Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (e reader for manga .txt) 📗

wired. The wired Tesla had gotten the attention of all those who were skeptical, and no one dared disregard the warning.

“We have a problem in Chicago,” Gordon said. “We don’t have enough policemen to use for the search because of all the riots. They are an hour behind us, but the rioting has been going on all night long. I have the National Guard instead.”

“What about Los Angeles?”

“Three hours behind us. The time there is eight thirty, which is good. I have given an order not to open the post office. I’ve closed all the nearby roads. There is no entry to the building. They have already started the search for the sniper in the area around the post office.”

Linda walked in, and said, “All the Israeli consulates have been given an order to remain closed today. There will be no public reception. The consulates which haven’t opened their doors yet won’t open at all. In the consulates where it was possible to do so, they already evacuated, except for the emergency forces.”

I closed my eyes, relieved. Gideoni had managed to pass on the message after all.

“If the terror attack was only against the Israeli consular and its workers, it would have made things a whole lot easier. They are so practiced in emergency situations it is almost a joke,” Gordon said.

“Yassin also banked on it,” I agreed. “He is playing with the American public’s assumption that the Israelis won’t be hit, just those near them, those who cooperate with the Israelis. It is an absurd situation that we cannot accept.”

“It is a terror attack with a hint of a trace of anti-Semitism…or, at least, that is what would be made of it,” Linda remarked and then said, “I’m going to Allimi, he may have some information on the shahid in San Francisco.”

“I hope the weather will be in our favor. I find it hard to believe that so many people will go and demonstrate in this cold weather in favor of Israel. It is only eight thirty in the morning in San Francisco and it is bitterly cold.”

“Where there is passion, cold weather is no deterrent. Let’s see what Allimi has to say,” Linda said, and she walked out.

The officer in San Francisco reported that the area had been shut down to all traffic. “We preferred to close all the roads and reroute the public transport as well. I hope you finish this nightmare quickly. The city is awakening to a real mess.”

“I hope so too,” Gordon replied, “The hour chosen was not by coincidence. They were going for maximum chaos and devastation, including psychological damage. I need to go, I’m with Washington on the other line.”

“Things at Columbia University are starting to calm down. They didn’t receive the news about cancelling their permit to demonstrate very well.”

“They don’t really interest me at the moment,” Gordon answered the police officer. “What about the catering trucks?”

“We checked which embassy is supposed to be having a big party with catering, because we didn’t want to solely rely on the evidence. In the end, your witness was right. It was the Malaysian embassy. We have checked all the trucks of the catering company. There were two missing and they were supposed to be in the repair shop. We managed to find one of them there and the other we tracked with the GPS chip located in the vehicle. Both drivers have been arrested. The explosives have been dismantled. We hope Washington is out of the line of fire.”

A spontaneous round of clapping sounded throughout the room, which only reminded me how much pressure everyone was feeling. Every city cleared of danger was a triumph, the result of tremendous effort by hundreds of policemen and security forces.

“I am going to hear Allimi’s report,” I announced. There were three people working in Linda’s office. They concentrated on a screen on Linda’s desk. They were listening to the report and made space for me next to the camera. I signaled for Linda to remain seated and listened in.

“...in the end, we managed to get the cooperation of the imam in the third mosque. Maybe he had too much to lose. He led us to one of the newer worshippers, who was trying to lead the youngsters into radicalism. The imam led us to the coffee shop where he worked, and they gave us his address. He hadn’t shown up that day for work. We have arrested him and two other accomplices who were busy filming their farewell speeches. It’s a kind of a custom of theirs, to film themselves giving their last message before they blow themselves up.”

We all sat, erect, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from our shoulders. I even saw a few satisfied smiles. “What about the two snipers? Anything to report there?”

“Not yet. Maybe with the interrogation of the kid we’ll get some more information. I understand you stopped the pro-Israel demonstration?”

“We stopped it and also closed down any access to the street around the Israeli consulate. All the traffic has been diverted to other routes and the security forces are trying to find the snipers.”

“We are waiting to hear from you if there is anything new to report.” Linda smiled at the screen and Allimi smiled back at her and the call ended.

“I am going back to Gordon,” I announced and walked back to the operations room where Gordon was orchestrating.

“Philly, what’s new with you?” Gordon asked as I entered. His voice sounded hopeful. “Have you found the wired car yet?”

“Not yet. We are still looking, but we have closed down the whole area surrounding the Israeli consulate. We aren’t letting any residents out of their homes and the civilians are putting a lot of pressure on us here.”

“So, they’ll have something to talk about during their dinner tonight…”

In the background came the sound of excited masculine voices and Gordon turned his head to see what the commotion was all about. “The dogs are running around one of