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"What do you want me to do?" asked Mohammed.

Al-Yamani couldn't tell if anyone was home. It would be easier if they weren't, but either way he would get what he wanted.

"Stop in front of the house."

Mohammed brought the cab around the circular drive and parked it by the front door. Al-Yamani asked him to get out with him. Hasan and Khaled joined them on the front steps and al-Yamani told the scientist to wait in the truck.

"Go around back," he said to Khaled. "See if there is anyone down by the water." Then looking to Hasan he said, "Go with him and check the back door. If it's open wait a few seconds and then enter."

They nodded and took off. Al-Yamani tried the door. It was unlocked, but he did not open it. Instead, he rang the doorbell and waited to see if anyone was home. About ten seconds later a woman who looked to be in her mid-sixties came to the door in a pair of shorts and a tennis shirt. Al-Yamani was careful to stand back a few feet so as to not alarm her. Mohammed was standing by his cab.

The woman opened the door but not the screen. "Yes?"

"Hello, you must be Mrs. Hansen. I'm looking for Doctor Hansen."

The woman gave him a confused look. "I'm Mrs. Hansen, but my husband isn't a doctor."

"I must have the wrong house. Do you know of any other Hansens on the river?"

Mrs. Hansen thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "No not that I know of, but it's a pretty big river."

Al-Yamani put a disappointed look on his face and took a step back as if he was leaving. "Would your husband know if there was a Doctor Hansen on the river?"

"He might, but he's not here right now."

Al-Yamani put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "That's too bad." He saw Hasan coming down the hall behind the woman and said, "Sorry to have bothered you." A second later Hasan was within striking distance. Al-Yamani made eye contact with his man and nodded.

* * *

Sixty-Eight

WASHINGTON,D.C.

There was an accident on the expressway. Traffic was thick in both directions with people who felt the need to gawk at the crash, and it was nearly 4:00 by the time Rapp got back to the Joint Counterterrorism Center. He wasn't so sure he'd made the right decision to miss his plane. He wanted al-Yamani in the worst way, but at this point it was law enforcement that was going to have to catch him. There was something in McMahon's voice, though, that had been slightly pleading and very uncharacteristic for the thirty-plus-year veteran.

Rapp found McMahon standing in the elevated glass-enclosed bridge located at the rear of CT Watch. He was monitoring the situation in Richmond and trying to separate the facts from the white noise. Without speaking, McMahon signaled for Rapp to follow him, and the two men entered a small conference room at the back of the bridge and closed the door. Rapp plopped down in a gray fabric chair and rested an elbow on the shiny wood-laminate conference table.

"I assume from the look on your face that they haven't found the truck."

"No, they haven't."

Rapp glanced at his watch. "It's been what almost three hours since the traffic stop? That's not good."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know."

"Has the deputy come out of surgery yet?"

"He just made it out, but he's not awake yet."

Rapp tapped the shiny surface with his forefinger. "They're sure our guys are still in the Richmond area?"

"They're convinced."

Rapp looked at him skeptically. "I find that a little hard to believe."

"I know. I feel the same way, but let me show you." McMahon briefly left the room and returned with a map of Virginia. He laid it out on the table and said, "Here's Richmond and here's D.C. The traffic stop occurred over here on the northeast side of town. The State Patrol says they had all the major roads already covered when the call went out. They checked the traffic cameras on ninety-five and two-ninety-five and came up with nothing. That means they didn't get on the interstate, which is by far the quickest way to travel the hundred miles between here and there."

The FBI man tapped the four points of the compass around Richmond and said, "Everything was covered. This is one of the busiest traffic weekends of the year. People headed to the beach, people headed to the mountains, people headed up to D.C. for the memorial dedication. The roads are packed."

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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