Veil of Civility

Chapter Sixty-Seven

The two Honeywell turbofan engines howled loudly as the rented Hawker 800XPR bounced onto the runway at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport. The howl slowed to a consistent drone as the midsize aircraft made its way north on the airport's single runway towards the private hangar that had been arranged for the arrival of Lord Dennis Allardyce. Once the plane was inside, the double doors of the hangar were closed so the plane's occupants could disembark in complete privacy.

"It was an honor having you aboard, sir," the captain said, as he exited the cockpit. He extended his hand toward Allardyce. "I hope you'll consider Jet Plus for all of your future flying needs."

The fascination British subjects had with the aristocracy never ceased to amaze Declan. He stood behind Allardyce, dressed as one of his two security guards. Clad in black from head to toe and covering his facial features with a low-drawn cap, he nodded to each of the pilots in turn. He had been very skeptical of the idea of renting a private jet to return to the United States, but accepted Allardyce's assertion that there really was no other option and that no one was looking for him in the company of a British lord.

"Rest assured, Captain," Allardyce said, as he shook the man's hand quickly and stepped onto the staircase. The crew members beamed as Allardyce and his two man detail descended the stairs and entered the black limousine that was waiting for them.

"There now," Allardyce said, as Declan closed the door behind them and he and Tom Gordon removed their caps. "That went off without a hitch."

Declan nodded. "Aye, now we just have to keep our presence quiet long enough to get Kemiss where we want him."

"That'll be the trick, I'm afraid," Gordon said. "What exactly is our plan?"

Allardyce held up a hand. "We don't want to know, Tom."

Gordon nodded as the limousine was driven out through a smaller set of doors at the rear of the hangar and onto a two lane driveway leading off the airport's property. At a rotary in front of the airport's main terminal the car turned east. Declan watched through the tinted windows as the vehicle passed twenty-four hour pharmacies, fast food restaurants and car dealerships; a view that was uniquely American.

Turning south onto the main road leading into the town of Charlottesville, the limousine's driver spoke to them over the intercom.

"We're approaching the address you provided, sir. It's a self-storage. Are you sure this is where you want to go?"

"Yes," Allardyce answered. "We'll be dropping one of my security team there and then we'll continue to the second address listed."

"Yes, sir," the driver said, as he turned onto a concrete driveway and made his way to the top of a hill where an old house sat in front of a high chain-link fence, a metal callbox situated in front of an automatic gate next to the house. Beyond the fence Declan could make out rows of metal storage buildings. He pulled the black cap he'd removed back on and lowered it over his brow as he opened the car door. "Thank you," he said over his shoulder to Allardyce.

"Just bring this villain to his knees and stop this madness."

"Where will you go from here?"

"I've always admired Thomas Jefferson and I understand he has quite a history in this area. We'll be nearby if you need us."

Declan closed the door and walked up to the callbox as the limousine reversed and began turning around. Withdrawing a piece of paper from his pocket, he punched in the sequence of numbers he'd been given and waited as the gate slid open. He walked past the rows of rectangular storage buildings to the end of the property, where he saw what he was looking for. A black Ford Explorer sat in front of the corner unit at the very end of the last row.

Opening the smaller of the units two doors, he stepped inside.

"It's about time you got here," Okan Osman announced with a crooked grin, as he ran a cloth over an AR-15 rifle. "We thought maybe you'd just decided to turn yourself in and cancel our fun."

Osman and Altair Nazari were standing at a workbench along the right hand wall of the eight hundred square foot, dimly lit unit. On the workbench in front of them was a collection of handguns and rifles, along with high capacity magazines and ammunition for them all.

"It's all here," Nazari said, as he picked up an H&K MP5 machine pistol and ran a cloth over it to remove any dust. "Do we really need all of this stuff just to take one house?"

"No," Declan answered, as he stepped up to the table and looked over the equipment. "This stuff isn't for the house. It's for what may come after the house."

Osman and Nazari looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. "I thought that this Senator Kemiss was behind the whole thing? We stop him; we stop the entire thing and shed light on those who actually killed Abe, right?"

"Aye, but unfortunately we can't rely on the Americans to take down Baktayev without first proving that Kemiss is guilty in a lengthy investigation. Once Kemiss has confessed to the operation he's set up, someone still has to make sure that Baktayev and his men don't continue on uninterrupted. They didn't need Kemiss or anyone else when they planned the attack in Beslan so they won't need him here. I'm not planning on getting in any gunfights, but we need to be prepared for anything. How far away is the house?"

"Not far," Nazari said. "We've made a couple of passes already. You can't see much from the road, but it's there. We placed three men in the forest near the house to keep a watch on it and we have two more men watching Kemiss."

"And we can trust these men?"

"Of course," Osman said. "They're Mossad, stationed here in America to collect and disperse intelligence and to connect with our worldwide network of sayanim."

"And the American government doesn't know they're here?"

"I wouldn't say that. I'm sure the Americans are aware at some level that these men likely work for Mossad, but it's just one of those things that no one talks about. The same for American agents in Israel, of which there are quite a few. What really matters is that no one knows they are currently sitting in the trees a hundred yards from the Senator's back door watching every move on the property and reporting to us."

Declan flashed a smile. He'd been happy to learn that Asher Harel had made sure that Osman and Nazari were joined by half a dozen men that Abaddon Kafni had known personally, meaning that each person they'd be working with had a personal stake in making sure the operation was a success and that David Kemiss wouldn't know what hit him.

"So, exactly how are you planning on getting this guy to talk?" Osman asked.

"Did you get the other things I asked for?"

Nazari pointed to a nylon tool bag and some other items near the door. "Fresh off the hardware store shelf."

"Grand. Make sure all of this is in the vehicle and ready to go by nightfall. I've got some calls to make," Declan said, as he walked towards the door and opened it. "If this guy wants to threaten innocent children, let's see how he likes it when someone threatens his."