Fueling the Rage Read online

  Getting closer to the truth

  Pieces fall into place

  One man tries to hide the proof

  And prying eyes in space

  Chapter 22

  Henry loved to fly. He like the feeling when he got off the G5 in Antigua and three senior bankers met him as the passenger door was opened. He joined them for a ride to the bank office in a black van. During the van ride, he had a thought that was overwhelming. I cannot give all this up for something I do not believe. His G5 had a crew of eight and they served his every need. He had just completed revamping many of his investments outside of Africa. The income from his enterprise was amazing. He was now generating a projected profit of over three billion dollars a year. That was about eight million dollars per day. Even his village of Muzuk was showing a positive cash flow. He had just completed drilling for his third successful oil well in Libya. Within twenty miles of the great home was a vast new discovery of sweet crude. While flying from Chad to Muzuk in the helicopter, Henry had noticed a desert tar pit that had been exposed following a wind storm. It reminded him of a successful oil discovery that he owned in Nigeria. Several years earlier he had convinced the Prince to send several of Muzuk’s young men to the Colorado School of Mines in America. The entire drilling process in Muzuk was being done by these local villagers.

  Henry completed his day dream as the Antigua bankers opened his door and led him into the bank. He got directly to the point. ”I do not want the Americans to see this account!” He sat across a table from the three bankers.

  “The transfer of the funds was completed two days ago. They were all routed through London. There is a chance that London will not inform America of the transaction.”

  Henry knew, a chance is a good thing, but they killed the ayatollah in the middle of Tehran. What kind of chance was that? I will be dead in six months unless I stop Malcolm. I have nothing more to say to these bankers. I will fly to Tampa and see if I can reason with Malcolm. “Take me back to the airport. There is nothing I can do here.” The bankers all reluctantly agreed. They had many thousands of customers, but they made their living from just a few customers. Henry was by far their biggest account. The bankers realized that they may have just killed their golden goose. Little did they know that the word killed may be literally true? They returned him to his G5 and watched the plane take off and fly to the west.

  *****

  Bryan had completed what he called the Atlanta project. The building owned by Industrial Diesel was completely full. Five of the ambulances and two fire trucks would be driven to Tampa. All of the transfers of both dry and wet materials were complete. Truck after truck was fitted with the large bladders, and the explosive soup was pumped into them. The tractor trailers, with their dangerous payloads, were driven to Georgia Haulers and parked in a large field that is normally used to store empty tractor trailers. His Atlanta army had forty men. They were all preparing for the battle. Most were at the Peace Mosque trying to spend as much time in prayer as possible, and some were at Industrial Diesel saying good bye to their new friends. Six would drive the fire trucks, detonate them and then meet again in paradise. Thirty four would make one or more deliveries of change and leave their destructive vehicles. The Houston team was also completely ready and the men were now living in the steel building full time. They were a deeply committed team. Only three of them were wavering while the other twenty one were relishing their tasks. The team’s answer was to move three to the crematorium and allow their bones to go up in smoke. Nothing would stop Houston.

  Bryan had moved his Topeka army to the farm. They were well organized and three had developed an idea the Bryan agreed to use. These three had spent many years in the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. It was not that far from Topeka and it was an easy drive from the farm. They knew the prison well and they told Bryan that the prison had three soft entrances. They wanted to drive three of the reinforced ambulances through the guard gates that separated the structure from the surrounding military reservation. The Leavenworth Medical Clinic presently had requisitions for six new ambulances from Kansas Truck. They could generate paperwork that would show the ambulances as new vehicle being delivered to the clinic. They could even call ahead and have receiving notify the main gate in advance. Once the ambulances were inside the reservation, one ambulance would go through each of the three gates that were used to enter the prison complex. Two ambulances would strike the old prison administration building and the third would stop between the huge prison power plant and the rear of the prison. The three ambulances would have enough destructive power to burn the Federal Prison at Leavenworth to the ground. These three men were all ready for paradise.

