Armageddon Conspiracy (30 page)

The vehicle came fast, its engine racing, its beams knifing through the ground mist. At the fork in the drive, it swerved toward the cottages, and Brent pressed down into the wood chips. The car momentarily slid off the blacktop as if the driver was panicked. Was it Biddle’s security or someone coming to warn the terrorists? The car disappeared behind the trees, and a second later he heard its brakes chatter as it squealed to a halt. Its doors opened and then thumped shut.

Brent checked his watch. Ninety seconds. Ahead in the darkness a voice rose momentarily above the wind. The speaker was invisible, the words indistinct, but Brent thought he caught a heavy accent.

His heart thumped as he recalled the face of the man who’d tried to kill him in the garage. Seconds ticked by. He concentrated, listening for every sound. Momentarily he thought he heard footsteps nearby. He gazed into the darkness but saw nothing and heard only the wind and the hiss of rustling leaves. His watch gradually showed
forty-five seconds . . . thirty seconds. Finally, it was time.

He inched out from the azaleas, stood, and aimed his water gun high into the boughs of the nearest pines. He hosed the branches until he could smell gas dripping all around, and then he waited, looking in Kosinsky’s direction. After another second, there was a glimmer of light, and very quickly three or four pines along the edge of Biddle’s property burst into flames.

A second later several more trees, these much closer, also went up, and now he lit his match and tossed it. The instant
Whoosh
of the igniting gas took him by surprise, and in only seconds the heat knocked him back a step. He stood there, momentarily silhouetted against the night, but then he crouched and began to move toward Maggie and Kosinsky.

At least six trees were burning. The wind whipped the flames, and limbs began to pop as the sap and pine needles caught. Glowing sparks raced off the trees and blew over the lawns, and the roar of the flames overrode even the sound of the wind. He finally saw movement out of the corner of his eye, veered toward it, and found Maggie squatting at the base of a thick oak.

He knelt beside her, shouting to be heard over the fire. “Where’s Kosinsky?”

She shook her head just as three quick shots cracked over the sound of the storm. Brent looked toward the sound but saw only the wind-lashed flames twenty or thirty yards away. Without thinking he freed his pistol and began crawling. Behind him Maggie shouted into the walkie-talkie, “We have shots fired! Fred, throw the bombs and get out right now. DeLeyon, get your ass into town. Copy?”

Brent was already too far away to hear any response, but a second
later when he glanced back he spotted a new glimmer of flames in the direction of the main house. He was snaking along the side of the azalea bed, trying to stay low. He hoped he wasn’t too visible, but he didn’t slow. Kosinsky had risked his life for him.

Up ahead a dark shape lay on the grass. He froze as light from the burning pines wavered across the still form. Overhead, thunder boomed. Finally, he inched forward, watching for movement while his mind raced. Was it a terrorist? He remembered Kosinsky’s warning, but even if the guy moved, he couldn’t shoot until he knew for sure.

He was only a couple feet away before he recognized Kosinsky, lying on his back with his hand clamped tight over his left shoulder. Brent could see blood glistening in the firelight. “Steve,” he whispered, “it’s me. I’ll get help.”

“Careful,” Kosinsky groaned. “The guy came up so fast. He’s got a silencer. I got off a couple shots, but I think I missed.” He fought a wave of pain and closed his eyes. After a deep breath he opened them again. “This guy’s a pro.”

Brent looked out at darkness behind them and the conflagration in front. Which way had the guy gone? Kosinsky seemed to read his mind. He pointed a bloody finger toward the cottage. “Over there.”

The pine trees were burning on their own now, the wind sucking flames along the branches, spreading them to the main trunks. An asteroid shower of burning pine needles rained through the air. Beyond the pines the night was a pool of black ink.

Brent heard a sound behind him. He spun away from the fire and aimed blindly, realizing belatedly that he’d lost his night vision.

“It’s me!” Maggie called as she appeared out of the dark. “Hold
tight, Steve,” she said. She pulled a small flashlight from her pocket, cupped the beam, and shined it on his wounded arm and then on his chest where three holes had shredded the fabric around his heart, exposing the bulletproof vest beneath. She clicked off the light and grabbed her walkie-talkie. “DeLeyon, you copy? We need an ambulance. Kosinsky’s hit. Repeat. Kosinsky’s hit. Do you copy?”

