Triple Threat

Title Page

copyright

Dedication

Endorsements

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

Epilogue

Thank you

TRIPLE THREAT

 

 

H. L. Wegley

 

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

 

TRIPLE THREAT

 

COPYRIGHT 2014 by H. L. WEGLEY

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Pelican Ventures, LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

 

eBook editions are licensed for your personal enjoyment only. eBooks may not be re-sold, copied or given away to other people. If you would like to share an eBook edition, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

 

Contact Information: [email protected]

 

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated are taken from the King James translation, public domain.

 

Cover Art by
Nicola Martinez

 

Harbourlight Books, a division of Pelican Ventures, LLC

www.pelicanbookgroup.com
PO Box 1738 *Aztec, NM * 87410

 

Harbourlight Books sail and mast logo is a trademark of Pelican Ventures, LLC

 

Publishing History

First Harbourlight Edition, 2014

Paperback Edition ISBN 978-1-61116-382-7

Electronic Edition ISBN 978-1-61116-381-0

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

 

“…terrorists have not used the Internet to launch a full-scale cyberattack, but we cannot underestimate their intent.” ~
FBI Director Robert Mueller.

 

Absolute security necessitates a loss of freedom, but absolute freedom produces absolute insecurity.

 

This book is dedicated to all the men and women who, while buffeted by capricious political winds, must daily walk a tightrope, balancing American citizens' desire for freedom and privacy with our need for security. I will not try to enumerate all the organizations you work for in federal and local government, but I sincerely thank all of you, though I do not envy you.

 

 

Endorsements

 

Hide and Seek

 

“The author has done a great job of weaving a very exciting, well written story together that I could not put down until I finished it in one reading. I had to find out what happened.” ~ Thomas H. Hinke, IT/Computing Security

 

“Mr. Wegley—let's see more of Jennifer & Lee. Either write faster, or get your publisher to publish faster. I'm waiting!” ~ Kate Hinke, Writer & Editor

 

“...the story really comes alive and pulls you along for a heart-stopping ride.
Hide and Seek
by H.L. Wegley is a definite keeper if you love suspense with a touch of romance.” ~ Ginger Solomon

 

 

 

 

1

 

Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known My name. - Psalm 91:14

 

As Katie Brandt read the printed email message in her hands, the words resurrected a horror from her graveyard of buried thoughts. Once again, she winced and writhed in the water as bullets from the AK-47 pounded her back. But as terrifying as that day five years ago had been, today could be worse. Much worse.

In only a few more minutes, another shooter would open fire with an assault rifle. She read the next line of the message and drew a sharp breath. The printout slipped from her fingers and floated to the floor. The shooter was local…at Seattle Center.

When she dropped to her knee on the computer lab floor to scoop up the paper, the reality of the situation brought an icy chill. Her mom and the twins were three miles away somewhere in the crowd at the big expo…
at Seattle Center
.

Little Grace and Grady stood in front of her. A gun barrel swung their way and the staccato popping of the rifle—

No! She couldn't allow the scene to play in her mind. A determination so fierce that it drowned her fear gripped Katie's will.

I've got to shut it down.

Still kneeling, she pulled out her cell, hit her mom's speed dial number, and waited.
Come on, Jenn, answer.
Mom...Jenn, she was still deciding what to call her adoptive mother of nearly five and a half years.

Darn it!
The call went to voice mail. Riding herd on a class of kindergarteners at the expo, no telling when Jenn would be able to check her messages.

The lab door opened with a sharp click. Whoever it was, she prayed they had driven to the university today, because she needed a ride, and she needed it now. With a little luck it would be a guy. She could use a big, strong guy like…

She grabbed the paper from the floor and looked up into the warm brown eyes of Joshua West, one of the other PhD candidates in the University of Washington's Computer Science and Engineering Department. Josh was perfect.

Katie had previously avoided his friendly overtures, but not today. “Josh, I need a ride, now.” She stood, her heart hammering out a driving rhythm.

The soft look in Josh's eyes turned to concern, etching twin lines on his brow. “Kathryn, what's wrong?”

“Don't call me Kathryn. I'm Katie. Josh, did you drive in today?”

“Yeah. I—”

“How fast can you get me to Seattle Center?”

Josh's frown intensified.

“Please, Josh. I need to get there in ten minutes or…” She couldn't finish. Not only were Jenn and the twins at the big education expo, but there were thousands of other schoolchildren. She grabbed Josh's hand and squeezed.

“Oww! That's quite a grip you've—”

“Josh?”

“Yeah. I can take you. But seriously, ten minutes? I'll probably get a speeding ticket...or get arrested for reckless driving.”

“I'll pay for it as long as you don't let anyone stop us until we reach the west side of the Center.”

“Pay for it? They won't let
you
do my jail time.” He shook his head.

