Enemy Among Us-A Jordan Wright Thriller (34 page)

Mustafa looked at his watch. It would be fifteen minutes before the air was clear and they could breathe without the masks. Fortunately, the room had a sophisticated filtration system, which rapidly drew the existing air out of the room and replaced it with clean, filtered air, critical to the work done in the room.

In the meantime, he identified the shelves containing the items they would be removing on their second trip to the room. The metal dies were small, but heavy, and surprisingly for something made out of steel, they tended to be somewhat fragile. If any of the dies sustained damage during the operation, they would be unusable and worthless to Jerome – and cost Mustafa a portion of the money he’d been promised.

Mustafa had the men open up two bags they had brought into the room in their carts. These bags contained clean, fresh white cloths. They were of fine material and Mustafa had been told on several occasions that it was one of the most expensive items used in the facility. It had taken months for him to collect enough pieces for this day. He directed each of his men to wrap the selected plates in the clothes and stack them on one of the tables. This would allow the plates to be retrieved more quickly when Mustafa and his men returned.

Mustafa looked at the sensor he’d brought with him, checking air quality. It revealed that the air in the room was breathable. He instructed one of the men to take off his mask and, though the man at first hesitated, he did as told. Mustafa wasn’t about to blow the mission because the sensor gave a bad reading. Better to lose one man than the entire team. The man breathed in and out several times and, seeing no ill effects, Mustafa removed his mask and directed the others to do so as well.

“Let’s go! Grab your carts and let’s head to the exit. When we get to the guard, let me do all the talking. You just stand by your carts and, if necessary, have your guns ready. If he goes to check in any of the carts, we will have to eliminate him. Let me attempt to do it, but if I should fail one of you must be successful. We want to do it without making a lot of noise. You all know how to kill without a gun. That is what you must do.”

Every man motioned his agreement. They grabbed their cart and moved toward the door. The carts were heavy with the weight of the bodies.

Mustafa opened the door and they moved out into the hallway. As they moved in single file down the corridor, Mustafa in the lead, the security cameras would see a completely normal image. They had made this a part of their routine, to move down this hallway together at least three times a week. To any of the guards, this activity would resemble their normal behavior and only up close would someone notice the men were straining more than usual to move their heavy carts.

They turned the corner and headed toward the exit. The guard at the door looked at them. Mustafa made eye contact with Johnny. Maybe this was Mustafa’s lucky day. Johnny was the guard Mustafa had the best relationship and, every time Johnny saw Mustafa, he would stop to talk. He always had questions about Mustafa’s background and what Iran had been like when Mustafa lived there. Mustafa hoped the relationship would pay off in the next few minutes.

“Hey, Mustafa. What are you guys up to?” Johnny called out. He stuck his hand out to shake Mustafa’s.

Mustafa grinned and took the hand. “Hey, Johnny. We’re just finishing up collecting all the rags that need to go back to be cleaned. We just need to get them out to our trucks.”

“Can’t really let you go out. You know we’re in lock down.”

“Yes, we know, but our trucks are right outside. We really aren’t leaving the grounds. You can watch us the whole time.”

“I know, but we’re not supposed to open the door for anything.”

“Yeah, well, I guess we could just leave our carts here for now and do it later.”

Johnny was about to agree when he obviously caught the odor of the rags, which permeated the small corridor.

“Wow, I never realized how much those things stunk!” Johnny exclaimed and turned his head to try to find fresh air. “Don’t you have somewhere else you can leave them?”

“Not really. You know, we’re supposed to get them out of the building as soon as we collect them, due to the fire hazard, of just having them in these carts. The only place to safely leave them would be as close to the exit as possible.”

“Oh no, you can’t keep them here. Let me call and see if they will let you out. Hold on.” Johnny walked over to the phone on the wall and punched in a three digit extension. “This is Johnny at the interior dock. I got Mustafa from the cleaning service here needing to remove the soiled rags. His vans are right at the dock. Can I let him out to just load these carts in?” Johnny listened and then cupped his hand over the mouthpiece. He looked at Mustafa. “You’re not leaving, right? Just going to load the trucks and come back in.”

“That’s right,” Mustafa nodded.

Johnny repeated it into the phone. “They really stink big time, sir. It’s gonna be tough to leave them sitting down here. Okay.. Thank you.” Johnny hung up the phone and turned back to Mustafa and his group. “They said I can let you out, but only to load the van. None of the vans can leave and you all have to come back in when you’re done. Got it?”

“Not a problem, Johnny. We’ve got more work to do before we can call it a day, anyway. Thanks for helping us.” Mustafa moved toward the door.

Johnny held up his hand. Mustafa froze, thinking Johnny was going to look through the carts. Mustafa could see each of his men tense.

“I’ve got to call the guard shack and let them know you’re going to be coming out. They’d freak if you just walked out the door now.” Johnny picked up the phone and dialed a different three digit extension. “Hey, Phil. I’m going to be opening the door. Mustafa and his team are coming out to load carts of rags into their vans, but no one is leaving. They come right back in. I cleared it with upstairs. Okay. Thanks. They’ll be coming out now.” Johnny hung up the phone and nodded to Mustafa. He pressed a button and Mustafa could hear the sound of the door unlock.

“Thanks, Johnny.” Mustafa signaled his men to move through the doorway. They quickly loaded the carts into two of the vans. Within a matter of five minutes, they were back inside and headed to various parts of the building to get the additional carts they would need. In fifteen minutes, the guards would rotate and a different one would be seated at the console, monitoring the camera in the hallway next to the room they would re-enter. From the guard’s perspective, it would be assumed this was the cleaning crew going in to clean. The guard would have no idea this was their second visit.

