Triple Threat (11 page)

Josh's hand brushed hers as he pointed at a word. “Accelerant…how many writers use that word in their blogs on e-publishing? And here's another, RC?”

“Keep going. We can't analyze it until we've found enough words.”

In less than a minute, they highlighted five words.

“Three of the words are nine words apart.” She tapped out the intervening word count. “One is eleven, and the other…twenty.”

Josh looked up at her face. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“You mean 9, 11, 9, 11?”

“Yeah. Why don't you pick what looks like the first word and highlight all the words in the 9/11 pattern.”

Katie started with the letters ‘RC' and changed the font color of all succeeding words in the pattern. After she scanned the colored words, Katie blew out a blast of air.

Josh whistled through his teeth. “Accelerant, RC, controlled, AC, purchased. I think this tells us what they're up to. They're going to bomb something and burn it using radio-controlled planes as drones.”

“But we don't know what or where,” Katie added. “Regardless, it's time to call Peterson.” She pulled out her cell phone, hit the contacts icon, and scrolled to the P's. “You'd better pray this goes well, Josh. Peterson can be a little testy when he gets surprises.”

“I'll leave the praying to you. You seem to have gotten some results today.”

She smiled at Josh. His mind seemed a little more open to her faith. At least her mention of prayer hadn't caused an argument or spawned anymore snide remarks. Katie turned on her speakerphone and pressed the green call icon. Josh needed to hear both sides of this conversation. “Come on, Peterson, answer.” Katie's foot tapped out a snappy rhythm on the gondola coach floor. “He's not answering. I'm not going to give up and leave a message yet.” She terminated the call at the voicemail prompt.

“Now what?”

She gave Josh a hands-up shrug.

“Well aren't you going to pray…or something?”

He actually wanted her to pray? If their situation wasn't so tenuous, she would've given Josh a hug. He looked like he needed one. The concern in his eyes revealed his need for someone he could trust, someone like a Lord and Savior. But if she didn't come up with another plan really soon, Josh might miss his chance for that. And she might miss her chance for…no, it was silly to think about her and Josh in that way.

Katie jumped when her cell played her college fight song. She opened the phone. The number was blocked. “I think it's Peterson calling from his office phone,” she said as she hit the speakerphone.

“Hello.”

“This is Peterson. Did you just call me, Katie?”

“Yes. We need your help as soon as possible.”

“Not another shooter, I hope.”

“Two shooters are after us and there's a whole lot more than shooting being planned.”

“Us? Two shooters? Katie, where are you? Who's with you? And who's after you?”

“Joshua West, the guy you met at Key Arena is with me. We're in Whistler on the peak to peak gondola, and two people with guns, terrorists, we think, are after us. Can you have the police here secure at least one end of the run so we can get off?”

“Good grief, Katie. How did you—”

“Don't ask. We think these people may try to kill us when we make the turn in the terminal.”

“Before I call the Mounties, I need to know what convinced you this is terrorist activity.”

“They plan to use drones with firebombs in an attack on—”

“And how do you know this?”

“It's spelled out in information I got from the terrorists hard drive and—”

“You need to stop, Katie. You're in enough trouble, already. Don't make things worse.” He paused. “OK, you stay on this call and both of you stay on that gondola until you see a uniformed Mountie. I'll be back in a moment.”

She looked at Josh. “You heard him. We sit tight for now.”

“Kate, if we were sitting any tighter, you'd be in my lap. But what are we going to do when this thing enters the terminal? He can't contact the Mounted Police and have someone magically appear at the terminal halfway up Whistler Mountain in five minutes or less.”

She shook her head. “I don't know. But I pray Peterson has something in mind.”

“We could try to lay flat and hide like you suggested earlier.”

“But someone might get on, and the two terrorists might kill us all. I won't endanger anyone else.”

She looked at the Whistler Peak terminal. It rushed at them at an incredible speed.

The cabin jerked to a stop.

Katie gasped.

