Full Black - Brad Thor [128]
Harvath had hopped into the Escalade’s driver’s seat and was halfway down to the ground floor when he heard the explosion. “What the hell just happened?” he demanded.
“One of the bombers detonated,” replied Nicholas. “Terminal Two.”
“Damn it,” he shouted.
“The Lincoln Town Car is on the move.”
Harvath accelerated.
“Stop. Stop. Stop,” Nicholas ordered. “He’s going up.”
“Up? Why the hell would he be going up?”
“I don’t know.”
Harvath threw the big SUV into reverse and stepped on the accelerator. He only made it thirty feet before a car suddenly appeared in his rearview mirror. Slamming on his brakes, he threw the Escalade into drive and raced down the ramp. “I can’t get back up this way,” he said as Sarhan bounced around in back. “I have to use the up ramp. Watch that Town Car and tell me what he does.”
“Will do.”
Racing onto the up ramp, Harvath backed off the gas just a bit. If the Town Car was a VBIED as they believed, rolling up on him way too quickly was only going to spook the driver into detonating in the garage. Surely he had heard the explosion as well, and knew that the attack was on. That meant Harvath needed to be doubly careful. One wrong move and it was all over.
“He’s just exited the ramp on the third floor,” said Nicholas.
Why the third floor? Harvath wondered.
Nicholas had the answer seconds later. “He’s going to try to exit onto the upper-deck roadway through the entrance.”
“Doesn’t it have spikes?”
“If it does, he doesn’t seem to care.”
Harvath pushed the Escalade faster. He pulled the wheel hard to the side, popped up onto the third floor, and raced for the upper-deck roadway.
Nicholas’s voice came over his earbud. “He jumped the curb and took out the ticket machine! The far left lane!”
“Which way did he turn?”
“To the right. He’s headed toward Terminal Two!”
Harvath pinned the gas pedal to the floor. “Have all the other bombers in the other terminals been interdicted?”
“Affirmative.”
“What about the other VBIEDs?”
“LAPD is trying to move in on them now.”
The entire upper deck was going to be crowded with people, especially outside Terminal Two, where the explosion had happened. “Tell LAPD that they can’t ram the vehicles,” Harvath insisted. “They have to shoot the drivers. Tell TSA to try to get everyone off the sidewalks. Now!”
Harvath had no idea if the other three vehicles had started their run or not. All he knew was that his best option was to get the Town Car. The LAPD would have to get the others. He just hoped they’d all be able to do their jobs on time.
Racing toward the entrance, Harvath could see where the Town Car had made its exit. Hitting the curb at over sixty miles an hour, he applied his brakes and pulled the wheel hard to the right as he shot out of the parking structure.
He came barreling out in the wrong direction and sideswiped two oncoming vehicles. It was a lucky break. If they hadn’t been there, he might very well have flipped the Escalade as he spun out of the garage and pulled hard to his right.
Punching the accelerator again, he raced ahead. There was no need to ask Nicholas where the Town Car was headed. It had to be Terminal Two. That was where it was going to do the most damage.
Seconds later, he veered onto the main upper-deck roadway that circled the airport. He could see Terminal Two dead ahead. He could also see the Town Car. There was no way he was going to catch it in time.
He heard the rapid crack of weapons fire as law enforcement officers engaged the Town Car, and Harvath watched in horror as the vehicle headed right for them.
Terrified civilians ran in multiple directions, some even right out into the street, all trying to get away from the danger. Harvath had to swerve to avoid hitting a large group.
No sooner had he regained control of his vehicle than he saw the Town Car plow into two patrol cars and the team of LAPD officers who had bravely stood their ground firing.
Harvath brought his Escalade to a screeching halt and leaped out. Holding his wallet in the air half-opened, so as not to be mistaken as a threat and shot, Harvath