Pestilence (Jack Randall #2) (41 page)

“Hey, Bobby, I got two more now. They just jumped the fence on Liberty, too. I think they may be cops after the first guy. What the hell’s going on down there?”

“I called it in, Walt. They said they’re on the way. If you see them again sing out.”

“Okay.”

He looked down to see the crews waiting for the bucket, shielding their eyes from the setting sun shining through a gap in the skyline. He moved the joysticks and the bucket descended for another load. While they were filling it, Walter scanned the site for the first man. He also noted cops at the main entrance and along the fence on Liberty. Maybe this was what all the sirens had been about all day? Walter shrugged and kept looking.

•      •      •

“Jack, look.” Sydney pointed to two men walking up the road. They both had radios in their hands and holstered weapons on their hips. One turned around long enough for them to see the emblem of a security firm printed on the back of his jacket.

“Make sure your badge is showing,” Jack told her as he left the cover of the trailer’s shadow and approached them. He got within a few yards until they noticed him as they were busy scanning the stacks of materials on the right side of the road.

“Who are you?” one demanded.

“Agents Jack Randall and Sydney Lewis, we’re from the FBI. We just followed a guy over the fence and into your site. We need you to move everybody out and help us secure a perimeter.”

“Damn, what’d this guy do?” the younger guard asked.

Jack took a deep breath. Just how much should he tell them?

“He may be carrying something very dangerous in a backpack. It’s essential that we stop him.”

“Really? What is it?” the guard asked.

Sydney broke in. “We don’t have time to explain. Are you here looking for him?”

The older guard waved the younger one silent. “Yeah. Our crane operator saw him running into these stacks. It’s all building materials and other construction stuff. But it’s a maze. Our own guys get lost in it sometimes.”

Jack looked skyward and saw the crane operator high in his glassed-in seat.

“Is there anyway you can let me talk to him?”

•      •      •

Greg scanned the screen in front of him and watched as more and more assets converged on the trade center. The dots moved like ants as FBI units, fire crews and New York’s finest all moved to surround the site. He now had two helicopters orbiting around the site and sniper teams were moving into the surrounding buildings and taking up positions where they could scan the area. The problem was the area was both open and not open at the same time. At this point, the trade center site was really nothing more than a big hole in the ground full of construction equipment, trailers, ramps, tunnels, barricades and ironworkers. The fact that it was below ground meant that a good portion of it was unseen from any angle. The cranes and surrounding buildings kept the helicopters too high to provide good surveillance and his agents were leaning out the doors with binoculars while the pilots fought the updrafts and crosswinds created by the flow of the wind around the high-rises. He had the Port Authority people closing off the subway tunnels and he was told they were already in place. In another twenty minutes he would have the place so locked down a rat couldn’t get out without being seen. But a lot could happen in twenty minutes.

“Come on, Jack, get this guy,” he muttered to himself.

•      •      •

Walter had just picked up another hopper full of high quality cement and hoisted it high over the site when his radio squawked.

“Walter? My name is Jack Randall and I’m with the FBI. The man you saw go into the stacks is very dangerous and we need to locate him as soon as possible. Can you see him from your position?”

Walters eyebrows rose to new heights when he heard this. It was about the last thing he expected to hear on his radio.

“Hold on one second, Mr. Randall, and I’ll take a look.”

First thing Walter did was find a safe spot to park the hopper over. If he should hit the wrong button or the crane should fail he didn’t want a few tons of cement landing on any of his coworkers. Once he found the spot he wanted, he locked the controls and scanned the area where he last saw the man.

“I don’t see anything right now, but he could be anywhere in there. Those stacks cover more than a football field.”

“The site’s being shut down and all the men pulled out. You’re safe up there and we could use your eyes. Can you hang tight for us and help us out?”

“No problem. I sit here all day. But that cement in that hopper can’t stay there for too long or it’ll start to set up. Sooner or later, I’ll have to dump it.”

Jack looked at the construction foreman who had joined them. The man nodded in agreement.

“He’s right. If he doesn’t dump it soon it’ll become a solid block in the hopper and ruin the whole thing. Expensive.”

Jack nodded. He could really care less about the cost of a new hopper right now, but he didn’t want to piss off the man for no reason.

“Well, let’s just hope we find the guy quickly.” He pulled his collar out and spoke into it.

“Greg, how do we look?”

“Perimeter’s coming together nicely. The fire trucks are one and two blocks away, but they’re in gridlock. We’re trying to free them up. Main entrance is under control and no more traffic is moving in or out. I have two sniper teams in position, but their views are limited by the fact that you’re in a damn hole in the ground. I’m afraid I can’t give you much intel from them. I’m told it’ll be another twenty minutes until we can say it’s locked up tight. What are you thinking, Jack?”

“I’m thinking he could squeeze through somewhere and be long gone in twenty minutes. What about the subways?”

“Port authority has them locked down with some ESU guys. They practice it, you can tell.”

Jack spun in a circle and tried to scan the whole site, looking for any holes, but he couldn’t see it all or even picture it. It was just too complex. What he did see were a lot of birds. Pigeons and gulls seemed to favor the site. He made a decision.

“Greg, I’m gonna push it. Sydney and I will go in and try to flush him out. I’m gonna give you the frequency of the on-site construction team. The crane operator saw the guy run into the stacks and he’s up there watching for us right now. See if Eric can put us all on one net.”

Greg closed his eyes and didn’t reply right away. He would normally protest such a move and ask Jack to wait for his team so they could clear the stacks more carefully and in greater numbers. But he also knew that what the man had in the backpack was very dangerous. Jack was the man on the ground. He had to trust his judgment.

