Collateral Damage - Marc Cerasini [92]
"Thank you, Director Henderson," Goodson replied, and the screen went black.
Jack sank into a chair. "So where's the bio-weapon?"
Henderson sat and swiveled toward Bauer. "The Economic Warfare Division has suggested that Kabbibi might have been brought into this operation for his political connections, not his skills. The fact that he and the Saudi Finance Minister are cousins..."
Jack's withering stare silenced his boss. "They're wrong, Christopher. Berkovic and his accountants are ignoring Agent Foy's surveillance photos of the lab in Newark."
Henderson shrugged. "It's possible that's a simple drug lab."
"With liquid oxygen cooling tanks?" Jack interrupted.
"You don't need that kind of technology to distill meth out of cough syrup."
Henderson sighed. "We'll know soon enough. Langley has finally authorized the raid on Noor's Newark headquarters. We're there in thirty minutes, whether Noor's home or not."
Jack nodded. "I'll command the raid. Agent Abernathy will be my backup."
Layla appeared surprised. So did Henderson, but neither challenged Jack's decree.
Bauer's mind was racing so fast, he was already past that decision. He was eager to focus on his enemy. "Have we learned anything more about Ibrahim Noor?"
"A little," Morris replied, calling up the man's profile.
"He was born Travis Bell, as you know. By the age of thirteen, he was running drugs. By eighteen, he'd created the Thirteen Gang, which took over the narcotics trade in that section of Newark."
Morris tapped keys. "Well, well. Here's a nugget. Congressman Larry Bell of Louisiana, the former NCAA player turned politician, is Travis Bell's uncle. But apparently there's been no contact between them for decades."
"The same can't be said for other government officials," Henderson interjected. "From Tobias's computer, we've got evidence that Congresswoman Hailey Williams and Chief Justice Mary Chestnut of the Ninth District Court in San Francisco have both taken bribes from Noor or his people. Their arrests are imminent."
"What about Dreizehn Trucking?" Jack asked.
"It doesn't exist on any corporate records, state, local, or Federal," Morris replied. "It's no more than a name painted on twelve trucks."
"But it fits Noor's profile," Layla said. "Dreizehn is the German word for the number thirteen. Noor seems pathologically obsessed with that number."
"Thirteen! Oh my god..." Jack rose to his feet. "That's where the biological weapon is hidden."
"Huh?" Henderson grunted.
"There's a thirteenth truck, Christopher. And Noor is on it!" Jack gripped Morris's shoulder. "Has Tony checked in?"
"Not since he lost contact with Agent Foy. She's inside the Thirteen Gang's headquarters, but their cell phone connection has been severed. I'm afraid Tony's a bit frantic over Agent Foy's situation."
"Call Almeida," Jack commanded. "Tell Tony to stay put. Tell him we're coming — with a strike team."
* * *
5:29:53 A.M. EDT
1313 Crampton Street
Newark, New Jersey
"Your name is Judith Foy, Deputy Director of the New York Counter Terrorist Unit," Ibrahim Noor declared, looming over her.
Shaking the icy water from her body, Judith Foy defiantly met the gang leader's gaze. Only half conscious after her violent capture, Judith Foy had been dragged through a stinking sewer, tossed into a hole blasted in the wall, and dumped on a cold concrete floor. She lay there for an indeterminate amount of time, until someone poured a bucket of ice water over her.
Gasping against the freezing torrent, she found herself in a circle of street thugs, some white, most black or Hispanic. Harsh fluorescent lights buzzed over her head. Soon she realized she wasn't in the garage anymore. There was no lab here, and the room stank of sweat and spilled blood. Judith saw two headless corpses piled in the corner.
"I ordered your death many hours ago, but my command was not obeyed," Noor continued.
Head throbbing, she studied the speaker. Noor had a body like a black bear,