Chapter 6: You Have to Love it When a Plan Comes Together
The Capitol Building
Lee continued to work the handcuffs, but wasn't having much luck. The cuffs were tight and he didn't have a lot of room to work. He turned to Jenny, who was watching him intently. "I need you to do something else for me, sweetie. Pull off the top button of my shirt, but do it as quickly as possible without attracting attention."
She nodded and just as she reached her hand toward the button, his cell phone began to ring. Jenny yelped and pushed away from him.
"Damn," Lee muttered.
One of the terrorists rushed over to the trio on the floor and pulled the cell phone out of Lee's pocket and turned it off. He yelled at his companion, "I thought you searched him!"
The other man answered, "Hey, you never told me to search him. Anyway, he's handcuffed. It's not like he's gonna be able to answer it."
"The girls could have used it. Maybe we should handcuff them, too."
"Nah, you've got the phone. Now get back over here so we can set the timer."
Lee frowned when he heard that. A timer meant a bomb. He redoubled his efforts to get out of his cuffs. He whispered to Jenny, "I need that button, now." Jenny moved closer and cautiously reached her hand up to his collar. Giving a little tug, she pulled off the top button. She whispered to him, "What do you want me to do with it, daddy?"
"Put it in my ear," he replied.
She looked at him curiously but followed his instructions. "What does it do?"
He shook his head. It was a radio receiver. If he knew his wife, and he did, she would be using the frequency of the receiver to contact him. The downside was that it wasn't a transmitter, so he couldn't send a message. Lee remained alert and busy, listening to the receiver, keeping an eye on the two men, all while he manipulated the lock pick, trying to get out of the handcuffs.
Meanwhile, the Agency chopper landed on the Capitol grounds and Amanda scrambled out, making her way as quickly as she could up the steps of the Capitol, fighting her way through the crowd headed the opposite direction. Flashing her Agency ID, she rushed in. "What do we know?" she asked the security detail in charge.
"We've got two guys who're barricaded in the Old Supreme Court Chamber. They're holding three hostages, who we understand were on a field trip from Rockville High School."
"Damn, it's got to be Lee," she muttered under her breath. Turning to one of the guards she said, "OK, I have reason to believe that one of the hostages is Deputy Director of the Agency. If that's the case, the odds of our getting out of this situation have just improved. Is anyone monitoring the room?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am. As soon as the situation went down we sent a detail to the security room."
"Have you gotten any reports on the condition of the hostages?" she asked.
"I understand one of the girls appears to be slightly injured and the man may have a head injury," he replied.
"We've got to get those hostages out and it's going to be tricky, because it's very likely they have a dirty bomb."
"Yeah, we know," he said somberly. "Once we got images of them, we ran their photos through our ID program. They're both members of a militant extremist group. They won't be afraid to die for their cause."
Amanda and the guard (Bob) hurried to the security room where a bank of monitors showed multiple angles of every public and private area in the Capitol. Amanda found the screens showing the Old Supreme Court Chamber. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Jenny sitting on the floor next to her friend Rachel. Luckily, they both looked fine, if a bit scared. Scanning the room, she saw Lee, noticing with alarm that he had dried blood caked on his face, but otherwise seemed OK. Watching his movements she realized that he was handcuffed and was trying to get out of them. She hoped that he had been able to insert the radio receiver. Pulling out the transmitter she carried with her, she whispered into it, "Lee?" and was gratified when he jerked his head up. "Lee, I'm in the security monitoring room. Can you hear me?"
He nodded his head slowly and looked up to where he knew the cameras were hidden.
"Are all of you alright?" she asked.
He nodded again and in that moment worked the last tumbler in the cuffs. His hands were now free.
"Lee, they're threatening to detonate a bomb. Can you verify that they have one?"
Another nod from Lee and Amanda cursed under her breath. "Lee, we think it's dirty."
Lee's eyes widened as he realized the implications. A dirty bomb detonated here would be catastrophic. A large enough initial detonation could level the entire building, while the release of the radioactive material would contaminate several square miles of DC for years. He looked up to the cameras again, and very cautiously showed Amanda that he was now liberated from his restraints.
"Lee, do you have Somnolan gas antidote with you?"
Once again he nodded.
"Enough for you and the girls?"
This time he shook his head. Although he carried the antidote, his supply was for one only.
"That's OK, Lee. The gas will only put them to sleep. It's going to take us a few minutes to prepare on this side. We have to switch the ventilation system in your room to stand alone before we can flood the chamber. Inoculate yourself."
Amanda watched as Lee very slowly brought one hand from behind his back and up to his belt buckle. Folding the belt down, he removed a small syringe hidden behind the buckle. He steeled himself and pushed the needle into his leg. He was now safe from the effects of the gas. Luckily for him, the two terrorists were busy with the bomb and hadn't noticed his activities. Hopefully, they'd have the situation under control before the bomb could be armed.
Once he had injected himself, Amanda whispered into her transmitter, "We're ready on this end, Lee. Here goes."
Silently and quickly, the room filled with Somnolan. The effects were immediate; Rachel and Jenny slumped to the floor and the two armed men soon followed, but not before one of them made a last adjustment on the bomb mechanism. Amanda exited the room without waiting for the ventilation system to be switched back. She dashed out the door toward the chamber where Lee and her daughter were.
As soon as the gas knocked out the terrorists, Lee made his way over to the waste container that contained the bomb. A large block of plastic explosive sat under a container of radioactive material. A timer was connected to the explosive. Lee stared in alarm at glowing red LED numbers counting down, 18. . .17 . . . 16 . . . He couldn't wait for the bomb squad; he had to act and he knew he had only one chance for success. Quickly making a decision, he pulled a wire and prayed for the best.