  Bryan flew in the Falcon Jet from the airport near Industrial Diesel to a private field near downtown Tampa. A car met him for the trip to the construction site of the steel building. The exterior assembly was complete, but they were still working on power, air conditioning, and other interior code requirements. Bryan inspected the structure and placed his last box, the one that connected this Tampa building to the Internet, in a secure spot on a roof support beam. He then talked with the construction foreman who told Bryan the building would be ready for use in just three days. He notified the Well Oil facility in Houston to fill and drive their nine remaining diesel tankers to the Tampa steel building. A Tampa fertilizer company called Fast Grow was ordered to fill nine of their dry bulk carriers for a large pending order. Bryan would take two empty dry bulk haulers from Fast Grow to be used as mixing tools. The full tankers then would each pump half their loads into two newly empty tankers and so on until eighteen tankers were filled with the explosive mixture. Combined with the ambulances and fire trucks from Atlanta they would be able to not only destroy much of Tampa, but some of the explosive tankers and tractor trailers would head to Orlando and Miami, Florida.

  Bryan stayed in a four star hotel in downtown Tampa. Each day he met with and trained his army of thirty at the Tampa Peace Mosque. Until then, he had spent the smallest amount of time with these men, but Tampa had a leader that was without a doubt his best. They would have the unique task of timing their trips to Orlando and Miami so that all the detonations were completed at about the same time. As soon as the steel building was finished by the contractors, Bryan and his army moved full time into the structure. Truck after truck arrived from Fast Grow. A few days later, Well Oil tankers started to arrive. The drivers were not part of the jihad and thought the warehouse was a place to store commodities while waiting for the prices to go up. One at a time the vehicles from Atlanta arrived. The Tampa leader used the empty tankers and the onsite pumps to balance loads of wet and dry in every tanker. The day came when Bryan and his leader were able to stand back and examine their dangerous display. Tampa was ready for the jihad.

  Bill went to the second meeting with the Peace Mosque prisoners. Bill had never been around convicts before, but he learned that they liked to talk about things they were going to do with people they thought they could impress. They were all Muslim brothers locked in the same prison.

  His new buddy, Wilson, again met with Bill after the full group meeting, “Too bad that you can’t join me, but Friday I am going to move into the Peace Mosque as a condition of parole.”

  Bill, making it up as he talked, answered, “I was just told by my lawyer before I got here that there was a decision by the Kansas Court of Appeal declaring my confession inadmissible. He thinks I am not worth retrying for robbery and assault. I will know tomorrow if they are going to let me go as soon as Friday. I have nowhere to go. If I get out, do you think I could join you?”

  “Wait here. I will ask the cleric if it is possible.”

  *****

  Henry’s G5 landed at the same airport in Tampa that Bryan had just landed. As they were pulling the G5 towards the hanger, Henry saw the copy of his old Falcon parked in another hanger. Good, I bet Malcolm is in town. Malcolm was in his office working with a software program that allowed him to automatically dia
l many phones. Once Henry’s jet was in the hanger he called a number to request an immigration inspection. Immigration was needed to clear foreign visitors arriving by a private plane. He and his staff waited for a government agent to process them for a short stay. After they were cleared, a ten passenger van and a limo arrived at the hanger. A hired guard, the pilot and the senior steward stayed with the G5. Henry was driven in the limo to Malcolm’s office. It was a short ride to the building and Henry entered the building. His old office was a two room suite on third floor. He looked at the directory of businesses near the elevators and saw that Malcolm was on the sixteenth floor. That was the top floor and he was the only name listed for the entire floor. Henry rode to the sixteenth floor and the elevator door opened to a beautiful reception area and two armed uniform guards.

  Henry was directed to empty his pockets, remove his shoes and to walk through a metal detector. He was patted down by one of the guards and then his possessions were returned. He was directed to a reception desk.

  Behind the desk was a very American and very blond woman. “Can I help you?”

  “I need to see Malcolm.”

