Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [71]
Several dog walkers passed them, along with a woman pushing a stroller. The bench was empty, its wooden surfaces covered with scratchffiti. Jack sat down. Taj kept watch. "The phone is taped under the seat, Mr. Lynch."
Jack stooped over, reached under the seat and felt around. "I can't find..."
A garrote made of strong hemp dropped over Jack's head and closed around his throat. He grabbed for the thin cord, his fingers digging into the flesh of his own neck. The noose only tightened.
As Jack's breathing was cut off, Taj loomed over him. Jack felt hot breath on his cheek as a voice hissed in his ear.
"If you were really Shamus Lynch, you would know I am not Taj, but his brother, Khan Ali Kahlil. Remember the name for it is the last you will ever hear..."
14
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10 A.M. AND 11 A.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME
10:00:00 A.M. EDT
Green Dragon Computers, Los Angeles
"All in all it's a pretty shoddy operation. The technicians didn't even bother to take out the old bathroom pipes in the ceiling before they set up shop. And yet they went through all the trouble of glassing in this computer room and installing air-conditioning and high-tech scrubbers. What were they thinking?"
Mickey Chen couldn't keep the disdain from his voice as he lumbered to a chair and settled in. At five-foot-nine and close to three hundred pounds, Mickey managed to fill the tiny workstation, forcing Milo into a corner.
"Just look at that mess up there."
Milo followed the man's gaze to the broken plaster over his head. Through that ragged hole and several others, he saw a web of crisscrossing rusty pipes.
"What about explosives? Booby traps?"
Mickey shook his head. "The CTU bomb squad's been here and gone." He laid a meaty arm over the monitor screen. "She's a sweet baby, this one. You gonna give her a go?"
"Oh, you first. Be my guest," Milo replied.
Mickey had a habit of referring to all computers in the feminine form. Jamey Farrell said it was because a computer with a girl's name was the closest the Hawaiian programmer was ever going to get to a romance.
The glass doors hissed. A short, curly-haired brunette entered the computer room, bringing in her own briefcase computer. It contained the decryption programs she would need to bypass or overcome the mainframe's security and download the data.
Mickey grinned at Danielle Henkel. "About time you showed. This little lady was getting impatient."
"Blow it out your ass, Mickey," said Nell.
"Speaking of an impatient lady, I have to make a phone call before we get started." Milo pulled out his cell, tried to get a signal.
"Not in here, dude," said Mickey. "This room is shielded."
"Okay, I'll be right back." Milo walked to the door.
"Don't expect us to wait for you," called Mickey. "Me and this little lady have been waiting too long for this night."
Mickey swung around in the chair and began tapping the keyboard to probe the computer's security system.
On the other side of the glass wall, the temperature was much warmer, but at least Milo could acquire a signal. Turning his back on the others, he called up Tina's number from his directory and pressed send.
Milo placed the phone to his ear, but the sound of the first ring was drowned out by the hiss of a gushing spray, followed by shrieks of confusion, terror, and agony.
Milo turned, gagged, dropped his cell.
Inside the glass-enclosed computer room, Pyrex tubes inside the "rusty pipes" in the ceiling ruptured the moment Mickey Chen tried to gain access to the data without first entering the proper security code. But it was not water pouring down on Milo's colleagues. Mickey had inadvertently triggered the computer's real firewall — a downpour of scorching acid. While Milo watched helplessly, the caustic chemical shower rained down on Mickey Chen and Nell Henkel, burning great smoking pits in their living flesh.
Mercifully the screaming stopped almost as soon as it began. A white chemical