Now that Hannah knew what to look for she could easily find his signal. In the war room, she had a computer printout in 3D of his signal hanging from the whiteboard. The pages themselves were linked together showing the entire pattern. On each one there was a line that shows Rodolfo's signal when he was demanding the ransom request from New York-Presbyterian Hospital and directly below it was the same signal that he used when he made his demands for MTA and NYSE ransoms. Each was identical to the other and right below that was Hannah's file of his signal just to make sure everyone knew what to look for.
Xx
Rodolfo knows that he's being tracked. And he hopes that his former lab partner can pick up on the clues that he's leaving behind. He purposely initiated the search for the two new locations just to make sure that she knew it was him who was doing the searching. But without knowing where the man in the dark suit was going to take the detective and the agent he can't tell her exactly where they're going to be. But if she's as good as he thinks she is she will track down both locations and be able to make a 50/50 decision on where to send a team.
Xx
The FBI while they wanted to be one step ahead of the hackers that had demanded the ransom from the city, never noticed that the NYPD had placed a surveillance team near the address the NYPD cyber unit found. In a nondescript van parked on the side of the street not far from the building with the parking garage, the two undercover detectives saw the NYPD and the FBI's assault team try to take down the hackers operation but failed miserably. They have been recording everything ever since. Now they noticed that someone who was not one of their people walking out of the parking garage and dials a number on his phone. They found out later that he was attached to the 12th Precinct in a semi-consultant role.
They watched as a 12th Precinct car swung by and picked the man up and brought him back to the 12th.
Xx
LT and Rick stepped off the elevator onto the fourth floor and went directly to Captain Rhodes's office.
"So Rick you observed Kate and Jordan being thrown back into the van?" Ben asks.
"I did. But as the van exited the parking garage and moved onto the surface streets all I could get was the plate number. And the fact that he was headed South. Right after I lost sight of them I called you."
"Now that we have a license plate number to track we can pull up all camera footage from the building we tried to storm earlier and track where the van went. Hopefully, we will be able to find out where they're going. I'm going to put Tori on it."
In short order, Tori pulls up the van on the street cam footage. She's able to ascertain the direction of travel, the color of the van, and she confirms the plate number to make sure it's the one they're looking for. She tracks it as it moves south on Varick. She's able to track it until the van makes a right onto Canal and then another right onto Hudson Street. They move North up through the city and end up on 10th Avenue and 207th street in Northern Manhattan. Then she can't find them. When she loses the van there are many others like it and she can't differentiate which one is which. There are other blue Chevy vans in the area but what gets her is that she lost it near the rail yards at 207th Street, this must be the area that they are in.
Xx
The man in the dark suit had ordered two men he trusted most to transport the agent and the detective up north. Shortly after they left he got into his Jaguar SUV and headed north on Broadway. The timing when they left the garage was pretty close but he knew the NYPD wouldn't be able to find or track both of them. Eventually, he would meet up with them and then the detective and agent would be eliminated for good. He knows the NYPD will be watching all traffic leaving the building so he plays the game. He knows the area where the cameras are but what they don't know is that he knows where there is zero coverage concerning cameras on his route. He quickly heads in that direction and for the next five blocks, he is virtually invisible.
In less than an hour, he passes 207th Street and Broadway and once again he disappears from all the street cams that are in the area. He pulls into a parking lot and parks the Jag. He takes care not to be seen moving quickly into the small office that sits in front of a warehouse. He climbs the stairs to the second floor and to what's an employee break room. He knows the van is parked in the warehouse around back and in due time the Jaguar will be parked there as well.
He enters the break room and he sees his two hostages both with their heads slumped forward. So he knows that they have not regained consciousness yet but the thing that he likes is the fact that they're both sitting on two pounds of C4 explosive. This is what he meant by them not seeing the next day. He will eliminate them here and before the sun sets.
He leaves the women in the charge of one of his men nodding as he leaves. He is heading back towards the offices downstairs where he knows the second of his two men are. When he sees him he has a small detail of him to take care of.
"Gus, I need you to dump the van. Take it south of here and go down to about 178th Street and Amsterdam and just park it on the exit ramp where all the homeless people hang out. Leave the plate on it and the keys in it. If the cops find it then so be it if they don't, someone's got a free van that will clear us by the time the end of the day comes. They might find it, but knowing that area it'll probably be stripped inside an hour. Take the subway back and I'll pick you up at the 207th Street Station."
