“Possibly,” Stone said.
“Well, it was Arabs shooting,” Reuben added. “I grabbed one of their guns before the man got shot.”
“It was definitely a coordinated attack,” Stone commented. “Even with all the chaos, that was clear to see. Shooters and then men setting themselves on fire, and then more shooters. In structured bursts of directed fire.”
“At least the presidential limo was able to get away,” Kate added. “Even if the president ended up being kidnapped.”
“Yes, but the perpetrators probably intended that the limo escape,” Stone said. “After cutting it off from the rest of the motorcade.” He looked over at Milton, who was frantically typing away on his laptop. “Anything new, Milton?”
“Only that the president is confirmed missing, and there was a tremendous gun battle outside of Mercy Hospital in Brennan.”
“Mercy Hospital,” Stone said thoughtfully. “If the president was ill, they must’ve taken him to the hospital. That would have been standard procedure.”
“And they set fire to the ambulance,” Kate said.
“Also part of the plan,” Stone replied.
Caleb looked at all of them. “So what now?”
“We really need to talk to Alex. He needs to look at that film,” Kate said.
“I’m sure he’s pretty busy right now,” Reuben commented.
“I’ll go and see him as soon as he’s home,” Kate said. “I know he’ll want to help.”
Stone, however, didn’t look nearly as confident as she did.
At Secret Service headquarters the crisis room was abuzz. Although the FBI was officially handling the investigation, the Service was not about to back down on this case.
Alex Ford, his arm bandaged, his bruised ribs wrapped with tape and his lungs still feeling like they’d been charcoaled, had been debriefed for the tenth time and was, in turn, being caught up on recent developments.
“We’ve got the hospital security guard,” said the Secret Service’s director, Wayne Martin. “The two other men in the ambulance were killed after a gun battle, but we got the bastard.”
“And the president?” Alex asked anxiously.
Martin said, “No sign of him. We think he was transferred to another vehicle. A woman named Djamila Saelem may have been involved. She worked as a nanny for a couple named Franklin. She tied up Mrs. Franklin and took the kids. Later she released the kids but was killed by the responding officers when she tried to run them down.”
“What’s the connection to the president?” another agent asked.
“We think she used the kids to get through the roadblocks. A nanny with three screaming babies is not really high on the suspect list.”
“I’m still not getting it,” the same agent commented.
“When the officers inspected the van she was driving, a secret compartment was found in the rear. It was copper- and lead-lined with an outline of a man’s body roughly the size of the president’s cut into it, plus space for an oxygen tank that was later recovered. Mrs. Franklin said the nanny was highly upset when she was told that Mrs. Franklin had changed her plans and was going to the dedication event with her sons. That would’ve thrown a big monkey wrench in their plan, so Franklin had to be taken out.”
“Has he talked?” Alex asked. “The security guard, I mean.”
“The FBI has taken over that line of inquiry,” Martin said bitterly. “But his prints were run through the system and came back with zip.”
“Sir, that guy is no rookie. I can’t believe this is his first op,” Alex said.
Martin said, “Agreed, but I guess he never got caught before.”
Alex then asked the question he’d been dreading. “How many are dead, sir?”
Martin looked at him strangely. “Counting the dedication grounds and what happened in town, twenty-one terrorists were killed.”
“I mean what about our guys?”
Martin glanced around the room at the other men and women there. “This is not public knowledge, and it won’t be until we can figure out what the hell’s going on.” He paused. “We had no casualties.”
Alex jumped up and looked at the man. “What the hell are you talking about? Guys were dropping all over the place. I was there. I saw them, damn it. Is this some kind of bullshit political spin? Because if it is, it stinks!”
“Just hold on, Ford,” Martin said. “I know you’re on heavy meds for the pain, but you don’t talk to me that way, son.”
“The hospital staff said a doctor at the hospital injected him with something and he went unconscious,” Martin added.
“They couldn’t just count on him becoming ill and going to Mercy Hospital,” Alex said. “They had to make that happen at the ceremony.”
“Right, but we don’t know how they did it.”
Another agent spoke up. “Maybe he was hit with a dart that made him sick.”
“That’s possible. And the dart guns don’t make a lot of noise, but no one saw a gun until the first volley of fire took place. We’ve gone over that film a hundred times. At no time does the president flinch or otherwise show that he’s been shot with anything. Even with a dart gun you’re going to have a physical reaction upon impact.”