"I understand, sir. Mr. Brown and I have selected the best operatives for the job. The loading bays are isolated and secure. All of the paperwork is in order. Everyone has been briefed and rebriefed. We're ready to execute the mission," Paulson said.
"Excellent. I'm not detecting any impediments to our progress at this point; however, since we're here, I'd like to discuss an opportunity to completely close the link between True America and Hamid Muhammad. Tommy, how confident are you that our friend escaped FBI surveillance?"
"Extremely," Brown answered. "FBI agents turned the mosque inside out last night, around midnight. One of the undercover SWAT units took off like a bat out of hell in pursuit of something just before the raid. A white van sped off from the scene just before SWAT responded. Regular police radio traffic indicated a massive response in support of federal agents. He's still out there."
"Which concerns me," Greely said.
"We should have killed him earlier," Mills chimed in.
"We needed him to go to ground and activate the remaining cell," Harding said.
"Cells," Brown corrected.
Anne Renee Paulson shot him a confused look, followed by the rest of the group. He tapped his iPhone screen.
"Breaking news," he read. "FBI officials just announced that they have captured the last remaining cell in the terrorist network responsible for the water supply attack at Mount Arlington pump station. Based on foreign and domestic intelligence sources, they are confident that the captured cell represents the last of the Al Qaeda network involved in a recently uncovered plot to poison multiple water sources. Hamid Muhammad, 'the radical Imam,' is wanted in a possible connection to the plot. His whereabouts are currently unknown."
"He's a slippery son-of-a-bitch. We need to find him before the FBI does," Harding said.
"Renee, I'm going to keep Mr. Estrada's team in place within the tri-state area. Killing Hamid Muhammad takes priority. The Imam will turn up shortly, and we'll be there to remove him from the equation. Tommy, make sure Estrada's group is ready to roll at a moment's notice, no subtlety necessary. The media will attribute his execution to a radical anti-Muslim group. Just find him and kill him," Greely said.
"We'll start actively turning over his known hideouts," Brown said.
"Just make sure not to attract any FBI attention," Greely ordered.
"Understood. We'll be using the best technology money can buy to track the FBI."
"The best that I can buy," Mills said, and they all laughed.
"All right. This will probably be our last face-to-face meeting for quite a while. We all go our separate ways and communicate by secure satellite phone only. If the FBI is looking in our direction, they're not going to find anything. Let's not give them something to work with. That's it, everyone. A new dawn awaits us in about three weeks."
"To a new America," Mills boasted.
"To the True America," everyone responded.
"Michael, can you stick around for a second?" Greely said, nodding to Harding.
"Sure."
Greely and Harding made their way around the room, shaking hands and patting backs before closing the door and returning to Brooks.
"How are things going with our special surveillance project?" Greely asked.
"Making progress. I've narrowed the selection down to three possible candidates. I can't rush this one. Once the offer is made, the candidate either accepts or has to disappear. Just one disappearance could jeopardize the project. I need to choose the candidate carefully," Brooks said.
"Take your time, but don't take forever. We need better FBI intelligence. We'll proceed with the next phase in three days. I need your special project operational by that time. Things will move fast after the next attack."
"I can do it in three days."
"I wasn't giving you the option to take longer," Greely said. "We've waited long enough to see this day."
"We'll approach the candidate within two days. This is going to be an amazing few weeks," Brooks said.
"Scary as all hell," Harding said, "but worth every bit of sacrifice."
Greely couldn't have agreed more. He was ready to sacrifice his own life if necessary to bring the United States of America back to its former glory. The next three weeks would prove pivotal to their efforts to bring about The New Recovery, True America's primary goal for the American people.
Dissatisfied with the costs associated with America's present role as the world's police force and frustrated by politicians that continued to turn a blind eye to the economic warfare being waged against the U.S. through uneven trade relationships; more and more Americans were looking for an alternative. The New Recovery would usher in a new era of strength, prosperity and independence for the American people. Two decades of "deterrent isolationism" to rebuild America's infrastructure, reinvest in U.S. industry and restructure foreign policy. The United States would emerge from The New Recovery as an ultra-super power, with few of the ties currently hindering its prosperity and security.
He swelled with pride at the thought of playing a role in the nation's transformation. While their extreme plan would be disavowed by the mainstream True America political movement, the aftershock would enable True America political leaders to topple the two-party system and offer a new option for True Americans. At first he'd be declared an outlaw, but as America transformed, the history books would change to reflect their greatness…and how True America's founders, like Romulus and Remus, had changed the course of human history.
Chapter 21
Arranging to meet Jessica in the private lounge had turned out to be one of his better ideas. If she had been given the opportunity to blend into a larger group in the "arrivals" area, he may not have recognized her. She wore a stylish, colorful sleeveless turtleneck top with designer jeans and black narrow strap sandals. As always, she looked stunning, but he wasn't sure if he cared for her short hair.
"Like my new hairstyle?" she asked, immediately testing him.
"It looks incredible. I never pictured you with short hair, but it really works," Daniel said, dropping his carry-on bag.
"Bullshit."
He embraced her, mindful of her injuries, and kissed her passionately. He wished that they could fully test the privacy of this lounge. He'd been gone for seven days, but it felt like a lifetime. He couldn't imagine how Jessica felt. Despite her advertised self-reliance and confidence, he knew that she depended on him emotionally. Sanderson had been wise to keep the details of her attack a secret until the Stockholm operation had run its course. He would have left the operation to Farrington and jumped on the next plane to Buenos Aires, which could have led to disastrous results across the board. The mission might have failed, and he would more than likely have been picked up at the Buenos Aires airport.
By the time Sanderson had shared the details of Jessica's harrowing experience, she had recovered enough to convince him that he could shepherd the last stage of the mission in Germany. He felt guilty delaying his return, but she sounded stable, and he trusted Munoz and Melendez implicitly to guard her. He eased his embrace, but she showed no sign of releasing him.
"You're back," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm back."
She let go and backed up a few steps to look him over. "Not a scratch? Amazing."