Extreme Measures

CHAPTER 71

KARIM sat in the backseat of the Town Car, directly behind Hakim. It seemed to him that his friend was in a rather glum mood, considering how successful the day had been. He was used to being the one who brooded in an angry-faced silence, and found it rather uncomfortable when the shoe was on the other foot. He did not like his normally upbeat friend casting a pall over their victory. Karim wanted to clear the air, but there were only a few minutes before they got to the facility. There would be plenty of time after the attack, but they would not be alone. Ahmed would be with them.

Ahmed was the only one Karim would let live. They were close enough now to use radios, so Karim toggled the button and said, “Thomas, how does everything look?”

Four seconds later the radio crackled and a voice said, “Good. More people are arriving every minute.”

Karim frowned and wondered if security was being increased. He would normally never ask such a question on an open channel, but at this point there wasn’t much the Americans could do to stop them. “Has security increased?”

“A few more people are out patrolling the grounds, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good. We will see you shortly.” Karim set the radio on the seat next to him and looked at Hakim’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “The RV is ready?”

“Yes.”

Karim thought of the plan. With any luck they would be in Canada by tomorrow afternoon. An RV loaded with provisions was waiting for them at a pole barn in Ashburn not more than twenty minutes up the road. “And how far can we make it before we have to stop for gas?”

“Iowa.” Hakim offered him nothing more.

Karim was sick of his friend’s pouting. “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me. You are like my brother. I know when something is bothering you. Tell me. I want to hear it.”

“You have changed.” Hakim hit the turn signal and took a left onto Dolley Madison Boulevard.

“We all change as we grow older.”

“Not always for the better.”

“I am not sure I like your implication,” Karim said.

“And I know for a fact that I do not like how you have brainwashed these young men.”

“I have brainwashed no one. These men are great warriors who are about to give their lives in the greatest struggle of our time,” Karim said with absolute sincerity. “Do not demean them.”

“I am not demeaning them. I am demeaning you. You have embraced this cult of death where you gleefully offer up the lives of others. And for what? To satisfy your own…” Hakim shook his head and stopped short of finishing his thought.

“Say it!” Karim demanded.

“I don’t want to.”

“Say it. I order you to tell me.”

Hakim looked back in the mirror at his childhood friend. “We have always been equals. I see that is no longer the case.”

“We are equals, but not in the middle of an operation. There can be only one commander.”

“There are only two of us in this car. Just two friends who grew up together. One of us seems to have forgotten that.”

“And one of us,” Karim shot back, “has grown soft with all his travels.”

“Soft,” Hakim repeated the accusation. “I would rather grow soft than carelessly waste the lives of others.”

Karim’s jaw tightened. “I care about these men more than you will ever know.”

“And you show it by sending them to their deaths.”

“You are a fool.” Karim grabbed the front passenger headrest and pulled himself forward. “We do not have billion-dollar planes and laser-guided bombs to fight with. This is how we must wage war. This is how we will defeat them. Six brave men are about to give their lives today, and you are too self-absorbed in your own emotions to admire their sacrifice.”

“And you are too self-absorbed in your own greatness. If this is such a wonderful idea, then why aren’t you going in with them?”

Karim threw himself back into his seat. Under his breath he was cursing his friend, and then himself for being so stupid to bother bringing this up. As they passed over the freeway that went to the airport, Karim saw the woods off to their left and the roofs of several buildings. “Don’t miss the turn,” he barked.

“I know where it is,” Hakim shot back bitterly.

Karim thought about really giving it to him, but they didn’t have the time. They were less than a minute from the facility. He grabbed the radio, pressed the transmit button, and said, “Thomas, we will be with you in less than sixty seconds. Do you copy?”

“Copy.”

Karim looked behind them and saw the Suburban close on their tail as they took the left turn. They were only five hundred feet from the big looping service road that would take them up the hill. Karim said a quick prayer, and was relieved he had put Ahmed in the woods so he would have some eyes on the target. He imagined, for a second, how unnerving it would be to make this drive with no knowledge of what waited at the security point.

Hakim made the turn and accelerated. The Suburban followed close behind.

“Men,” Karim said into the radio, “remember your training. Stay together, do not use the elevator, and go straight to your primary target.”

The road swung around to the right, and then there it was. The six-story building looked no different from any of the other office buildings in the area. Even the guard shack up ahead seemed practical. Hakim turned left and stopped at the guard shack. As planned, he rolled down his window and pointed to the backseat. Karim began rolling his window down, and as the guard approached; he looked at him through his sunglasses, smiled, and shot him three times in the face. Before the guard had hit the ground, one of the men was out of the Suburban. He marched straight up to the bulletproof guard shack and stuck a block of C-4 on the door. Two guards sat on the other side of the thick glass, trying to make sense of what was happening.

Hakim gunned the engine, and the car raced forward. He pulled into a parking spur on the left just as they heard the explosion. A moment later, four shots rang out, and then a few seconds after that, the Suburban sped past with four of the men standing on the running boards and holding on to the luggage rack.

“Thomas, you may engage targets at will.” Karim smiled with pride and made a last-minute decision. “Follow them.”

Hakim turned around and looked at him with complete surprise. “But that is not part of the plan.”

“I know, but I want to see them enter the building.”

“This is not wise.”

“We are fine. As you can see, they have been caught completely off guard. It is yet another sign of their arrogance.”

“I’ll drive up and we’ll come right back out. You are not going to change your mind and go in with them.”

“No,” Karim said, patting him on the shoulder. “Go! I want to savor this great moment. I want to watch them enter the building.”

Hakim took his foot off the brake and hit the gas. They drove to the corner of the building and took a hard left. Along this side of the building, two wings angled back to form a shallow V. The Suburban had jumped a curb, ran over a flagpole, and come to a halt approximately fifty feet from the front door. The men were in a straight line, weapons up, and heading toward the front door. A man and a woman came out and moved to the side to make room. The lead man in the conga line ignored them, but the second man swung his M-4 over and fired two quick shots, striking each person in the head.

“Look at them,” Karim said, full of pride. He watched as the men disappeared into the building, and then he heard a steady stream of shots. His eyes traveled up the façade of the building to the sixth floor. That was where his men were headed. To the heart of America’s war against Islam. This wouldn’t get the media attention that the blasts would receive, but it would hurt the Americans far more. Karim could barely take the thrill of knowing that America’s best and brightest were gathered at this very moment on the top floor of this building – their National Counterterrorism Center. They were gathered to manage this crisis, trying to find the very people who were now on their doorstep. The psychological blow would be devastating. If only he could be there to see the looks on the faces of the smug Americans as his men mowed them down.

“I’m leaving,” Hakim announced.

“Wait,” Karim said as he looked wild-eyed out the window. He heard the first explosion and felt the pull, the desire to join his men. The car began to move. “Just a little longer.”

Hakim jammed his foot onto the break and turned around. “You either get out or we leave.”

“Fine,” Karim answered in a sad voice. “Go.”