"Will do."
Gus leaves and as he does the man in the dark suit follows behind him. He parks his Jag where the van was to get it out of sight.
Xx
Ben Rhodes has been at a loss for what to do for the past fifteen minutes. He knows he's missing something he just can't figure out what it is. Just as he's about to talk to the FBI Tori walks into his office.
"What do you have Tori?"
"Captain, I lost the van in Northern Manhattan near the train yard. But I immediately put out a BOLO containing the plate number and description of the van."
"Let me ask you a question. Do you think that the crew who was at that building is still there? I mean I realize that they moved detective Beckett and agent Shaw but I have a feeling that they are still operating out of that building. And with all the manpower that they had there, I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is now guarding detective Beckett and agent Shaw at a separate location."
"So you're thinking that with their manpower now depleted we might have a chance to take them down? And you want to take advantage of it. I like what you're thinking but I think we should take this to the war room and ask Lieutenant Kennai what he thinks." Tori suggests.
Captain Rhodes calls the FBI and HRT team leaders into the war room along with the NYPD First Strike Team and the Cyber team. He puts his idea forth and some people who are hearing his plan are skeptical that it will work. Seeing book of doubt on the faces of his teammates he backtracks and refines the plan to give a more detailed timeline on what will happen.
Rick who has been watching the whole meeting unfold in front of him sits quietly at the conference table listening intently.
"Let me get this straight. Do you think that the men who were watching Kate and Jordan have now been tasked to move them To a new location?" Lieutenant Kennai questions.
The HRT team leader stands up from his seat. He's about to say something that most of the team won't like.
"I'm not sure that we should be discussing a time-sensitive attack plan in front of a civilian. If you want my input on this decision I want the civilian gone." He says as he points to Rick.
"Newsflash genius! Without what that man sitting in that chair has given us, we wouldn't have the intel that we already have. So he stays." Ben says.
The HRT leader sits back in this chair and doesn't say another word. The plan is talked about and hashed over many times before the final one is acceptable. Being that it's almost noon the takedown will happen at 1 pm.
All teams are now in place outside the building. The security guard that should be walking around the grounds every fifteen minutes is nowhere to be seen. Lieutenant Kennai thinks that's a good sign.
They storm the building and within a short time, everyone is taken into custody without a shot fired. They arrest thirteen hackers, six security guards who oddly enough seem to be carrying unregistered automatic rifles and sidearms. Everything is confiscated and cataloged and transported down to the 12th precinct. The next step is interrogating everyone. And that's where they are now.
Xx
"Ben, I'm concerned with the safety of the men and women that we have in holding from the raid." Lieutenant Kennai said.
"Why? They are here and protected."
"That might be true but I want to move them someplace safer."
"What do you have in mind?" Ben asks.
"The FBI and Secret Service have a facility north of here. It's used to hold all sensitive information from the stock exchange for the prior day, but it also doubles as a detention center. We could bring them there, interrogate them and find out what they know."
Ben thinks about this for a little bit knowing that the facility he wants to bring them to is in northern New Jersey. It's out of his jurisdiction but then again this isn't his call because lieutenant Rob Kennai is the one in charge.
"All right Rob let's get them rounded up for transport. I do suggest more than one transport vehicle just in case since there are thirteen of them. We'll have three unmarked vans carrying. Five, four, and four respectively."
"Agreed"
Xx
Wilhelm was beyond livid. The situation in New York is now beyond his control and even though he tries, he can't find a way to stop the hemorrhaging. He knows that he has the two law enforcement people hidden away but what bothers him is the fact that the NYPD and the FBI now have all of his hackers. His priority will be to find out where they're stashed. His first choice would be the 12th Precinct so the two moles that he has there will tell him if he's correct or not.
He picks up the phone and makes a phone call lasting no longer than thirty seconds. Once the call is done he places a second call to the man in the dark suit.
Xx
It happened quickly and that is what scares the crap out of Rodolfo. As he's being led towards the stairway to go up to the first floor he is joined by two more officers with three female hackers. Kim is one of them. The second he starts to open his mouth to say something he's pushed forward and almost falls flat on his face. But the cop who was behind him yanks him backward preventing the fall and tells him to keep his mouth shut and walk in a straight line.
