Special Talents (42 page)

"That's not a bad idea," said Scarborough. "We let the terrorists do our work for us, for a change."

"And you expect me to let a suspect just walk out of the station?" questioned Peters. "I can't do that, even for you, Rick."

"To be honest, Glen," said Scarborough, "if this is terrorist connected, it becomes my jurisdiction. It's now a matter of national security and not a local police matter. You have to turn him over to me anyway, and you know it. Especially since you don't have anything you can charge him with."

"I've got the broken tail light," said Peters.

"Versus a terrorist connection? Come on, Glen. You know as well as I do that as soon as the word 'terrorist' came up, you'd be calling me in anyway. How about this? You turn him over to me just as you would under normal circumstances. Once I've signed off on the paperwork he becomes my problem, not yours. And if he should escape after that you wouldn't have anything to explain to your superiors."

"Well," said Peters thoughtfully, "I suppose that once he was in your custody I wouldn't have much to say about how you handled the situation. And an escape while he's in your custody would reflect on your record, not mine. But you think it's really a good idea to let him escape? What if he gets away?"

"You just let me worry about that," said Scarborough. "All I need to know is if you'll turn custody over to me?"

"Well, like you said, I really don't have any choice. It will take a little time to get the paperwork in order. In the mean time he'll stay where he is. Once custody is transferred to you, you can do what you want."

"Thanks, Glen," said Scarborough. "Now we need to decide the best way for Mr. Muniz to affect his escape."

"I think the first thing we need to do is let Mr. Muniz know that he's going to be charged as a terrorist," said Jeremy. "Give him some time to sit and think about it. That will make it more likely that he'll try to escape. Then we can decide on how best to let him escape without it looking like we're letting him escape."

"Okay," said Scarborough. "I'll go break the 'bad news' to our friend in there. Then we'll figure out the best way for him to escape."

Munif had sat in the interrogation room for more than two hours. He was getting very nervous. Scarborough had told him that, despite his best efforts, the lieutenant had insisted he was a terrorist. He had even called Scarborough's boss who had decided Munif should be brought in for further questioning. And Scarborough said his boss was very adamant that anyone dealing with terrorists was to be charged as one themselves.

Jeremy watched Munif through the one-way mirror in the observation room. He constantly paced back and forth across the room. He even tried the door several times to see if it was unlocked. Finally Jeremy decided that Munif was ready.

They escorted Munif out of the interrogation room to another room where was another man waiting. And older man who had long hair and was unshaven. The man was shackled and sitting in the room by himself. Unlike the man, Munif was not shackled

"Grimes," said the lieutenant coming into the room. "Your ride will be here in a minute. Good riddance to you, too."

Peters left the two in the room alone. The older guy looked at Munif.

"What they got you for?" he asked.

"They think I'm a terrorist," said Munif. "But I'm not. I swear I'm not."

"Hey, kid, I believe you. But nothing I can do about it. I killed a cop. The scum deserved it. He was shaking me down. But they don't care about that. All they know is I killed a cop. But I'll get me a good lawyer. Get off on mental disturbance or something. Spend some time in a nice comfy hospital room and then they'll let me go."

"What about me? Where can I get a lawyer?"

"You kidding? If they think you're a terrorist you won't get a lawyer. They'll lock you in a small cell somewhere and sweat you for anything they think you know. It could be months or years before they decide you don't know anything. I heard about it before. Patriot Act and all. If they think you're a terrorist you ain't got no rights. You'll just disappear somewhere."

"That's not right," protested Munif. "I haven't done anything."

"Don't matter to them." He looked around and then pulled a small key out of his shoe. "I lifted this from one of the guards. Faked a stomach cramp. When he helped me off the floor I just picked his pocket. As soon as they take us out to the van to transport us I'm going to make my move."

Munif watched as the man opened his shackles and then closed them just enough to make it look like he was still shackled. Then he sat patiently waiting for the guards to come back. When they did there were two guards, Peters, and Scarborough. They escorted the two men outside to a nearby waiting police van.

"Okay, Grimes, get in," said Peters. "You'll be making one stop before you get to booking. And I'll be glad to testify at your trial."

"Whatever you say, lieutenant," said Grimes in a sarcastic tone.

He stepped up to the van and put one foot on the bumper. Acting as if he were going to get in the vehicle, he suddenly opened the shackles and they fell to the ground. Then he turned and pushed the lieutenant, knocking him into one of the guards. Without waiting Grimes turned and started to run from the van.

But the second guard was close. He reached out and grabbed Grimes and the two tumbled to the ground wrestling. Scarborough turned to help the guard and when Peters and the other guard gained their footing they, too, tried to help subdue Grimes.

As the five men wrestled on the ground Munif looked around. The street was just a few short yards away. It was dark and once he was out of sight he would disappear into the darkness. He looked again at the men scuffling on the ground and back at the street beyond. The police were so involved with trying to subdue Grimes that Munif was all but forgotten for the moment. Munif suddenly turned and sprinted for the street. Within a few seconds he had disappeared into the darkness beyond and was gone.

"Okay, he's away," said Grimes, suddenly becoming very docile.

The other men stopped fighting with him and Peters helped Grimes up off the ground.

"You were convincing," said Scarborough. "I thought you were actually trying to escape."

"I was," said Grimes. "Had to make it look convincing for your friend. He's probably two blocks away by now the way he was running."

"Not without that tail I put on him," said Scarborough. "Thanks, Detective Grimes. I appreciate the help."

