The whooping Euro siren disrupted the calm morning as the two vehicles weaved through the small number of cars on the road, the Mercedes gaining precious distance on each straightaway. The chase lasted exactly four minutes, then the unexpected happened.
The van slowed and pulled over. By the time the Mercedes came to a full stop in front of the van, Jake and Kaplan were scrambling from the back seat, weapons drawn and running back toward the van. “Call Heuse, get reinforcements.” Jake yelled back to Philippe.
Jake darted forward in the middle of the street. “Hands on the wheel.”
Kaplan yelled something in French. “Mettez vos mains sur le volant.”
The man put his hands on the steering wheel.
Jake looked at Kaplan, “You speak French, too?”
“Enough to get by. You don’t?”
“No. Tell them to get out of the car with their hands in the air.”
“Sortez de la fourgonnette. Mains sur la tete. Chacun d’entre vous.” Kaplan said.
The doors to the van opened. Five bearded men got out, one from the front, and four from the back.
“Sur le terrain. Face vers le bas.” Kaplan waved his gun at them.
“What’d you say?” Jake asked.
The five men lay face down on the grass next to the road.
“Enough to get by, huh?” Jake said.
Kaplan smiled.
“These aren’t the men we saw earlier.” Jake couldn’t believe it. The terrorists had outsmarted them. “Grab the driver. They did a switch somewhere.”
Kaplan grabbed the driver from the ground, picked him to his feet and pinned him against the side of the van. “What happened to the other van?” Kaplan asked in French.
Jake kept his gun aimed at the four men on the ground. How did they pull off the switch? Khan was smarter than he gave him credit. Khan had already planned for this, was on his way to Paris, and Jake still didn’t know the locations of the attacks.
Jake watched Kaplan give the driver a jab to the kidney. The man’s knees buckled but Kaplan pulled him upright and slammed the man’s head into the side of the van. He didn’t understand anything Kaplan was saying but he could tell the man was pleading. After two minutes, Kaplan grabbed the man by the collar and threw him on the ground. Jake heard sirens in the distance. Growing louder.
“They don’t know anything.” Kaplan said. “They were paid to drive for three to four minutes then pull over. They’re a decoy and we fell for it. Khan is gone.”
“How do you know they don’t know anything?” Jake asked.
“Trust me. If he’d known anything.” Kaplan said. “He’d have spilled his guts.”
Philippe walked up to Jake. “Lieutenant Heuse wants to talk to you when he gets here.”
“Forget Heuse.” Jake said. “Take us to the mosque. Now.”
“But, monsieur.”
Jake moved toward Philippe, putting his face just inches away from the Frenchman. “Take us to the mosque now or a lot innocent people will die. Do you want their blood on your hands?”
Philippe motioned to the men lying on the ground. “But these men, monsieur—”
Kaplan yelled something at the men lying on the ground.
“Monsieur!” Philippe looked at Jake. “You would not dare.”
The eyes of the men on the ground grew larger.
Kaplan looked at Philippe. “Yes. He would. And he’d take great pleasure in it I’m sure.” Kaplan turned to Jake. “They won’t move.”
CHAPTER 43
Kyli woke up and looked for Kates. She should have been in the other bed but it was empty. Her head was a little groggy from the drinking she and Kates did at the bar last night, their final stop after an afternoon and evening on Champs Elysees.
“Kates?”
“I’m in here.” Kates replied from the bathroom.
Kyli noticed the bathroom light was still off. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to take a shower, my head hurts.”
“I know what you mean.” Kyli said. “I don’t usually drink so much. We need coffee. Lots of coffee.”
Kyli’s friend had wanted a ‘Parisian experience,’ exploring off the beaten path places around town. After they arrived in Paris, they checked into the Marriot Champs Elysees then walked to an outside café where they spent the better part of an hour eating, drinking, and people watching. Kyli had been to Paris several times, but it was the first time for Kates. They started at the Arc de Triomphe, climbed to the top to get a view of Paris. Afterwards, they window shopped, making their way down Avenue Montaigne to look at all the top fashion designer shops.
They ended the day at Place de la Concorde where they found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and grabbed a bite to eat. Then Kyli took Kates to a nearby bar that played live music. They stayed too long and drank too much. But the night was fun and Kyli was certain Kates would never forget her trip to Paris.
“I was thinking.” Kates said from the bathroom. “I’d rather spend more time at the Louvre and maybe we could go to the Eiffel Tower tonight after dark.”
“That’s a good idea.” Kyli heard the shower turn off. “If we get moving, we can eat and catch the bus or Metro. We can be at the Louvre by nine or a little after. Hell, we can probably walk and make it by nine-thirty. It’s only about a mile and a half — down at the end of Champs Elysees.”
“Bus.” Kates stuck her head out of the bathroom. “Or Metro. Maybe we can walk back this afternoon.”
“Perhaps. Or we could go straight from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower.” Kyli crawled out of bed. “My turn in the shower.”
It wasn’t until high school when Kyli met Kates. It was during those years they became good friends. And had been close ever since.
Kyli’s thoughts turned to Jake. She wished she could talk to him again but she’d been forgetful and left her cell phone at the office in Leuven. Wiley had whisked Jake off on another one of his secret adventures before she had a chance to really get to know him.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, she felt an attraction to him. It transcended a physical attraction, although that was certainly there too. No other way to say it; he was hot. Five-ten, slim. And cut. She’d always loved men with blond hair too, and in Jake’s case, it accented his sapphire-blue eyes. But no, it was more than his looks. He was also intelligent, but naïve about women. Maybe his fiancée’s death had made him vulnerable, unsure how to act.
Maybe it was that side of Jake that drew her to him.
“Earth to Kyli.” Kates threw a towel at her. “Hey. It’s your turn in the shower.”
Kyli looked up. “Okay. Yeah, thanks.”
“I’ve seen that look before.” Kates teased. “You were thinking of him, weren’t you?”
“Who? No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you lie to me, Kyli Wullenweber.” Kates said. “You might be fooling yourself, but you can’t fool me. You’ve been preoccupied with Jake ever since I arrived. He must be something special to grab you like this. You, of all people.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kyli said.
Kates laughed. “You know damn well what I mean.”
CHAPTER 44
Jake instructed Philippe to park the GIGN Mercedes next to the front entrance of the mosque. “Let’s go.” Jake instructed Kaplan and Philippe.
Weapons drawn, the three men rushed through the front door. The first man Jake saw was the imam. At the sight of the guns, the man turned to flee but Jake grabbed him and placed his barrel an inch from the man’s face. “Where are they going to attack?”
The imam’s eyes grew large — fear — exactly what Jake intended. Jake had dealt with radical Muslims before, they were all the same, and to get anything out of them they needed to be afraid. Not afraid of dying, dying was the easy way out. They needed to be afraid of living after Jake finished with them. And Jake would make sure every man in that mosque was afraid of living if they didn’t cooperate.