The Templar Reprisals (The Best Thrillers Book 3) by James Best (free ebook reader for ipad .TXT) 📗

“Do they have anything that fast? That deadly?” Baldwin asked.

Wilson appeared resigned when she answered.

“Yes. Yes, they do.”

Chapter 51

Evarts placed the call to General O’Brian. He didn’t answer immediately, so Evarts listened to boring music until he heard a gruff “Yeah, Greg, what do you have? Quick.”

“Methow says that right now in D.C. are three compartmentalized bomb teams plus a two-man team of chemists. The chemists are targeting the president. Our presumption is a biological attack on Air Force One flight on Friday.”

“Credible?”

“The team and target, yes, the presumption is guesswork.”

O’Brian was quiet for a long moment. Evarts remained silent as well.

“If the team and target are credible, the presumption follows logically,” O’Brian said. “Thank you. Call me at seven PM for a full debrief. Gotta go.”

The call ended.

“What did he say,” Methow asked.

“That our presumption flowed logically, then he ended the call.”

“Protocol requires him to alert the Secret Service immediately,” Wilson said. “They’ll take whatever measures are necessary.”

“Yeah, we’ll leave the operational side to him.” Evarts turned to Methow. “What do the Ikhwan hope to accomplish with this series of attacks?”

“The collapse of their strongest enemy. I explained this before, the Ikhwan have only one goal, a global caliphate. A return to when Islam ruled the civilized world.”

“You believe they’ll kill everyone on the planet who doesn’t convert?” Baldwin said. “That’s ludicrous.”

“Not their goal,” Methow said. “Just like in the Middle Ages, they’ll subjugate false religions. They call it dhimma. Non-Muslims are allowed to live in an Islamic state with a few legal protections. All revocable at will. Also, notice that I said strongest enemy, not worst. Worst enemy is reserved for Israel, but they see us as the muscle behind the Zionists. If they bring us to our knees, they believe the world will follow.”

“So, kill our political leaders and we roll over and surrender,” Wilson said. “That’s their plan?”

Methow shrugged. “They don’t really understand us … or our political system. To them everything is family and tribe. They live in a feudalistic system where everything is hierarchical and static. Our system is resilient in ways they can’t imagine, but that’s beside the point. No matter how delusional they may be, they remain lethal.”

“Okay,” Evarts said, “we decided to leave the president for O’Brian to handle, so let’s get back to the three bomb teams,” Evart said. “What do—”

“No,” Methow said adamantly. “Before I tell you anything further, you’re going to tell me something I don’t know.”

Evarts spent a moment deciding if the time was right. The information on the president was invaluable, so he said, “We suspect the bomb teams fabricated bogus review copies of The Vault, a book due to be published next month. The Pentagon disagrees. They contacted the publisher and they confirmed that there will be legitimate review copies distributed this week. We still suspect that they’re fragmentary bombs. If they are, then by Friday evening, members and staff will have dispersed, so explosions will occur in cars, at the airport, in planes, in offices, hotels, and probably every place in between. It’s a theory, with little substantiation. In fact, that’s why we’re here … to see if we can get some confirmation. The Pentagon has a different theory. They think the attack will be directed at Reagan National Airport. They suspect suicide bombers will set off explosions when they spot congress people scurrying out of town before the long recess. We both assume another attack on Friday evening, but otherwise we’re on different tracks.” Evarts paused. “Which scenario seems most plausible to you?”

“What makes you think those are the only two possibilities?” Methow asked.

“If they want to break our government, it makes sense to go after Congress as well as the president,” Evarts said. “I can think of only three options. One, set off a bomb in the capitol while both houses are in session. Two, kill them outside the capitol while they’re bunched together somewhere like the airport. Or three, have them carry the means of their death wherever they might go. We believe security at the capitol rules out the first option.”

“Agreed,” Methow said. “So, you want me to provide a clue, something that would tilt you in the direction of option two or option three.”

“Correct.”

“Before I do that, tell me what else you’ve learned.”

O’Brian seemed sure that Major Callaghan had informed the Templars about their findings in Jakarta, so this could be a test to see if he were forthcoming. He guessed that it was … and a fishing expedition.

“We believe we know the true identity of the caliph and where he resides in Jakarta,” Evarts said.

“Do you know his exact whereabouts?”

“Yes, but I won’t tell you until we run these scenarios to ground?” Evarts said.

Methow sighed. “More teasing? Do you really know anything?

“We do.”

“I might be able to help isolate the correct scenario. On the other hand, I might strike out,” Methow said. “If I give it the ol’ college try, I want your word you’ll tell me everything you have on Jakarta.”

“You have my word,” Evarts said.

“Okay, first, how are the books locked? Why can’t someone peek early?”

Wilson answered. “They’re encased in hard-plastic that looks like a vault. The recipients are told that if they jimmy the case, an acid will be released to destroy the book, à la The Da Vinci Code.”

“More likely, the bomb will go off,” Methow said in a low thoughtful voice.

“We think so as well,” Wilson answered.

Methow picked up the phone and it soon became clear he had called the CEO of the publishing house. From the breezy banter, they obviously knew each other. In fact, it became clear that Methow was outside council for the publisher. Methow confirmed that their general counsel had vetted the book and every aspect of the launch. Methow requested a copy and after some haggling, he was promised a copy, but not before Friday evening. Then Methow exuberantly praised the idea of a facsimile vault casing. Evidently, the CEO was proud of the idea