Ben kept up at a fast walking pace. “Why not take me out to the Potomac?”
Sam stopped. He turned to face Ben and said, “It’s nearly a three-mile tunnel to the external exit. Pretty soon, someone’s going to realize that we’re no longer inside the Secretary of Defense’s office. When that happens, someone from the Pentagon Protection Force Agency will turn over the cut carpet, and when they do they’ll know exactly where we’ve gone.”
“And by that time, they’ll have someone waiting for us at the exit along the Potomac,” Ben replied.
“Exactly.”
Ben asked, “But won’t we already be trapped inside the Pentagon by going this way? I mean, surely that’s the first thing the Pentagon Force Protection Agency did the second I took you hostage!”
Sam shook his head. “That’s not how it works. The Pentagon’s more like a small city than a building. They don’t want to shut the whole thing down, even during an emergency. Instead, what they do is close down individual wedges of the Pentagon, one at a time, concealing us inside. But we’re already outside the initial wedge. Even so, we’d better move quickly.”
Nearly four minutes later, Sam stopped where a vertical ladder ran through an opening in the ceiling. He didn’t wait for permission. Instead, he started to climb the metal rungs, hand over hand.
“Where does this take us out?” Ben asked.
“No idea. Someone’s office, somewhere near the southwestern wedge, I guess.”
“Great. And if it’s currently occupied?”
“Then we come back down and try our luck with the next one.”
“All right.”
Sam stopped at the top of the ladder and listened.
He didn’t hear anything.
Sam said, “I’m going to open the hatch.”
“Don’t try anything stupid,” Ben replied.
“I know. You’ve still got the gun.”
“Good.”
Sam opened the hatchway, thankful that it wasn’t obstructed by carpet. His eyes quickly swept the new environment. It was dark, but not completely, there were small red and green lights throughout the room.
“Come on up,” Sam said. “We’re in the communications hub.”
By the time he’d finished speaking, Ben was already up the ladder next to him. Ben raked the empty room with the barrel of his handgun, as though he were expecting attackers any moment. His eyes fixed on the only door in the room.
“Where does that lead?”
“No idea,” Sam said, honestly. “I’ve seen the access doors to other engineering rooms, communication rooms like these, and cleaner’s compartments lined on the corridors next to the bathrooms.”
Ben moved close to the locked door and listened.
After a few seconds, he said, “All right, let’s go.”
Sam unlocked the door and went first.
Behind him, Ben hid the weapon in his trousers. “Don’t forget I still have it.”
As he guessed, the door opened to a long corridor that led to the men’s lavatories. He walked unhurriedly, with practiced insouciance.
The big double doors that led to the southwestern entrance were completely blocked. Not by a group of armed soldiers or guards, but by a gaggle of functionaries. Clerks.
Potentially, people that Sam would recognize.
“What do you plan to do about that?” Ben asked. “Some kind of distraction?”
They had proceeded along the corridor and turned around the corner, only to have Sam grab his shoulder and spin him around, so their faces weren’t visible. At least the Glock was out of view.
“Back around the corner,” Sam announced. “Change of plans.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There are a couple of people out there who might recognize me and try to stop us to talk.”
“Tell them off. Act normal.”
“You don’t understand. These are professional bureaucrats. They can tie you up for hours. We only have a few minutes.”
“If you don’t get me out of here…” The threat was clear in Ben’s voice.
“I will. But we’re going to have to reroute a little. Back to the other door we passed, and quick. It’s not going to take much longer before they figure out what’s happened.”
They retreated through the casual stream of pedestrians to a door that they had passed earlier. This one led to a secluded VIP lot.
A guard at the door stopped them on their way out. “ID?”
“What, don’t you recognize me?” Sam asked as he handed his ID to the guard. “I’m in and out of here all the time.”
“Still gotta ask,” the security officer replied, studying his face. He then turned to Ben and said, unapologetically, “You too, sir.”
Ben handed him his driver’s license.
The security officer’s eyebrows narrowed. “He’s not on the list.”
“No,” Sam replied. “He’s with me.”
The officer paused for a moment and then nodded. He’d seen Sam bring a number of people through these gates over the years — all experts in their own specialized and unique fields. “Have a good day, sir.”
Sam smiled politely, “You, too.”
Walking through the security doors, Sam took his keys out of his pocket and jingled them pensively. “We’re parked over there.”
“Over where?” Ben asked, squinting under the bright mid-morning sun.
Sam pointed toward a brutally suave black four-door with a hood ornament shaped like a winged woman — a Rolls Royce Phantom. A light dusting of snow was sprinkled on top.
Ben stopped in mid-stride. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What sort of asshole drives a Rolls Royce in real life?”
Sam grinned. “That would be my father.”
Chapter Six
The Secretary of Defense took a seat in her subordinate’s office, which she had appropriated for the extent of the siege. Someone had delivered her a hot coffee, which she sipped slowly, feeling every much as bitter as the beans inside.
She wasn’t sure what to be more annoyed about. The fact that she was unable to work from her office, or that Sam Reilly had been taken hostage and depending on how that scene played out, she might need to find a new person to fill his unique role.
She reached for the report she was working on and stopped. It was in her office. That settled it — she needed to get back into that office. Her office, where she knew where all the files were, both the hard copies and the files on her computer desktop. Her office, where she only had to hit a button on the phone to be able to speak to the Oval Office.
Scott Williams, the director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, knocked on the door and entered without waiting for her permission.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you, ma’am.”
“That’s all right,” she replied. “You’re not the first one to do so today. What can I do for you?”
“We now have a live audio-visual feed from the inside of your office.”
She stood up and asked, “What have you got?”
“That’s just it, ma’am, we don’t have anything.”
Her voice was incredulous. “You can’t see them?”
“Or hear them for that matter. It’s as though they’ve disappeared.”
“You’ve searched the entire office?”
“Yes. Our technician was able to manipulate the camera in a 360-degree rotation.”
The Secretary swore. “Get in there now!”
“Ma’am?”
“Sam Reilly’s taken him down the escape tunnel!”
Chapter Seven
Sam unlocked the car with the press of his fingers.
Ben gave an incredulous smile. “This is your car?”