Lethal Diversion

He walked quickly to the entrance, and saw that he wouldn’t even get past the door without identification, which he casually provided. The policemen at the entrance instructed him to go inside and stop at the security desk. Jonas nodded pleasantly to them both, then went inside. The man at the desk was familiar to him, and he smiled in greeting.

“Officer Robards,” he said. “What’s going on here today?”

“It’s crazy,” he said, reaching for the phone on the desk. “Hang on and I’ll let Allison know you’re here.”

“I can’t go back?” he asked. “Is there a problem?”

Robards shook his head. “No one but law enforcement is getting back there today, I’m afraid. Like I said, crazy.”

Sayf affected a shrug. “I’ll wait,” he said, putting his hands behind his back and walking in a slow circle in the lobby. He hadn’t expected to get into the EOC, but it would have been a nice bonus. As it was, he would have to see how much he could pry from Hart.

It took her nearly ten minutes to come out to the lobby, but she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “Michael,” she said. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“It’s no problem,” he said. “Is everything okay?”

She shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. We’ve had to stand up the EOC. I’m afraid I have to cancel our plans for this evening.”

“You must be joking,” he said. “We have dinner reservations at Opus One tonight!”

“I wish I were,” she said.

“There is...trouble?” he asked. “I didn’t hear anything on the news and the weatherman said the skies would be clear.”

“Let me walk you to your car,” she said, taking him by the arm. “I’ll explain as much as I can on the way.”

He allowed her to lead him back out of the building and into the parking lot. “You seem very upset, Allison,” he said. He already knew that the boat had been discovered and he was quite angry with Malick Yasim, but he would deal with him later. For the moment, he needed to play the solicitous boyfriend.

“I am,” she said. “There’s a...threat to the city. A terrorist threat. Until we can lock it down, I need to stay at the EOC to coordinate our response.” She looked up at him and he was struck again by her physical beauty. She was a very spiritual woman, but she was not Muslim. Like the car or the suit, she was simply part of his disguise.

“I see,” he said. “So it is serious. Should I be worried? What kind of threat?”

She shrugged delicately, then peered around the parking area for his car and started in that direction once she saw it. “We don’t know, at this point, who’s involved or what their plan is, but the threat seems serious enough. I can’t tell you much more, just that the threat is radiological—and I shouldn’t even say that.”

“My God!” he said, pretending surprise. “And you don’t have any idea of what their actual plan is?”

She shook her head. “No. That’s what we’re working on now.”

“Perhaps we should cancel the game tomorrow night,” he suggested. His job as the head of Security for Ford Field—the home of the Detroit Lions—provided both income and a very high-profile cover for his work. “This kind of danger. So many people. It’s Halloween and we’re expecting a full house.”

They stopped at his car and she leaned into him. “Michael, no one can know. Don’t cancel the game yet. That would just start people asking questions and sooner or later, a panic. I’m sure we’ll get it figured out before then.”

“I hope so,” he said. “I’ll call the restaurant and cancel our reservations. And I won’t say anything, but you must promise to keep me informed.”

“As much as I can,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ve got to get back, but I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Of course,” he said, returning the kiss. His disgust at the public display of affection didn’t show on his face. He unlocked his car and got in. “Call if you need anything. Would it be all right if I increased security at the stadium?”

Hart nodded. “Just do it quietly.”

“I will,” he said. He started the engine, then drove away, quite satisfied. They knew very little and Hart was obviously very afraid. He could see it in her posture, her eyes, and hear it in her voice. Fear was a powerful weapon, too, and those who were scared didn’t make good decisions. It would serve his purposes quite well.

4

The flashing blue and red lights from various law-enforcement vehicles were nearly blinding as Bolan pulled to a stop and parked his car. He wanted a look at the boat, but he’d expected the area to have calmed down by this time. The notion that they were going to keep this situation under wraps was going to be pure fantasy if they didn’t scale things back quite a bit. He left his vehicle and flashed his DEA badge at the two county sheriff’s deputies that stood guard in front of the path down to the beach where the yacht had beached. They motioned him to pass on through without stopping him.

He’d reached the rocky shore, noting the three body bags on the ground, and was contemplating whether to check the boat or the bodies first, when he was stopped by a tall, lanky man in a Coast Guard Chief’s uniform. “Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?”

There was an open honesty to the man’s face that Bolan liked to see in law enforcement. “You must be Chief Cline. I’m Agent Matt Cooper. DEA. Denny Seles sent me your way,” he said.

Chief Cline shook his hand and then a quick flash of recognition followed. “That’s right. I got a text from Seles that he might be sending over another set of eyes. What can I do to lend you a hand?”

“Well, the first thing you can do is send about seventy-five percent of these people home or back to their regular patrol. And tell the others to turn off their emergency lights. All this is drawing way too much attention to the scene. I don’t know why Seles didn’t mention it before, except he’s a man with a lot on his mind.”

