Chapter 19

Mike was seated in his chair staring at the situation screen at the front of the room. Looking over at Charlie, he asked, “What’s going on with the surveillance on the locations where we believe the rail guns are held?”

“Nothing,” Charlie answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I’m tired of waiting,” Mike said leaning forward.

“We can’t move until we have a better indication that some sort of crime has occurred,” Jim said knowing that Mike would skin anyone alive who jeopardized their ability to prosecute the terrorists. He wished that they could ship them off to Gitmo, but the President had closed it down the year before.

Mike picked up the telephone and dialed a number. When the party on the other end answered, he said, “Hello, I am Mike Bowman from the Department of Homeland Security. I’d like to speak to the Fire Chief.”

It only took a minute before the Fire Chief answered, “Hello, I’m Chief Hanson.”

“Hello, Chief Hanson. I’m Mike Bowman from the Department of Homeland Security. We would like you to come down to our office for a security briefing.”

“When?”

“I want you here yesterday, but I’ll settle for now,” Mike answered. He gave the address and hung up.

Jim looked at Mike and asked, “The Fire Chief?”

“That is a place of business. As such, the Fire Chief has a legal obligation to occasionally inspect for fire code violations. You know what I mean. They have to make sure that all of the fire exit signs light up and that the fire extinguishers are operational. I’m pretty sure that none of the businesses in that area have been inspected lately,” Mike answered with a smile.

“So if the Fire Chief knows what to look for when he’s inspecting a couple of businesses and he happens to see a rail gun then that gives us a reason to bust them,” Jim said with a smile.

Charlie laughed and said, “That’s why you’re the boss.”

Two hours later, Fire Chief Hanson left the Internet Café knowing more about the kinds of weapons that terrorists used than he ever wanted to know. It had been suggested that he personally attend to the inspection of every business in a two block area starting at nine o’clock the following morning. The wallet of the Fire Chief had a card with a cell phone number on it that he was to call in case any place that he inspected had anything suspicious looking in it.

When the Fire Chief left the building, Mike turned to Charlie and said, “Charlie, get a strike team of local law enforcement types assembled tomorrow morning at nine in the parking lot of a donut shop at least twelve blocks from the target business.”

“Yes, Sir,” Charlie said reaching for the phone.

“I’ll be there,” Mike said. Turning to Jim, Mike said, “I want aerial photographs of every building in the area. See if you can find the architectural drawings as well.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Mike picked up the telephone and called Sanjay.

Mike entered the house to find Kim Sung standing in the middle of the living room with her arms crossed against her chest. So far their relationship had been pretty peaceful. He ignored her and she left him alone. Based on the way she was looking at him, he had a feeling that was about to change.

She said, “You are too tense. It’s not good for a man to be so tense. Get undressed and lie down on the massage table. Kim Sung will fix you.”

“What? I’m supposed to get undressed with you standing here?” Mike asked.

“I’m an old woman. You have nothing I haven’t seen before,” Kim answered.

Somehow the tone of voice that she had used when answering his question made him feel about three feet tall. He said, “You can’t be serious.”

“Very serious. You get undressed now. I not tell you again,” Kim said shaking a finger at him.

Mike wondered if the authoritative manner possessed by the little woman could be bottled and sold over the counter. People would pay big money to be able to give orders the way she did. Deciding that he didn’t want to know what would happen if he didn’t do as she commanded, he undressed and stretched out on the massage table.

Kim Sung walked over to the table and said, “On your back. We start with your front so that your back relaxes before I ever get to it.”

Embarrassed, Mike turned over so that he was face up. Kim stepped up and started massaging his scalp. Her fingers were firm and her touch confident. Mike sighed at the sensations. Kim Sung said, “Very tense. Not good for man to be so tense.”

About ten minutes into the massage, Mike fell asleep. He woke long enough to turn over on his stomach. He woke almost two hours after the massage had begun to a tickling sensation running up and down his back. Kim Sung was running her fingers up and down his back with a feather light touch. When she told him to turn over, Mike rolled over without questioning her.

She resumed running her fingers up and down his body. Mike closed his eyes enjoying the sensation. He hadn’t even been aware that he’d had an erection. His come exploded out. The next thing he knew, a warm moist towel was being used to wipe up his ejaculate.

