Surrept (12 page)

The South Korean executive in charge of making sure his accommodations are handled said, "Mr. Bloomfield, you are from the most powerful country in the world, I believe your family is in good health if as you say, they do not use the public transportation there."

David sets his phone down on the bar as he watches the pictures on CNN display the horror at home. He rubs his face and orders another drink.

***

Back in Denver, Adriana Pucci leaves her underground apartment garage in her BMW five-two-five and enters the I-25 freeway heading northbound. She checks her fuel and decides she will get gas in Fort Collins where there should be less traffic and wait times, as the Denver metro area is in chaos.

She tries to call the office and all circuits are still busy. She throws the phone on the seat next to her and switches the radio to National Public Radio. The commentator is talking about the president making an address tonight regarding the senseless and brutal attacks this morning on U.S. citizens.

She passes a sign that says
Fort Collins 11 miles
. She sees a gas station at the next exit, and she leaves the freeway and pulls up to a public phone and parks her car.

Adriana pumps some change in the phone and dials the office. The exchange picks up, "National Ad Media Group, how may I assist you?" She puts on her most urgent voice, "Thank God you answered. This is Adriana Pucci; I work there, and am trying to reach Marcie Dellillio."

"I'm sorry. Miss Pucci, but due to the recent events, everyone has left the office and will not return until Monday next week. Would you like me to leave a message?"

Adriana smiles at the news, "Just tell her that I called, please."

Adriana hangs up and gets into her car. She pulls over to the gas pumps to fill her tank. She goes into the station and pays cash for her fuel and buys some snacks and waters for the road. She finishes fueling and heads north toward the Wyoming border.

***

In the downtown Denver LoDo district, Dana Underwood is sitting in a restaurant down the street from her office with Gracie, her coworker. Their eyes both fill with tears and are glued to the television monitors along with other patrons. There is an eerie hush as the patrons watch video of Muslims celebrating worldwide, rejoicing in the streets of their cities around the world. They watch the Muslim revelers burning American flags, cars, and protesting outside U.S. and British embassies across the Middle East and Northern Africa. The images of other western leaders are on the monitors as they denounce the terrorist action against the western countries. They all watch as the world has goes mad. The commentator gravely recites city after city and their death tolls across the nation, along with unprecedented video on the attack sites and the victims carried by emergency personnel from buses, trains, subways, and bus stations across the United States and Great Britain.

Dana looks around the room, she has never witnessed such horror and anger, and she wishes that David were home.

***

Across town, Ahmed is sitting in his van in a multilevel parking structure. He is listening to news radio of the day's events. He realizes that he has now crossed over as a warrior for Islam.

He turns the radio up and writes on his clipboard, reconciling the day's deliveries. He thinks about what he has done and about the mixed comments from his customers regarding the attacks as he listens to the radio broadcast. He places the money and checks in an envelope, pins it under the clip on his board, and tosses it up on the dashboard.

Ahmed looks out at the neighborhood below to check for the police before he exits the parking structure, the streets are deserted except for a few cars. He heads toward the market.

***

Dana is still in the restaurant bar; Gracie has left with a family member who had come to pick her up. There is a breaking news alert. The network anchor urges the audience's attention, "This video was just released by the Al Jezeera news network."

The video opens with a bearded imam wearing a turban and robe and sitting at a low table on cushions. There are two AK forty-seven rifles leaning on the backdrop behind the imam. He begins to speak in his foreign tongue, and a translator recites the message in English

"The world has just witnessed the second example of the hand of Allah working through the 'Children of Najiyullah', the messengers of Allah's will. This is a warning message for the Great White Satan that is the United States, who is the child of the lion, Great Britain. What you have suffered today by the hand of Allah is merely the gouging of but an eye. This is your final warning. If by the passing of the next moon you have not removed all of your troops and your intelligence services from the regions of Islam, you will suffer your utter destruction and answer for the actions of all your wicked ways. The blood of the infidels will flow like swollen rivers across the world."

The imam raises a sword and boldly makes his proclamation.
"The time has come for the people of Islam to rise in their faith and crush the aggression against the people and teachings of Islam. There will be no mercy in the will of Allah, until their blood runs knee deep in their tents, and wherever they dwell. The infidels must suffer a most historic tragedy if they do not comply with the will of Allah."

The room in the restaurant is dead quiet. The Al Jezeera network displays the live reactions of crowds worldwide as cheers and mayhem sweep the globe in Muslim communities.

Dana looks around the room as the patrons all react to the video, and she becomes scared as the contagious outrage and anger fills the room. Dana slowly gets up from her barstool. She leaves quietly, as the crowd becomes electric with hatred.

***

In Vancouver, British Columbia, the same bearded cleric who had taped the broadcast that had just aired turns off the television and walks down a hallway with a polished marble floor. He enters a room where three men in suits are sitting around a large desk; the room is opulent in its decor.

Two of the men rise as the imam enters the room, the other remains behind the desk as the others kiss the hand of the imam.

The man behind the desk moves toward the cleric, kisses his hand, and speaks. "I thank you for coming all the way from Syria to my home here in Canada to send this most important message to the world. Praise is to Allah that you are a guest in my home on this most historic day."

The imam looks into the eyes of his host and senses deceit in his voice, "The infidels will want to retaliate. I must return to Waziristan immediately as promised."

