Sleeper Cell Super Boxset (82 page)

He rushed to the first agent he could find, recognizing him as the thickly mustached Agent Thomas.

“Have you seen my wife? My son? Where are they?” Craig shouted, breathing heavily.

Thomas looked up at him, surprised, and stopped. “Davis? I-I don’t know what happened. A couple of our guys went into the cabin. Thought they heard screaming. Then an explosion. I don’t know how…”    

Craig gripped Thomas. “My wife and son! Where are they?”

“We haven’t seen them.”

Craig turned when suddenly another agent ran up, armed and wearing a helmet and visor. He was coughing from the smoke, but managed to blurt out his words. “It was a grenade. Someone threw it through the back window as soon as we came in.” He stopped and coughed again. “I got out in time, but Anderson, Meeks, and Dyson were hit pretty badly. Dyson might not make it.”

Something clicked. Craig took a step away and scanned the area. Ghazi was near, he was sure of it. He saw that Thomas had a pair of binoculars dangling from around his neck.

“Give me those,” he said.

Thomas handed him the binos. He ran to the back of the burning cabin and stopped, looking for signs of disturbance or footprints, but there was nothing. Then he saw something glinting in the grass: Rachael’s wristwatch. They couldn’t have gone far.

In the distance, behind the cabin, he caught a glimpse of a man running into a thick line of trees with Rachael and Nick ahead of him at gunpoint.

“Over there!” he shouted, sprinting off. Husein stood with the FBI agents, not sure what to do. Agent Thomas drew his pistol and followed Craig, while the other agents gently placed their deceased partner on the ground. 

Craig was quickly gaining in his pursuit. The back of Ghazi’s head was in view. Craig stopped and raised his pistol.

“Ghazi!” he shouted.

Ghazi froze, turned his head slightly, and then shouted something at Rachael and Nick while brandishing his pistol at them. He wasn’t going down without a fight. The sight of Ghazi holding a gun on his family pushed Craig over the edge.

He fired and sent Ghazi to the ground writhing. Rachael screamed as the shot rang out, and Nick ran off, deeper into the trees. Craig bolted toward his family, leaving Thomas behind.

“Rachael!” Craig shouted, gasping.

She ran toward him from where Ghazi lay, shouting his name. They flew into each other’s arms and tightly embraced. 

“Thank God,” Craig said in exhausted relief. “I thought something had happened to you. I saw the cabin and thought I had lost everything.” He stroked the back of her hair, holding her close.

“We’re okay,” Rachael said, trying to catch her breath. “The cabin. We couldn’t stop him. Is it over?”

“Yes,” Craig said. “For now.”

He looked over Rachael’s shoulder, searching for Nick as Ghazi groaned from the ground. Nick was nowhere to be seen. Craig released Rachael and walked over to where Ghazi lay, Rachael following behind, but he stopped her and urged her to stay back.

“Where’s Nick?” he asked.

“He ran off. He’s frightened.”

“Nick!” Craig called out. He pointed his weapon downward and approached Ghazi with caution. Ghazi lifted his head and made a feeble attempt to push himself up, but fell back on his stomach.

Craig stood at Ghazi’s slumping head, which was streaked with drool, dirt, and sweat. Ghazi grunted and spit blood as he gasped and tried to speak between shallow, rapid breaths. He pushed against the ground but only rose an inch before plunging back down.

“I can’t feel anything…” he said, frantic now. His breathing became more labored as panic and shock gripped him. “I can’t move! Help me…” His face fell into the dirt as he sobbed.

Unaffected, Craig examined him. The shot had hit Ghazi directly in his back. Things weren’t going to fare well for him. In response to his pleas for help, Craig knelt and put a pistol to the back of his head.

Troubled by the sight, Rachael called out to him. “Craig, what are you doing? We need to find Nick.”

Agent Thomas ran up and drew his weapon. “What’s going on here? Davis, what are you doing?”

Craig ignored both of them, speaking only to Ghazi. “Just what were you planning to do with my family?”

Ghazi offered only delirious pleas for help. Craig pressed the barrel harder against his skull.  

“Were you going to take them somewhere and torture them?” His finger lit on the trigger. “A woman and a young boy? Is that what the plan was?”