“Okay, Jack. I’ll keep working on the perimeter and get some more sniper teams deployed. Take it slow. Check your six and be careful.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“What now, Jack?” Sydney asked.

“You and I are going to flush him out.” He turned to address the two security guards. “Can you stay here and make sure nobody else goes in there and that he doesn’t come out?”

“You got it.”

“Okay, Syd. Let’s roll.”

More than 1 billion going hungry, U.N. says.
November 10, 2009—CNN
 

—THIRTY-EIGHT—

T
he Deliveryman gazed up at the circling choppers. Why were they so high? He saw them bobbing around as they slowly circled. Maybe the winds were bad that high up? Either way, he had to watch them. He was hidden from everyone’s view except for them. He watched one as it circled past the top of the crane. He couldn’t tell if there was anyone in the crane or not. It wasn’t moving and the angle of the sun shone off the glass in such a way that it defeated his eyes from seeing inside. He pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on his situation.

One of the backpack straps had failed on his way over the fence so he now paused to tie the strap down. As an afterthought, he took the trailing ends and tied them together across his chest, doubling and then tripling the knot to take up the slack. He couldn’t afford to have it happen again at a critical time.

The area he was in reminded him of an urban combat training area. It was like a building with the roof torn off, and he moved from corner to corner, automatically clearing the way before him and moving on. The stacks were taller than he could see over and the only outside objects were the circling helicopters and the crane. He made an effort to stay out of the line of sight of all three, but it was unavoidable if he wanted to move. And there was no doubt he wanted to move.

•      •      •

Jack looked left to see Sydney peering into the stacks of materials. They were two stacks apart and the plan was to stay that way. Jack was a little worried. While he had been through extensive training for this kind of scenario, he knew that hers was limited. The last time they had done something like this she had mistaken him for the person they were after and taken a shot at him. Luckily for Jack she’d missed. But she seemed to hold her new weapon with confidence and her hands automatically followed her eyes and the barrel was pointed where it needed to be. Maybe she had been practicing. He’d have to ask her later.

He palmed the smaller handgun and made sure there was a round in the chamber before returning his gaze to Sydney. She was watching him and waiting for his signal. With a hand gesture she probably didn’t understand he waved her into the maze. He matched her and soon they were lost from sight.

“Greg, we’re in the stacks and moving west. Anything from the crane operator?”

“That’s a negative, Jack. He’s watching. We told him not to move the crane. I don’t want your guy knowing he’s up there.”

“Okay, just keep him looking. How about the snipers?”

“All the angles suck. I have the spotters looking for better views, but I wouldn’t count on anything better than the crane guy.”

“You’re just full of good news,” Jack whispered.

“Sorry, buddy, I’m working on it.”

“All right, well do it quietly, I need my ears.”

“Roger.” Greg fell silent and ordered the noise in the van cut also. Jack didn’t need any background chatter in his ear right now.

Jack caught sight of Sydney as they cleared the first row of materials. They both shook their heads and Jack waved her on to the next row.

•      •      •

The Deliveryman looked both ways up and down the row but still saw nothing. The gap was wider here for some reason and he would be in full view of the helicopters and the crane when he crossed it. He needed a better crossing point but no options were presenting themselves. Why can’t it be dark? Or better yet, a nice drenching rain, a torrential downpour with lots of thunder to cover him from view as well as mask any noise he made?

“Wish in one hand, jackass,” he told himself.

With a last look down the stacks he launched himself across the gap. He counted to three before he was behind cover again. He quickly moved deeper into the shadows edged farther to the right.

•      •      •

Walter saw the movement and quickly keyed the mic.

“I saw him, I saw him! He’s about halfway through. He just crossed the center aisle and he’s right in the middle. Still heading toward the Hudson!”

“We hear you, Walter. Can you give us a better location?” Greg asked. He keyed both mics so Jack could hear what Walter was saying.

“There’s an aisle about halfway through the stacks and he just crossed it. He’s still right in the middle looking north-south.”

“Walter, this is Jack. I’m in the stacks with my partner? Can you see us?” Jack stepped out into a gap and waved in the crane’s direction.

“Uhhh . . . . Yeah! I see you. You’re about . . . eight stacks away from the aisle. You need to come toward me about two stacks also. Just move and I can tell you where to stop.”

“Okay, you see us both now?”

“Yup, you need to go two toward me and eight to the west.”

“All right, we’re moving. Do you see him?”

“No, but he’ll pop up. The stacks are lining up with my point of view. I’ll see him when he crosses the gaps.”

“Okay, Walter. You’re the only eyes we’ve got right now. Just don’t lose him okay?”

“I’ll do the best I can.”

Jack turned to see Sydney’s questioning gaze. She could only hear Jack’s side of the conversation.

“What are we doing?”

“Our eye in the sky saw our guy. We can pick up some speed.” He pointed. “Two down and eight across. We stop at six and split up again. There’s a large gap we need to cross. We cross apart and one at a time, okay?”

“Got it.”

Jack led off with her jogging behind him.

•      •      •

The sounds of the sirens were constant and there were more and more of them. He could hear them as he wound his way through the stacks and they almost caused him to run. They told him that time was working against him and if he didn’t escape soon his chances would be slim of making the harbor and the boat. He shortened his looks and sped up his dashes. This worked the ribs more and he was forced to grunt against the pain. Something he admonished himself for. He had been taught to do this sort of thing silently as noise would give away his position. The background noise here was so loud he knew he really didn’t need to worry about it, but the self-scolding came automatically.