Must be the cement foundation underneath.'
'Make sure,' said the squad leader.
A drill was brought in and they drilled through the plywood until the drill bit hit something hard and would go no farther.
'Solid.'
'Okay, good enough.'
They put the floorboard back. And then did the same probe with each of the four walls. Solid again.
The area secured, no threats found, and the perimeter established, the HRT squad patiently waited for the president of the United States to land. Once he got here they had no idea what he intended to do. All they knew was if a threat did show up, they would destroy it with enough firepower to take out an Army battalion. They'd parked the SUV and gotten out. They had no choice because the road had ended at a wall of fallen boulders.
'That wasn't here before,' said Gabriel. 'Used to be able to drive up to the door.'
'That probably wasn't going to be an option for us anyway,' said Sean.
With Gabriel leading, they headed toward the mine. They had to scramble over more rock and slippery dirt. Sean tumbled down one section before righting himself.
'Showing my age,' he said with an embarrassed look.
'Hey, when's the last time you took a weapons refresher course?' asked Michelle.
'If we run into something that needs to be hit, I'll hit it. I'm just counting on you to hit it first.'
'Gee, I'll try to keep that in mind.'
They kept moving forward.
Gabriel said, 'I don't have a key to the door to the mine.'
'That won't be a problem,' said Michelle. 'Just get us to it.'
A few minutes later they cleared the rock and could see the grass runway.
'Is that his plane?' Sean asked, pointing at the little Cessna.
'That's it.'
He suddenly pointed to the right. 'And that's Mr. Sam,' he whispered.
They all looked in that direction.
Sam Quarry had come out of the mine carrying what looked to be a small black box. From their hiding spot Michelle took aim with her pistol, but from this distance there was no guarantee of a killing round with the sidearm. She glanced at Sean and shook her head.
'He's older than I would have thought,' whispered Sean as he studied the tall, white-haired man.
'Strong as a bull,' said Gabriel. 'I seen him knock a man down even bigger than him and half his age 'cause the fella cursed at my momma. He fights real good.'
'I hope I don't have to find out how good,' said Sean dryly.
'But we came up here to make sure everybody's okay. That girl and Mr. Sam, right?'
Sean and Michelle exchanged another glance.
'Right. But look, Gabriel, that's up to him. If he starts something, then we have to respond, okay?'
'I'll talk to him. It'll be okay. He won't hurt anybody. I know Mr. Sam.'
Michelle eyed Sean. Neither of them looked nearly as confident as Gabriel about how this would turn out.
CHAPTER 81
THE TWO CHOPPERS landed softly.
The president looked out the window and his face flushed. 'What the hell is going on here? Who are they?' He was pointing to the HRT squad.
Before anyone could answer, Chuck Waters tapped on the glass. One agent opened the chopper door and put down the staircase.
'Who are they?' the president demanded again.
Waters said, 'HRT, sir. They came ahead to secure the area.'
'That was not authorized by me.'
'No sir, it was okayed by the director of the FBI.'
Cox didn't look happy about this, but the FBI director was the one man who did not serve at his pleasure but rather was appointed to a fixed term and remained there regardless of whether there was a change in the White House.
As they watched, the two bomb-sniffing dogs from the other chopper were led by their handlers toward the building. Even though the robot had already made a sweep of the area, when the president's safety was at issue, redundancy was standard procedure. The dogs patrolled the perimeter and then went inside. A few minutes later they came out, with one of the handlers signaling the all-clear.
Back at the chopper Waters continued, 'He was advised of the situation by the Secret Service director and concluded that this was the best course of action if you insisted on coming here, sir.'
'How very thoughtful. Let's hope that my niece isn't dead because of his little conclusion.'
'So that is why we're here?' asked Larry Foster. 'Because the kidnappers made some demand?'
Everyone looked over at Jane Cox.
Waters said, 'We know the letter that I took from you, Mrs. Cox, was not the real thing. Did the actual letter tell you to come here?'
'No, it gave a phone number to call. I did. On that call I was told to come here with the president, if I wanted to get my niece back alive.'
'Did the caller tell you what you had to do once you got here?'
'Go inside a house and see a woman in a bed,' she said.
'Well, the HRT found a lady in a bed in that building. She's hooked up to life support systems. Who is she?'
'I don't know,' Jane said firmly. 'I'm just here to get my niece back.'
Waters said skeptically, 'You don't know her? You're sure?'
'How am I supposed to know? I haven't even seen who she is!' snapped Jane.
Foster looked confused. 'All right, but what exactly are you supposed to do in there? From what the HRT said, the woman is unconscious.'
Jane and the president looked at each other. She said, 'All I can tell you is that I was told that the president and I were to go inside the house and see the woman. That was it.'
The president said, 'And we were to go in alone. At least that's what Jane was told,' he added hastily.
Waters and Foster exchanged a worried look. Foster said, 'Mr. President, I don't like this at all. The only reason for someone to bring you here is to do you harm. Nothing else makes sense. That building might as well have an X painted on the roof. We need to take this chopper back to Huntsville and go home. Right now.'
'And then my niece dies!' exclaimed the president. 'You really just expect me to fly away and let that happen?'
'Sir, I understand what you must be going through. But you don't have a choice. And neither do I. You are the president of the United States. Your safety cannot be compromised. As far as my duty is concerned no life takes precedence over yours. Not your niece.' He glanced at Jane. 'Not even your wife's. That's the law. That is my job, and I intend to carry that mission out.'
'I don't give a damn about the law. Or your mission, Foster. We're talking about a little girl's life. I will not go back.'
'Sir, please don't make me do this the hard way. I told you I had the authority to force you to go back and I am prepared to exercise that authority right now.'
'Didn't your people check this place out? Haven't those HRT fellows checked everything out? What danger is there? Is the woman in there going to jump up and kill me?'
'She's on a neck-trach ventilator,' answered Foster.
'Then she's no threat to me. You brought the bomb dogs. They found nothing. There's an army of heavily armed men out there. You told me we have aircraft and choppers all over the sky. Only a tank, plane, or mobile or fixed missile launcher could hit that house from long-distance, and I really don't think there are any of those in the great