Fred’s voice came to her, filled with static from the approaching storm. “I copy,” he said. “I’m calling 911 on my cell phone, and I’ll be there in a second. Where are you?”

Brent snatched the walkie-talkie out of Maggie’s hand. “Fred, stay the hell away from here!”

“Forget it. I’ve got years of first aid. Are you near Kosinsky’s original position?”

Brent gritted his teeth. “Yes,” he said. “Be careful.”

A second later Fred came back, sounding breathless, as though he was running and trying to talk at the same time. “The guard up at the house is dead.”

Maggie grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Repeat?”

“Dead,” Fred huffed. “I saw him in the firelight after I tossed my bombs, slumped over in his little guardhouse.”

Brent gave his head a shake. Think! What was happening? Was somebody else attacking? Police? FBI? No way—there would be lights, sirens, and helicopters. No, it had to be the terrorists, but why would they kill Biddle’s guards?

“We can’t worry about it,” Maggie said, as if she’d read his mind. “Let’s cover the driveway in case they try to get away.”

“Get going!” Kosinsky said. “I’ll be okay.”

Footsteps thumped behind them. Brent turned as Fred limped
into sight. “I could see you bastards all the way across the lawn,” he whispered. “You stand out real good against the fire. Just thought you’d like to know.”

“Take care of Steve,” Brent said. “I’ll cover the driveway.” He started running back the way he’d come, but almost immediately he sensed someone behind him. “Stay with Kosinsky!” he said, trying to wave Maggie back.

“No!” she said. “I’m coming with you. Get it through your head!”

He started to run again. In spite of the circumstances, a brief hope flickered. Maggie was with him. There was nothing he wanted more.

ABU SAYEED WAS ALREADY FLATTENED
against the cottage wall when the second stand of trees ignited. He inched to the door and looked out in time to see a third group of trees go up in flames. Naif ran past him, across the courtyard, but even before had he taken up a covering position beside the garage, three shots sounded in the trees. They were loud, from a heavy gauge pistol, not Mohammed’s silenced Heckler & Koch.

Abu Sayeed looked up at the approaching blackness in the western sky and deep within it the lurid flicker of lightning. He raced mentally through his options, then pulled plastic cuffs from his pocket and tossed them to Anneliës. “Get him on the boat,” he said, his voice clipped but unhurried.

He noted the defeat in Biddle’s face as Anneliës knelt and jerked his wrists behind his back. A second later Mohammed appeared,
backing out of the trees. He was breathing heavily, his shirt soaked through with rain and sweat. He squatted near the door. “I saw one man,” he said quickly. “I killed him.”

“How many others?”

Mohammed shook his head in confusion. “There are no sirens and no lights. It is most strange.”

“And the security people?”

Mohammed nodded. “Dead.”

Abu Sayeed nodded. There was no time for understanding, only for action. “To the boat!” he snapped. Mohammed turned and ran toward the opening in the hedge. Next, Abu Sayeed jerked his head and Anneliës dragged Biddle to his feet.

“Let Faith go,” Biddle pleaded as Anneliës shoved him outside. He stumbled across the courtyard like a doomed man, offering no resistance.

Abu Sayeed walked into the bedroom. He unsheathed his Russian combat knife and cut the tape that bound Wofford to the chair. He pulled Wofford roughly to his feet. “Wait there,” he commanded, shoving him out of the room.

He turned toward the woman, who raised her head and looked at him, her eyes wide with panic. He raised his submachine gun and fired. A spray of blood hit the pillow and wall as her head exploded.

He went back into the sitting room to find Wofford cowering beside the front door, a horrified look on his bruised face. Abu Sayeed barely glanced at him as he opened the flap of a leather satchel that lay on the dining table. He set the timer for ninety seconds and then went to where three backpacks leaned against the wall. He slipped
one on his back, slung his machine gun over his neck and slung the other two packs along one arm. He moved to Wofford, gripped him by the back of the neck, his arm weighed down by the packs, and shoved him out the door.

With Wofford as his shield, he hurried across the courtyard to where Naif squatted in the shadows.

“Forty-five seconds,” he hissed, as he dropped the two packs. “Go.”

Naif nodded and slipped on his pack, took the other in his hand, and raced for the opening in the hedge. Abu Sayeed peered toward the burning trees, trying to pick out silhouettes. It made no sense. There should be teams of attackers. Biddle certainly hadn’t arranged this, but then who?

