“As a matter of fact, maybe you can,” Alex said.
Wood chuckled. “I didn’t know the great J.D. Blunt was also an expert analyst.”
“Not to mention a damn fine poker player,” Blunt said with a wink.
Alex shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I need him to help analyze the footage from the earlier broadcast from Al Fatihin. We need to figure out where they were when they started transmitting. I figure with your extensive knowledge of the city, you might be able to recognize something about the structure of the building where they were or at least see some kind of clue.”
“Since Blunt was one of the founding citizens of Washington, I’m sure he’d be an excellent resource for your analysis,” Wood said.
“Very funny,” Blunt said. “And just to prove your point, I’m going to beat you with my cane when we’re finished.”
“I’d prefer a poker rematch,” Wood said with a wink.
“Come with me,” Alex said as she led the group across the room to a bank of monitors. “I set the footage to loop on these large screens. If you see anything that looks familiar, let me know. And I mean anything.”
The images rolled on the televisions as everyone stood closely eyeing the broadcast of Evana’s torture of President Young. Wood called over several other analysts to ask them if they noticed anything familiar about the room or anything.
“It’s so dark; I can hardly see anything,” Blunt said.
“Wait a minute,” Laura said. “Can you freeze that screen right there and blow up that thing in the back?”
“Sure,” Alex said. “Give me a second.” She tapped in a few commands on the computer, and the image froze.
“Enlarge this part right here,” Laura said, pointing to one corner of the screen.
Alex did as instructed and watched as Laura stared with her mouth agape.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“I know where that is.”
“Where?” Wood asked.
“That’s in one of the basement rooms at the Library of Congress,” Laura said. “That’s the kind of cart we use to transport books around. And it’s a genius way to move about the city undetected. You can walk a couple blocks underground, beneath all the buildings that make up the campus.”
“How could we have missed this? ” Wood asked. “They were right under our noses this whole time. I’m sending another team there now.”
“Hawk and Black can meet them at the library.”
Wood nodded. “I’ll get security to cordon off the area around it, and hopefully we’ll trap them there.”
Alex turned to Laura. “Do you think you can help us narrow down which room this is?”
“Let me see,” she said, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. “Can you lighten up the background so I can tell what color the wall is? We use different color schemes in each of the buildings so employees can readily tell where they are. It’s like a maze down there, and you can feel like you’re walking forever and forget which way is which.”
Alex typed in a few more commands and was able to isolate a portion of the wall behind Young. The color quickly came into focus.
“It’s blue,” Laura said. “That’s the John Adams Building. Now, zoom in on the books.”
Alex followed Laura’s lead.
“Based on the collection in that cart, I’m going to guess that’s the room where we take everything to be re-filed at the end of the day. There are a handful of spaces like this, but it’ll be on the west side of the property.”
“You’re amazing, Laura.”
Alex pinged Hawk on the coms. “Are you still out there?”
“Got you loud and clear,” Hawk said. “What’s cooking?”
“Laura figured out where they were—and hopefully still are,” Alex said.
Black smiled as he looked at Hawk. “That’s my little sis.”
“Where are we headed?” Hawk asked.
“The John Adams Building at the Library of Congress,” Alex said. “Look for a room in one of the basements on the west side. Laura is certain that’s where they were broadcasting from.”
“How did she figure that out?” Black asked.
“She saw one of the book carts in the corner, and we worked together from there to figure it out,” Alex said.
“You never could get anything by her,” Black said with a chuckle.
* * *
HAWK AND BLACK FLASHED their credentials to the security team assembled around the two blocks that comprised the Library of Congress. Upon entering the John Adams Building, Hawk and Black raced down the steps, coming out in the basement. The main corridor splintered off in four directions.
“According to Alex, we need to look on the west side,” Hawk said.
They both scurried toward the area and began their search. With weapons drawn, they moved from room to room, looking for any signs that the Al Fatihin crew had been here.
“Will we know which room exactly?” Hawk asked.
“There’s a beige cart loaded with several large books on the Revolutionary War if I’m reading the spine correctly,” Alex said. “But other than that, you’re on your own.”
“Roger that.”
After going through a half dozen rooms, they still hadn’t found any clue that Al Fatihin was ever here.
“Alex, ask Laura if she’s sure,” Hawk said.
“She’s sure,” Black said. “That woman fell in love with this library a long time ago. I’m genuinely surprised she couldn’t tell us the exact one given her attention to detail.”
Hawk signaled for Black to move with him down the hall.
“She’s sure,” Alex said. “She also said she thinks it might be the next to the last door on the left of that hallway.”
“Well, that’s where we’re headed next,” Hawk said.
Hawk eased the door open and then flicked on the lights. He drew back and waited for any kind of gunfire, but there wasn’t even the faintest sound. Black charged ahead, his gun trained forward. In the corner, a few carts were bunched together. Black rushed over to them and started scanning the spines.
“Nothing yet on the Revolutionary War,” he said.
“Laura said they are oversized books,” Alex said. “That means they’re taller than twelve inches high.”
Black chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
