Terminal Rage by A.M. Khalifa Read Free Book Online

marine, asking for another one of that concoction they had given him.
    “How about security footage or photos from Exertify in New York and London?”
    “A few PR shots from the cocktail party in London. Nothing exciting.”
    “And New York?”
    “Plenty of footage. Exertify has a Brooklyn operation and all security data is mirrored in real time.”
    “And what did we see?”
    Carter shrugged. “We have him on camera from the moment he entered the building until the end of his meeting.”
    “That ’ s when he revealed to Mark Price what he had done to his niece, Julia, right?”
    Carter nodded. “He gave them the proof of life video you just saw, and told them he was wearing that vest thing. From that point no one could touch him. He had the upper hand. If there was any way to stick it to a security company, that was probably it.”
    “What happened to the cameras after that?”
    “He ordered them to disable all surveillance equipment, and then released the security personnel along with the admin staff.”
    “Did we debrief the security personnel after they were released?”
    “Sure did. They said this dude totally knew his shit.”
    “And there was no way they could ’ ve left a running camera or an open mic to give us eyes and ears inside?”
    Carter did one of his silent grins. “That would ’ ve been handy.”
    “What does he look like?”
    “Just like any other Arab man from the Gulf—a goatee, huge sunglasses, and covered from head to toe in a bed sheet. Forget his face. He masked it well.”
    “Voice recognition?”
    “Jack shit. Nothing came up. This guy is a cleanskin, Alex.”
    Blackwell allowed this information to sink in. “Build?”
    “About six foot one, quite buff.”
    “That ’ s not typical for Gulf men.” Carter dropped his head to the side as if to consult his internal database of “typical Gulf men” and assess that comparison. But there was no further reaction from him.
    Blackwell ploughed on. “How about security footage from the Rome abduction?”
    “Up until today, the whole Julia Price thing was kept out of the Bureau ’ s system. Deputy Director Benny Marino wanted it that way and just involved his inner posse. With the blessings of the director, might I add.”
    There was something bitter about the way Carter had said the words “inner posse.” Back in the day, Carter had lacked the necessary ambition to advance his career. Just an honest agent who did what he was told. He hadn ’ t evolved much since Blackwell had last seen him, judging by the kinds of jobs they were still sending him to do.
    “Monica and her team have all that juicy stuff waiting for you.”
    Monica and her team. What a shit show that promised to be.
    After years of battling with his anger and hatred of Monica Vlasic, Blackwell had concluded she was the sort of demon that could only be exorcised if you let her go. Thinking about her dredged up all the darkness of Hermosa Beach. So he started pondering something else that was bugging him.
    “Carter, why was there staff at Exertify ’ s office on a Saturday?”
    “I don ’ t know. Maybe Price wanted a full house to impress him? The fake prince was the one who picked the time and date of his meeting at Exertify.”
    “He picked a Saturday so it wouldn ’ t take long to evacuate the rest of the building. This was all planned.”
    Carter nodded.
    Blackwell was just conjecturing at this stage. Nothing about this whole case made much sense. Like why the hostages obeyed the perp ’ s commands and stayed in the building if he didn ’ t even have a gun to their heads, let alone explosives. He understood why Price would do it to protect his niece. But the rank and file? He questioned Carter about that.
    “My guess is the hostage-taker kept Price ’ s inner circle for a reason. The people with enough loyalty to the man and the family to stick it out for Julia. At that level, things get pretty incestuous.”
    “Did we try communicating with any of