Collateral Damage - Marc Cerasini [74]
Henderson offered the man a thin smile. "So what made you suspicious of him in the first place?"
"Everyone resisted us when we first got here, Agent Abernathy included. They dodged Jack Bauer's direct questions and all but refused to cooperate. Peter Randall was the exception. He was there from the start, ready to step in and do anything we asked of him."
Morris paused. "I figured the little bugger had to have something up his sleeve. No one is that helpful without an ulterior motive."
19
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 1:00 A.M. AND 2:00 A.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME
1:02:10AM. EDT
Conference Room
CTU Headquarters, NYC
Jack Bauer was the last participant to appear on the videoconferencing screen. He sat in a Danish modern living room. Behind him, a sliding glass door framed the night sky above Central Park's treetops. A few feet away, on a chair of cream-colored leather, a pale form sat limply, bound by electrical cords. Blood pooled on the polished hardwood floor at the corpse's feet.
Christ, what a mess, thought Christopher Henderson, sitting up in his chair. Bauer better have something.
Jack peered into the computer camera, then his hand disappeared from view while he adjusted the volume. "Can you hear me?" he asked.
"We hear you, Jack." Henderson tossed his pen onto the tabletop. "We can see you, too. And I know you can't see us from your location, so I'll make the introductions. Richard Walsh is on the line from Los Angeles. Hershel Berkovic, Director of CTU's Economic Warfare Division, is conferencing in from Langley, and Dr. Guilling from the Satellite Surveillance Division is here with me in New York."
"What's the current status on the trucks from Kurmastan?" Jack asked.
Sitting across the table from Henderson, the portly man with the brown comb-over and horn-rimmed glasses said, "Ted Guilling here. The trucks in Carlisle and Atlantic City were intercepted and neutralized. Another truck detonated its explosives at the General Aviation plant in Rutland, with many casualties."
Wheezing, Guilling paused to suck on an asthma atomizer. "But there's good news, too. Fifteen minutes ago, U.S. Navy military police intercepted two trucks outside the Bethesda Naval Station. Our forces suffered some casualties, but the terrorists were stopped and their bombs failed to detonate..."
"What about the trucks heading for Boston?" Jack interrupted.
"We think that intelligence may be bogus," Guilling replied.
"What do you mean may," Jack quietly challenged.
Crap, here it comes... Henderson glared a warning at Guilling to be careful. It was Jack who'd brought in that information, and they really didn't need Bauer blowing his top with Walsh and Langley on the line.
Guilling took another hit on his asthma atomizer, then earnestly explained, "We've combed all the routes from New Jersey to Boston with satellites, surveillance cameras, state and local police, and we haven't located a single truck, let alone two."
Jack didn't blink. "Maybe they stopped somewhere." He leaned closer to the camera. "Maybe the trucks are hidden."
Guilling's head bobbed. "It's possible."
"Walsh here, Jack."
Henderson rubbed his bloodshot eyes, relieved to hear Walsh speak up. The big man with the walrus mustache was CTU's Administrative Director, and the most senior person on this call. Henderson also knew that Jack Bauer respected few men in the CIA's bureaucracy more than Richard Walsh.
"I think we're all in agreement that we need to keep our eyes open," Walsh continued. "We should keep sweeping the Boston routes, but not at the exclusion of other possibilities if additional leads come in. Now... as I understand the situation, Jack, counting the truck you personally stopped outside the Lincoln Tunnel, half of the twelve trucks have been located and neutralized, one way or another. Which means, according to Brice Holman's intelligence, there are still six more trucks to find."
"Right,"