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Jordan and Kate stepped onto the roof of the Federal Building and walked over to where the sniper team was posted. They flipped their IDs to the sniper’s spotter, the man’s eyes had followed them since they stepped out of the doorway.

“Any movement in any of the buildings?” Jordan knelt down next to the sniper. “I’m Jordan, this is Kate. We’ve been in the command center, but wanted to get a look around.”

“No, sir. Nothing is moving out there,” the attractive blond informed them. “They haven’t even been in the tower of Independence Hall. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If I were in their shoes, that would be the first place I would have someone. You’ve got a bird’s eye view of the whole Mall. Nothing could move without you seeing it. Like I said, sir, doesn’t make much sense, given some of the other things they’ve done.”

Jordan stood up and walked over to Kate, who stood at the low wall which surrounded the edge of the roof. She looked out over the Mall area.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been here before. The birth place of our country, every American should have to come here.” Jordan stared directly into Kate’s eyes. This was the first time they had been somewhat alone. He felt the urge to take her into his arms, but knew that wouldn’t be well received by the sniper team on the roof with them.

“So, tell me again what each of these buildings are?” Kate asked Jordan, turning away as she felt his eyes on her.

“Well, if you look to your right, the building at the Southern end is Independence Hall. That’s where they signed the Declaration of Independence and created the Constitution. The building in the next block heading north — the rectangular one — is the Liberty Bell Center. They moved the Liberty Bell into there in 2003. That’s where Aziz is with his group. In the next block, you have the Visitors’ Center. Right in front of us is the Constitution Center. It opened on July 4th 2003. It’s got a great interactive media show at the beginning. Maybe I’ll take you to see it sometime.”

Kate gave him a look. “I’m still waiting for the dinner you promised me.”

“Come on. A little something came up, right?”

“I’m just saying, I’m looking forward to some follow through.”

“Okay, I get it.”

“So, smart man, what’s the big building over there?” Kate was pointing with one hand while she held her binoculars up to her eyes with the other, to the Northeast of their location, past the Constitution Center. It was a massive structure filling up the entire block on all sides. It was a plain concrete structure with minimal windows. It seemed extremely out of place, next to the stately buildings on the Mall.

“That would be the US Mint.”

“Kind of ugly, isn’t it?”

“Well, I think it’s designed more for function than beauty.”

“They make all the money there?”

“Just the coins are done at the Mints. The bills are done in D.C. and Fort Worth.”

“You’re always a wealth of knowledge,” Kate proclaimed with a smile.

“Yes. Yes. My mind is full of useless information.”

Kate continued to scan the Mint building. “Jordan. Look at those vans. To the left of the Mint, in the loading dock area.”

Jordan picked up his 10X50s and scanned, the spot where Kate pointed. He saw a plain white van. “I see a van with no markings. Is that the one you’re talking about?”

“Keep moving to your left.” Kate didn’t move her head and waited for Jordan to see what she’d found.

Jordan scanned to the left and saw two more vans. Each had a magnetic sign attached to their door. The signs read, “City of Brotherly Love Cleaning Service.” Jordan lowered his binoculars. “Shit! You think those are the same vans?”

“Could be. You never know with white vans.”

“Yeah, but Mustafa’s was painted with the name, not a magnetic sign.”

“Right. But, remember, Mustafa dropped that van off at his office. Maybe he got another van and drove it here. The first one with no markings looks new, anyway.”

“It is. I can see the temporary tag in the rear door window!” Jordan lowered the binoculars, letting them hang on their strap around his neck. “Hey?” he asked the sniper team. “You guys have anyone over by the mint?”

“I’m not sure. I know they‘re in lockdown,” the blonde answered. “We didn’t put a sniper over there because we found, in the past, the building just isn’t built in a way that would give us a good position.”

“Jordan, look at this.” Kate called.

Jordan turned back and brought his glasses up. “I don’t see anything.”

“Look behind the vans, at the open door.”

“I don’t believe it. Speak of the devil. What is he doing? You can’t tell me he dropped these kids off and went to work.”

“No, I don’t think so. Remember what that building is. Could it be part of the plan?”

“Well, I can’t believe they could get out of the Mint with carts full of coins without being stopped.”

“No way!” The spotter interjected. “I’ve got a brother with the Federal Protection Service. We laugh about them going into lockdown, because that place is so secure all the time. If they’re bringing something out, it’s probably been checked and searched two, maybe three times.”

“Thanks,” Jordan told the spotter. “That’s helpful. I think we should go pay a visit to the Mint.”

Kate and Jordan moved away from the edge of the roof, toward the stairway access door.

“Are you going to stop by the Command Center and tell Stan?”

“I don’t want to waste time. We need to find out what’s going on over there and quickly. They may be loading up and going. They know they can’t go back to Mustafa’s house, so they’re going somewhere else.”

Jordan reached out to grab the doorknob.

“What the hell!” The spotter called out. Grabbing his radio, he keyed the mike. “We’ve got people moving out of the Constitution Center. They’re exiting through several doors on the west side of the building. Tac One, are you seeing this? Over.”

Jordan and Kate ran over to the side of the roof by the sniper team. Though the building was in the same block they were, they each grabbed their binoculars.

“I’ve got multiple targets at the door.” The sniper called out.

“Confirm.” The spotter acknowledged.

“Careful, they aren’t kids at the doors. They may be Good Sams!” Jordan yelled out, “Sams” referring to Samaritans who might have helped facilitate the escape. Jordan continued to scan from door to door, focusing on the men holding the doors helping others to escape.

Police officers on the street were coming forward with guns drawn, herding the hostages out of harm’s way but keeping them together. One lesson learned over the years was how terrorists had used mass releases of hostages as a way to facilitate their own escapes. They would run out with the rest of the crowd and quickly disappear. It became S.O.P. for Police to keep everyone together and release no one until identities were verified.