He started backing toward the boat, tightening his grip on Wofford’s neck. As he neared the hedge and Mohammed brought the yacht’s diesel engines rumbling to life, he thanked Allah for giving him the foresight to put the missiles back on board.

He paused in the shadows of the hedge. Naif whistled behind him, signaling that the shoreline was clear. Beside the cottage, Abu Sayeed heard a woman’s voice shouting, “Freeze! Police!”

He raised his gun over Wofford’s shoulder, caught a momentary glimpse of a silhouette, and fired a silenced burst. The woman’s handgun barked several times, the shots hitting a few feet to his right. He needed only seconds. He fired a longer burst to keep his attackers pinned.

A moment later, the charge went off. The cottage windows blew out and the roof buckled, spraying a deadly shower of broken shingles. To Abu Sayeed’s surprise, Wofford exploded out of his grasp and
began running toward the ruined cottage even as shards of flying slate flew all around.

In the courtyard, where she’d been partially sheltered by the Range Rover, a woman was on her hands and knees, trying to stand. Abu Sayeed made a quick calculation then pulled the trigger. He watched Wofford pitch face down on the paving blocks, and then he dashed forward, put his foot on the woman’s back, and flattened her to the ground.

The air had become a slurry of rain and wet dust, but he could see she no longer had a weapon. Her shirt was tattered from the explosion, revealing a bulletproof vest. He placed the machine gun against her head then squinted toward the trees, looking for more attackers. He saw nothing and heard only a single voice calling, “Maggie! Maggie!”

He jerked her to her feet and put her in a throat lock. She cried out in pain, swaying limp as a rag doll, but he dragged her back to the opening in the hedge using her body as a shield. In the darkness, the voice drew closer, calling, “Maggie!”

Abu Sayeed glanced to the side, across Biddle’s acres of well-lit lawn. Flames poured from one corner of the big house, but otherwise nothing moved. “Maggie!” the voice cried out from the courtyard. Abu Sayeed loosed a burst of machine gun fire in the direction of the sound, and then grabbing the pack he had dropped, he dragged the woman across the open space to the dock. Her legs were unsteady, so that she was nearly deadweight. He considered shooting her but then heard Naif’s footsteps behind him.

“Help me get her onto the boat,” he called. They each took one of the woman’s arms and hauled her up the gangplank. Abu Sayeed
threw her into the salon and tossed the extra backpack on a chair. He ordered Anneliës to find a set of cuffs for the woman in one of pouches, and then he ran out to help Naif untie the lines. As they heaved off, Mohammed reversed the engines and swung the big boat away from the dock, pointing the bow into the teeth of the squall coming from the west.

Abu Sayeed squatted against the transom and watched the shore. After a second he saw movement, a single silhouette running down the dock, framed every fifteen feet or so in the piling lights. They were picking up speed as he tried to aim, timing his shot to the yacht’s roll. He pulled the trigger as the man came into view again, then watched him spin and fall.

Abu Sayeed stood, ran through the aft salon, and climbed to the upper deck and then to the bridge. He left Mohammed at the helm, went to the radar, and set the resolution to a hundred yards, then two-fifty, then five hundred yards, looking for the blip of a big boat, a Coast Guard cutter perhaps, something with armament that could blow the Hatteras out of the water. Only, he saw nothing, just the usual yachts, fishing boats, and sailboats on their moorings.

His enemies had attacked, yet they had left the back door open. Why? He tried to think. Allah, clear my mind, he prayed as he went below to the salon. Anneliës had the woman cuffed, and he jerked her into a sitting position and struck her hard across the cheekbones. “Who do you work for?” he demanded. “FBI? CIA? Police?”

The woman blinked away tears of pain and glared back in silence. He saw fear in her eyes but also will and resolve and knew he had too little time to break her down. Where was the helicopter that ought to be overhead right now? Where was the Navy, the Coast Guard? There seemed only one plausible explanation—that
in any military operation even with meticulous planning things went wrong. Tonight, something had gone wrong for his enemies. Apparently, the Americans had prepared a trap, yet thanks to Allah, someone had moved early. No doubt at this very moment, Coast Guard boats and helicopters were on their way to Biddle’s estate and a mob of government agents were gathering outside the gate.