Page 22
Story: Handling Haven
In addition to his two bodyguards, there were five Delta members scattered around the food court. With their scruffy, non-military appearances, they blended in quite well with the other mall patrons. Since it was very easy for Americans with passports to cross the border, via one of three international bridges, there was a mixed crowd of Caucasians and Hispanics, so none of the operatives looked out of place. The rest of the Deltas were spread out over the entire mall, watching all the entrances and exits to both the mall itself and the area around the food court. The cameras Avery was monitoring included those in the back hallways behind the stores, where someone might question any non-employees seen back there.
Frisco’s knee jiggled up and down.It was killing him not being there to back up his teammates in person, but he still had their sixes, even if it was only through the use of cameras and microphones. “Five minutes and counting. Confirm.” Each two- or three-man team came over the air, giving updates on their locations and statuses. So far, no one had seen anyone out of the ordinary. They had no idea if Smith was coming alone, with a small army, or something in between.
With three minutes left on the countdown clock, Jordyn announced, “Black shirt, black jeans, Middle Eastern, five foot ten, dark hair and beard, carrying a blue knapsack by the elevators, and wearing headphones.”
Sliding her mouse across its pad, Haven moved the camera closest to the food court’s elevators. Finding the target, she zoomed in and took several screen shots of the man before widening the lens view again. Somewhere in the mall, a poorly-paid security guard was probably wondering what the hell was going on with changing camera angles—if he’d even noticed and wasn’t sound asleep at the moment.
As they watched, the man Jordyn had spotted stood in place and scanned the food court, before looking directly at Reardon sitting in the middle ofeveryone else eating lunch. Examining the screen shots, Haven shook her head and frowned. “That’s not him. That’s not the guy from the wedding.”
“Well, he’s headed toward Ginger,” Jordyn responded. “Kenny, relax—everything is fine. Take a sip of your soda or something. Look to your left, away from him. Donotmake eye contact with him unless he stops and says something to you.”
There was silence over the comms while the man they now had under surveillance strode across the busy food court, but instead of stopping, he walked past Reardon and sat at an empty table, facing him. Seconds ticked by. While Carter, Jordyn, and Frisco kept their eyes on both the Deimos geek and the possible suspect, the others continued to look for other potential threats. They had no idea if the guy with the knapsack was the real Mr. Smith, a scout for him, or just some random guy looking to sit for a few minutes. Haven was scanning the crowded mall, zooming in on anyone who might be the man she was sure was behind all this.
Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light on more than half of the monitors focused on different areas around the mall, before they went dark. The sounds of multiple explosions came through loud and clear over the comm units,followed by a lot of cursing, coughing, and screams coming from the panicked occupants of the mall. Then to add to the chaos, shrill fire alarms began to blare.
Ghost barked over the commotion in the background, “Report! Cliff Two or Three!”
For a tense moment there was no response, then Carter coughed harshly into his microphone. “Cliff Three! Smoke canisters in the food court! Lost Ginger ... repeat ... lost Ginger!
CHAPTER 17
“Reardon,acknowledge if you can hear me,” Carter demanded.
After three seconds without a response, Ghost asked, “Who’s got eyes on the principal? Base?”
“Negative,” Frisco replied. “We lost half the cameras.”
He, Avery, and Haven frantically scanned through the few mall feeds they were still receiving, along with those from the body cams. The operatives were fighting their way through the throngs of people who were screaming and running for the exits. The jostling, smoke-filled images made it difficult to clearly see anything or anyone.
“How the hell did we lose only half?” the colonel asked from behind Frisco.
One of the analysts in California, listening in on the operation, came over a speaker attached to Haven’s computer. “Their CCTV is running on two different frequencies. We hacked into both. Only one got knocked out.”
Frisco was trying to figure out if they got lucky or screwed with the setup—not that it made a difference at this point.
“Find him, Base!” Ghost ordered. “Teams, sit-rep! Anyone hurt?” Everyone checked in and denied being incapacitated. If there were any injuries, they were minor and could be dealt with later. However, they did report there were injuries and probable deaths among the mall shoppers. At least four bombs had been detonated in various parts of the 425,174 square foot, one-floor building, while more smoke grenades had added to the panic and confusion. That was probably to disguise any escape route without cutting it off.
