Petrovich drew a few conclusions from the Metro Police officers' behavior. He decided that a wide scale alert had been issued to all D.C. area law enforcement agencies, which didn't surprise him. He had killed a police officer, and the police would turn the city and surrounding counties inside out trying to find him. He also concluded that the police were being cautious. They knew what they were up against, and he could tell that the two officers at the station didn't feel very confident about their situation. They had made a good assessment, which ensured that they would return safely to their families tonight. Neither of them had any idea how close to death they had come, as Daniel walked within ten feet of them, his new disguise not even attracting a second glance.
Daniel just wanted to get through the rest of the day to see Jessica again. They had more than earned the right to be together, and he would show little mercy for anyone standing in their way. He hadn't asked for any of this, and had thought he had sent a clear enough message, several years ago, that he was done. He had topped that message with more than a hundred million dollars, which apparently hadn't been enough. It was never enough for General Sanderson, but none of this really mattered now. He had to figure out how to move forward and start over. This was how he had been trained to think. Two steps ahead, and never look back.
Just as he turned onto N Street, a D.C. police car pulled up to the metro station, and parked right in front of the exit. Two officers emerged from the patrol car, and hurried toward the Metro entrance, neither of them glancing around at any of the emerging Metro passengers. One of them carried the patrol car's shotgun. He was glad he chose to get off the Metro before Union Station. A few more minutes on the train, and he would have been forced to walk through a chokepoint of police officers emboldened by reinforcements and heavy weaponry.
Daniel planned to work his way toward the Mall area, sticking close to other groups of people on heavily commercialized streets. It was still early for D.C., and he didn't see this as a problem. He liked the idea of the Mall area, since it was always filled with tourists and locals of every type. He'd have no trouble blending in with the crowd there, while waiting for Parker to pick him up. The Mall was roughly one mile away.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Berg sank back into the deep leather chair, and called Jeremy Cummings’ cell phone again. The phone abruptly went to voice mail. He had lost contact with Cummings just over thirty minutes ago, after his team had pulled into a Whole Foods parking lot in Silver Spring, Maryland. He'd given Cummings the order to terminate Petrovich, and had expected to hear back from him within ten minutes. Despite a burning desire to personally avenge Nicole's murder, he forced himself to acknowledge the bigger picture. The man was a trained intelligence operative, on the run from the authorities, and it was only a matter of time before he spotted the teams trailing him. He didn't have any more favors to use at Fort Meade, and if he ditched the Brown River teams, they might never find him again. When Cummings reported that Petrovich was headed into a grocery store, he knew this would be their best opportunity, so he gave the order.
He knew something wasn't right, and decided to call CIA headquarters' communications desk. He placed the burner phone on the table next to his chair, and pulled out his personal cell phone. An automated system answered, and Berg spoke several passwords to authenticate himself.
"Good evening, Mr. Berg, how can we assist you?" said a calm voice.
"Thank you. A friend of mine from Silver Spring called asking if something big was going on up there. He thinks I'm some bigwig over at the FBI, so I always get calls from him about stuff like this. Most of the time it's his imagination, but he insists that the Metro station down there is swarmed with cops," he lied, and wondered if his voice was being analyzed by any electronic equipment.
"Stand by, sir. Looks like your friend is not imagining things today. I'm showing a D.C. metro area APB for a suspect in the murder of a police officer," said the voice.
"Well, I guess that would explain the activity," said Berg, wondering if maybe Cummings’ cell phone had died.
"Wait…the same suspect is sought in connection with multiple homicides. This all happened in the same area, at the same time. The police officer was found shot to death in a Whole Foods parking lot, and several other bodies were found at the same scene. More bodies were recovered a few blocks away, in a residential neighborhood. Yeah, your friend was not imagining this. Sounds like a small battle took place in Silver Spring. Every law enforcement agency in and around the beltway is looking for the shooter."
"Sounds like a bad night to be on the streets up there. I'll give him a call, and tell him to stay inside until the police figure this out," said Berg.
"I think that's probably a good call. Is there anything else we can help you with?"
"No. Thank you very much. Sorry to bother you guys with something like this," he said.
"No trouble at all, it's been an unusually quiet night," the voice said, and Berg heard a click.
Berg decided he would take a walk, and destroy the cell phone used to contact the Brown River team, but first he needed to make one more call. He used a third, separate cell phone, reserved solely for the purpose of calling this number. The phone rang for what seemed an eternity to Berg, but was finally answered by a familiar voice.
"I assume the team took care of your business," said Darryl Jackson.
"I think we have a problem," said Berg.
"You mean I have a problem," stated Jackson.
"I talked with the team lead right before they followed him into a grocery store. I lost contact with them after that, and now every cop in the D.C. area is converging on that same area. Multiple homicides, dead cop…I just wanted to give you the head's up. It won't be long before you get a call," said Berg.
"Fuck. I thought two teams would be enough," said Jackson.
"Sounds like he took them both out. There is a report of multiple homicides in two different locations. I know these are your guys, and I'm sorry, but…did you cushion yourself from this operation?"
"Shit. As much as I could. Nothing in writing. Cummings assembled the team. I gave him complete authority on this one. I didn't want a big trail," said Jackson.
"This is going to sound bad, and I apologize, but if Cummings was killed, would any of the other team members know who issued the orders?"
"Not likely…are you suggesting that Cummings take the fall for this?" said Jackson.
"I'm just suggesting that if Cummings is dead, why expose anyone else?"
"Alright. I don't like it, but reality is reality. I can tell from your voice that this wasn't exactly a legit mission on your end, so that leaves a lot of asses hanging in the breeze."
"Precisely," said Berg, relieved that his friend could see the big picture.
"So here's what I need from you. A large sum of money," said Jackson.