The Bricklayer - Boyd Noah - Страница 22

STILL WEDGED IN THE HOLE, Vail carefully picked up the end of the board. Under it was a Claymore plunger.

The mechanism was designed to fit in the hand and took only a couple of pounds of pressure to generate enough electrical current to detonate the blasting cap at the other end. Within the plunger was a simple safety device, a square wire loop, that when in place blocked the plunger’s path, making it impossible to squeeze. To arm it, the wire was simply rotated down out of the way. That’s what the cord Vail had seen being pulled up after the bag was for, to ready the mine for firing. The weight of the bag being pushed through the hole would have been enough to depress the plunger and set off the mine, blowing up the money, so the safety had to be on. The extortionists had run a doubled cord through the safety and after extracting the money pulled the loop flat, arming the device. It was then ready for an exhausted and possibly injured agent to crawl through the opening and put his entire weight on the plywood.

Vail slowly extended his hand to the plunger and reengaged the safety by rotating the loop back up under the handle. Once he did, he turned off his light and crawled into the smaller chamber. Inside, he took the piece of plywood, tipped it up on end, and pushed it flush against the hole in the wall as a light seal. He opened both blades of the Special Ops knife and jammed the knife blade into the dirt and the saw blade into the board to hold it in place.

After turning on the flashlight, he stood as far to the side of the newspaper as he could and carefully lifted it. The Claymore was sitting on its metal scissor legs, elevated to get as many of its projectiles delivered as accurately as possible at the opening. Behind it, on a plastic spool, was about a hundred feet of wire. Taking his time, Vail extracted the blasting cap from the mine’s body.

At the same time Vail was climbing the rungs that led up to the hatch through which the money had disappeared, six of the surveillance agents, led by GPS directions from the major-case room, were only twenty yards from the hatch where Vail had originally entered the tunnel. Had he known this, he would probably have worked a little quicker in case the entire underground structure had been wired with explosives. When he reached the hatch, he found it tightly locked. Climbing back down, he retrieved the mine, then took it back up to the hatch and forced the scissor legs into the joint formed by the small door and the metal frame it fit into. That way the blast would be concentrated at the lock. Slowly he screwed the blasting cap back into the mine’s body and let the wire spool unravel. Turning off the flashlight, he took the plywood board from the hole and crawled back through. Then tipping the board kitty-corner, he was able to shimmy it through the opening. He pulled the spool in after him and then felt around until he found the plunger. Before reconnecting it, he pushed the plywood up, covering the hole, and leaned his back against it. Even though most of the blast would be directed at the hatch, it would give off light in all directions. With the board in place the detonation flash would be contained. He hoped.

“I’VE FOUND SOMETHING over here,” one of the surveillance agents yelled to the others. “This dirt is fresh.” He dropped down on his knees and started moving it with his hands. “There’s a door here.” The rest of the agents came running over to help.

The surveillance supervisor came up and looked at the hatch. “Anyone got bolt cutters?” he said to them, as well as into his handheld radio.

“This is One-four. I’ve got a set in my trunk. I’m just pulling up outside the fence. I’ll be there in two.”

VAIL TOOK A MOMENT to run through everything in his mind again. Taking the plunger in one hand, he flipped the safety wire out of the way and squeezed.

“COMMAND, WE’VE GOT an explosion a couple hundred yards to our north.” The surveillance agents started running toward it.

ELEVEN

KATE WALKED INTO THE EMERGENCY TREATMENT ROOM AT THE hospital, nodding at the two surveillance agents who stood conspicuously at either side of the door. Inside, a doctor was stitching up a wound in Vail’s back caused by a chunk of plywood from the explosion. “Are you all right?” she asked, putting her hand on his forearm and squeezing it without realizing what she was doing.

“I’m about to get up and walk out of here. Any time you can do that after tangling with a Claymore, you’re having a pretty good day.”

The doctor taped a bandage in place and said, “You’re all set. Just watch the stitches.” The doctor handed him a prescription slip. “You’re going to need this for the pain when that local I gave you wears off.”

Kate picked up Vail’s shirt and held it for him while he put it on. A jagged hole was surrounded with drying blood. “I guess we owe you a shirt.”

“Since I lost the three million, why don’t we call it even.”

“Hildebrand has the whole office out at the tunnel. The LAPD bomb squad is checking the main section, but it’s going to take a while, since they can’t use lights. Because of the device at the exit, they’re taking the entrance warning as gospel. They have to use night-vision goggles to go in. Actually I think they’re making entry where you blew the hatch and are working backward. One of the sergeants is going to call me once they find out what they’re dealing with.”

“That’s another reason I asked for you to come along.”

“Which is?”

“Because you’re a handsome woman, you can get favors outside the FBI.”

“Handsome?”

He had finished buttoning his shirt and took a step closer to her. His voice softened. “Do you think I should have said…beautiful?” He was looking into her eyes now.

It took a moment for her to compose herself. “I think that painkiller has worked its way up into your brain.”

Carefully, Vail started tucking in his shirt. “How’s Kaulcrick taking all this?”

“Not as well as you are. In his mind, he got bested by Bertok.”

“Maybe,” Vail said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means there are an awful lot of moving parts to this thing to be only one person. I have to think about it for a while.” As they walked out the door to the parking lot, Kate saw him discreetly slip the pain prescription the doctor had given him into a trash receptacle.

Once they got to the hotel, she walked him to his room. “Sure you’re all right?”

“If I’m not, what did you have in mind?”

“The standard stuff—CPR, tourniquets, a kidney.”

Vail smiled. “Thanks for the ride.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

As he turned to put his key in the lock, surprising even herself, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek, but immediately regretted it. He was the last man in the world she wanted to think of her as an emotional female. She reminded herself that Vail, however, was not most men. And maybe it was a good thing to show him that she was capable of a certain degree of intimacy. If nothing else, it would keep him from figuring her out as easily as he did everyone else. “There’s a conference call with the director at nine a.m. If you don’t feel up to it, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

He stared at her for a second. “Thanks for hanging in on my side. I know that people like Kaulcrick see it as being disloyal.”

“That’s all right, I plan to do a lot of sucking up to him over the next few days. And should push come to shove, I’ll give you up in a heartbeat.”

“If you do, I’ll tell him you kissed me.”

“He said, she said, bricklayer.” She turned to go. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

NO SOONER HAD VAIL gotten his shirt off than he heard a soft knock on the door. Thinking Kate had returned, he was surprised to find Tye Delson standing in the hallway.