Gostoff hadn’t yet heard this part of the story and asked, “Why did Tracy and Amanda need to be rescued? And, how did the lieutenant know?”
“Saeed pulled a gun out and began threatening them,” explained Linda. “Tracy sent a text to her boyfriend that help was needed. He was outside with the lieutenant and his men and they immediately reacted.”
“Okay, I think I’m seeing this now. Of course, the fact that weapons and explosives were found is what makes all of this acceptable. Had there been nothing found, I’m not sure there was adequate justification for charging in here and subduing Saeed and Tariq. Why were they threatening the girls, anyway?”
Linda smiled and said, “Saeed was on the phone explaining to his boss, Talib Mansoor, about the four men leaving to attack their next target. Talib got suspicious about the girls being there and had Saeed describe them. Talib then recognized them from their visit to his store and insisted they be detained until Ravi got here. Ravi had been at his store during that visit and could confirm they’d been there. Talib was rightfully feeling worried about Candace Axtell’s visit to Germany.”
Gostoff looked at Tracy and nodded. He asked her, “You overheard enough to know you two were in trouble and somehow managed to text your boyfriend?” Then he chuckled. “I suppose things could have gone sideways and you women might have been hurt.” When he saw Tracy’s grin, acknowledging that, he said, “I think I’m missing some key elements in this story but that’s okay.” Looking back at Linda, he said, “What about the van that got away? Do you have a license plate number and description we can go with?”
“Yes, we do,” said Linda, and she gave him that info. Then she added, “The lieutenant did have men in one of his vehicles following the van but, unfortunately, the van managed to lose them. His men were trying to avoid being noticed and got snarled up in traffic. The van was headed west but, who knows? It really could be anywhere by now.”
“That’s too bad. I’ll have all our resources start searching for that van, based on this.” Gostoff shook his head. “Without more to go on and not knowing their target? We might be too late.”
Linda nodded and said, “We have a helicopter from the U.S. Army coming here. My team will try to circle around overhead and see if we can maybe spot them from the air. If we find them, I’ll call you right away.”
“Okay, any help like that will be appreciated,” said Gostoff. He was finally satisfied these Americans were helping. “Meanwhile, my team will arrest Talib and any of his other guys back in Leipzig. Maybe we’ll learn where the target might be from doing that. I doubt it but we need to try everything we can.”
“Very well. Everyone on my team will be leaving when that helicopter gets here. I know you’re taking these terrorists back with you. I assume you’ll be taking all the weapons and explosives with you as well, right? For evidence?”
“Correct. We’ll do a complete search but then we’ll be leaving and taking everything with us. I don’t see any need for anyone to stay and watch this place after that but we will be marking it as a crime scene.”
Linda said goodbye and then she and her team went outside. The lieutenant’s men had already opened up the bay doors and brought out the vehicles which they’d hidden earlier. They were ready to go and, except for the lieutenant, they would be leaving once the helo lifted off with Linda’s team, taking all the vehicles they’d brought.
Lieutenant Saunders would go with Linda’s team on the helicopter and provide direction to the men who’d gone ahead earlier and lost sight of the van. Hopefully, they’d be close enough to help once Oliver managed to locate where that van was located.
Chapter Fourteen
Mar 19, 2020
Gene and Amanda sorted through all the items which had been brought out from the terrorists’ apartments. By the time the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter arrived and touched down out in the parking lot, Amanda had identified those items which belonged to Dhanial and the three men who’d gone with him in the van. They separated these from all the other items and brought them to where Oliver was waiting with the rest of the team.
After examining them closely for a few moments, Oliver grinned and gave them all a thumbs up. He was able to clearly sense the residual energy from these men on the items and, with that signature to go with, he was able to sense the direction to where the men themselves were now. He knew he could follow that, just as Tracy had suggested and just as he had assured Jesse.
Captain Bonomo told Lieutenant Saunders, “Linda’s task force includes the FBI’s Psychic Division and Oliver is one of their best psychics. Linda and I will be giving our pilots direction to where we think the van might be, based on what Oliver is able to sense for us. That’s highly classified and you must not include any reference to that in whatever reports you eventually file when this is all over. We won’t be telling the pilots why we know where they need to fly. We’ll merely tell them our source is classified. I’m pretty sure they already know this mission is top secret due to how it was arranged.”
The lieutenant looked at Jesse with some skepticism but then nodded. He realized there were aspects to this entire mission he’d never understand but he was appreciative he’d been allowed to participate. It was all way over his head but he’d do his part. He checked in with Bravo-Three, the men he’d sent after the van, and advised them he’d be providing them with some guidance on where to look.
In addition to the two helo pilots, there were two crewmen; they waved Linda’s team over and assisted them all with climbing aboard and getting seated and strapped in. Linda, Jesse and Lieutenant Saunders were provided with headsets and microphones enabling them to communicate with the pilots and crewmen. Once everyone was ready, the helicopter lifted off and climbed up to an altitude of a thousand meters.
Although it was now dark out, the pilots had helmet-mounted night vision goggles and could navigate anywhere they needed to go. When Oliver provided Jesse with a direction, he gave that to the pilots and they began their search. Glancing at the map which one of the crewmen gave Jesse, their direction was south-westerly and possibly toward Frankfurt. Lieutenant Saunders relayed that to Bravo-Three who then also headed off in that direction.
-----
When the anti-terrorist team members Gostoff had sent to arrest Talib, Tabish and Musa finally broke into Talib’s liquor store in Leipzig, they found it empty. Likewise, no one was home at any of the apartment addresses for these men. When all the vehicles registered to these men were also accounted for, it was obvious. The men had fled, probably to a safe house somewhere.
The German authorities were notified, an all-out search was initiated, photos were distributed, and checks were made at all public transportation centers. Every airport, train station, bus terminal and taxi company received notice these men were persons of interest whose whereabouts were to be reported immediately.
Searches made at the apartments turned up nothing helpful, in spite of obtaining the computers which had been left behind. When all resources had been exhausted with no immediate results, Gostoff placed a call back to Linda. He had finished up at the warehouse location and was returning to Leipzig at this point.
After Linda answered her phone, acknowledging she was still up in the helicopter and more than halfway to Frankfurt, Gostoff asked, “Are your sources still monitoring all phone calls from Talib Mansoor? I think you told me that was how your task force identified him in the first place, right?”
“Well, we will know if he uses his satellite phone to call back to Afghanistan. We might be able to provide a location if he does that but we never established any monitoring for other phone calls he or his men might be making. Why? Wasn’t he at his liquor store?” Linda had not yet heard any reports from the men Lieutenant Saunders had left doing surveillance.
“No, it looks like he and his men have gone to ground,” answered Gostoff. “They’re not using any of their known vehicles or prior locations … we doubt they’re coming out to the warehouse. I still have people there but, if he was nervous about Ms. Axtell’s visit like you said and wasn’t able to reach Ravi or Saeed after they were arrested?”
“Right. I understand,” agreed Linda. “Okay. I’ll let my people know. If they learn anything, I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks.” After a short pause, Gostoff asked, “You say you’re checking for that van out near Frankfurt?”
