Second Strike

CHAPTER 74

^{WASHINGTON, D.C.,}

^{AUGUST 18, 11:41 A.M. EDT}

Stepulev drove the black Ford Explorer along Wisconsin Avenue, a volunteer in the passenger seat and two in the back. Their expressions were at once frightened and determined. Each wore a light poplin jacket under which were canvas vests into which was sewn enough explosive material to devastate nearly half a city block.

The legend among jihadists was that suicide bombers felt no pain; the explosion resulted in instantaneous death. They simply were, and then, they were not. There was insufficient time for the nerve impulses to register pain before the brain was pulverized and the jihadist was already in paradise. Of course, not all suicide bombers were fully convinced the legend was accurate, so they hedged their bets by ingesting their drug of choice to render them oblivious to the impending explosion. None of Stepulev’s volunteers took that route.

Stepulev hadn’t seen the four men located on the north end of Tunlaw as he drove from the Russian embassy minutes earlier. Ty Wilson and Ike Coe had been joined by Mike Garin and Congo Knox a short time earlier. Garin kept vigil at the embassy after Stepulev had driven away. Knox, Wilson, and Coe followed Stepulev in their own black Ford Explorer while Garin remained behind to wait for Bor. When Knox protested that sending three men after the Explorer was ridiculous, especially since Garin would be alone, the latter pointed out that the passengers in the vehicle were wearing jackets in August in Washington, D.C.

Knox understood. When he asked what instructions Garin had for the three DGT men if the men in the jackets acted suspiciously, Garin simply replied, “Shoot first and don’t waste time asking questions later.”