“It’s only a guess but, yes. If we locate the van, I will let you know right away.”
They said their goodbyes and disconnected.
Linda asked Lieutenant Saunders to check and, after he conferred with his surveillance team at the store, he confirmed what Gostoff had told her. They never saw anyone leave the store but did notice Gostoff’s men rush in. They were guessing there must have been a hidden exit since it was obvious no arrests had been made.
Linda then let the others know Talib had managed to escape. But that situation would have to wait … they needed to focus on finding Dhanial and that van with the explosive devices first.
Ten minutes later, Oliver said, “I think we may be getting close now. I’m sensing stronger signals and those are coming from somewhere below rather than from up ahead. Let’s have the pilot circle around to the right and take us down a little lower.”
Amanda and Jesse were seated next to a window on the left side of the aircraft while Tracy, John and Lieutenant Saunders were seated next to one on the right. They’d been the ones to see the van back at the warehouse earlier and hoped they could recognize it again once they got somewhere near, even though it was now dark out.
There were two main routes from Leipzig into Frankfurt and they were now over one of them, not far from Giessen. They’d been guiding Bravo-Three who were only about fifteen minutes back, having been speeding as fast as possible. As they descended lower, there were enough lights allowing them to determine what vehicles were travelling on the various roadways.
John asked Tracy, “Isn’t that the van we want? See the one which just went through that intersection?” He was pointing so she could see.
“Yes!” exclaimed Tracy. “That’s the one!” She and John pointed so the others could see and Jesse came over to look. He alerted the pilots they had a suspect vehicle down below and described it for them, asking that they circle overhead but stay far enough away so it wouldn’t be obvious they were following this van.
Lieutenant Saunders was very impressed. Somehow … and, he knew he’d never know just how … Oliver and Linda’s team had indeed managed to locate the van. As their aircraft circled lazily overhead, he was able to see it well enough to satisfy himself they really had the right vehicle. When they checked the license plate number which appeared in one of the photos the co-pilot managed taking, it checked. They had the correct van.
After checking with Bravo-Three, it was confirmed they were only about ten minutes away. If the target was in Frankfurt, which they had been guessing for a while now, it looked possible to intercept the van before it reached there. Linda gave Gostoff a call to ask that he get his organization to take the lead. She wanted Bravo-Three to only play a supporting role which, hopefully, wouldn’t be needed.
Gostoff had just reached Leipzig when Linda called. He hadn’t given her chances of locating that van much hope but, on learning she was now circling overhead and had confirmed the license plate, he promised to get someone from the Frankfurt anti-terrorist group in touch with her right away.
He had been keeping his supervisor in Berlin up to date with all the developments and, after getting Linda’s call, he quickly passed along her request.
More calls were made and it didn’t take long before one Jordan Dietrich in Frankfurt was told to call Linda Rayburn and provide all necessary resources in stopping the van and arresting the suspected terrorists. Detailed info was provided on the types of explosives and bombing devices, along with possible weapons, which might be in that van.
Dietrich called Linda to get the story firsthand and promised he’d scramble a team to intercept the van. They discussed possible locations where a blockade might be set up, but they needed to see which route into Frankfurt the van would take before any decision could be made. When Linda advised the van had just left Route 5 and was now on Route 661, Dietrich stated he wanted to stop them just before the Preungesheim district, on the northern outskirts of Frankfurt.
Linda told Dietrich, “Our Bravo-Three team is in a vehicle now only five minutes behind the van. It will be in position to stop any retreat the van might attempt. Wait one … we need to check something with our pilot.”
Jesse had been signaling her, pointing at his watch and at the pilot. She switched over to use her headset to communicate with the pilot and learned they could stay on station for at least thirty minutes. On the phone again to Dietrich, she added, “We’ll be up here for another half hour or so. Then we’ll need to refuel.”
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Dhanial was pleased. He was confident this attack would go just as well as the one they’d done in Munich, only better since they were placing two bombing devices. He’d go into the club first, checking things out. Then two of his guys would come in through the back door he’d open for them, while his remaining guy stayed with the van, ready for a quick getaway. They had done a thorough surveillance of this particular club’s layout ten days earlier; he’d have no problem taking out the one security guard in the back and letting his guys sneak in.
Once they each had placed their explosives under tables near support columns, like they’d managed doing in Munich, they all could make their way back out and climb into the van. After they were well clear, they’d detonate their bombs remotely. Boom! Another big moment for WIJO with a strong message sent to the rest of the world. He was sure this would really enable him to move higher up in WIJO’s organization.
They’d taken a leisurely route so far, making sure they were not being followed and driving at a normal pace. Now they were only minutes away from their destination and the timing would be just right. He looked ahead along the stretch of highway and …
Suddenly, there were flashing lights up there! Oh, oh! What was this?
“Hey, it looks like police are looking for someone,” he yelled. “Pull over and stop. Let’s see what happens. If any of them come toward us, we need to turn around and go the other way. We cannot allow our van to be stopped and searched.”
Chapter Fifteen
Mar 19, 2020
Tracy watched as the van pulled to a stop. There were several vehicles now racing towards the van, lights flashing, forcing traffic to pull over to one side or the other. Then she saw the van start back up, veering across the road and crossing to the opposite lane. It was obvious it planned to make a run for it.
She focused on the front of the van, where the engine was. She didn’t need to extend her arm, really. She aimed with one finger and was able to control the energy which she’d been gathering. Suddenly a bright fireball burst, going right through the van’s hood and into its engine compartment. The van ground to a halt. It wasn’t going anywhere after that.
Men came scrambling out, waving weapons. The vehicles with the flashing lights quickly pulled to a stop nearby. Doors opened and men with weapons climbed out, using the open doors for protection. Shots were fired and in just moments, it was over. The four men from the van were all down. Then the police rushed towards the van with fire extinguishers. Fortunately, before the fire had spread to anywhere inside the van, where the explosives were located, it was put out.
It would be learned that two men from the van were killed while Dhanial and one other were badly wounded. They would survive, however, and be able to stand trial with Ravi and the others later. Two of the anti-terrorist team members were wounded, but only with superficial wounds. The arrest was considered a huge success.
Bravo-Three arrived shortly after it was over. They asked for Jordan Dietrich but since he was back at headquarters, they merely talked to him on the phone. They did, however, get to see firsthand how everything had played out. Like everyone else on site, they found no explanation for the mysterious explosion which caused the van’s engine to burst into flames. That never would be explained and would be written up as a strange anomaly. Aluckystrange anomaly, of course, since had the van not stopped when it did, there might have been some collateral damage.
