24 Declassified: Operation Hell Gate

10. THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 6 A.M. AND 7 A.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME

The motorman sounded the train’s horn, activated the emergency brake. A shrieking squeal filled the subway station, but the train was too fast and too heavy to stop on a dime. Its continuous forward motion bore down on the terrified boy dangling off the platform.

Liam kicked wildly but couldn’t free himself from whatever had snagged his clothing. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…” In seconds the train would cut him in half. Liam closed his eyes. “Jesus, God, help me.”

Strong brown hands gripped his forearms.

“Come on!” a deep voice boomed over the roar of the approaching train.

Liam felt someone pulling him upward. There was a tearing sound and he was suddenly freed. The man who’d tugged on his arms stumbled backward, dragging Liam onto the platform and out of the path of the steel monster a split second before it crushed him.

Trembling, Liam lay on the platform, hugging the concrete. From what seemed like very far away, he heard the train stop, then a voice over the chugging noise of the idling motor.

“You okay, son?”

In mild shock, Liam lifted his head, stared blankly at the black man speaking. The Transit Authority policeman took Liam by the shoulders and lifted him to his feet. The officer’s brown eyes were wide with concern. Sweat stained his bronze-colored, pockmarked cheeks.

“I’m okay.” Liam’s voice was strained, even to his own ears.

“He okay?!” called the train’s conductor from the open window in the middle of the Number 2.

“Yeah,” called the cop. “Kid’s okay.” The officer turned his attention back to Liam. “Man! For a second there I thought we’d have to scrape you off the wall.” The policeman smiled, his relief evident.

“Thanks…thanks for helping me,” Liam muttered, knowing full well how inadequate his words sounded.

“What the hell were you doing down there? Did you slip? Or did somebody push you?” The transit cop glanced around the deserted platform.

“I lost my case and I had to get it back.” Liam pointed.

The officer saw the scuffed and dented case lying on its side. He brought the case to Liam. The boy snatched it back, hugged it to his chest.

“Thank you, sir,” he said quickly.

He felt the cop’s searching gaze, refused to meet his eyes.

“What the hell’s so important about that case that you’d risk your life for it?” the officer demanded.

Liam could hear the peeler’s tone was a little less friendly now. Still dazed, Liam searched for an answer, but his mind drew a blank. Finally, he stammered, “It. it’s my laptop computer.”

The policeman studied the boy’s expression, then the attaché case. “Is that right? Okay, then maybe we should open that case up and see if your ‘laptop’ is damaged.”

Tony Almeida handed his prisoner over to an armed detention team.

“Take him to room eleven. Prepare him for interrogation.”

“What’s with the third degree, man? So my visa expired. So what?” Saito cried, squirming against his cuffs. “This is America. Even illegal aliens have got rights.”

Captain Schneider fell into step with the guards. “I’m going with them. I don’t want to let Saito-san here out of my sight.”

The Japanese man smirked. “I’ll bet you’ve got great gams under those Hepburns, missy. Put on stiletto heels and you can punish me any time.”

The guards dragged the young man away. Tony signed his name on the entry log, then spied Ryan Chappelle approaching. He braced himself for a dressing-down.

“Good work, Agent Almeida. Great work, in fact,” said Ryan, slapping his back. “You and Captain Schneider are to be commended. I just got off the phone with Chet Blackburn. He told me you two captured a mainframe computer with its database intact.”

“That’s right, Ryan. Unfortunately we got there too late to stop the transfer of another Long Tooth missile launcher to another location. We don’t know where it’s headed, yet, and that should be our priority. Has Jamey dug up any information on that truck?”

“She examined the footage you sent her, but even with enhanced imaging filters she couldn’t get a license number off the plate. Nina issued an all-points bulletin, but there are a lot of white Dodge cargo vans in Los Angeles. ”

“We should start with the vehicles registered to Green Dragon and all the factory’s current employees. Then we should check the airports. Cargo shippers especially—”

“Jamey and Nina are on top of it, Tony. It’s more important that CTU gets access to the data on that computer, so I’ve dispatched Milo Pressman with a Cyber Unit.”

Tony nodded. “Captain Schneider also captured a prisoner. I’m on my way to interrogate him. His name is Hideki Saito, a Japanese national from Tokyo. He came here about eighteen months ago. His visa expired a month ago.”

Tony displayed his PDA. “I’m going to run his name and picture through the Japanese National Police database. I’m certain Saito is Yakuza, so the

Tokyo Prefecture will probably have a file on him.”

Ryan was surprised “Yakuza? You’re sure?”

“Definitely,” Tony replied. “A member of an old clan, too. Very traditional. Somehow he messed up in the past so maybe I can use that against him during the interrogation. It might be the psychological hook I need to get inside of him.”

“How do you know all this, if I may ask?”

“The little finger on Saito’s left hand is missing. As atonement for his mistake — whatever it was — he was compelled to sit in the presence of those he offended, cut his own finger off, and wrap it in silk. Then he presented it to the head of his clan and asked for forgiveness.”

