La Jolla, California
Darkness drenched the Pacific Ocean beyond the shoreline, the moon allowing just enough light from the shore to highlight specks of sea foam churned by pounding waves. Gerrit caught a glimpse of the water before the van door closed.
Taylor eased into the seat next to him. “Okay, SWAT’s in place and Marilynn just came through with warrants. Agents en route from San Diego’s federal building with the paper. They should be here in twenty.”
“Marilynn’s not bringing the warrants?”
“Nope. Cromwell called and said she jumped on a red-eye back to D.C. as soon as a federal judge put his John Henry on the paper.”
“Cromwell? I thought he was still up in Seattle.”
Taylor shrugged.
Gerrit glanced up as the monitor tapped into the target’s security system. The last two months since the ferry shooting had passed with a blur of activity, almost as blurry as his relationship with Marilynn. They’d been together a couple times since that last tense meeting with Cromwell. And those few times they were together-beyond the physical-they lived like strangers going through the motions.
“Okay, I’ve accessed the primary suspect’s computer.” Gerrit typed a command on the keyboard in front of him. “Once I get into his system, I’ll be able to see what he’s looking at. Thanks to Gregori, we’ve got all of Nico’s codes.”
Taylor watched him hit the final strokes as the screen opened up. “Man, you always freak me out with this stuff. Learned all this when you went to that fancy school back east? How to hack into other people’s business?”
“MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the best schools to learn how to hack and track whomever you choose. By the way, I canceled your dinner date for next week.”
“How’d you know…?” Taylor glared at him.
Gerrit smirked.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Pulling my leg again. With all your computer savvy, I never know whether you’re on the up-and-up.” Taylor shifted in his seat. “I can’t figure you out, bro. You walk away with a doctorate in some kind of technology I can’t even pronounce-to become a cop? They should’ve bounced you on the psychological. Must have bribed somebody in the department to pass that test. A real mental case.”
Taylor leaned over and poked him with a finger. “If I was you, I’d be making a killing in the private sector-all that nano mumbo jumbo everyone’s talking about. Instead, you’re hanging around in a van with the likes of me. Personally, I think you’ve got a screw loose.”
Gerrit glanced up at a monitor, and a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder loomed on the screen. “Okay, we’re in business.” He clicked through a number of camera locations inside the suspect’s dwelling. “I count five men walking security. I think Nico’s in his office or bedroom, but his security system doesn’t monitor either location. I saw him walk in that direction a moment ago.”
Taylor nodded. “How’d you get access to his computer, Einstein?”
“If I told you, I’d have to shoot you.” He leaned closer, studying the monitor. “Same technology you can buy off the market to monitor your kids or employees-but a lot more sophisticated. Rigged up so the suspect doesn’t know we climbed into his system.”
Another monitor in the van caught his attention. A red dot blinked on and off. “There, he’s in the master bedroom…wait a minute. We have another marker going off.” Headlights flashed on yet another screen. A car pulled into Nico’s gated driveway. “Uh-oh. We got trouble.”
“I hate it when you say that.” Taylor pulled closer.
“See that second dot? That’s one of Nico’s cars.”
“If Nico is in the bedroom, who’s using his wheels?”
“His family-wife and daughter. I thought they were supposed to be away for the weekend. Up at their place in Tahoe.”
“Must be a change in plans.”
Gerrit leaned back in the swivel chair. “This complicates everything. SWAT’s going to hit that place in just a few minutes. And now we have two innocents in the way. One of them a five-year-old girl.” He snatched up the portable. “Team leader to Alpha One.”
“Go, Team Leader.” Special Agent Peter Finch, SWAT leader, continued. “We just moved into place. Ready to move out?”
“Stand down until further notice. I’ll eighty-seven you in two.”
Finch keyed the mike twice in acknowledgment.
Taylor leaned over. “Where you going, Gerrit? The entry team’s all set. Just waiting for the warrants to get here.”
“I’m going in with them. Need to protect that child. This jerk might use his own child as leverage.”
“Oh, man, Gerrit. Can’t you just let someone else handle this?”
“Stats just changed, Mark. Before, our safety margin was high-90 percent chance of our people staying safe with shock and awe. Now, that just changed. With innocent people on board, our chances dropped 50 percent because our guys might have to hold back their firepower. I’ve got an idea to change that threat ratio.”
Gerrit snatched up his Heckler amp; Koch MP5 submachine gun and several extra magazines, slipping out the door before his partner started in again. The salty night breeze swept up the hillside, off the ocean, like a cool sweep of a hand. He inserted an extension wire to his portable, plugging an earpiece in place before clipping the radio to his belt.
He scrambled toward the SWAT van a block ahead. He tapped twice on the rear door and climbed in. The target residence stood another fifty yards away, hidden by a dense cluster of trees.
Inside, Peter Finch, greased up for war, edged in Gerrit’s direction. “For crying out loud, Gerrit, we’re ready to go in right now.”
Gerrit pulled out a portable monitor, showing GPS markers blinking in the darkened command van. “The target’s family just showed up. We have to adjust our entry and takedown.”
Muted red illumination inside the vehicle did little to conceal the tenseness in Finch’s face. “We can’t change our plans. My men will separate the family from Nico when we hit the place.”
“Not good enough. I have to know that the woman and child are safe. I’m going in with you, Finch.”
The FBI agent bristled. “No way. You haven’t-”
“Served with the U.S. Marines in three wars-Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Second Gulf War. Member of Seattle PD’s SWAT team. I think I can handle a simple entry. Besides, it’s my decision-not yours.”
Finch surrendered. “Stay behind the entry team until we cross the threshold. Right on my butt. We’ll snatch the wife and child together.”
It was Gerrit’s turn to relent. Nodding, he glanced at the mobile monitor patched in from the other van. A red dot emanated from the car inside the garage. “Family may already be inside. Give me updated readings from our heat sensors showing where everyone’s located. I don’t have Nico locked down. Taylor just advised the paper is in hand.”
Finch whispered into his mike, waited a few seconds, then nodded. “You’re right. A woman and child just went upstairs where Nico might be. There are five other bad guys; one at the top of the stairs and four downstairs. It’s time to move out…now!”
Gerrit nodded.
Finch broadcasted his orders. As Gerrit followed him out the van, his cell phone vibrated. He pulled it out. Marilynn. “Hold up. AUSA calling in.”
Finch let out a groan at the assistant U.S. attorney’s timing.
Gerrit raised the phone to his ear. “What’s up, Marilynn? We’re on the move.”
“I need you here in D.C. immediately. Something’s come up.”
“Unless it’s about this operation, I don’t have time to chat.”
Marilynn’s voice cut in before he could kill the connection. “Have Taylor connect with the FBI. They can run the show without you. I need you on a plane tonight.”
“Forget it. I’m going in with the entry team. Everything’s in play.”
“This is much more important, Gerrit. Hand it off. That’s an order.”
“Marilynn, you don’t call the shots on these operations.” He killed the connection and jammed the phone into his pocket. Something about her voice sounded odd. Not Marilynn’s normal confidence coming through. She seemed worried.
Gerrit grasped his MP5 and signaled Finch it was a go. Time to take care of business.