Cline looked around, taking in the sight. Bolan knew that when someone was in the middle of something, it was hard to see it from the outside.

“You’re right,” he said. “There are too many people here for a simple boat-run-aground scenario. I’ll start clearing them out immediately. What else?”

“Have you learned anything new since Seles was here earlier?” he asked.

The chief shook his head. “Not really. Our hazmat guys finished their piece just a little bit ago. We’ve got a crane and a semi trailer on the way to offload the container and take it to a secured warehouse. Then we’ll tow the boat itself to a secure docking area.”

“A semi and a crane?” Bolan asked. “That’s about as inconspicuous as all these lights.”

“Our options are limited. Seles wants the Feds to be able to examine the container separately,” Cline explained. “And the damn thing weighs a ton.”

“He’s a by-the-book guy,” Bolan replied. “But this doesn’t make a bit of sense. Call off the crane and the trailer, have them meet you at the secured docks and offload the container there. The extra time that will take will be worth the extra security. Let’s not draw any more attention to the area than we have to.”

“I agree with you, sir, but I’m going to need authorization from Agent Seles before I give that order.”

“Call him and get it or I will, but just hold off the semi and crane until you do. Worst case, they’ve got to sit for a few minutes beside the road.”

“I can do that,” he said. He pulled a phone from his belt and made the call for the incoming crane and semi to hold position. “Just get me the authorization, Agent Cooper. This is too serious for me to screw up.”

“I understand,” Bolan said, his eyes moving to the body bags. “I’m surprised that they haven’t moved the victims. What’s taking the coroner so long with the bodies?”

“They’re out on the ambulance in ten minutes or less,” he said. “We wanted to do a complete search to make sure the bodies weren’t carrying something harmful.”

“Good call,” he said. “But if it’s all right, I’d like to take a quick look at them before the coroner removes them.”

“Right this way,” he said.

Each of the bodies was zipped into an individual black bag and the coroner was beginning to load the first one onto the stretcher.

“Dr. Beaman,” the chief said as they stepped closer. “This is Agent Matt Cooper with the DEA. He’d like a moment to examine the bodies, please.”

Beaman looked like a man out of patience and way too old for wandering along a cold, rocky beach in the middle of the night. “Young man, if you’re about to tell me that there has been yet another delay in getting these bodies back to the morgue I’m going to perform the autopsies right here and let the gulls have the carcasses.” The flustered doctor crossed his arms over his chest, huffed at Chief Cline and sent angry glances at Bolan, certain that he was the cause of his having to stay out in the cold.

“No, sir,” Cline said. “At least, not for very long. Agent Cooper here just has a couple of questions for you.”

“Well, there’s not much I can tell you yet. Two of the men appear to have died from gunshot wounds and the other was knifed, but I won’t have a lot more until I get them on my table.” Beaman looked pointedly at his watch.

“I’d like to take a look,” Bolan said.

The coroner sighed as he reached forward and unzipped the body bag and pulled it open to reveal the face of the first victim. Bolan was stunned when he recognized the face and it must have shown.

“You know the guy?” Cline asked.

“I’ll have to double-check my files, but I believe he’s a lower-level dealer that I’ve been looking for. Let me see the other two.”

The coroner revealed the other two faces. Bolan took quick snapshots and thumbprints from each man with his handheld and sent them off to Brognola to begin the facial recognition and fingerprint ID process. The databases at Stony Man Farm were much larger and more detailed than anything that Seles would have access to.

“When you get them on your slab we’re going to need pictures of any tattoos and scars right away and I’ll get my people working on it,” Bolan said. He handed Beaman a card with his number on it. “Send them digital to that number.”

“Won’t Special Agent Seles’s men already be working on it?” Dr. Beaman asked.

“My people are faster.”

“I thought we were all one people working together?” the doctor quipped.

“Sometimes I get to jump the line, that’s all,” Bolan said. “I won’t hold you up any longer, Doctor. You look like you’re ready to get out of the cold.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all night.” Dr. Beaman turned to his two assistants. “Load them up and let’s get going. We’ve got a lot yet to do.”

Bolan and the chief stepped away as they loaded the bodies. Bolan took a quick look around the ship, but nothing else jumped out at him. It was an expensive piece of work, though, and that meant somebody had paid someone else to do it. He’d be sure to mention it to Brognola as a possible information angle. The money trail was sometimes the easiest one to follow.

“You really did know that kid?” the chief asked. “What a shame. He couldn’t have been more than twenty or so.”

“I’d never met him, no, but he dropped off the radar about a couple of months ago. I’ve been working a drug-interdiction case and I never forget a face. That kid was in the briefing files I received.” He looked around the beach once more, contemplating all the law enforcement in the area and thinking about secondary strikes. “I’m done here, Chief, and I think you want to move fast to get all this out of sight. I’ve got a feeling that this just got more complicated. I just wish I knew how.”