Liam stared at the policeman. “I can’t go with you, Officer. I have to go to school…”

“That answer doesn’t cut it, son,” the man replied tersely. “You’ve already broken the law by going down onto those tracks, and I think you’re lying about what’s in that case, too—”

He was interrupted by the radio on his shoulder. “All available units. Emergency alert. Immediate backup requested. Tactical law enforcement action imminent. All entrances to Atlantic Avenue are to be secured immediately, the avenue to be closed off to all vehicular traffic. All available units respond…”

The officer keyed his microphone. “This is MTA, Hoyt Street. Moving to respond, over.”

He faced Liam, and the man’s expression hardened. “I have no choice but to let you go this time. But if I ever see you again I will find out what the hell you’re up to.”

Four Afghanis in traditional garb led Jack through a maze of partitions under the century-old Brooklyn brownstone. Soon they came to a flat wooden wall with a single door hanging on two shiny steel hinges and ushered him inside.

Jack scanned his surroundings warily. The basement room was triangular-shaped with crumbling sandstone walls on two sides. Wooden crates were stacked against the stone wall; above them a small, barred window peered onto the street from sidewalk level. A massive water heater ticked in the corner, and the space was hot, dry, and stuffy. The only illumination was provided by a naked sixty-watt bulb mounted in the ceiling, and the tiny glimmer of sunlight that managed to penetrate the decades of grime layering the window.

Someone slammed the door, shaking the cheap partitioned wall. The burly Afghani in a skullcap pushed Jack onto the pile of crates. The older man in the ratty suit nodded to his comrades, spoke a command in Pashto, and the others left without a word. Before the door closed behind them, another man entered the dingy chamber.

This one was tall and wiry, perhaps fifty years old, with long stringy arms and legs under a loose-fitting shirt and cotton trousers. A.45 was slung in the man’s belt; on his knobby feet he wore leather sandals. Though not particularly muscular, the Afghani man seemed to exude strength, and he was tall enough that he had to stoop slightly as he faced Jack. His face was narrow, flesh sallow and leathery. His intelligent eyes burned with fierce intensity. His hair was covered by an Afghan turban; the beard that dangled to his chest was streaked with gray. Under his prominent nose, the man’s yellow teeth protruded slightly.

“Are you Taj?” Jack asked. “My brother Griff sent me here with a package.”

The Afghani stared silently at Jack. It was the man in the ratty suit who spoke.

“Why did you break with protocol?” he demanded. “Why did you come here yourself, instead of sending that boy?”

“You need the case—”

“The boy was supposed to bring us the case,” the man interrupted. “Where is he? Where is the case?”

Jack knew from the man’s response that Caitlin’s brother had not yet made his delivery, which was good news. If the boy had made the drop, these Afghanis would probably have killed Jack on the spot. Instead they hesitated, despite their obvious suspicions. Jack knew it was because they were so desperate to take possession of the contents of that case they were willing to take the risk that Jack was an impostor.

“I was being followed,” Jack lied. “I had to ditch the case in case I was captured.”

Jack sensed the man in the suit was wavering, not yet ready to believe Jack’s story, but willing to be convinced. The silent man’s expression was unreadable, so Jack decided to push the envelope, go for broke.

“Listen,” he said in an urgent tone. “The whole plan may be unraveling. I think the Feds are on to us — that’s who was following me, I’m sure of it.”

The older man raised an eyebrow. “What do you propose to do about it?”

“I have to see Felix Tanner. Tanner has to be warned that the whole plan might be compromised.”

The man in the suit became instantly alarmed. The silent man seemed implacable.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Jack cried. “The whole plan is in jeopardy. I have to warn Tanner now, before it’s too late.”

The silent man spoke at last. His voice was soft, but firm. “We must retrieve the attaché case first. Lead me to it, then I will take you to see Tanner.”

“Listen, Taj, we’re all in danger. Just let me speak with Tanner—”

The older man stepped backward, perhaps alarmed by Jack’s urgency. Before he could speak the high window burst inward, showering them all with shards of dirty glass. A dark object landed on the dirt floor. Instinctively, Jack threw himself backward, to land behind the crate he’d been sitting on. But the older man stooped over the object, reaching to pick it up. Jack opened his mouth to cry a warning — then the grenade exploded.

The powerful concussion tossed the man backward, against the wall. Though the older man absorbed the brunt of it, the blast was powerful enough to bowl everyone else over as well. Partially deafened by the noise, Jack could not hear the hissing noise as the gas canister released its noxious contents. But he immediately felt the stinging pain in his eyes, his nose, and he choked against the rising tear gas mist. Through the roaring that still filled his ears, Jack heard a loudspeaker blaring outside.

“This is the FBI. We’ve surrounded the building. There is no way you can escape. Come out with your hands up and you won’t be harmed. ”