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

the help of a few students. If they’re willing to assist, he requests that they leave the session now and follow you.” Evarts handed her the phone. “The five names are recorded on this.”

She punched it up and listened. “Is that Kamil’s voice?”

I nodded.

She said, “I’ll play this into the microphone. Tell them Kamil is helping as well. But Greg, they’ll be suspicious, especially with the mention of the Library of Congress.”

“Why?” Crenshaw demanded.

“It’s our number one potential target for today,” Evarts answered, then returned his attention to Baldwin. “I’m hoping the opposite. If these five are the cell members, they’ll read the mention of the library as code that they are all needed to deal with something having to with today’s bombing.”

She nodded. “That might work. Get them to exit the hall voluntarily so in the case of trouble, innocent people won’t be in the line of fire.”

“Matt?” Evarts asked.

“Sounds good to me, but maybe one of my agents ought to make the announcement. It could be dangerous if they smell a trap.”

“No, I’ll do it,” Baldwin said. “I’m an academic. I know how these things are done. Plus, I’m a woman. Fundamentalist Muslims are used to women obeying. They’re less likely to suspect me.”

Crenshaw looked at his watch. “Then let’s get going. The session starts in two minutes. Everybody ready?”

“What’s the protocol if someone pulls a gun?” one of the agents asked.

“Shoot to kill,” Crenshaw said without hesitation.

Chapter 64

Evarts took a seat toward the rear of the auditorium and tried to appear un-cop like. Slouching a bit, he surveyed the auditorium. The room was a standard sloped lecture hall that could hold over a hundred students. Attendees filled about two thirds of the seats with stragglers filling up a few of the vacant spots. The audience was overwhelmingly male with about half dressed in traditional Arab garb. The remainder looked like ordinary Georgetown students in denim pants, t-shirts, and sneakers.

Baldwin entered the chamber from the instructor’s door located on the right side of an elevated platform. She walked authoritatively to the podium. The scattered mummering of the audience instantly ceased. Baldwin had that affect when she stepped into a classroom. Her stride was athletic and purposeful. Her erect posture, lithe figure, and attractive features grabbed the attention of men and the animus of women. Evarts had witnessed this audience behavior before and smiled to himself.

At the microphone, Baldwin adjusted her glasses before speaking.

“Gentlemen and ladies, I have an announcement. My name is Priscilla Wainwright. My task today was to introduce Yousef Gamal, but unfortunately, he has been called away to other pressing duties.”

Evarts felt amused at her new alias as she paused to allow hushed sounds of displeasure to dissipate.

“A substitute has been recruited, and I’m sure you will all be thrilled when he arrives in a few minutes. Our committee has a surprise for you that I’m sure you’ll find enlightening. A little explanation is in order, especially considering the lofty purpose of this conference. As you know, our noble cause is to bring cooperation between Muslims and Christians.”

Baldwin appeared to be checking her notes before continuing.

“Mr. Gamal has been invited to prepare and present a paper for the Congressional Library. The subject is to be,” she again referenced her notes, and then pronounced the word phonetically, “Hakamiyya.”

She smiled shyly and Evarts thought she looked stunning.

“I apologize if I pronounced that incorrectly. Mr. Gamal takes this invitation very seriously, especially since devout Muslims are seldom asked by the United States government to publicly express their views on the teachings of Islam. He wants this paper to be precise and correct, so another of our illustrious instructors has agreed to assist him. Additionally, they have requested a number of you to help with this project which must be completed before their departure next week.”

She fiddled with the cell phone.

“I don’t want to mispronounce these names, so I’m going to play a recording I made that lists the selected students.”

She placed the phone by the microphone and played the short recording. Evarts watched the audience intently. Heads began to swivel as the names were recited. Evarts wished he could read their expressions. He mentally mapped where he saw people reacting to the list. One section was particularly restless. If they didn’t voluntarily come forward, he intended to hem in the students in those two rows.

Baldwin adjusted her glasses again and smiled warmly. “Congratulations to those five students. They have been honored by two of the finest Islamic theologians in the world. If you are in the room, would you raise your hand, please.”

At first nothing happened, but before long two hands slowly rose, followed by three others. The young students were seated three forward and two back on the aisle in the rows where Evarts had earlier spotted body movement. Baldwin called them to the stage. Evarts held his breath. Would they fall for the ruse and come forward?

They stood, uncertainly. Evarts assumed they were suspicious of a trap, but Baldwin’s demeanor and the reference to the Library of Congress would hopefully quell their doubts. Suddenly, two adult males closer to the stage stood and swiveled to look at the boys. They weren’t FBI. The hair on Evarts’ neck stood up. Something was wrong.

He couldn’t see around the five standing students, so he stood and stepped into the stairway aisle. The two men were looking up at the students as they gathered their backpacks and began to shuffle into the aisle. Evarts had a bad feeling. As casually as possible, he moved down the stairs at a brisk pace. When he got to the students, he excused himself without making eye contact and jostled his way passed them. He heard no objections until he came up to the other men.

Then one said something startling. “Chief, get out of our way.”

Evarts went for his gun. He felt movement behind him and ducked just in time to avert a blow to the head. The glancing hit caused him