"That’s not too far from here in the business district" announced Tommy.
A few minutes later Tommy slowed down so they could take a look at a three level building. There was a small sign indicating this was the place.
"I suggest we come back here tonight and take a look when nobody is around. I will take you to the hotel now. You will raise eyebrows if you go out too late at night. I will pick you up at 8pm and take you to dinner. You can take your time eating. Then we do the break-in at midnight."
They checked into the Laleh International Hotel without incident, it was less than two miles from Interneta.
The hotel was ok, but not exceptional. It was perfect for a company executive not wanting to clock too much on the company expense account.
Chapter 93
Matt and Natasha were dressed casually when Tommy arrived to pick them up for dinner.
"Hello people" said Tommy when they were safely locked away in the car "do you like our local food?"
"I don’t think either of us has been here before, but let’s give it a try" said Matt.
"Excellent, I know just the place."
It took Tommy about twenty minutes to negotiate the traffic. It seemed there were no road rules and the horn was sounded constantly. Matt and Natasha were looking forward to some peace and quiet over dinner.
"Here we are" announced Tommy pulling up outside quite a shabby looking place.
"Don’t let the outside fool you, the food here is wonderful. They don’t speak a lot of English here. Just tell them to choose the food. You will not be disappointed."
"Also tell them you are not in a rush. I will meet you outside when you are finished."
True to Tommy’s promise the restaurant was maybe three stars on the outside, but the food was wonderful. It was traditional Persian cuisine. They feasted on grilled chicken, steak skewers and mashed eggplant. They seemed happy there was no hurry and brought each course slowly so they could savor the unique flavors of the delicious offerings.
When they walked outside at 11pm, Tommy was waiting for them as promised.
"How was your dinner?" asked Tommy.
"You should have told me they did not accept credit cards! Lucky for us they were happy to accept American dollars" said Matt with a chuckle.
"Actually I don’t think there is anywhere on the planet that is not happy to take U.S. dollars" suggested Natasha.
"Hop in. We are still too early, so I will give you the city tour!"
This was obviously a joke as there was very little to see as the lighting was terrible.
Chapter 94
Tommy just drove around to kill some time and finally drove past their destination at 12.20.
The streets were quiet and Tommy chose a parking place a block away from the building.
Tommy passed them each a small battery powered flashlight. When they had stowed these in their pockets, Tommy passed an old .38 revolver to Natasha.
"Sorry, I only have one backup weapon, so I guess it is ladies first. I have a .45 as well, but I hope we will not need them" explained Tommy.
"That’s ok Tommy. She is a better shooter anyway."
"I will pick the lock. Then let’s get in the office and out as quickly as we can. There should be no trouble, but you never know in Iran."
Tommy produced a set of lock picks and they were inside the building in no time. He relocked the door.
Interneta was on the second level. Security was non-existent. The office was very basic. A couple of desks and chairs and a couple of filing cabinets were the only furniture.
One of the filing cabinets was different to the others. It had an expensive combination lock on the front. On closer inspection, it turned out to actually be a safe. It weighed tons and was firmly affixed to the wall.
"There is no way we can get into that" said Natasha dejectedly.
"How important is this information?" asked Tommy.
"Tommy, I am not allowed to tell you exactly, but the President sent us here. We are following the trail of Weapons of Mass Destruction" explained Matt.
"Ok, maybe there is a way to get in. Wait here, I will be back" said Tommy who rushed out the door.
He arrived back in a couple of minutes carrying a small bag.
"Maybe this will help" said Tommy with a grin as he unpacked a two pound slab of C4 and some electrical detonators.
Tommy carefully separated a handful of the plastique and molded it around the hinges of the safe. Next he pushed the detonators into the charges he had laid.
"These are twenty second fuses, please wait outside, I will join you in a few seconds. This will be noisy, cover your ears. When it is open, we must hurry, grab what you need quickly."
True to Tommy’s word, the explosion was noisy. It also seemed to shake the whole building!
They ran back into the office. The safe door was hanging down, still fastened on the lock side.
"Give me a hand" Matt said and Tommy helped pull the heavy door away from the frame.
Inside were just files. There were too many to just grab them all.
Matt picked everything that started with K and P and put them in the bag with the rest of the C4. He also grabbed one labeled Hamas, and one called Israel.
As they were heading out of the office, they heard the front door slam open and shouting in Arabic.
"Quickly now, let’s move upstairs and try to get out another way. These are not Police. Follow me." whispered Tommy.
They scurried out the door and up another flight of stairs. The Arabic screaming got louder when they entered the ransacked office. Then it went quiet.
"I think they know we must still be in the building" said Matt. "Come on, let’s get moving."
They went up to the top floor, but they did hear footfalls on the concrete stairs.
Tommy found an open office door and they piled inside, hiding behind a desk.
They could hear the offices being searched.
"Don’t shoot unless we have to" warned Tommy.
Eventually they heard their office door open and someone creeping around. As a guy in traditional dress carrying an AK-47 appeared around the desk, Tommy shot him with the .45 at close range.
Natasha immediately stood up and instantly shot both the backup men in the head.
Matt grabbed the AK-47 and they slowly made their way out into the hallway. All seemed quiet.
They slowly and quietly went back down the stairs. They were nearly back at the Interneta level when a burst of machine gun fire from another AK-47 hit the cement above their heads.
"Get down" shouted Tommy.
"Any ideas?" whispered Matt.
"I think there must be only one guy left, he is in the Interneta office.
Tommy grabbed the bag back from Matt. It was hard to see in the dark, but he was working with the C4.
"This will get messy, I used all the explosive, stay down" whispered Tommy as he tossed his makeshift bomb down the stairs into the Interneta doorway.
Soon after this all hell broke loose. There was a tremendous boom and the Interneta office was obliterated. The ceiling fell in, and the stairway lurched beneath them.
They stood and ran down the stairs. Halfway down the whole staircase collapsed.
Matt was first on his feet and he managed to grab Natasha and Tommy and pull them out the door just as the remainder of the staircase fell from above.
Tommy was limping on a damaged ankle from the fall and needed help to get back to the car.