Kill The President's Women (Joe The Magic Man Series Book 2) (23 page)

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what Frank said.” Campbell nodded.

“Why do you think Frank Brubaker put us together as a task-force if not to work Joe’s magic.” Burrows felt it was more or less her idea to bring Joe and Alice in to help out on cases just like this, and she couldn’t have felt prouder. “After this, they’ll want us on all the tricky cases, you wait and see.”

Alice felt proud as well, for Joe. “Let’s hope Joe can work his magic again, and we can catch these two bombers before they can do whatever they plan to do.”

There was a happy silence in the car which Alice broke by saying, “You two will have a promotion after this, and I will have another good story to sell to the papers.”

They both laughed with happy grunts of “Maybe” and “Yeah, sure.”

Alice felt guilty at calling herself a freelance journalist because most of the journalists she knew had gone to college and worked their way up in the trade, while she had just started at the local paper desperately asking for a chance to be a reporter and they had finally taken her on part-time to help out. Lots of times she had doubted if she’d ever make it big in the business. That was until Joe came along and turned her world around

As Alice relaxed, she thought about the outcome when they got to Hassan’s home. She asked, “Where does Alfred Hassan live, in Pennsylvania?”

“No, St Louis, Missouri.” Campbell shrugged his shoulders. “That’s where the car is.”

“But I thought they started out from Pennsylvania?”

“They stole the car from Pennsylvania on their way to Cisco but that doesn’t mean that’s where they’re from.” Campbell was happily tapping the steering wheel. “But we’ll find them, they can run but they can’t hide from Joe the Magic Man.”

He looked across to Burrows, and they both burst out laughing. Burrows whispered playfully, “We’ve got a secret weapon.”

Alice wasn’t sure if they were laughing at her for thinking they were going to Pennsylvania, or simply because they were relieved they had a lead to follow but she laughed with them anyway and relished the moment; it was rare to hear Campbell dish out heartfelt compliments, especially to her and Joe
.

It took them a lot longer than Alice thought it would to get to St. Louis but it gave her the time she needed when Joe popped into her mind to tell him what had happened so far. Joe said he liked how things were turning out and promised to be there when they met Alfred Hassan.

Campbell’s phone rang in the calm silence some minutes late and Campbell picked up the phone. He listened for a while, said “Thank you, Detective”, and turned to Burrows.

“There’s no criminal record on our Alfred Hassan, he’s clean. His father is well known and liked in town, he owns two restaurants and a repair garage with a car sales and hire service. His son Alfred, is 34 and runs the sales and hire service of the garage. Alfred is already there – he just opened up the salesroom.”

“Are they a Muslim family?” Burrows asked.

“Yes, but Homeland haven’t got anything on them, they seemed to be true Americans. They doubt if they’re members of a terrorist cell.”

Alice took that to mean that they weren’t on the possible terrorist list that Homeland had throughout the USA. They were a Muslim family and like many others in the country, they just wanted to be left alone.

“So how does Brubaker want us to work it?” Burrows was getting edgy, a side effect of them being in the lead team.

Campbell looked at his watch.
“We should be there in an hour or so and Mr. Hassan should still be at work. I say we drop in and see what he’s got to say.” He looked in his rear mirror. “And Alice, you can work your thing with that badge; we want Joe to find out everything he can about this guy, and how he’s involved in all of this.”

“Sure, I’ll try and shake hands with him.”

Campbell looked in the rearview mirror. His puzzled expression asked, “No more psychic?”

Alice said, “I’ll touch his hand with the badge as we shake hands; it’s a lot easier than trying to be a psychic.”

Joe had been in Alice
’s mind for about ten minutes waiting for them to arrive for the interview, and they spoke about how excited Campbell was.

“He called you ‘Alice’. Wow, he must be in a good mood.”

“Sure is.”

Campbell called in and asked for backup in the area to be ready if he needed it, they were afraid Alfred would pull a runner.

The Hassan Garage and salesroom were on the outskirts of town, taking up a large area of land. The garage was on the right with the showroom next to it; there was a forecourt in front of the showroom with ten of their best bargains on display. To the side and behind were about 80 or more cars for sale with high wire fencing around them.

“It looks like they’re doing alright for themselves,” Campbell said as they got out of the car. “Let’s go and see what he’s got to say.”

Alice didn
’t know if she was nervous or excited, but she could feel the anxiety in Burrows too.

The three of them walked into the showroom as casual as customers. A young woman behind a desk put down the phone she was holding and greeted them with a smile. She was just about to ask if she could help them when Campbell stopped her dead by showing her his badge.

“FBI. Is Mr. Alfred Hassan in, please?”

