“No, monsieur. The GIGN needs its rest too.” Heuse stood and spread his arms. “Now come, Philippe will take you to your hotel. Get some rest, tomorrow might be another long day.”
Jake got up early thinking about Lieutenant Heuse’s perspective. If Isabella Hunt was right, they did have time on their side. The only problem with waiting was that sometimes plans change. Waiting could cause him to miss the opportunity. His instincts told him they needed to strike fast and strike early. If Heuse and the GIGN weren’t willing to move, then he would convince Kaplan to help him storm the Mosque.
Jake rapped on Kaplan’s door until he heard Kaplan cussing. “Gregg. Open up.”
“What the hell, Jake?” Kaplan snatched the door open. His thick black hair was tousled. Eyes bloodshot. “Go back to bed.”
“I called Philippe.” Jake said. “He’ll be here in twenty minutes. Get dressed. We’ve got work to do — with or without Huese.”
“Jake, this is France. The last thing we need to do is piss off the head of the Gendarmerie.” Kaplan rubbed his eyes. “We should wait.”
“For once, Gregg, trust me.” Jake said. “If you’ll start getting ready, I’ll explain what I have in mind.”
While Kaplan dressed, Jake explained the plan he’d been hatching during the night. Kaplan interrupted several times but Jake insisted he be allowed to finish. Jake had covered every angle and was convinced his plan would work. He just needed Kaplan to concur with it.
“Okay, Jake. Give one good reason why I should go along with your plan.”
“It’s Wiley’s granddaughter out there. We owe it to him.”
“Is this just about Wiley? Or is this about you?”
“Gregg.” He looked Kaplan in the eyes. “If it were Isabella in Paris, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?”
CHAPTER 42
Philippe picked up Jake and Kaplan in a GIGN vehicle, a black Mercedes, standard issue. Fortunately, Jake figured, it was early enough in the morning not to draw unwanted attention. As they made their first circle of the block, the mosque appeared tranquil, as did the surrounding neighborhood.
Jake and Kaplan were outfitted with the equipment left in Wiley’s jet. Duffle bags for each man filled with articles of clothing and accessories to give them the appearance of tourists wandering the streets of France. Wiley was a resourceful man and had already arranged clearance for Jake and Kaplan to carry weapons without French authority intervention, something Wiley said required him to call in some favors from high-ranking French officials. Heuse had given them both warning about the use of their weapons. “Strictly self-defense” were the words he used.
As the Mercedes started its second pass by the front of the Mosque, Jake saw a white van pull out of the mosque onto the roadway. When the Mercedes and the van passed each other, Jake noticed the driver and several passengers in the rear of the van. Something about the driver troubled Jake.
“Did you see that?” Jake asked.
“Is nothing.” Philippe said. “Probably on their way to jobs.”
“No. Something was wrong.” Jake looked at Kaplan. They’d both been trained to be observant. Drilled over and over to unconsciously note minute details that clue them of impending danger. Details so minuscule the average person would never perceive them as a source of trouble or out of place.
“Gregg, did you notice it?”
“It didn’t feel right.” Kaplan said. “But I can’t put my finger on it. What is it Jake? What’d you see?”
“First thing was the driver. He was dressed the part of the faithful Muslim.” Jake said. “But his features…behind the beard he was—”
“Caucasian.” Kaplan added.
“That’s right.” Jake signaled for Philippe to pull the car over. “And Hashim Khan is an American traitor. What else, though? Either of you notice the men in the back?”
“No.” Philippe said. “They were nothing but shadows.”
“Yeah.” Kaplan blurted out. “Their faces.”
“That’s right.” Jake pulled out his Glock and screwed on the sound suppressor. “They were clearly Middle Eastern and, more importantly, had shaved their faces. The attacks are going down today.” Jake pulled back the slide chambering a round. “Philippe, turn around and catch up to that van.”
Khan noticed the Mercedes as it passed by his van. The same type that drove by the mosque several times during the night. GIGN. And if the Gendarmerie were onto him then something had gone wrong in Yemen. Hilal had talked. Maybe the woman really was a spy for the West. Either way, they both would die. Khan would ensure it.
In the rearview mirror he saw the GIGN vehicle pull over then make a u-turn. Khan floored the accelerator.
The arrival of the GIGN was unexpected but Khan had planned for the possibility of evading the Gendarmerie. He knew the mosque was under surveillance. Even in France, all of the Islamic communities were scrutinized. Since the possibility of detection existed, Khan had devised a deception for the authorities.
He grabbed his cell phone and placed a call while weaving the van through traffic, making turn after turn, trying to outrun and outsmart the GIGN men in the Mercedes. After five minutes of evasive driving, a pre-planned route Khan had already driven several times before, his radio blared indicating his shell game was ready to begin.
Khan maneuvered the van to the prearranged switch over, keeping the Mercedes at least a block behind him. When he reached the switch over spot, he glanced in his mirror; the GIGN car was far enough behind to make the switch.
He drove past an identical van that had accelerated into traffic as he turned into a maintenance garage. The bay in front of him had its door open. As Khan screeched the van to a stop inside the garage bay, the door slammed shut behind them.
Khan readied an AK-47 as he waited to see if the GIGN took the bait. The decoy van disappeared down the street and the Mercedes whizzed by the garage with lights flashing and siren wailing.
Khan smiled, the ruse worked. The decoy van had a prearranged pattern to drive, luring the GIGN car farther away from the garage. By the time the GIGN caught up to the decoy and realized what had happened, Khan and his men would be close to their first target.
The garage door in front of Khan’s van opened and he pulled out.
The GIGN Mercedes handled the tight turns with ease but Jake thought that Philippe was holding back on the accelerator. “Can you drive any faster? He’s getting away.”
“Lieutenant Heuse will not like it if I mess up his car.” Philippe said. “I will not lose the van. I know these streets, there is no where to hide.”
“You better catch up to him fast or you won’t need to worry about Heuse. The lieutenant isn’t here but I am.” Jake held up his gun. “Do I make myself clear?”
Jake watched the van turn left around a corner nearly a block ahead of them. “You’re going to lose them, hurry.”
Philippe slammed the accelerator to the floorboard as they rounded the left hand turn causing the Mercedes to lean hard to the right.
“There.” Jake pointed. The van was much closer than Jake had guessed but it didn’t matter, they were gaining. “Hit your lights and siren. Let’s announce our intention. Tell him we want him to stop.”
Philippe toggled the switch and the GIGN Mercedes lit up with flashing lights in the windows and the front grill of the car. The van accelerated down the straight road.
“Go. Go.” Kaplan shouted. “We can outrun him.”
“Let’s get this over with.” Jake yelled.