In a satisfied voice, Kim Sung said, “Now you not so tense. Relax. When you are ready, go take a shower.”

Embarrassed about what had just happened, Mike said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I am old woman. Nothing happen here that I haven’t seen happen thousands of times,” Kim Sung said in a matter of fact voice. She looked down at him and added, “I go in kitchen now, and prepare supper.”

Sanjay took a sip of his coffee. Over the lip of the foam cup he saw Mike walk into the donut shop. He raised a hand to get Mike’s attention while setting down the cup of coffee.

He said, “I already got you a cup of coffee, Mike.”

Mike walked over to the table where Sanjay was seated. Sliding into the seat, he said, “I’m glad you could come.”

“Is this one for Dale?” Sanjay asked.

“I hope so,” Mike answered.

He moved his wrist as though to check his watch, but remembered at the last moment that he wasn’t wearing it. He looked at the bandaged hand wondering how much longer he was going to have to wear the bandages.

With his typical head bobble, Sanjay said, “That is good. I have been waiting for this day for a long time.”

“Same here,” Mike said. He wondered when they would be in a position to roll up all of the terrorists. He added, “We’re going to have to wait a little while longer. We’ll be getting a telephone call to let us know that we can move in.”

“That’s okay. I like donuts and coffee. Sometimes I think I should have been a cop,” Sanjay said with a grin.

Mike laughed and said, “We’ll see how you feel about that if we’re here until five this afternoon.”

Sanjay smiled at hearing Mike laugh. It had been a long time since he had seen the man even crack a smile.

He asked, “How is Kim Sung working out?”

That was the million dollar question. After the massage the previous evening, Kim Sung had been the ever efficient housekeeper giving no hint of embarrassment about what had happened earlier.

He said, “She has this tone of voice she uses when...”

“Ah, she’s used the voice on you,” Sanjay said bobbling his head.

“Yes,” Mike said.

“My wife taught her that voice. I would have warned you, but my wife told me not to do that. She used the voice on me,” Sanjay said lifting his hands up and out in a gesture of surrender.

The first call from Fire Chief Hanson came in around eleven. He had found the materials used to create IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) in the work bay of a gas station. Mike had told him to continue his inspections since they were after bigger fish. Chief Hanson was not happy to learn that he was likely to discover something even worse than IEDs.

After hanging up, Mike called the local police for another strike force to assemble. He was going to send them against the gas station to take care of the IEDs. He warned them to bring a Bomb Disposal group with them. That little piece of information created a minor uproar at the police station.

The second telephone call came in about one o’clock. The Fire Chief had found two vans with suspicious looking equipment inside of them. This was the one that Mike had been waiting for all morning.

Smiling, he told the Chief Hanson, “Continue searching businesses in the area.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. I nearly pissed myself when I saw what was in those vans,” the Fire Chief said. He knew enough to believe that there was a good chance that radioactive material was in the area.

“We’re after the whole ball of wax, Chief Hanson. Continue with your inspections,” Mike said.

After hanging up, Mike turned to Sanjay and said, “We’ve got them now.”

“Let’s go,” Sanjay said.

“Not yet. We still have to get the warrants,” Mike said while looking through the contact list on his cell phone. Finding the number, he said, “Let me call in the information and then we’ll brief the assault force.”

Ten minutes later, Mike was out in the parking lot of the donut store surrounded by the SWAT teams from three local cities. Only one member of the three teams was a woman.

Smiling, he opened the trunk of his car and said, “Lady and Gentlemen, please empty your guns of all ammunition. I’ve got some special rounds for you to use.”

The members of the SWAT team gave Mike a disgusted look. They knew their business and didn’t need anyone telling them what kind of ammunition to use. Most of them actually loaded their own ammunition to achieve a higher velocity.

Ignoring the looks he was given, Mike reached into the trunk and held up a bullet. In a calm voice, he said, “This ammunition is known as a cop killer ammo, because it will penetrate a Kevlar vest. I want you to load your weapons with it because I expect that the individuals who we are going after will be wearing Kevlar vests.”