  She answered, somewhat shocked by the walk-in guest, “Are you asking for Mr. Akiff, Mr. Malcolm Akiff?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No.”

  She went on, “Then it is impossible. You must have an appointment.”

  Henry was getting weary of this woman, “Tell him he has a visitor from Africa to see him.”

  “What is your name?”

  Henry thought of himself as a very an important man. He was also not accustomed to answering questions. He was not sure that it was best for him to tell her his name. Somewhere in powerful men is their source of power. He called subconsciously on that source and dramatically restated the obvious. “Give him the message as I stated it. It is a matter of importance.”

  She could not quite understand what “importance” was telling her, but she hoped it was enough not to get her into trouble. She lifted a phone and called Malcolm’s secretary, giving her the message she had just received. There was a short discussion between the two, but the secretary relented and gave Malcolm the message

  *****

  Bill finished the meeting and was returned to his cell. He needed to talk to Ivan. Then he remembered the red book. He carefully placed it where Ivan had suggested.

  About thirty minutes later a guard walked by his cell. “Pick up that book. You cannot have anything on the floor of your cell.” Bill complied and replaced the book onto the shelf at the back of the cell. About ten minutes later Ivan arrived with another kufi.

  “Here you need to have a spare hat.”

  “We need to see the Warden.”

  Ivan said a little loud, “If you do not feel well then we need to take you to the clinic. I will make sure they are not limiting your health care because you are a Muslim.” Ivan called a guard. “This man does not feel well.”

  “Sick call is in the morning.”

  “Take Mohammad Johnson to the clinic now. I will have the Warden join us. This is a serious offense.” The guard had been alerted by Ivan that Mohammad was a plant. He had told Bill to pick up the book, but alerted Ivan to the signal. Ivan had arranged a safe meeting place where the Warden could join them. The guard cuffed Bill’s hands behind his back and walked him to a safe location.

  *****

  The computer search had listed a name of interest. The supervisor of the data mining department called his friend at ATF. The FBI was called into a meeting with the ATF about a name. The ATF agent noted that Pastor Washington had a son named Bryan Washington. Bryan had a past criminal record and his juvenile record had been unsealed. One of the crimes he had been arrested for was shooting the state trooper from Salinas. It was a large coincidence that Bryan’s family and the state trooper he had shot were both killed in two separate but consecutive bombings.

  The FBI agent in charge said, “I believe we need to talk to Bryan Washington. With a few entries into the FBI computer it located his address as the State Prison in Topeka. The ATF agent looked disappointed as he read the dates of incarceration. “Too bad, he has been locked up forever.” The ATF agent called the source of the data and told him to keep looking because the guy was safe in prison on the date of the bombing.

  The State Department alerted the Group that Henry had flown into Tampa, Florida. His trip was with all the proper clearances. From the time of the request the CIA had monitored his every movement. In Antigua he had a very short meeting with bankers from Island Community Bank. His final destination was Tampa, Florida and at the present time he was at Malcolm Akiff’s office in South Tampa. A background check on Akiff revealed his impressive American success story. Akiff had gone from small time criminal to a leading American entrepreneur. Based upon the association with Henry, a possible international terrorist, the FBI was able to obtain a court order for a secret audit of all of Akiff’s businesses. It would take the Securities and Exchange Commission about seven weeks to complete the audit.

  *****

  Bill and Ivan fully identified themselves to the Warden. Bill had no hard evidence on the Peace Mosque, but the opportunity had arisen for him to penetrate the organization. He revealed his story about being released from prison on Friday and that he would have one more prison meeting with the brothers on Thursday. After breakfast tomorrow the Warden would publicly come to Bill’s cell and announce his favorable court ruling. Ivan was fearful that he would just get in the way and he was going to fly back to Tampa. Bill and the guard then continued to the prison clinic where Bill presented a complaint of chest pains to the doctor. After a brief prison quality examination, the doctor diagnosed him with heart burn and gave him a bottle of antacid pills. Right on schedule after breakfast the Warden and a lawyer visited Bill’s cell and gave him the good news. The Warden also contacted the cleric and told him of Mohammad’s request for housing at the Topeka Peace Mosque. “Is it possible with this short notice for you to find Mohammad a room? Without housing I will need to delay his release.”