“Josh, please.” She couldn't help it. She was begging.

Josh's expression changed. “OK. Kath…uh, Kate, let's go. Do you mind telling me why we're in such a hurry?”

We're
in such a hurry? Josh had bought in, completely. Katie grabbed his arm and jerked him toward the door. “We need to run. I'll tell you on the way.” She yanked the lab door open and sprinted toward the exit nearest the parking area, dragging Josh behind her. “There's a shooter headed for the roof of Key Arena.”

“What?” He pulled his arm free, sprinted to catch up to her, and grabbed her arm. “Shouldn't you be calling 911?”

“I will, when we get in your car. But my guess is the help will arrive too late.” Or too loudly.

“There's my car, Kate.” As they ran toward the late-model Mustang, he unlocked the doors with his key fob. “Why won't the police respond fast enough?”

“This guy's a terrorist. I used my research tools and a little hacking to find him. I just realized what he's up to.” She climbed into the car.

Josh slid in on the other side. The look on his face appeared to question her sanity. But, thankfully, he hit the ignition.

Katie had avoided his question about the police response. Her answer would be inadequate, but she couldn't say that to a guy who already thought she was crazy.

He shoved the car into reverse and squealed out of the parking space, throwing her forward in her seat. When he shifted to drive and hit the gas, Katie's head slapped the headrest as she fished for her cell in her shorts pocket.

“I'm calling 911 now. I don't know if they'll believe me or not, so get me to the west entrance to the Key as fast as you can. My mom and my little brother and sister are there, and the guy's supposed to start shooting at 2:30. That's just a few minutes from now.” She keyed in 911.

“So you're going there to warn them? Don't they have a cell?”

“They—” She stopped. If she gave him too much information, he'd probably back out of the whole deal.

Josh's car had a lot of power. In only a few seconds he had run red lights at two intersections and was now accelerating onto 520, racing toward I-5.

The call center operator answered with the standard what's-your-emergency greeting.

Katie needed to circumvent the preliminaries. “In a few minutes there will be a gunman on the roof of Key Arena. He's got at least one assault rifle and he wants to kill—”

“Is this a possible terrorist attack?”

“Yes. We need a SWAT team response, not just a couple of officers. And no blaring sirens.”

“What is your name and location?”

“I'm Katie Brandt, and I'm in a car on I-5 near the 520 interchange.”

“Katie, park somewhere now, and I'll transfer you to an agent at the FBI field office. They're only fifteen blocks from the center.”

It was actually twenty blocks, but she didn't have time for quibbling. “I'm not the driver, Ma'am. I can talk. Please transfer me now.”

“All right. Stay on the line until the agent answers. This is a new phone system and new procedures. If you get cut off during the transfer, dial 911 immediately.”

A click sounded, there was a pause, and she waited for the transfer to complete. Katie hoped she got Agent Peterson. She could trust—

“Kate?” Josh's voice. “Are they going to help us?”

She looked over at him. “They're trying. Transferring me to the FBI. Their office isn't far from the Center. I know some of the agents there, so maybe—Blast it! They cut me off. They're never supposed to—” She drew a sharp breath and reached for the handle above the door as they flew into a turn.

The tires squealed as Josh's car slid through a curve at the end of the off ramp.

Katie gasped when he ran a red light on Mercer. She tried to take a calming breath. It didn't help. She let go of the handle and redialed.

A different operator answered.

The car flew down Mercer Street at a frightening pace, but Katie shoved that concern aside to concentrate on the phone call. “This is Katie Brandt.”

“It's her,” the operator said to someone else.

There was a lot of noise in the background. Evidently, she had stirred things up at the call center.

“Katie, we're going to transfer you to the FBI field office, now. You won't be cut off this time.”

Josh swerved from one lane to another, dodging cars, flinging Katie side to side.

Her shoulder slammed into the door as he veered left onto Broad Street.

“Hang on, Kate. It's getting a little dicey with all this traffic.”

“So I noticed. Are you going down Denny to 1st Avenue?”

“Yeah. From 1st I can get you to the west entrance of the Key. But—” he paused. “What are we going to do there, Kate?”

When someone came on the line, she chose to avoid Josh's question. “Agent Peterson here.”

Thank you, Lord!

“Peterson, it's Katie Brandt.”

“What's up, young lady?”

“A shooter is up. On the roof of the Key with an assault rifle.”

“What? You aren't down there, are you?”

“I'm almost there.”

“There's a shooter at the Key and you're headed there? Back off, Katie. You were lucky the last time—” Peterson stopped.

She could hear noises on Peterson's end. He was probably trying to direct other agents even before he finished talking with her.

“Mom and the twins are with the kindergarten class on a field trip with—”

“I know. With twenty thousand other kids at that big expo. Stay away, Katie! We'll handle this.”