Agent Thomas took another step forward. “Let it go, Davis. We need him for intel.”

Craig thought of the laptop, assuming that it had been destroyed in the cabin blast. Thomas was right. He stood up and moved away, leaving Ghazi mumbling to himself on the ground.

“Might as well get him out of here then,” Craig said to Agent Thomas. “I have to find my son.” He headed into the woods, with Rachael following closely behind.

Agent Thomas called out for the other agents for assistance.

Craig charged down a small hill but his limp began to come back to him.

“Slow down,” Rachael said from behind. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“Nick!” Craig shouted. “It’s okay, buddy. You can come out now.”

Rachael joined Craig in calling out to Nick. From behind a tree in the distance they could see the toe of his shoe sticking out. His sweaty face then peeked out, his short bangs matted over his forehead. When he saw Craig in clear view, he ran to him, stumbling.

“Come here,” Craig said with a hug.  He took notice of the laptop in Nick’s hands and squeezed his shoulders. “The laptop? How did you…”

Still shaken, Nick tried to answer. “That man. He told me to carry it and guard it like my life depended on it.”

“You did the right thing. Now because he told you to, but because you kept it out of his hands. You’re safe now,” Craig said. 

Rachael caught up with them, relieved to see her son.

Nick backed away from Craig and looked around. “Where’s Husein?” 

Craig turned and pointed off in the distance. “He’s over there with the FBI.” Craig then shook his head. “The bastard took out one of our agents. Injured the others.”

Rachael covered her mouth, shaken. “I tried to warn them. That man threw a grenade through the window as they came in. I had no idea what to do.”

Craig put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You did everything you could, but we’re going to pick up the pieces starting now. The cabin is gone and it won’t be long before Allawi sends more of his people after us.”

“Who’s Allawi?” Rachael asked.

“He’s the leader of the ISIS sleeper cells. At least he’s who we think is running them.”

Rachael was unnerved. “If we’re not safe here, then where?”

Craig ran his hand through her hair, picking out tiny sticks and blades of grass. “We’re not running anymore. I’m going to get with the FBI, and we’re taking them out.” He then took the laptop from Nick. “That man wanted this laptop for a reason. There are secrets on there. Plans for the next attack, I’m sure of it.”

“Not another one,” Rachael said in disbelief. Then another fear seemed to take hold of her. “Do you have my cell phone?” she asked, holding her hand out. “I need to try my parents again.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re safe.”

Rachael took a step back. “How sure is pretty sure, and how could you possibly know that?”

“Because if they had gotten your parents, it would have been the first thing they said,” he said, pulling the cell phone out and handing it to her. “Here. Call them. We need to get back to the cabin now and see if there’s anything we can salvage.”

They walked together to where Agent Thomas was. The other agents had just lifted Ghazi onto a stretcher and were carrying him off. Smoke fumed from the cabin. The flames had subsided, leaving much of the remaining cabin smoldering and charred. They were out of places to hide.

With one agent dead and others badly injured, Agent Thomas wanted answers. “What the hell is going on here, Davis? It looked like you were in some kind of firefight earlier. Miles away from here, your house is crawling with police. Bodies lying out in the yard. You mind letting me in on this mess?”

Craig looked around. Rachael stood next to Nick, watching the remains of their cabin crackle and tumble away.

“So much for our stuff,” Nick said, his eyes fixed forward as he tried to hold back his feelings. He turned to Craig. “I suppose you don’t have my laptop.”

“I’m sorry,” Craig said. “I’ll get you a new one. I promise.”

“That’s just great!” Nick shouted, overcome by everything that had happened, and running away in anger.

“Hold on! Don’t go running off,” Craig said.

Nick stopped and turned around. “We can’t go back to the house. The cabin is gone. Our bags… all our stuff… gone. Terrorist attacks everywhere. Shooting at us, trying to kill you. I can’t take it anymore!”

“We’re alive, and that’s what matters,” Craig said.

Rachael walked up and put her hand on Craig’s shoulder as Husein remained silent and observant. “Just give him a minute.”

Nick stomped away toward the lake where the helicopters had landed. “I need to have some words with Agent Thomas,” Craig said to Rachael. “You and Husein catch up with Nick and get ready to leave.”