The well dressed man glances over the shoulder of the imam while still holding his hand. "As promised, you shall return home immediately." He bows to kiss his hand as a silenced gunshot thumps against the imam's head. His hand falls with him to the floor; a second and third shot thump into him as he lies on a large rug and blood begins to run from within the dead Islamic imam.

The man steps back as one of the other men rolls out a plastic tarp. He and the other man slide the carpet onto it and roll the imam up like a burrito. The two other men fold and duct tape the ends carefully to prevent leakage of the fallen imam's blood.

The two men have completed their tasks in less than two minutes. The first man pulls his handkerchief from his suit pocket and wipes his brow, then his hands that held the imam's hand as if to remove soil from himself.

The man says to the other men, "Dismember him on the swim step of the boat as you are moving out of the bay, use stones as we discussed to weigh his remains. By morning, he will have fed the crabs well. When this task is done, return to me a text message that he rests. Now go."

The men lift the rolled mass and carry the warm parcel through the kitchen into the garage where a Mercedes Benz trunk is lined with plastic. The man follows as they load the car and leave. He dials on his cell phone as the garage door slowly falls.

***

Adriana Pucci is still driving as night falls. The air is becoming colder as she heads north. She rolls her window up to only a crack as she shivers from the cold. Her phone finally rings and she fishes through the snack wrappers on the seat to find it.

She looks at the caller ID. Adriana smiles as she answers, "Hi." The voice of the man in Canada is music to her. "How are you tonight, my darling? Has everything gone well for you today?"

Adriana answers him seductively. "Everything is fine, I am on my way to see my lion of the desert, and I should be there awaiting him in about two hours."

The man rubs his brow as he walks down his marble hallway. "Darling, I am so sorry. Travel is impossible right now. Please forgive me. However, I have arranged a wonderful gift for you. It is there awaiting your lovely hands. We will be together very soon I promise."

Adriana scowls with anger. "My hands only desire to hold his shoulders, but that desire will only grow greater until we meet. I understand."

She hangs up, throws her phone to the floor, and punches the accelerator as she screams like a banshee while her car hurls north. She passes a road sign that reads,
Bozeman 96 miles.

The man smiles as the phone goes dead. He returns inside. Fifteen minutes later he hits speed dial again, a voice answers with obedience, "Yes sir."

The man says, "Have the two men left the marina with their rigging and fresh bait?" "Yes sir, about five minutes ago," answers the voice. "I want you to go ahead with their new departure schedule for another fishing trip when they return, make sure that they receive that itinerary immediately." "Understood sir, it will be taken care of immediately upon their return."

The phone goes dead. He looks content and assured; he is now closer to ending this messy business, and he enters his office to relax.

The man loosens his tie in the mirror as he admires himself. He turns to the bar and pours a double brandy and sits at his desk. He opens a humidor, pulls out a cigar and reaches for his snip shears. He dips the clean-cut end into his brandy and lights the well wrapped stogie as he leans back in his soft leather chair while sipping at his cognac. He smiles as smoke rises in the room.

***

It is late for Ahmed to be returning as he pulls up in the alley behind the store. He grabs the clipboard, locks the van, and enters the rear door. Omar rushes to him with stress all over his face.

"Where have you been Ahmed? The world has gone mad!"

Ahmed puts on a concerned face, "I know, I tried to call you from one of the customer's houses, who told me what had happened, and I watched it on their television. But the lines have been busy. Everybody on the street and in traffic was looking at me because of the writing on the van, so I went to an underground parking area to pray and wait for traffic to die down. Now nobody is on the streets."

Omar thinks as he looks at his young cousin. He must be scared.

"I had to send Kari home because some people came by the store screaming obscenities and throwing things at the windows. She was scared, this is a very ugly thing for all Muslims due to an insane evil few, this is so horrible for those poor people, and their families, over six thousand are dead."

Ahmed looks at his cousin's worried face as the words leave his mouth; he knows Omar would never understand. "What do you think is going to happen now, Omar?"

Omar is glad to have someone to talk to, he looks at Ahmed and considers the young man's question. "The president has said that everyone should stay in their homes as much as possible, and most businesses are closed. During his speech, he said that they are considering martial law nationwide. The airports and all public transportation are closed already. The entire country and Great Britain are at a standstill. I am beginning to feel like we are back in Iraq during the war."

Ahmed asks, "Are we going to stay closed for a while?"

Omar says, "I am worried about the store, so I will be staying here with you. We will be open for business but I am concerned about the deliveries. Maybe we will only deliver to regular customers Ahmed. Is that okay with you?"

Ahmed is disappointed with his answer. "I will do whatever you ask, Omar, but I think we should close like everyone else; we could end up a target, and Kari should not be home alone."

Omar hugs him tightly. Ahmed accepts his affection but he is caught off guard by his overwhelming emotion. Ahmed has not had much physical nurturing in his life for many years. Omar answers him, "Maybe that is best, let's have some coffee, we should think about this more."

***

David arrives at Kiatsu for an early meeting. The boardroom is filling up when his cell phone finally rings.

Dana says, "I have been trying to reach you for hours. I love you, David. This is so horrible."

He is elated to hear his girl's voice. "Dana, thank God you are all right. I love you, too. Stay in the house. Do not go anywhere. Promise me."

"I promise. When are you going to come home?"

"I don't know. Is it true, that all of the airports are closed across the country?"

She answers realizing he must be in the dark about what is happening in the states. "Yes, all transportation is halted, and there is National Guard at all of the U.S. borders, airports, and harbors. David, my dad is okay, and your Mom and Dad are fine, but so many people we know were killed."