  Yesterday the cleric had been presented with a problem. Two of his converts had made requests to back out of the jihad. Their deaths were handled by the cleric, and would normally not have been that important, but the killing of the converts left them two drivers short. He was sure that Bryan would not want to leave a fully loaded ambulance parked at the farm. Worse yet, he may require the cleric to drive. If Mohammad Johnson and Mohammad Wilson each took the wheel of an ambulance it would reduce that risk to the cleric. The cleric called the Warden and told him Wilson and Johnson had rooms and the job training that went with the rooms. Thursday, during the meeting with the Muslim brothers, the cleric announced both Wilson’s and Johnson’s acceptance into the Topeka Peace Mosque.

  As part of a going away ceremony the Warden gave Bill a suitcase with clothing and toiletries. Ivan was about the same size as Bill. He had a robe that he had never worn and before he left he gave the robe to Bill. The lining of the robe was Kevlar. Ivan was able to pick up a Glock 23 and holster at the prison armory. On his final visit to the Warden’s office Bill considered not wearing the pistol, but decided it was hard to see under the Kevlar robe. He also put on Ivan’s turban, which was also enhanced with Kevlar. It reminded him of his old times in Africa with Sam. The thought brought him down for a second, and then he thought of Mira and his friends at the University of South Florida. He could see his recent past and it was once again feeding his rage.

  If the Peace Mosque was up to something he was going to discover what it was. He would fight to the last second of his life to prevent another Tampa Mall tragedy. I am going into that mosque alone, but Sam trained me to think. He felt the Glock on his hip and at the same time he thought of Sarah. I am going to go in to that mosque and do my best to survive. No, I am going to survive. He asked the Warden. “Do you have two more clips for this Glock?” He attached a clip of 13 bullets to each of his forearms u
sing thick rubber band. The robe covered them, but the sleeves were loose enough that he could easily reach into them if it was necessary.

  The Warden shook Bill’s hand and scanned him from head to toe. “Mohammad Johnson, you look real good. The FBI will be giving you a lot of room and you may not see them. They will be as close as possible and at the same time keep far enough back so they do not screw things up for you. The mosque will pick you and Mohammad Wilson up in a white Ford van. The Sergeant will escort you to the pickup area. Bill, I wish you good luck.”

  Settling into one’s new life

  On both sides of the fight

  Moving away from all the strife

  And moving towards the right

  Chapter 23

  Dr. Sarah Realey and her family were moved into a high rise condominium in downtown Tampa. The City of Tampa Police Department kept an officer on watch in the lobby of the building. Everyone that lived there had undergone a background check for security and all visitors were physically searched and closely monitored. They had three apartments in the same building and her parents had the largest apartment. It was on the ninth floor and featured a wonderful view of Tampa Bay. Sarah had a two bedroom, two thousand square foot, apartment on the top floor that was large enough to share with Bill after they were married. Ike had a very nice efficiency apartment that overlooked the pool area.

  Drs. Crane and the Major had fulfilled every promise the Air Force had made to the Realey’s. Bill’s parents had gained confidence in the medical skills of both Sarah and her father. At the first meeting the Cranes were a little worried about possibly recommending them and then finding that they were substandard by American measurements. Those worries were over, and there was now true affection between Sarah and Bill’s parents. She was a real trooper and understood that Bill was doing things that needed to be done. She missed him, but was very independent. She spent her time in classes at the medical school and in hands-on training at the University Hospital. Sarah and her father had very similar schedules and would ride together in her new Volvo to the medical school. Tampa, Florida was much smaller than Tehran, Iran and they found it pleasurable to drive about.