“I’m on it,” Cline said, then spun and headed toward his men, barking orders as he went.

Bolan climbed into his car and dialed Seles.

“Seles.”

“Denny, it’s Cooper. I have some additional information.”

“I’d take some good news right now, so shoot,” he said.

“I’m not sure how good it is.” Bolan relayed the information about the dead man he knew to have been involved in the local drug trade, as well as his orders to Chief Cline to minimize emergency personnel, cut back on the lighting, and have the container unloaded in a secure area.

Seles sighed heavily. “Jesus, Matt, you’re right. I should’ve thought of all that, thanks.”

“It’s not a problem. You’ve got a lot on your plate, Denny. Just get Chief Cline his authorization.”

“Done. Do you have any leads on who that kid hung around with? Someone you can talk to for information?”

“He’s got an older brother in the 8 Mile area. I’m going to go and snoop around, see what I can get from him. I’m also going to send you what I have now in my files—just in case.”

“Is talking to him going to blow your other operation? I can go talk to him myself,” Denny said.

“I’ll do it,” Bolan replied. “I’ve got a feeling that if we don’t get a handle on this situation and fast, there may not be any other cases here...ever.”

* * *

THE DRIVE FROM THE EOC to the warehouse on the edge of the 8 Mile region gave Michael Jonas ample time to relax and become himself once again. By the time he arrived at the metal building with the boarded-over windows, he was fully Sayid Rais Sayf again, ready to lead his men and fulfill their plans. The building itself was unremarkable from the street and an ownership search would lead the searcher to a shadow corporation within a shadow corporation. In point of fact, it was owned by an unremarkable bureaucrat in the Iranian government who had no idea he was the owner of a warehouse in Detroit, Michigan.

Sayf used the small building behind the eight-foot-high chain-link fence as an occasional meeting place or storage facility, and, at the present, it was his primary office for their mission until it was over, unless something went wrong or they were discovered and forced to move. After he passed through the electronic gate and ensured that it shut behind him, he drove the Audi around to the backside of the building where a garage door opened in response to the button he pressed on his visor.

He parked the car and shut the garage door. From where he was, he could see Malick Yasim through the glass door of the office. He was pacing and, in the reflection from the light, beads of sweat were visible on his bald head. The damage done by the Coast Guard finding the ship was containable, but he couldn’t let his second in command see that fact right away. First, he must be reminded of how simple mistakes could cost them everything.

Sayf calmly stepped out of the car, retrieved his briefcase from the backseat, and shut the doors. Yasim would be waiting for his judgment—he was a loyal soldier. But his carelessness had given more information to the authorities than they’d planned, and that could prove crucial to their timing. He crossed the concrete floor of the nearly empty warehouse to the office and opened the door.

Yasim turned to him immediately. “Sayid, I heard about the boat and the bodies. We left it anchored. I did not expect it to come ashore until after everything was completed. I have failed you.”

“You are a stupid fool!” Sayf snapped. “Do you know what this means to us? We must change the times for everything and we must keep them looking in other directions. Your mistake makes things more difficult than they already were! What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I...I am sorry, Sayid,” the bald man stammered. “Allow me to redeem myself in your eyes. Give me a task to complete to show you that I will not fail you again.”

Sayf allowed himself to the luxury of appearing to consider Yasim’s words while he put his briefcase on the desk and turned on the computer. “Perhaps there is a way...”

“Anything!”

“What we will need is a diversion, Malick. Something to force the authorities to concentrate on more than one task at a time.”

“Yes! This is easily done. I will prove myself to you by creating the diversion you need!”

Sayf sighed and got to his feet, clapping the man on the shoulder. “Easy, my friend. Slow down. I know that you are sorry. Mistakes happen, but we must not allow ourselves to falter foolishly. In any case, we must adjust and I already have a plan in mind that should suffice. You need only to carry it out.”

“What must I do?” Yasim asked.

“I want you to take a group of our people to the far end of 8 Mile and start a fight there with one of the other gangs. One of the motorcycle groups if you can. Make it loud, get some fires going, and don’t be afraid to kill. Extra bodies will only add to the list of things the authorities must deal with and consider.”

The man nodded. “I know a good place for this. When do you want this to happen?”

“Get started now. I want the fight in full swing within an hour. Can you do this?”

“Yes, it shall be done. I will leave immediately and contact you when it’s over.”

Sayf shook his head. “Go there and get the fight started, but do not linger. I want you back here as soon as possible.”

Yasim bowed low and left the office without another word, eager to prove his worth once more. Sayf returned to the desk and sat down, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. In spite of the minor setback, things were moving along well.

Soon, Detroit would explode in a ball of radioactive fire, and become a permanent symbol of the failures of American policy in the Middle East. And as a martyr to the holy cause, he would be revered for all time and rewarded in heaven.

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