“Two tangos who threw the smoke grenades are down and out,” Jordyn announced. “Any sign of our boy?”
Haven brought up the view from Reardon’s hidden camera, which was shaking as he moved quickly in an unknown direction. Through the heavy, white smoke the occasional dark forms ofpeople scrambling for safety could be seen. He pushed open a door and ended up in a corridor where there was far less smoke, but there was no way to tell which one he was in or what direction he was heading.
Frisco gave the intel to the team. “It looks like Ginger is in one of the hallways behind the stores. Unknown direction.”
“Copy that,” Ghost replied. “Teams, cover the corridors.”
The operatives scrambled to find their principal. Since it hadn’t taken long for Kenny to enter the hallway, it was most likely one of four nearest the food court. Each, however, ran in a different direction, with more than one exit along its length.
“Wh-Where . . .cough. . . are we going?”
“Oh, thank God,” Haven said with relief at the sound of Reardon’s voice which had not received a verbal response. However, when he stumbled forward, it was a good guess he’d been shoved from behind. Since they could only see in the direction he was looking in, it was impossible to tell how many suspects were with him and what weapons they had. “Kenny, coughthreetimes fast if you can hear me.”
A single cough was the only response. She tried again. “Kenny, cough three times.”Again, she didn’t get the correct response. “Shit. His earpiece must’ve come out. Damn it, Kenny, where are you?”
Shifting her gaze to a different monitor, she rapidly clicked through the feeds that were still working. Suddenly, she stopped and went back to one that was from a camera in the parking lot. Hundreds of people were streaming out of the mall, running for their lives, but something else had caught Haven’s attention. Making the quarter-sized, streaming image fill the full screen, she focused on a white van parked in an alleyway, backed up to a loading dock. Frisco kept one eye on the view from Reardon’s hidden camera, and the other on what Haven was doing. She zoomed the camera in on the windshield. Two people were in the front seat, and she focused on the driver first. “Middle Eastern, but not my guy. Ten to one this is where they’re headed, though.”
Frisco agreed since the men seemed unaffected by the bedlam occurring throughout the mall and parking lot. He quickly referenced the building’s floor plan he’d printed out earlier. “That’s what? Loading Dock C?”
She checked the lettering at the top right corner of the feed. “Yeah, Dock C.” She had the other man in the center of her screen, but he was turned in theseat, watching the doors leading in the mall. “Come on, passenger, look at the pretty birdie.”
Frisco’s knee jiggled up and down.It was killing him not being there to back up his teammates in person, but he still had their sixes, even if it was only through the use of cameras and microphones. “Five minutes and counting. Confirm.” Each two- or three-man team came over the air, giving updates on their locations and statuses. So far, no one had seen anyone out of the ordinary. They had no idea if Smith was coming alone, with a small army, or something in between.
With three minutes left on the countdown clock, Jordyn announced, “Black shirt, black jeans, Middle Eastern, five foot ten, dark hair and beard, carrying a blue knapsack by the elevators, and wearing headphones.”
Sliding her mouse across its pad, Haven moved the camera closest to the food court’s elevators. Finding the target, she zoomed in and took several screen shots of the man before widening the lens view again. Somewhere in the mall, a poorly-paid security guard was probably wondering what the hell was going on with changing camera angles—if he’d even noticed and wasn’t sound asleep at the moment.
As they watched, the man Jordyn had spotted stood in place and scanned the food court, before looking directly at Reardon sitting in the middle ofeveryone else eating lunch. Examining the screen shots, Haven shook her head and frowned. “That’s not him. That’s not the guy from the wedding.”
“Well, he’s headed toward Ginger,” Jordyn responded. “Kenny, relax—everything is fine. Take a sip of your soda or something. Look to your left, away from him. Donotmake eye contact with him unless he stops and says something to you.”
There was silence over the comms while the man they now had under surveillance strode across the busy food court, but instead of stopping, he walked past Reardon and sat at an empty table, facing him. Seconds ticked by. While Carter, Jordyn, and Frisco kept their eyes on both the Deimos geek and the possible suspect, the others continued to look for other potential threats. They had no idea if the guy with the knapsack was the real Mr. Smith, a scout for him, or just some random guy looking to sit for a few minutes. Haven was scanning the crowded mall, zooming in on anyone who might be the man she was sure was behind all this.
Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light on more than half of the monitors focused on different areas around the mall, before they went dark. The sounds of multiple explosions came through loud and clear over the comm units,followed by a lot of cursing, coughing, and screams coming from the panicked occupants of the mall. Then to add to the chaos, shrill fire alarms began to blare.
Ghost barked over the commotion in the background, “Report! Cliff Two or Three!”
For a tense moment there was no response, then Carter coughed harshly into his microphone. “Cliff Three! Smoke canisters in the food court! Lost Ginger ... repeat ... lost Ginger!
CHAPTER 17
“Reardon,acknowledge if you can hear me,” Carter demanded.
After three seconds without a response, Ghost asked, “Who’s got eyes on the principal? Base?”
“Negative,” Frisco replied. “We lost half the cameras.”
He, Avery, and Haven frantically scanned through the few mall feeds they were still receiving, along with those from the body cams. The operatives were fighting their way through the throngs of people who were screaming and running for the exits. The jostling, smoke-filled images made it difficult to clearly see anything or anyone.
“How the hell did we lose only half?” the colonel asked from behind Frisco.
One of the analysts in California, listening in on the operation, came over a speaker attached to Haven’s computer. “Their CCTV is running on two different frequencies. We hacked into both. Only one got knocked out.”
Frisco was trying to figure out if they got lucky or screwed with the setup—not that it made a difference at this point.
“Find him, Base!” Ghost ordered. “Teams, sit-rep! Anyone hurt?” Everyone checked in and denied being incapacitated. If there were any injuries, they were minor and could be dealt with later. However, they did report there were injuries and probable deaths among the mall shoppers. At least four bombs had been detonated in various parts of the 425,174 square foot, one-floor building, while more smoke grenades had added to the panic and confusion. That was probably to disguise any escape route without cutting it off.
“Two tangos who threw the smoke grenades are down and out,” Jordyn announced. “Any sign of our boy?”
Haven brought up the view from Reardon’s hidden camera, which was shaking as he moved quickly in an unknown direction. Through the heavy, white smoke the occasional dark forms ofpeople scrambling for safety could be seen. He pushed open a door and ended up in a corridor where there was far less smoke, but there was no way to tell which one he was in or what direction he was heading.
Frisco gave the intel to the team. “It looks like Ginger is in one of the hallways behind the stores. Unknown direction.”
“Copy that,” Ghost replied. “Teams, cover the corridors.”
The operatives scrambled to find their principal. Since it hadn’t taken long for Kenny to enter the hallway, it was most likely one of four nearest the food court. Each, however, ran in a different direction, with more than one exit along its length.
“Wh-Where . . .cough. . . are we going?”
“Oh, thank God,” Haven said with relief at the sound of Reardon’s voice which had not received a verbal response. However, when he stumbled forward, it was a good guess he’d been shoved from behind. Since they could only see in the direction he was looking in, it was impossible to tell how many suspects were with him and what weapons they had. “Kenny, coughthreetimes fast if you can hear me.”
A single cough was the only response. She tried again. “Kenny, cough three times.”Again, she didn’t get the correct response. “Shit. His earpiece must’ve come out. Damn it, Kenny, where are you?”
Shifting her gaze to a different monitor, she rapidly clicked through the feeds that were still working. Suddenly, she stopped and went back to one that was from a camera in the parking lot. Hundreds of people were streaming out of the mall, running for their lives, but something else had caught Haven’s attention. Making the quarter-sized, streaming image fill the full screen, she focused on a white van parked in an alleyway, backed up to a loading dock. Frisco kept one eye on the view from Reardon’s hidden camera, and the other on what Haven was doing. She zoomed the camera in on the windshield. Two people were in the front seat, and she focused on the driver first. “Middle Eastern, but not my guy. Ten to one this is where they’re headed, though.”
Frisco agreed since the men seemed unaffected by the bedlam occurring throughout the mall and parking lot. He quickly referenced the building’s floor plan he’d printed out earlier. “That’s what? Loading Dock C?”
She checked the lettering at the top right corner of the feed. “Yeah, Dock C.” She had the other man in the center of her screen, but he was turned in theseat, watching the doors leading in the mall. “Come on, passenger, look at the pretty birdie.”