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"Get the one downtown a helicopter ASAP, and I'll call you back with further instructions."
Rapp closed his phone and poked his head up into the cockpit. "The AWACS give you a speed yet?"
"Twenty mph."
"Ask them how long it'll take for the boat to reach the Woodrow Wilson Bridge."
The pilot asked the question, and about five seconds later he had an answer. "They'll be at the bridge in three minutes and twenty seconds approximately."
"Where's that Park Police chopper?"
"He's still headed downriver."
"Tell him to turn around and hightail it back up here. I want him flying low and fast right up the east side of the river."
SEAL Team Six was still a good fifteen minutes away, and the HRT would take even longer. At twenty mph they would cover a mile every three minutes. By the time SEAL Team Six was here, the boat would be within three miles of the White House. He looked out the cockpit window at the Beltway and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and said, "All right, here's the plan."
RAPP EXPLAINED INdetail to the pilots exactly what he wanted to do, and then did the same with the four men from the CIA's SWAT team. The helicopter landed at Jones Point Park on the western bank of the Potomac, just north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge where they were well concealed from the river traffic. Two men got out and ran down to the river's edge while Rapp and Brooks hit the quick-release latches on the helicopter's starboard and port doors so they could take them off and get them out of th
eir way. Rapp then jogged down to the riverbank with his phone to his ear. He didn't have time to call all the people who he should, so he decided to just call one.
When Flood came on the line Rapp said, "General, I'm down here under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and I think I've found our boat."
"The Woodrow Wilson Bridge? Where in the hell is that?"
"It's where the Beltway crosses the Potomac River about six miles south of you."
"And where is the boat?"
"About a mile south headed upriver."
"Jesus Christ!"
"I know. I just went over everything with Paul Reimer. He says it's crucial that we stop this bomb before it gets any further north. I've got a four-man tactical team with me from Langley and I'm going to take this boat down when it comes under the bridge. That is unless you want me to wait around for the HRT to arrive in which case you should be able to look out your window at the Pentagon and watch the takedown in person."
"If you think you have the assets to handle the job, Mitch, then do it and do it quickly."
"I thought that's what you'd say. Just in case something goes wrong, your AWACS has a bead on this boat. So if we fail, have them vector Six's strike team in on the target, and tell them not to hit the cooler sitting on the aft swim deck because I think that's where the bomb is." Rapp reached the edge of the river and looked out past the bridge's concrete supports. Traffic was whizzing by overhead on the six-lane interstate. "I've got to go now, general. I'll call you back in a few minutes when I'm in control of the vessel."
Rapp closed the phone and shoved it into his breast pocket. He could see the boat heading their way and behind it the Park Police helicopter was closing fast. He checked his watch and then said to Brooks's men, "I'd grab that spot right over there in those bushes."
"I was thinking the same thing," answered the former Marine sniper.
"All right, get ready, and don't shoot unless you see a gun or we give you the word." Rapp took one last peek at the oncoming boat and then ran back to the helicopter.
He climbed in on the starboard side and poked his head up in the cockpit. "You guys have any questions?"
Both pilots shook their heads.
"Good. What's their ETA?"
"Just under a minute."
"And the Park Police helicopter?"
"I don't know."
"See if you can find out. The last thing we want is a midair collision."
