Mattie enjoyed working on Tuesdays. The General didn't come in till later on that day and he gave her the discretion of doing the same. Like her father she was not a morning person, so she enjoyed the extra time. As she was finishing her breakfast she looked at the clock. She still had plenty of time before she needed to be there. Just then the doorbell rang. At the door was Jason.
Mattie was happy to see him."Hi Honey, why didn't you tell me you were going to come over? Want some breakfast?"
Jason pushed his way through the door and stuck a gun in her side.
Mattie was stunned. "What's going on Jason!? I don't understand. Wh... Why do you have a gun?!"
"Shut up! Don't call me that. My real name is Jaza and you're taking me to the Pentagon."
Why? What are you going to do? Why have you got a gun!? I can't believe you would do this to me...I thought you... you loved me..they won't let you come in you don't have clearance" she rambled.
Mattie was trying to stay calm to remember her father's instructions if situations like this ever arose. But she was having a hard time staying focused on what she was taught. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. It was a tactic that he had taught her. Mattie began and tried to distract Bukhari by asking the questions again. He had taught her not to resist at first if someone had captured her. She should wait and assess the situation and then try to escape when the abductor was off guard
"Quiet! They will, and you will do as I say because there are bombs that I can set off at your parent's house and other family members. I have a remote control on my phone. So I can do it anytime I want. In fact, I think I will set off the bomb at your sister's apartment." He entered some numbers on his phone to set the bomb off.
At that moment Mattie received her mother's text. At the sound of the text, Jason picked up the phone and looked at the text from Amanda.
"So this is from your mother. She says mind your manners. What does that mean?" Bukari demanded
"Oh, that's just my mom reminding me that I owe her a call. It means it's good manners to return phone calls" Mattie lied.
"I see., let's go you are driving"
Mattie started to pick up her phone to put in her purse but he grabbed it and put it in his pocket. She was relieved that he had her phone because she knew it could be tracked by her parents.
"Jason what's this all about. You don't really work for the embassy then?"Mattie inquired. She was hoping to postpone their leaving.
"No, I am here to take revenge on your country and military and settle an old debt for my family. Now let's get to the car!"
It was at that point it registered in Mattie's mind that Jason was a part of the terrorist threat that they had been briefed about at the Pentagon.
Jaza dragged Mattie to her car and pushed her in as he kept the gun on her and got in beside her.
"Now I will show you where to drive."
Mattie didn't live very far from the Pentagon and Jaza guided Mattie to an area of roadway that was near it but obstructed by some signs. Four other men were waiting for them. One she recognized as Jason/Jaza's roommate. In addition, her friend Evelyn was bound with her hands behind her back. They had a dozen small drones on the ground ready to fly. They got out of the car and Mattie ran over to Evelyn who was crying and tried to comfort her. Jaza started talking to the men in Arabic. They were nodding their heads and looked very excited. They then yelled some words and patted each other's backs and Jaza motioned for her to get into the car again. Mattie decided to try and reason with Jason/Jaza .
"You know they will shoot down those drones very quickly. The air security is very sensitive." Mattie reasoned to him.
"Just a diversion," he said matter of factly. He began to shove Evelyn into the car also but she struggled against him as Mattie yelled "Evelyn don't!"
Jaza hit her with the end of his gun and knocked her out. He pointed to Evelyn on the ground and said to the other men. "We don't need her anymore. I've got Stetson." He kicked her and said "dog" and pointed his gun at Mattie and said "In the car" Mattie got in the driver's seat with Jaza still pointing the gun at her in the passenger seat.
"Ok, I want you to drive to your parking area as always."
"But the guard won't let you in with me"
"Just don't worry about that!"
As Mattie's car approached her special Parking area she suddenly heard several explosions and the parking guards and other security forces all came out and were distracted by the drones dropping the explosions.
"Keep driving fast to the entrance!" Jaza exclaimed.
Mattie drove quickly past the guards as the bombs continued to go off. Sirens started going off and people started to pour out of the building to an open area. Jaza and Mattie were able to rush past the entrance security.
"Now take me to the Joint Chief's office where you work," Jaza demanded.
Happening at the same time when Mattie was being abducted Philip arrived at the Stetson house moments before the bomb squad did.
He found Dotty watching The price is right on the tv.
"Grandma I need you to come with me"
"Well hello Philip, is that any way to greet your grandmother? I'm just watching the Price is right. I should be on that show, I could win a lot!"
Philip pleaded, ``Grandma I don't have much time to explain but you need to come with me and get out of the house."
Just then there was banging on the door from the bomb squad.
"Why what's going on?" Dotty questioned
"Mattie could be in trouble and there could be a bomb somewhere in the house!"
"What on earth! my word does Amanda know? Why would there be a bomb?"
"Like I said I will explain later. Let's just get to the car and wait there."
Philip took Dotty by the arm and escorted her to his car and then he went to talk to the bomb squad. The bomb squad took their time as they scoured the house. There was a team of twelve. Six went inside the house and six scouted the outside. When the bombs were found on the outside of the house they had to evacuate the entire Maplewood street which took some time. The news media got wind of what was going on and it ended up being all over the news. The squad was able to deactivate the bombs successfully and gave a full report to Jamie who then called Lee.
When JJ arrived at her apartment there were fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances. She realized the bomb squad was too late in arriving. JJ called Amanda to update her.
"Mom looks like Bukhari hit my apartment building"
"Oh my gosh JJ! I just hope Philip got to my mom in time" Amanda put her hands over her face.
Amanda had JJ on speakerphone and Lee interjected. "Meet us at Mattie's apartment" They hung up with each other.
Lee and Amanda had pulled up at Mattie's Arlington apartment when Philip called.
"Hey, Dad..there were a couple of bombs on the outside of the house. The squad commander said that they were set to be activated by an electronic device like a cell phone. They were not on a timer. I'm staying with Grandma, but it's been all over the news that the bomb squad was at the house"
Lee groaned."Ok, thanks for the update Philip We just arrived at Mattie's apt. Gotta go"
Lee hung up and turned to Amanda."There were bombs on the outside of our house and they were not on a timer but were set to be manually activated by an electronic device"
Amanda sighed and tried to make a lighthearted joke "Gone are the days of the blue wire"
Lee grunted "and I guess it's all over the news"
"We're going to be really popular with the neighbors" Amanda worried.
They arrived at Mattie's apartment soon after Mattie and Jaza left. Lee looked around the outside of the door to Mattie's unit to see if there was any type of booby trap. Seeing none he tried the door and it wasn't locked. When inside Amanda saw Mattie's purse was still there.
"Look Lee, It's Mattie's purse but she's not here and her car is gone" Amanda looked outback.
Lee quickly checked the other rooms of the apartment. Nothing looked out of the ordinary except that her breakfast wasn't eaten. Just then Lee got an alarm on his phone that a major security breach had happened at the Pentagon.
"Amanda I just remembered we have that app to track Mattie's phone. How do you work it?"
"It's very easy" Amanda took Lee's phone and opened the app and clicked on Mattie's name. It showed her location as being at the Pentagon. Amanda showed it to Lee.
"Looks like Bukhari may be making his move now" Lee surmised.
His phone went off and Francine was on the line.
"Scarecrow there has been an attack of some sort at the Pentagon"
"I know Matties' there now so we're on our way over!" Lee said and hung up.
"Amanda go back to the agency and.."
"I will not! I am coming with you! as always!" Amanda said firmly.
tbc