“Yep,” Walker agreed. “Maybe they’ll believe I was in hot pursuit. Or that you had me at gunpoint.”

“It’ll never fly.” Unless somehow he could leverage Taylor’s being with them as an excuse. She wondered again about Lucy. If
Lotner returned with her, then she and Ganani had him figured out wrong. That would mean they still had a mole to uncover. Either situation was horrible.

Suddenly, Walker bent forward and pressed his ear to the door. “I hear someone.”

Jordan flattened herself against the wall. Walker took a fighting stance two steps down facing the door.

It swung inward.

Haddid’s face popped into view. “Ready?”

Jordan moved quickly. “Did you have any trouble?”

“None.”

“Peter Graff is the COO. His office should be two doors down on the left.” She led the way. The door was keyed. “Can either of you pick a lock?”

Haddid positioned the cleaning cart to block the view of the security camera while Walker knelt down and jimmied the door with a pen knife. Jordan grabbed the vacuum and located a plug.

“Got it.” Walker moved inside the office. “No cameras in here.”

Jordan pretended to vacuum, leaving the machine turned off so she could hear but pushing it back and forth for effect. “Haddid, close the blinds. Leave the door open.”

She heard the computer power up and Walker typing on the keyboard.

“There’s some high-tech security.”

“Can you hack it?”

“Patience.”

Haddid came outside and grabbed a spray bottle and rag off the cart. “I can see the entrance to the security office from the window. So far, no one has shown any alarm about us being here. I’ll signal when the guard starts his rounds.”

“I’m in,” Walker said.

Abandoning the vacuum, Jordan headed into the office and leaned in over his shoulder as he scrolled through the files.

“Here we go.” Walker pointed at the screen. “Based on the dates and time of access, it looks like he was interested in the maintenance files. He kept going back to a particular folder.” He made a few clicks on the keyboard. “He was most interested in the Sapir Pumping Station files. His last day at work, he printed out a blueprint.”

“What is the Sapir Pumping Station?” Jordan asked.

“It is the original pumping station of the National Water Carrier,” Haddid said. “It’s located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.”

“Why make it a target?”

Walker tapped a few more keys and brought up some information. “Maybe because the Sapir Pumping Station supplies nearly eighty percent of the drinking water to Israel and the occupied territories.”

Jordan scanned the document. “If the plan is to destroy the pumps, Israel will be brought to her knees.”

“Why would they harm their own people?” Walker asked.

“Eretz Yisrael. Cline had connections to the radical Jewish group the Neturei Karta, which has ties the Sikrikim, a group known for its violent acts. The Sikrikim feels persecuted by secular majority in Israel, and neither group believes the State of Israel has the right to exist until the coming of the Messiah and the joining of all of the lands defined in the bible as Israel’s. That includes the current boundaries; the occupied territories; and parts of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.”

“They want to start a war,” Haddid said. “Without the pump, Israel will have no choice but to divert water from the Jordan River.”

Walker sat back in the chair. “And you think Cline is . . . was behind this?”

“I think Brodsky is behind it. He used Cline like he used Ganani. Though I’m not convinced it’s because he’s a religious zealot. Still, what better way to retake the land?” Jordan pushed Walker back to the keyboard. “Can you save a copy of the blueprint?”

“I can send it to an e-mail account.”

“Do it. How about printing the file?” She looked around for a printer. “Blueprints tend to run large. Do you see a printer?”

He clicked a few keys. “It says I can send the file to a printer. They must have a printer room somewhere.”

“We have to go.” Haddid turned away from the window. “The guard is starting his rounds and bringing the other guard with him.”

“Walker, can you find a company blueprint?” Jordan asked. “It should have the printer room marked.”

He worked through the file directory with Jordan leaning over his shoulder.

“Try the security folder. There.” She pointed at a folder marked “office layout.” He popped open a file with a markup of the rooms.

“It’s on the second floor. Two doors down on the right from the elevator.”

“Send it,” she said.

“We have to go.” Haddid grabbed up the cleaning supplies. “They are coming inside.”

The faint bang of an outside door sounded.

Walker powered off the computer. “It should be at the printer.”

