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“No, sir. I don’t know anything about RVs, just airplanes.”
“All right, now listen to me: I’m going to put a man with a radio in here with you. If anybody arrives, you tell them the airport is closed for an hour or two, and they’ll have to wait to go to their aircraft. Then, when we start the operation, I want you and anyone else who arrives to lie on the floor behind your desk. I don’t want anybody to catch a stray bullet.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said.
“Do you have a large plan of the airport?”
The man pointed to a wall, where a framed map about four-by-six feet hung.
Ki
“I’m Ki
A MOMENT LATER, they were inside the FBO, gathered around the map.
Ki
Nobody said anything.
Ki
“Three,” the team leader said.
“Right”
Ki
“Base, this is recce,” a voice said.
“This is base,” Ki
“The building is dark, and there are no sounds from inside. If he has an RV, he could be asleep.”
“Hold your positions and wait for backup,” Ki
“Yes, sir.” The team leader barked instructions, and everybody started to carry out his orders. Ki
“I wish we had body armor,” Smith said.
“So do I,” Ki
As they went around the T-hangars, the group began to move with more stealth. Then they were in place.
Smith caught up to the SWAT team leader. “We can’t open the big hangar doors from outside, so that”-he pointed to a door in one wall of the hangar-“is going to be the only way in. I want the door opened very quietly, and your men in there with night-vision goggles. Nobody turns on the interior lights until I say so.
“If there’s an RV inside, I want it taken without incident, so be very careful how you open the door. I want men on only one side of it-the door side-so that if you shoot through it nobody on the other side will catch a round. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go.”
Using hand signals, the leader ordered his men to don their night-vision goggles and to go in.
Ki
“What the hell?” Ki
“Everybody hold your place!” Ki
The men all froze.
“One man, open the door of the office, over there.”
One man did so. “Clear!” he shouted.
Ki
Smith produced a cell phone and made the call.
Ki
TEN MINUTES BEFORE Ki
52
TED TURNED INTO a parking garage that he had selected long ago, because he could drive in and park while towing the Mercedes. He stopped the RV, got out, unfastened the tow bar and stowed it under the rear bumper, where a bracket had been welded, then he do
THE SPEAKER of the House was wakened by his wife at 6:30 a.m., and not gently.
“Eft,” she said, “you’d better get your ass out of that bed right now, or you’re going to miss the meeting of the leadership.”
“Mmmmf,” Efton replied, turning over and staring at the ceiling. “I think I have a hangover.”
“And you’re surprised? You drank at least half a bottle of Scotch last night. We’re going to have to get you into a program.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, girl, leave me alone. It’s not as though I drink that much every night. It was a party!” He rolled out of bed and staggered toward the bathroom. “Make me some bacon and eggs, will you?”
“You don’t need all that grease in your stomach. What you need is bran cereal, and that’s what you’ll get.”
The shower muted the sounds of Efton’s swearing.
TED PARKED nearly two blocks down the Georgetown street from the speaker’s house and watched. He could see the front door clearly, but nobody was taking any note of him. He could see the exhaust fumes of the two Suburbans idling outside the house. What he needed most to know was in which car Efton would be riding.
EFTON FINISHED his bran cereal and resisted the urge to puke it up on the breakfast table. He was shaved, showered, and dressed, and only someone who could look closely into his eyes would have seen the hangover lurking there. He quickly sca
“Eft, please get going!” his wife begged. She didn’t want to be blamed later if he was late to his meeting.
Efton gathered up the newspapers for reading in the car, got his coat and briefcase from the hall closet, and left the house.
Ted watched as Efton emerged, looked up and down the street, then ran down his front steps and got into the second Suburban. No way to tell how many agents there were in each car, but probably two, one driving and one riding shotgun, while Efton had the rear seat to himself. As the two Suburbans left the curb, he pulled out and followed them, staying two blocks behind. They made a right turn, and from that, Ted guessed that they would be taking route number one, the most direct. Efton was probably ru