They are led to the parking garage from the first floor and they are split up into groups of four. One van has five people the other two have four. He wasn't lucky enough to get placed in the same van as Kim is. The windows in the van are tinted heavily but he can still make them out to be going through the Holland Tunnel. Now he knows they're going to New Jersey. Once they get out of the Holland, they jump on the New Jersey Turnpike and head north. Interstate 95 ends at Route 80 in a split to the left. They take 80 West until they get to Route 17 North. Once on Route 17 North, the ride is fairly short and within thirty minutes they're pulling into a heavily secured location. They stopped in front of the front gate and Rodolfo notices that there are steel pillars that pop up in case someone tries to ram the front gate. There's also a pop-up ramp with teeth that can probably rip apart a semi if it had to. The cop in the driver's seat dials a number on his cell phone and calls the front gate. After explaining what's going on the gates raise the stanchions drop down and they drive through. The second or third van is through the gate, everything reverts back to security status. They drive to the backside of a building and down a ramp into another underground garage.
They are brought to individual cells splitting male and female so he has no idea what happened to Kim. About an hour later, a very solidly built African-American strides up to the cell.
"Rodolfo, today's your lucky day."
"I'm sorry I don't know what you're talking about. How can this be my lucky day?" He questions.
"It's going to be your lucky day when you decide to tell me how we can nail the people behind these attacks."
"Lawyer!" Rodolfo says adamantly as he holds onto the bars in front of him.
"You want a lawyer you're going to have to wait for one. You see lawyers in this part of New Jersey are hard to come by. And being that this is a now federal jurisdiction we can hold you for up to seventy-two hours without charging you. Now listen to what I'm going to say and listen very carefully. I'm going to give you to the count of three. Then I ask you a question. I want an answer to it. If you don't answer truthfully, any deals that could have possibly been made will now be off. And then I'll go to the next hacker and give them the same deal. I think I'll start with your friend Kim because she looks like the kind to it spill her guts with just a simple threat. Oh, and by the way, if you do decide not to answer the question you will be buried under a rock so deep that you'll never see sunlight again in your life."
Lieutenant Kennai stands there watching Rodolfo contemplate his next move.
"One."
"Two"
"Thr…"
"Okay okay, I'll talk. But you need to spring Kim because she and I are a team and we can give you everything you need to know. Get her and you've got a deal but I want protection because these guys are ruthless they will come after us and take us out."
"I'm not promising anything but I will talk to the US Marshals and see if we can get you into WITSEC. Be forewarned you will do time before that happens. You initiated the attacks with Kim so you will be sent to a medium-security prison. Somewhere no one can get ahold of you including whoever perpetrated this. I'm not the judge, jury, or executioner so I can't tell you what the time spent in jail will be but I promise you the deal with WITSEC will be solid."
"Good. Then the other hackers will be released because they knew nothing of what we were doing. They were mostly paper-pushers so once that's in place and I see them walk free I'll spill everything."
Rob scrapes the 3-day old growth of whiskers on his chin and thinks hard. Would Jordan feed eleven hackers to the wolves or would she show compassion and give them a suspended sentence?
"Let's go." Rob takes the keys for the holding cell from his side and unlocks the cell door and escorts Rodolfo upstairs. A female matron brings Kim to the same small interrogation room.
Xx
His phone rings in his pocket just as he's about to enter the room where the agent and detective are being held. Without even bothering to read the caller ID he answers.
"Hallo?"
"Henrik, läuft alles nach Plan?"
"Wilhelm, du musst kein Deutsch sprechen. Dies ist eine sichere Leitung."
Wilhelm starts speaking in his broken English.
"Henrik, I need a status report. The FBI now has all the hackers and we need to shut them up.
"You have bigger fish to fry Wilhelm because these two know about you. Don't ask me how they found out about the information they have about you but they have information on you that even I didn't know about."
"I think it's safe to say that this operation is now over. Clean up all loose ends including getting rid of the detective and the FBI agent. Oh, and Henrik, make it spectacular!" When Wilhelm hangs up the phone all Henrik can do is stare at it.
Xx
Kate comes to and struggles against her bindings. She knows that there's nothing that she'll be able to do to get away but it doesn't stop her from trying. She can feel Jordan right behind her and notices that she is making noises that she's coming around as well. All they need to do is get out of here. She wishes that Rick was here and could help her get out of this mess…