“The two of you take the stairs.” Haddid pressed the key card into Jordan’s hand. “I’ll take the cart down in the elevator and return it to the basement.”

Jordan shook her head. “We should stick together.”

Haddid loaded the vacuum onto the cart. “I’m what they expect in a maintenance worker. I’ll tell them I was instructed to clean up a mess in the boss’s office. Now go.”

The elevator button dinged on a lower floor.

Walker held the door to the stairwell open. “They saw us on camera. They’re going to ask about your helpers.”

“I’ll tell them we finished and that I sent you home.”

“You’ll need this for the elevator.” Jordan pressed the key card into his hand. She and Walker would have to pick the locks to get out.

Haddid refused to take the card. “From the main floor, yes, but not from inside. But you will need it to access the second floor.”

The light above the elevator signaled the car had reached the floor. Haddid shoved them into the stairwell. “Go, quickly. We need to stop this plan. It is not only the Jews who will suffer. Everyone will pay.”

The elevator doors started to open, and Walker gently allowed the door to click shut. Jordan listened as Haddid talked to the guard.

“Go up,” Jordan mouthed, pointing to the stairs.

Walker soundlessly climbed to the next landing, Jordan close on his heels. She froze as the door below them opened and the guard’s voice echoed through the stairwell.

“Hey,” he called out in Hebrew. “Are you in here?”

There was a pause. Then Jordan heard the static of his radio.

“The cleaner says he sent his helpers downstairs. Watch for them. I’m going to check out things up here, then escort him down.”

Jordan held her breath until the door to the fourth floor closed. “Let’s go. Second floor.”

Swiping the key card on the second-floor door, Jordan pushed it open. The copy room door was two doors down from the elevator bank on the opposite side. Walker swiped open the lock as the elevator door rang.

“Shit,” Jordan whispered. “They must be checking each floor.”

Jordan dove into the room. Walker followed. Neither one could close the copy room door.

“What the . . . ,” the guard said. Jordan heard him key his radio. “Did you check to make sure all the doors on second were shut?”

“Yes.”

Jordan’s heart pounded. He was coming to check.

The light from the hallway crossed the floor in geometric patterns, altered by the shadow of the guard. Jordan signaled Walker to get out of sight and wedged herself behind a large printer near the door. The guard swung the door inward, gun drawn. He flipped on the lights and Jordan shrank into the printer’s shadow.

His radio crackled.

“Is there a problem?” came a voice.

“The door to the copy room was left open. I’m checking it now.”

He walked forward until Jordan could see his silhouette. Reaching down, he messed with one of the printers.

Static. “Do you need me to come up?”

“No. One of the printers is on. The paper seems to be jammed.”

Static. “Leave it.”

“If you say so.” The guard turned and Jordan shrank farther into the shadows. He walked back to the door and flipped off the light but stayed in the doorway. Did he sense their presence? Finally, he swung the door shut. Once it latched, he rattled it and Jordan stretched out her legs.

Walker jumped to his feet and raced to the printer. Clearing the jam, he checked the controls. “Let’s hope it’s in memory.”

“Wait.” Jordan held up her hand, stopping him from punching the button to print. She walked over and pressed her ear to the door. When she heard the elevator close, she signaled a go. The machine fired up. It took a few seconds to spit out an 11 × 17-inch copy of the Sapir Pumping Station blueprint. Jordan folded it up and stuffed it into her back pocket.

Quickly they made their way to the stairwell. They headed down, their footsteps loud on the metal stairs. Reaching the first
floor, Jordan eased open the door. The reception area was empty. “It’s clear.”

With Walker on her heels, she made a dash for the exit. Footsteps caused her to duck behind the reception desk. Walker slid in behind her. A guard climbed the short flight of stairs from the front door. Had he seen them? He stopped in front of the reception desk and keyed his radio.

“Did you just enter the stairwell?”

The radio crackled. “No.”

The guard moved quickly. When he rounded the corner, Jordan jerked her head toward the exit. Staying low, Walker’s hand on her back, they took the low rise soundlessly. The elevator dinged as she pushed open the outside door.

“Did you find them?”

“No. The stairwell is empty.”