"Hey, anything I can do to help put the bad guys away," replied Grimes. "I just hope he leads to you wherever he's supposed to lead you."

"I'm sure he will. Glen, I appreciate all the help. You have no idea how important this is. I'm sorry I can't tell you more."

"Well, can't say I'm real happy about being kept in the dark," said Peters. "But we're all on the same side. If this helps you catch some bad guys higher up than I figure it's worth it. Say hi to John for me the next time you see him. Tell him to stop by soon. He hasn't been around in a while and I'd like to catch up."

"I'll do that," said Scarborough. "Well, I'd better go get Jeremy and Conrad. We need to see where Munif is going to lead us."

Munif moved through the streets of D.C. for nearly two hours. He was very careful to avoid any streetlamps whenever possible. And when he saw a police car cruising the streets he would step back into the shadows until it had passed. Jeremy and Scarborough tailed him from a discrete distance. It was simple to keep track of him. Even when they lost him in the darkness Jeremy would use his ability and was able to locate him easily by his aura.

Finally Munif stepped into an all-night diner on the outskirts of D.C. He moved to the back and took a seat in a booth that partially obscured him from the door. He ordered only a cup of coffee and then sat apparently waiting for something. From their vantage point parked outside Jeremy and Scarborough could easily see him while being obscured by the darkness of the night.

"What do you think?" Jeremy asked.

"My guess is he was told that if anything went wrong to come here and he'd be contacted," said Scarborough. "Kranston isn't going to be happy when he learns he's lost $50,000.00. Not to mention Baker, whatever his role is in all this."

"What did you learn about baker?"

"Not much. Chronically unemployed. Holds a series of small, menial jobs but none lasts more than about 6 months. The last address on him was Madison Drive NW and 15th Street NW in D.C."

"I assume you have people checking out that address all ready."

"No need to. It's a fake. That address is the street address for the Washington Monument."

"Oh that's great. Any idea why a man like Baker might want to pay him $40,000.00?

"Well, he's got a small rap sheet. Petty burglaries, breaking and entering, some assault charges. Nothing really major. Spent some time in prison but always goes right back to what he was doing when he gets out. But I'm not sure what Kranston would want him for. Or what he could be doing that would be worth forty grand."

"Kranston has a good reputation in the medical community. Why would he be associating with someone like Baker?"

"I wish I knew, my friend. Maybe if we find him we can ask him. All we can do now is wait and see if anyone contacts Munif. When they do we might get some of the answers we're looking for."

"I hope so," said Jeremy. "The State of the Union Address is only a few days off. We're running out of time."

"I know. I'm not sure what we're going to do is something doesn't turn up soon."

Munif sat in the coffee shot for several hours nursing his cup of coffee. He kept glancing at the clock on the wall and then at the front door. After a while it became apparent to even Jeremy and Scarborough that no one was going to show up. Scarborough had nearly decided the entire stakeout was a waste of time when Munif suddenly got up and left the coffee shop.

They followed him through the streets of D.C. for a long while. Eventually he arrived at a small frame house in one of the suburbs. Without hesitation he entered the house through a back door. No lights came on after he was inside.

"Well," said Scarborough, looking at a sheet of paper, "that's his house, according to the police report. I'm surprised he'd return here. He must think the police are looking for him and this would be one of the first places they'd look."

"Returning to some place familiar," said Jeremy. "He probably won't stay long. Like you said, he has to know the police are going to look for him here. Maybe he figures they've all ready searched here and moved on when they didn't find him."

"Yeah, but if that were the case someone would have been put on the place to watch it in case he returned. You see that even in the movies and on the police shows on television. He has to know we're watching his house."

"It's probably why he went in the back door," said Jeremy. "Richard, if I were in his position, I'd want to be getting as far away as possible. As far as he's concerned when he's caught he'll be treated like a terrorist. That means Gitmo, no lawyer, a tiny cell, degradation, humiliation, maybe even torture."

"It's against the law to torture prisoners."

"Maybe so. But it has happened. Besides, I'm not talking about what will happen. I'm talking about what he thinks might happen. Some people are under the impression that all prisoners, especially terrorists, are tortured. He's probably worried right now about what they'll do to him if he's caught."

"So he returns to his home? Knowing they might be looking for him there?"

"Everything he had on him was confiscated when he was arrested. He'll need some clothes, money, and a way to get out of the area. I'm betting that right now he's in throwing some clothes into a bag and collecting any money he has and anything he might be able to pawn. Once he leaves we'll probably never see him again."

Scarborough took out his cell phone and called Peters. He told Peters to call the local police and have them send a unit to Munif's address. Ten minutes later a patrol car pulled up next to Scarborough's car.

"There's an escaped prisoner in that house," said Scarborough, showing his ID and indicating Munif's house. "He's probably going to be coming out in a few minutes. Probably the back door. I don't know if he's armed. I want you to pick him up and deliver him to Lt. Glen Peter's at the 4th precinct of the D.C. police."

"Understood," replied the officer driving the unit. "Any special instructions?"

"Don't hurt him. He'll protest that it's all a mistake and that he's not a terrorist. Just deliver him to Lt. Peters. He'll know what to do with him."

The unit pulled to the curb and the two officers inside got out. As they did, Scarborough pulled away from the curb and headed back into D.C.

"What do you think will happen to him?" Jeremy asked.

"He'll be charged with escaping custody. Probably not much else. Glen will make sure they go easy on him. He might even get probation."