“Yes. As follows: ‘The time is coming soon.’ And that everyone needed to be prepared. And that justice would be theirs.”
“And you took that to mean some attack on the United States?”
“That’s what I’m paid to think, Puller. And also paid to prevent.”
“Why was this chatter so special? People say stupid stuff all the time that leads nowhere. Even speaking in Dari.”
“The chatter wasn’t clean. It was encrypted. And it wasn’t encrypted with some fancy computer algorithm. It was in code. Code that my people tell me was very popular with the old KGB before the Cold War ended. Now we also know that the Taliban has started using old KGB codes to communicate with implanted cells. I guess it harks back to the days when the Red Army was rolling around in tanks there.”
“Taliban using a KGB code in Dari coming from West Virginia. Now that’s diversity for you. But they broke it?”
“Obviously, or else I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you. Ironically, the old code stuff is coming back into vogue, Puller, because we’ve gotten so good at cracking computerized encryption. Bottom line, it made us sit up and take notice.”
“I haven’t seen one turban in Drake. Just a bunch of proud Americans with a little red around the neck. How can you be sure the plan will be executed in Drake? The terrorists could just be hiding out there and the target could be someplace else.”
“Other components of the chatter lead us to believe that the target is at least in the vicinity of Drake.”
Puller sat back, thought about this. “Well, there’s a big concrete dome where a secret government facility operated in the 1960s. That’s probably a good place to start. In fact, it’s the only thing out of the ordinary in the place. Other than a bunch of dead bodies.”
“If it were only that easy.” Mason pulled a sheaf of papers from his file and slid them across to Puller. He said, “We tracked down what that facility was used for. It doesn’t really help us.”
Puller scanned the sheets of paper. It was a classified document that he was cleared to read. It was dated from the 1970s. He said, “They built bomb components there?”
“Key components. Not the boom part of the ordnance. The concrete dome was put in because some of the material they handled there was radioactive. Back then DoD had money to burn. And there was no EPA. So instead of cleaning up the site the military just covered it over.”
“Is it a threat?”
“Environmentally? Who the hell knows? Maybe. But that’s not our concern. The report is clear that all materials and equipment were removed from the place. And you’re not going to punch through three feet of concrete to see if your Geiger counter goes nuts.”
“What if someone were to blow it up, maybe release the radioactivity, if there’s any left in there?”
“Yeah, Puller. You’d need a mountain of explosives, a lot of assets on the ground, and you have no way of knowing if there’s anything in there to make it worth your while. So they release some radioactivity into the air in Drake? Who cares?” Mason sat back in his chair. “No, the answer has to lie somewhere else.”
Puller slid back the papers. “Okay. What else?”
“We know you talked to General Carson.”
“She was cooperative.”
“Reynolds knew something. That was why he was killed. He knew about something happening out there.”
“I just found that out. If you’ve known for a while it would’ve been good to know back then.”
“Drake didn’t exist for me until we decoded that transmission. And that was only two days ago. You’re probably way ahead of us.”
“Because you’re not out there. You left it to me and some local cops. Two days ago was shortly after the murders. They have to be connected. You could have sent a team out here. Why didn’t you?”
“Tricky questions, trickier answer.”
“I’m used to both.”
Mason smiled. “I guess you are. Soldiering is a lot more complicated than it looks.”
“The soldiering part is easy compared to all the other crap. Firing a gun straight just takes practice. No practice in the world prepares you for the backroom hopscotch.” He paused. “You ever in? You look the type.”
“Marines. Didn’t do my full time. Got out, went to college, and ended up carrying a gun for Uncle Sam anyway. But I wear a suit instead of the uniform.”
“Marines have covered my back many a time.”
“And I’m sure you did the same for them. But getting back to your query, the consensus here is to let this thing play out a bit. We bring in the heavy artillery we spook these folks.”
“Spooking might not be such a bad idea. Especially if they’re planning a second 9/11. But why they would pick Drake after they hit the Big Apple, I’m not sure. The damage potential just isn’t the same.”
“Which is why we’re worried. And if we went in heavy, we figured they’d scatter, regroup, and hit somewhere else just as unlikely and they wouldn’t make the chatter mistake again. Their choice of location has us concerned, Puller. It’s not a traditional target. It has no replication value. You nail one airport or mall or train station it shuts them all down countrywide.”
“But you hit a Podunk, you don’t get the same result.”
“Which means they know something we don’t. This is not on our tactical or strategic grid. We don’t have a playbook page on this one. We’re the ones who are spooked, frankly.”
“Your strategy could be playing with the lives of everyone that lives in Drake.”
“Yes, it could.”
“But since there’re so few of them and most of them are dirt poor, I guess that makes it okay?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. They’re still Americans, poor or not.”
“But if this were the Big Apple we were talking about, or Houston or Atlanta or D.C.?”
“Every situation is different, Puller.”
“The more things are different the more they’re the same.”
“An Army guy who’s also a philosopher. I’m impressed. Seriously, though, I don’t want any innocent citizens to die. But it’s tricky. But if it were New York or Chicago or L.A. and certainly D.C., we’d be going in with the big guns, no doubt.”
“So Drake is the experiment in evolving tactics?”
“Drake is an opportunity.”
“Okay, Reynolds was military and maybe that was enough to make him a target. What about Molly Bitner and Eric Treadwell?”
“Right across the street and all.”
“Could one of them have been the one Reynolds stumbled onto? That’s the word Carson used.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Mason.
“From what I can tell they never went anywhere other than the nursing home or hospital, which isn’t even in Drake. The only people they would logically come into contact with would be the neighbors on the street. My focus, obviously, is on the only neighbors to end up murdered too.”
“I see where you’re going with this, and I like the angle. We don’t have anything concrete on either of them, but it still might be a promising lead.”
“So what do you want from me?”
“To do what you’ve been doing. Keep digging. The only change will be that you’ll report directly to me instead of your SAC. You’re going to be our eyes on the ground there, Puller.” Mason rose. “I know you want to get back.”
“I was going to go by the Reynolds house in Fairfax City, check it out.”
“We’ve done that canvass already. Nothing there. Your SAC can verify that. If you want to go over there, feel free.”
Puller didn’t hesitate. “I’d rather see for myself.”
“Pretty sure you’d say that. You’ll have full access. You can go right after you leave here.”
“Thanks.”
“Now that the prelims are out of the way, fill me in on your investigation.”
Puller gave him the condensed version. Mason perked up when he mentioned the probable videotaping of the Reynolds family.
“That sounds ominous,” he said.
“Yes, it does,” replied Puller.
When he got to the soil report, Mason stopped him. “I’d like to see it.”