Karim sat down on the stool to get comfortable behind his precision paper punching instrument. He sat to the left of the rifle close in to the side of the triangular table. The butt of the stock pressed into his right shoulder while his left arm curled underneath the butt and grabbed for the sandbag holding the rifle. By squeezing the bag he could raise the elevation of the rifle to get the vertical positioning of the crosshair right where he wanted it. From his seat behind the unit, Karim was able to quickly glance down the barrel to make sure it was clear before he inserted the bolt into the action and then chambered a three inch long loaded cartridge. He would only get one shot and had to make it count. He wound the window down just enough so that the bullet would miss his window. The van was dark inside and he could not be seen.
When all was set, it was time to play a waiting game.
Through the telescopic sight he could see the entranceway clearly, but with the angle he was on he would have little or no warning of the oncoming target. His plan was to spot the target on the way out, then nail him from the back as he re-entered the main doorway after he checked his mailbox on the other side of the entrance.
Karim knew that the target worked long hours and would not return home until after dark. He closed his eyes and dozed for 2 hours.
At 7pm he woke up, got himself settled and waited by his spotting scope.
At 9.45 his patience was rewarded. The man in the picture appeared in the doorway headed for the mailbox. He quickly checked the picture again, and the shooter was certain that this was the same man.
Karim decided there was not enough crosswind to make an allowance so he would level the crosshairs on the target’s nose, expecting the bullet to transit his brain.
The target was on the steps now and Karim steadied his aim.
Karim noticed a bus coming in his side mirror and had to wait for it to pass.
He should have waited longer, but the target had the door opened already and was about to disappear. He squeezed the trigger, setting the projectile in motion.
The bus was speeding and the rush of air behind it caused the bullets path to be deflected a few inches, but the shot was still fatal. The target never even heard the shot that echoed the city streets.
Karim left the heavy rifle in place on its stand but put the heavy sandbag behind the butt so it could not slide off the table. He moved to the driver seat and slowly motored away. He drove to a twenty four hour market where there were lots of people around, then packed away and stowed all his equipment.
He was back at work at the restaurant in Nashua before the dinner rush the following day.
Chapter 107
"Why are you so stubborn?" The First Lady asked.
"Look Monica I’m sorry, but I take my Oath of Office very seriously. I promised to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States. That is exactly what I am going to do."
"With all due respect Mr. President, you are an idiot!" yelled Monica "what good are you to the children if you die in office. Grow up and do the right thing for your family!"
"I don’t really care if it puts me in harms way, I just can’t go changing my routine every time someone makes an idle threat. Besides this is a Top Secret meeting, hardly anyone even knows it is on." President Adam Connolly was become increasingly frustrated with his wife.
"Adam, from what you told me yesterday this is way more than an idle threat. Cancel your trip to California or send someone else in your place."
"I wish I could, but this is just too important to send anyone else. We are talking about troop numbers in the war on terror and I need to make the call from our side."
"Isn’t there any way you could just delay it a bit, or even move it to Washington?
"Sorry Monica, end of discussion, I am going. I am not asking you to come with me!" The President slammed the door on his way out.
Chapter 108
The office was a busy place. People were running around like bees in a hive when a shout went up "CNN now!"
As one there was a stampede into the myriad of conference rooms to see what all the fuss was about.
Bill Simpson glanced over at Matt across the table when the Statue of Liberty appeared on the news flash.
After a few minutes of the live coverage, Bill stood up and beckoned to Matt to follow him.
Bill closed the door to his office and they sat down.
"It looks like you can cross one target off the list. There is no way Pashwari is going to get anywhere near the statue right now. Security will go way off the dial" began the intelligence chief.
"Looks that way Bill, but I couldn’t help wondering if Kamal was behind this attack as well. This could make an ideal diversion to soak up our already stretched resources."
"Yeah, I think so as well. The more I think about it, Kamal is after a person not an icon. Let’s cross the icons and places off our list. Leave them to Homeland Security. As of now we lead with human targets until we get a sniff of blood somewhere else." Bill was adamant.
"Ok, we know who to lead with. But who else can we put on the list?" asked Matt.
"I have been giving that a lot of thought. My number one is President Connolly. Two I have as the Queen of England. Three I see as British Prime Minister Healy."
"Sounds reasonable, but if we only have one domestic target that sure helps a lot" suggested Matt.
"I am going to get Adam to speak to the President. We need a list of his movements for the near future. Unfortunately I don’t think we will get much. The Secret Service won’t want to telegraph the President’s movements and I can’t say I blame them."
"I will let you know if I hear anything back from Adam. In the meantime, keep working what you have. Find that boat" said Bill.
Matt heard Bill pick up the phone and dial a few numbers as he left the office.
Chapter 109
"Welcome to D.C." said Matt as he shook hands with Detective Lieutenant Greg O’Brien.
"I’m Matt Peterson. This is Natasha Orlov from Russian Intelligence. She is working with us on this"
"I am impressed! Thanks for the holiday, but I’m not too sure I can be of much help. I only saw this guy a couple of times and it was more twenty years ago. Why did the President insist I come to help?"
"Can you take a look at this picture and see if it looks familiar?" asked Natasha as she passed over the picture from the boat yard.
"You don’t sound Russian" remarked O’Brien.
"So I keep getting told, would you prefer I spoke Russian?"
"I speak fluent Vodka" joked O’Brien.
"It is hard to see much in this picture, it doesn’t ring a bell instantly, but I guess it could easily be him. I remember him as a fit looking guy and this guy looks that way too."
"Can you tell me what this is all about?"
"Do you have a security clearance?" asked Matt.
"Do I need one?"
"Yep, this is absolutely top secret, but I can tell you some" explained Matt, "we figure this guy Pashwari is on his way to California in a boat packed with explosives. Your mission if you choose to accept it, is to help us find him!"