Things were coming together nicely and about as Jansen had expected. He’d give those of his guys heading into the plant a couple of hours to get in place. The plan he put together some time ago wasn’t complicated, but it required access to the various buildings that housed the turbine and reactor auxiliary equipment. That hadn't been particularly easy to do, but once that had been solved, the rest was fairly simple to arrange.
Rob was the one who figured out how to get weapons and explosives inside the protected area side of the warehouse. He suggested they use the cover of an outage when lots of bulk crates, boxes, and parts were coming in. With hundreds of deliveries being made, some loss of concentration could be expected, despite an attempt at increased surveillance. He could then enhance the lack of attention by buying off someone in Security who needed the money and knew enough to do what he was told and keep his mouth shut.
It was actually Jansen’s idea to get Rob to plant the seed of an idea with the vice president that they needed to do a security evaluation. Jansen knew that it was common in the industry for outsiders such as NeXus to come in and do these assessments. They would no doubt have someone who was an expert in urban assault and target acquisition write a detailed report. Industry executives were in fear of the regulators shutting them down for lack of a workable security plan, more than they were of actual intruders. So, once the idea was established in Prichard’s mind to go to Washington and meet with the intelligence community, the odds were good NeXus would be hired. Then all Waxman Industries had to do was get the report in Jansen’s hands and he'd have excellent inside intelligence.
The takeover of the facility and the plan to generate terror was based on the ability to infiltrate the plant, have the inside men hide their remote controlled explosives in specific locations, and then stand back where they could control the situation with relative ease and impunity.
To make this more effective, they needed a disturbance to take the security officers’ attention off the real threat inside. So the team outside could mount a breach of the plant from their position in the hills, which would serve to distract the armed responders. Then the group on the inside would move in behind them and finish the job.
The plan wasn’t supposed to involve killing people such as Brenda Williams. In fact, it had happened before Jansen could stop it. It was a stupid move and one that took away the element of surprise. Jansen was, in fact, furious with Stone because he didn’t feel the risk had been necessary. As it turned out, the body washing up on shore validated Jansen’s concerns. He was working with idiots and he didn’t like that. It was too dangerous and exposed him to failure. Perhaps the notion that this could be done without casualties had been naïve. Before he was done he vowed to himself there would be one more. He’d make sure Stone paid for his arrogance.
Rob probably knew that too, but chose to overlook it until it was too late and he was committed. Just look at how easy it had been for him to set this in motion. His justification was that he was serving a higher good. These plants weren’t safe and he would get this plant shut down, which was better for the people of California — and he would make a significant amount of money for himself in the process. Money he would need as he would sooner or later lose his job if the plant shut down.
Jansen looked at his watch. It wouldn’t be long now.
CHAPTER 38
I moved through the brush until I found a tiny clearing where I could squat down and call Marti. When she answered her phone, and without preamble, I said, “I assume you’re in your office?”
“Yes!” I could hear the strain in Marti’s voice. She’d been up a long time and probably wasn’t used to it. People make mistakes when they’re tired so this wasn’t an optimal situation for her. It was almost midnight and she could be at ground zero of a nuclear disaster if this didn’t work. I found that to be an unsettling thought. I was sure that as the senior resident on site, she felt some responsibility for the outcome of this situation. But on another level I found myself hoping that wasn’t the only reason she’d stayed. It was stupid, I knew. I’d just met her. She could be responsible from a safer distance.
“Good. How’re you doing?” I asked with genuine concern.
“I’m better now that I can hear your voice and talk to you,” she said with candid enthusiasm. “It’s getting creepy around here. I don’t know if it’s because I’m tired or what.”
“I assume you know the shift manager’s wife and children have probably been kidnapped?”
“Prichard briefed me a little while ago. That’s horrible! That’s the kind of thing you read about in the newspaper but never think will happen to people you know.”
“I know, but we’re going to help them, okay? To do that I need you to get all the intel you can on where they were and what the FBI has on them. Can you get that?”
“I don’t know. The FBI doesn’t share its information readily with others. I may have to get my boss in Washington D.C. to put some pressure on them. I’ll have to figure out how to do all this, but I’ll find a way.”
“Good girl!” I said encouragingly. “Just don’t take too long. Write this number down,” (I gave her Pete’s number). “A guy named Pete will answer the phone. Give him whatever information you can get. He’s on his way to Orange County as we speak.”
“What’s he going to be able to do?” Marti asked. “If the FBI knows where they are, won’t they just go get them?”
“That’s not their style. They’ll likely try to negotiate first or roll this into a bigger plan. We don’t have that kind of time. This is going to go down much sooner than they’re planning for.”
“Does Pete have a bunch of guys with him?”
“Pete will be fine,” I assured her. “Just get him the information as soon as possible. He’ll be there in two hours and needs it before then.”
Marti paused before responding with some hesitancy in her voice. “I’ll do my best.”
I could tell she was stressing out. I was asking a lot of her, but I had no other choice right now. “I know you will,” I said, trying to show her some compassion. I wasn’t usually this concerned about my team’s feelings, but she wasn’t on my team. She was a bystander, an innocent who’d been caught up in things.
I signed off. I had things I needed to do, as did she. I had to work my way down to the water. Time to get moving.
Prichard was considering his options. He didn’t know if Dave Street knew what was going on or to what level he might be involved. It was possible Dave didn’t know anything, but he couldn’t depend on that. If something was going to happen, he had to assume that Dave had already been contacted. And if Rob was involved, as well as an engineer, he had to assume that phones and e-mail had been corrupted. He had to go talk to Dave personally — and soon, as Nick had instructed.
Prichard wondered how Dave would react. He tried to think about what he would do in a similar situation. The VP didn’t like to walk into meetings or conversations without knowing the probable outcome. He liked to be prepared, and that had helped him out on more than one occasion. But in this case, he had no relevant experience to bring to bear on the situation. And time was running out.
As he grabbed his hard hat and safety goggles and headed for the door, Prichard considered that meeting with Dave in the control room might not be the best course of action. As vice president, he was very visible and right now he didn’t want to be seen near the control room. That might alert someone who was watching. Of course, the security computer could track him anywhere in the plant, but he’d be less conspicuous meeting Dave somewhere else. Going back to his desk, he picked up his phone and dialed the number for the shift manager.