The Templar Reprisals (The Best Thrillers Book 3) by James Best (read any book txt) 📕

had a day to find the four terrorist teams the old-fashioned way. They would flush out the bad guys with detective work.

They walked into O’Brian’s outer office at seven ten.

O’Brian barreled out of his inner office and declared, “You’re late. You were supposed to be here at six thirty.”

“Pentagon security took longer than expected,” Evarts said weakly. “You’ve got this place screwed down tight.”

O’Brian made a gesture to invite them into his office. “You were taught to anticipate things like that.”

After they had poured coffee and taken seats at a conference table, Evarts asked, “Did you find the book storage site.”

O’Brian engaged in rare piece of theater and purposefully sipped his coffee before answering. “We did.” After another dramatic pause, he added. “They were at one of the Direct marketing warehouses. They’re staged for delivery this afternoon. Thank you for the tip to look at the Ikhwan financial partners.”

Evarts waited for O’Brian to continue.

“Our priorities have changed,” O’Brian said. “We have the bombs under surveillance, and we’ll seize them well before dawn tomorrow. The pressure’s off. Now we focus on rolling up these terrorists.”

“Are you sure you didn’t find decoys?” Baldwin asked.

“Excellent question. We may recruit you after this is over.”

“And the answer?” Baldwin said.

“The crates came to the warehouse from Baltimore. The manifest lists them as books from Saudi Arabia. Under the guise of a customs inspection, we opened the crates and, shall we say, borrowed a copy. It was taken to Fort Meade and disarmed. There’s no book. The bomb goes off when the vault is opened, so no book, fake or otherwise. The plastic vault is filled with a cake of pentaerythritol tetranitrate impregnated with ball bearings. The plastic case itself is engineered to shatter and hurl shards in every direction. The triggering mechanism is a hybrid we’ve never seen before and highly sophisticated. The plastic case is a glass epoxy with outstanding electrical properties. It acts as an insulator against external electrical charges. A copper sheath protects against radio waves. This is a well-engineered bomb designed to go off only when the vault door is opened, or the vault is jimmied or crushed. No accidental or preventative explosions. Our explosive ordnance disposal technicians now estimate thirty minutes to disarm.”

Evarts thought. “After the timer releases the door lock, what triggers the explosion?”

“Lifting the door. The timer could have directly triggered the explosion, but the bastards wanted a target directly in front of the blast. In case a few are tardy in opening the vault, the timer ignites the bomb thirty minutes after the door release.”

“You have a problem,” Evarts said.

“And a solution. If we snatch them in the wee hours, we don’t have enough time to disarm them all. That’s why they’ll be immediately flown by helicopter and dumped far out into the Atlantic.”

“Except for a few specimens for future study.”

O’Brian smiled. “We think a half dozen ought to fill the bill.”

“You’re confident?” Evarts asked.

“I’m confident,” O’Brian answered. “We can handle the explosives. Now we need to concentrate on capturing these terrorist cells.”

Baldwin settled her coffee mug onto the table. “What if there’s a backup supply at another warehouse?”

Both men froze.

Chapter 58

O’Brian called the FBI and suggested that they check for a backup supply of bombs, starting with the other warehouses owned by the mail order business. They readily agreed. Evarts thought it was unlikely they had a second stash because an additional eight hundred of these plastic encased bombs would be difficult to assemble even in the large Al Jubail factory.

“Okay,” O’Brian said. “I have a meeting in a half hour. Do you have any suggestions to get these terrorists to stick their heads out of their hiding place?”

“Where’s Sergeant Wilson?” Baldwin asked.

“Busy. You’re on your own.”

“Everything’s on autopilot,” Evarts said. “What makes you think they’re still hanging around?”

“Methow, who happens to be your source, told you they were here. Was he lying?”

“He lied constantly … my gut tells me not about this,” Evarts said. “But why are they still here if everything’s been set in motion?”

“Verification … insurance,” O’Brian mused, and then added, “You have an idea. Spit it out.”

“There’s probably going to be a third bomb. Today. Every cloud has a silver lining, however. We don’t have to lure them into the open. At least not one of the teams. They’ll emerge from their lair on their own.”

O’Brian appeared satisfied. “We think so as well. Any theories on the target?”

Evarts asked, “The Supreme Court? They’ve already hit Congress twice with another scheduled for tomorrow, and they have a plan to attack Air Force One. The symmetry seems obvious.”

“Too obvious?” O’Brian asked.

Evarts knew O’Brian was using them as a sounding board. All these issues and questions had already been thrashed endlessly by some of the brightest people in the capital. After all their gaming, this was the question of the day. Where would they hit next?

“What about the D.C. appellate court?” Evarts asked. “At least a few Supreme Court justices must be in line to receive vault books. Hit the judiciary a second time at a different level.”

“Humm,” O’Brian muttered. “Corresponds with our conclusion. I was hoping for something new.”

“Library of Congress,” Baldwin offered. “The first two attacks were on Congress, why not a third. We’re not supposed to know about the assassination of the president or the book bombs, so that would appear consistent. The Library’s a treasure trove of Americana. It would devastate the nation while quieting anxieties in the executive and judiciary.”

“Now that’s a new thought,” O’Brian said. “And one I like. It fits.”

O’Brian started to get up from the conference table.

“Before you make a call,” Evarts said, “let’s take a few moments to talk this through.”

“You don’t like the idea?” O’Brian said.

“I like it a lot. I never would have thought of it, which is why it’s good to have an author on the team. But let’s think this through logistically. We need to give the FBI and Capitol Police some guidance. It would take a huge explosion to