Josh's arm circled her shoulder and held her as the gondola swung back and forth 300 yards from the terminal.

He squeezed her, and then removed his arm. “I think our friend Peterson did have something in mind.”

She gauged the distance to the terminal. “Even if those two knew where we were, they couldn't hit us at this distance. Not with their handguns.”

“I hope they don't try. I feel like a target in a shooting gallery. A literal sitting duck.”

Whap! A hole appeared in the Plexiglas above Josh's head, showering them with small fragments of plastic.

“On the floor!” Josh yelled.

Katie belly-flopped onto the floor.

Josh hit the floor beside her.

Thwap!

Another hole appeared near the top of the Plexiglas on the terminal side of the cabin.

Katie raised her head and saw two exit holes opposite the terminal side.

Josh's big hand covered the crown of her head and pushed it to the floor. He monkey rolled over her body, lying beside her on the terminal side.

Josh was shielding her.

“Josh, no!”

“Kate, be quiet and keep your head down.”

“But I don't want to be quiet. They're shooting at us.”

“Listen for the shots.”

“I didn't hear any shots.”

Josh blew out a blast of air. “That's not good. They're using silencers or suppressors. They can be hiding near the terminal, watching with binoculars, and shooting at us without being detected.”

She looked at her cell. “Darn it! I lost Peterson's call.”

Josh shoved her head back down. “If you don't keep your head down, I'm going to sit on it.”

“OK. OK. Maybe Peterson or whoever was monitoring my cell phone, heard about the shooting before I jumped and accidentally cut off the call.”

“Let's hope so.” Josh turned his head toward hers.

The two were lying, cheeks on the floor, face-to-face, heads hardly a foot apart.

“You are so beautiful, Kate.”

“That was entirely inappropriate, don't you think?”

“No. Just keep your head down so nothing happens to change it.”

“Josh, the bullet wouldn't hit me. It would hit your thick head first.”

“Thick head, huh? Dumb old Joshua West, from the dregs of the genius barrel, while beautiful Kate Brandt—”

“Stop it! I never called you—”

Thwap!

Plastic shrapnel sprayed Kate's ear as a bullet screamed by her head. “Josh, are you OK?”

“Yeah. But that last one was close. Do you think they're running down the mountain, trying to get closer to us?”

“Yes.” She raised her head again.

He shoved it back to the floor.

“Ouch. That hurt, Josh.”

“You do that one more time, Kate, and…”

“The exit hole is a foot above the entrance hole. They
are
moving closer, coming down the mountain, shooting up at us.”

“That prayer thing you do. Feel free any time.”

“I have been. You'll notice they haven't hit us yet.”

“Listen. I hear a commotion. Sirens sounding somewhere.”

Two loud pops sounded from the terminal side.

“Shooters
without
silencers,” she said between heavy breaths. “I think the Mounties are onto them.”

“Yeah. My thoughts exactly. But you're not raising your head until—”

Her cell started playing an old song about an agent with a number instead of a name. “It's Peterson, calling from his cell this time.” She opened her phone.

“I thought you said
all
his calls were blocked. How did you hack your phone to key on a blocked number and play that—”

“Don't ask, Josh. If I tell you, I'll have to kill you.” She hit the speakerphone.

“Are you two OK?” Peterson's voice. Even the tinny cell speakers couldn't remove his deep voice of authority.

“Three shots fired at us. All missed. We're OK.”

“Katie, the Mounties spotted the shooters and are chasing them on the mountain. I shudder to even ask this, but do you know where they were staying in Whistler?”

“The Pinnacle Hotel, room 207.”

“Thanks, Katie. I'll let the police up there know. I'm climbing into a chopper as we speak. The Mounties will reel you two in now and watch you until I arrive in a little over an hour. You behave until then, young lady, or I'll think of some reason to arrest you. Do you understand?”

“She understands,” Josh yelled at her cell phone. “I'll watch her, Peterson.”

“The voice of reason. Must be Joshua West.”

