Black Friday (or Black Market) - James Patterson [106]
Caitlin finally disentangled herself. “How was Washington?”
He told her about the FBI’s file on David Hudson, about his visit with General Lucas Thompson.
Caitlin brought him up to the moment on developments explained by Sergeant Rizzo. She indicated the computer printout she’d been studying when he had arrived.
“Maybe this is coincidence. Maybe it doesn’t mean a thing. But on this FBI list of veterans there’s an explosives expert whose occupation is cabdriver and messenger. The home address is New York City.”
“Which name?” Carroll asked. He was already scanning the lengthy list.
“A man called Michael Doud… who just happened to serve under Colonel David Hudson in Viet Nam.”
“Does it say which messenger service?” Carroll looked up from the printout.
Caitlin shook her head. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to find out. Let’s see:”
Carroll waited while Caitlin made a quick couple of telephone calls. He slid his investigation notebook out of his coat and impatiently flipped through those familiar pages that had chronicled Green Band’s false starts and stops from the beginning.
There were several different organizational headings now: Interviews. Physical Evidence. Suspects. Miscellaneous.
David Hudson… the mastermind of all this chaos?
West Point 1966. Special Forces. Rangers.
Golden Boy?
Fort Bragg. JFK Training School. Severe stress testing. Experimentation with drugs. Preparing Hudson for what?
Special terrorist training. By whose orders? Where did that chain of command end?
Carroll finally shut the notebook in frustration.
What do I know, that I don’t know I know? Carroll’s thoughts went back to Green Band.
What could I know? What have I seen that’s crucial?
Washington, D.C.? General Lucas Thompson?
He watched Caitlin put the telephone receiver down.
“Vets Cabs and Messengers,” she said with a sudden grin. “They have a garage near here in the Village.”
Carroll stood up. “Call Philip Berger. Then could you call Trentkamp? Tell them to get their men organized, to meet me at…”
Caitlin interrupted, “There’s more, Arch.”
She paused for just a beat.
“David Hudson works there, too. He’s been there for over a year.”
Chapter 78
JUST PAST MIDNIGHT on December 18, Colonel Hudson emotionally addressed the assembly of twenty-four Vets garnered inside the Jane Street garage.
“This has been a long and particularly hard mission for you,” he said. ‘I know that. But at each important stage you’ve done everything that has been asked of you.… I feel humble standing here before you.”
Hudson paused and looked over the upturned faces that watched him motionlessly. “As we approach the final stages of Green Band, I want to stress one thing. I don’t want anyone to take needless risks. Is that understood? Take no chances. Our ultimate goal from here on is zero KIA.”
Again, Hudson paused. When he finally spoke, there was an uncharacteristic edge of emotion in his voice.
“This will be our last mission together. Thank you once again. I salute you all.”
From that moment, Green Band was designed to be a thoroughly disciplined, Army-style field maneuver. Every detail had been scrutinized.
The grease-stained garage doors at VETS CABS AND MESSENGERS rolled open with a heavy metallic roar. Diffuse amber headlights suddenly pierced the darkness.
Vets 5, Harold Freedman, ran outside the Vets building. He looked east and west on Jane Street, then Freedman began to bark orders like the Army drill sergeant he’d once been.
It was just past 12:30 A.M.
If anyone in the West Village neighborhood saw the three Army transport trucks emerge from the garage, they paid little attention, in the tried and true tradition of New Yorkers.
The trucks finally hurtled up Tenth Avenue.
Hudson crouched forward in the passenger seat of the lead troop truck. He was in constant walkie-talkie contact with the two other troop transports.… This was a disciplined Army field maneuver in every respect.
They were moving into full combat again. None of them had realized