So far, everything is working just as I planned.
4:39 p.m. PST
The Black Hawk dropped to within thirty feet of the ground over Town Square, causing the already frantic people to slip into sheer panic. Five dark shadows appeared on the sides of the helicopter, then rapidly rappelled to the ground. When the team was down, they disconnected their lines, and the helicopter lifted back up.
All around, people screamed and pointed at these five figures carrying automatic weapons. No one knew for sure whether this strange sight was the continuation of the attack or somebody coming to the rescue. No one wanted to risk finding out.
People clambered over each other, trying to escape these possible terrorists. The only ones who weren’t frightened were some of the preadolescent boys who thought this show was way cooler than that cheesy one at Universal Studios. After the team separated, they were soon forgotten as the crowd continued its mad rush to the exit.
4:41 p.m. PST
Even from inside the Candy Palace, the noise of the stampede was deafening. Parents had abandoned their strollers and were carrying their children, sometimes two and three at once. Older people were getting shoved aside as the younger ones raced past.
That right there is the root cause of what is wrong in this society!
Any ounce of pity Hakeem had ever felt for these people was gone. He slid the detonator from his sleeve and placed it in his hand. After a final quick prayer to Allah, he stepped out the door.
Chapter 38
Sunday, February 1
Disneyland
Anaheim, California
4:44 p.m. PST
Riley and Khadi fought hard against the flood of people. The crowd was pushing all around them. Forward progress through the sea of bodies was made even more difficult by the people’s terrified reaction to the M4 in Riley’s hands.
As they forced their way down the left side of the street, Riley scanned the faces around him. He could hear soft voices as they passed him-parents whispering to their children, “It’s okay, baby,” “Daddy’s got you now,” “Mama loves her little angel.” Several times Riley passed people who had blood on their faces. Others were limping or being helped by family members. All kept their eyes straight ahead, trying with everything they had to reach their goal of the front gates.
How many of these innocent victims will be killed if we don’t get to Sal in time? Riley wondered.
His foot caught on something that almost made him lose his balance. He looked to his left in time to see an aluminum walker tipping over and an elderly woman go sprawling after it. Resisting the urge to stop and help, he pressed forward-only once looking back to see a young man trying to help the woman back up. Lord, please help these people!
His height gave him a little advantage, and Riley was able to keep a fairly good view of the area around him. Khadi stuck close behind him. All the stores seemed to be abandoned-the employees either fleeing to the back lots or out the exit. Someone bumped hard into Riley’s side, sending a nasty message from his mending ribs to his brain’s pain sensors. He dropped one arm to protect his side.
Up ahead, under a yellow and white awning, something caught Riley’s eye. In the midst of the river of flowing humanity, there was one stationary person pressed against a wall. Riley signaled to Khadi, and they pressed that direction. When they were ten yards away, the man removed his hat, dropped it onto the ground, and rubbed his bald head.
“I think I’ve got a visual in front of the Candy Palace!” Riley yelled into his comm unit.
“Are you sure?” Hicks’s voice answered.
“Negative, not yet! Khadi, cut left and head up the storefronts. I’m going to confirm whether that’s Sal.”
Khadi nodded her approval. “Be careful, Riley.”
Riley pushed ahead, but the mass of people made forward progress difficult. Suddenly the man looked up, and Riley locked eyes with his best friend.
Lord, don’t make me do this! Not Sal! Please don’t make me…
Surprise showed on Hakeem’s face for just a moment before his body went flying backwards as a shot from Riley’s M4 hit him in the left shoulder.
“It’s him! It’s him!” Riley cried as he struggled toward Hakeem.
“I’m on him!” came Khadi’s voice in his ear. “He’s down but still-”
Two shots cut through the noise, and Riley turned in time to see Khadi’s head drop behind the crowd.
“NO!” he shouted just before he felt two sets of arms grab him around the neck and try to pull him to the ground. As he struggled to break their grips, he felt his rifle stripped from his hands. Another hand grabbed for his sidearm.
Riley drove his elbow into the chin of one of his assailants, sending him toppling. A low leg sweep followed by a forearm to the throat dropped the second.
Riley didn’t stop to find out who these guys were, but a quick glance at the first blond-haired man lying stunned on the ground in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt told him they were Good Samaritans trying to take down the guy with the gun.
With his shoulder down, Riley drove the last few feet through to the area that had cleared around Hakeem. The terrorist was struggling to roll his body onto his mangled left side. A detonator lay just out of his reach, but he was getting close to grabbing it.
Riley dove for Hakeem, but Hakeem turned in time to fire two shots into Riley’s chest.
Riley’s ballistic vest stopped the bullets from penetrating his body, but the impact drove the air from his lungs. He landed on top of Hakeem, causing both men to scream in pain.
Blackness threatened to descend on Riley as Hakeem fought to push him off. Finally Riley felt his body being rolled sideways, even as he struggled to find the strength to stop Hakeem.
And then Hakeem was free. He had the detonator in his hand.
Over the sound of the screaming crowd, Riley heard Hakeem gasp, “Not this time, Riley. Allahu akhbar!”
A loud bang and a hot liquid spray snapped Riley out of his semiconscious state. His eyes cleared, revealing the open back of Hakeem’s head. A few yards beyond, he could see Khadi lying on the ground, her gun in her hand.
Riley wanted to go to her but knew that the detonator must still be in Hakeem’s hand or under his body. As he pushed himself up to look for it, a large, dark shape dove past him from behind, clipping his back and knocking him facedown again. When he looked up, he saw Skeeter lying on the ground, gingerly holding a wired metal cylinder. “’Scuse me, sir. I got the detonator. Now go get Khadi.”
Riley nodded to his faithful bodyguard and stumbled toward Khadi. Sliding down next to her, he lifted her into his arms. He could feel the wetness of the blood that had pooled underneath her.
“Medic!” Riley yelled into his comm unit. “Scott, get me a medic!”
Khadi slowly shook her head. “He… he should have known, Riley. Never leave… never leave a sniper breathing.”
Khadi smiled weakly, showing bloodstained teeth, rolled her head into Riley’s chest, and closed her eyes.
Epilogue
Thursday, April 16
Paradisus Playa Conchal
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
The iguana lay on its back on a pool raft, a coconut shell drink in one scaly claw and the words Pura Vida in a speech balloon to the left of his mouth. The orange bucket hat upon which the lizard had been stitched was to Riley the single ugliest piece of headwear he had ever laid eyes on.
“Remind me again,” he called out, “how much did you pay for that thing?”
Scott Ross, who could have been the model used to create this masterpiece, tilted the hat off of his eyes and answered from the middle of the pool, “You can’t place a price on art, my friend. That’s why I snagged a second one of these beauties to take back to Tara.”
“She’ll be thrilled.”