Rachael looked surprised. “But… Where?”

“Somewhere they can’t find us. I’ll handle it.”

Without delving into specifics, because there weren’t any, Craig turned away and approached Thomas. “Walk with me,” he said.

As they walked, Craig attempted to explain everything that had happened from the time he arrived in his neighborhood to the shootout with Ghazi and his men. He explained the importance of the laptop as the best chance of thwarting additional attacks.

“I don’t know how much longer we have,” Craig continued, “but the terrorists were talking about two more planned attacks. We know that they operate under deception, telling us false information, but they revealed these things to me because I was never supposed to leave that warehouse alive.”

Thomas stared blankly ahead, letting the weight of Craig’s words sink in.

Craig continued, “Walker told me that they’ve since moved FBI operations to a secure location. I want my family taken there. We have nowhere else to go from here. After Allawi gets word that I’ve taken out more of his people, he’ll put a price on my head, greater than anything we’ve seen yet. I can’t run anymore, Thomas. I need to face him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I want to assemble a team and go after Allawi. Find their headquarters and stop them before they can launch anymore attacks.”

“I don’t know if the brass is going to go for that, honestly. All I was told was that we had to get you and recover the laptop. That’s the priority.”

Craig remained undeterred. “I need good men, Thomas. A team of counter-terrorism agents to get these guys head on.”

Thomas tried to look understanding. “I want to help. I do. It’s just… No offense, but you haven’t had much luck with these side missions so far. Word is getting around that you’re bad news.”

Offended, Craig took a step back. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Thomas shook his head, stumbling over his words. “Look. J-just forget I said anything. Let’s get you and that laptop to the bunker, pronto. We’ve already lost enough men as it is.”

“An actual bunker?” Craig asked.

“Something like that. Come on,” Thomas answered. “That terrorist you shot. We’ll get him to talk. Get to the bottom of this thing.”

“I hope it’s that easy.”

“Me too,” Thomas said.

They arrived at the helicopters as the pilots just fired up the engines. Rachael stood to the side with a distraught-looking Nick and a somber Husein, still clutching the rifle in his hands. The nearby lake rippled and the surrounding tress swayed as agents placed Ghazi inside one of the helicopters with their injured.

Rachael approached Craig with look of deep concern across her face. “
Now
where are we going?”

“We’re meeting up with the FBI someplace safe. Nothing will harm you and Nick there, I promise.”

Rachael looked at him suspiciously. “We
have
a home, Craig. How much longer…”

As her words drifted off, Craig looked at her, ready to take whatever she had to say. She threw down her arms. “Okay. We’re with you. Just tell me what we need to do.”

“Thank you,” Craig said. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about all of this.”

“It’s not your fault. I get it.” Her tone wasn’t entirely convincing.

She went back to Nick and Husein as the agents prepared to board them in the next helicopter. The blades spun furiously, spinning dust and dirt in the air. They were signaled to load up. Craig led the way as they moved low to the ground and covering their faces.

They climbed in, covering their ears, and were handed disposable foam earplugs by one of the co-pilots. Inside was cramped and uncomfortable.

After piling in, the helicopter rose and took off. As they gripped their seats, Craig leaned closer to the window. They quickly passed the smoking cabin, and the trees soon became a distant blur. He caught a glimpse of some the bodies from Ghazi’s crew, lying on the ground, left to rot—more evidence that death seemed to follow him wherever he went. 

***

              It wasn’t long before DC came into view. The recognizable landmarks, hordes of traffic, the flashing emergency lights. The general clamor of the district below was beyond what was expected on an average day. Deadlocked traffic. Flashing emergency lights everywhere. And masses of people on the streets.

Panic was in the air, evident with one glance from the safety of the helicopter. Craig watched the organized chaos unfold as Nick tried to squeeze his way over to Craig’s side to get a better view. Husein sat next to Rachael, still gripping the empty rifle. Thomas and the other agents sat across from them.

              “What’s going on down there?” Craig shouted to Thomas.

              Thomas, wearing a headset, leaned toward the window and looked below. The helicopter shook its passengers only slightly as it made a steady descent over DC, heading toward a large, concrete structure with high security fences and a squad of guards.