She moved the cell away from Josh. “That's not fair. Two big men ganging up on one—”

“One mean ninja babe,” Josh yelled.

“You got that right,” Peterson replied.

The gondola lurched, and then began moving toward the terminal.

Katie brought her cell to her mouth. “They're reeling us in now. One big sucker and an angelfish.”

A chuckle sounded on Peterson's end. “See you in an hour.” The call ended.

“Some end to our honeymoon. You defected, Josh. Sided with Peterson.”

“You've got the sides confused, Kate. Peterson's on
our
side.”

Josh was right. And he had shielded her with his body to protect her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, about any of the events of the past hour. The only thing she was sure of was that his lips, only twelve inches away, were a big, inviting temptation. “Can I get up now, Josh?”

“No. Stay down until I check things out.” He was already on his knees, rising to stand.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. “Just to be safe, stay down here with me until we're inside. I wouldn't want to lose my husband on our honeymoon.”

Katie raised her head as the terminal building cut off the bright sunshine. Bright red forms surrounded the loading area. The Mounties were definitely here.

 

 

 

 

14

 

Josh listened, for the most part, noting how Kate carefully, brilliantly answered the Canadian police officers' questions, while avoiding information the FBI might not want to divulge at this point.

Once the Mounties were satisfied that Whistler and its citizens were secure, the questions stopped. Maybe they were being respectful of the sensitive subject matter, waiting to let the FBI probe more deeply.

What troubled Josh most was that somehow the man and woman had eluded the police and gotten away from Whistler Mountain. Though he and Kate gave the Mounties descriptions of the two, the police had not seen the man or the woman since the brief gun battle. Furthermore, a search of room 207 at the Pinnacle Hotel turned up no computers, only some clothing the two had left behind. Was there a third terrorist in Whistler?

After the questions ended, the police left Kate and him alone in an interrogation room with a guard at the door, while they waited for Peterson to arrive.

Kate opened her purse, pulled out her netbook, and opened it.

“What have you got in mind, Kate?”

“Well, we've got some time to kill, and I see three wireless routers in the area. One is unsecured. I'm going to do a little research.”

“You're not going to get us into more trouble, are you? Peterson wouldn't like that.”

She flashed him a disapproving look. “That's right, you two are buddies now. You both abandoned Katie. Fed her to the wolves.” Her voice had a sharp edge to it.

Though it wasn't true, her accusation still stung. “I would never abandon you, Kate.” The words flew from his mouth, surprising him with their intensity. Where had all those emotions come from?

Kate's fingers stopped moving on the keyboard. She laid her hand over his. “I know you wouldn't.” She moved her hand back to typing position.

Josh slid his chair beside hers and tried to focus on the matter at hand. But their touch, a few words, and a dozen other little things clearly indicated the growing intimacy between Kate and him. This was a first in the life of Joshua West, and he didn't want to blow it by doing anything wrong or stupid.

Kate's browser was pointed at a search engine. She typed in three search terms, terrorist, threat, fire.

“You really think that's going to tell us anything?” Josh looked down at her knowing his face held a questioning frown.

“It's worth a try.” Kate pressed enter.

A page of links popped up on her screen. She drew a sharp breath when she saw the link titles.

Josh put a hand on her shoulder. “Not good. Not good at all.”

Kate read slowly, “Al-Qaeda encourages forest fire arson. State officials prepare against terrorist fire threats. Al-Qaeda touts forest arson as terror.” She paused and pushed the page down key. The list continued for another full page. “What do you think now, Josh?”

So this fire attack hadn't come out of the blue. “I think you've got something to tell Agent Peterson. Can you imagine how easy it would be to start a devastating forest fire with a radio-controlled plane carrying a fire bomb?”

Kate stared at the screen for a moment, and then met his gaze. “What if it wasn't just one plane, but thirty or forty, all aimed at the driest forests in the western states? What if they launched the attacks simultaneously in mid-August?”