“Oh yes, he is.” she looked over to the small office in the corner, “I’ll buzz him for you.”

Alice heard the buzz, and then saw a head pop up in the glass window of the office. They knew it was Alfred, if only by the thick black moustache he had. He came out straightening his tie, and with a big, practiced smile specially reserved for his customers, he said, “Hi, I’m Al. How can I help you?”

“Hi, Al. I’m Special Agent Campbell, this is Special Agent Burrows and this is Alice Timberlake, an associate of ours.” Campbell and Burrows showed their badges.

Alice had her old badge in her hand, and rushed up to Alfred to shake his hand while he stood there bemused. Alice knew Joe had crossed over to Alfred, and now she could relax, having done her part.

“What’s this all about?” he asked with a puzzled frown.

“Can we go in your office?” Campbell pointed.

“Sure, but I’ve done nothing wrong.” He looked at his secretary as if lost, and finding no help there, he led them into his office and offered them seats.

Alice was the last one in and as she closed the door, she noticed the secretary picking up the phone.
Is she calling his lawyer or his father or is she calling back whoever she was speaking to when we came in?

“We’ll go straight to the point, Mr. Hassan. Your car was seen yesterday in Kansas picking up three Arabic gentlemen at Coal Mine Road.”

The shock on his face was of bewilderment; it took him a moment to answer. “Yes, I made the pickup, but I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You made the pickup… what do you mean by that?”

“I run a cab service as well.” He held is hands out as if to say, Look around you, this is just the salesroom.

“Are you telling us that someone called a cab to pick them up?” asked Burrows in a disbelieving tone.

“This is not about me is it? It’s about the three guys I picked up, right?”

Joe popped back into Alice’s mind.
“I think this guy is innocent. He’s wondering who his passengers were and he’s afraid you lot think he’s a terrorist. He’s scared stiff.”

“Right, so why don’t you tell us why they hired you?” Campbell crossed his legs and sat back.

“Okay I will,” he started, shifting nervously in his seat, “I’ll tell you everything I know because I’ve got nothing to hide.” He took a deep breath. “I had a phone call a few days ago asking about my hire cars.”

“Excuse me sir,” Burrows said with her note pad out, “you said a few days ago: could you be more precise, and were you given a name?”

“It’s in my diary here.” He pushed it across his desk to her. “I really have nothing to hide,” he said again. “The man didn’t give a name but he said he was a Muslim Brother and he heard about me from a friend of his. He didn’t want to tell me who that friend was, and he didn’t want to give his name either.”

Campbell picked the book up to check the day; it was all logged in neatly and boldly with the time of the call, and Mr. X for the name.

“I see you called him Mr. X,” Campbell said.

Alfred shrugged his shoulders as if to say,
What else could I have called him?

“Could we have your phone to see if we can trace the person who called you?” Campbell’s heart was starting to beat faster; he knew the one who phoned to book the car had to be part of the plot and was more than likely working with the terrorist group that would be looking after the two suspects.

“He called the desk,” Alfred nodded to his secretary, “and my secretary put him through.”

“You don’t mind us checking that out do you?”

A slight shake of the head was the reply.

“Did this Mr. X speak with a foreign accent or an American accent like you?”

“Like me, he sounded American. I almost didn’t know he was Muslim.” His voice was starting to shake. “Am I in trouble?”

“You’ve been very helpful so far,” Campbell said, evading the question, “please tell us more.”

“He asked me if I had a car with blacked out windows, and a dividing window between the driver and the passengers. He said the passengers were VIPs and wanted their privacy. I told him I had a few cars like that, and that I use them for wedding and funerals, I told him I even had a limo stretch if he wanted it. He said no problem and that as long as the car was worthy of VIPs, it would do.” Alfred was starting to relax. “I asked where the pickup was and where I had to take them. He told me he’d get back to me with that.”

Pointing to the book, Campbell asked, “I see in your book that Mr. X called you early yesterday morning.”

“Yes, he said I had to be the driver. No one else but me. He said when I got there, that I was not to talk to the two VIPs, they would have a bodyguard and I was only allowed to talk to him if need be. The bodyguard would also pay me. Until I agreed to those terms, he wouldn’t tell me where to go. I agreed and he gave me the address of the pickup. I then told him the price and he agreed, saying there’d even be a bonus for me.”

“So he gave you directions, eh?”

“Yes it was a lonely spot, and I had to wait an hour for them because they were late. I even had to stop on the way up there to get them something to eat.”

“At the KFC drive-in,” Burrows said. It was beginning to look like Alfred has only being used and wasn’t actually connected with any of this.

“Carry on,” she waved him on.

“I was on this lonely road and the car pulled up. The driver got out, looked at me and my car, then had a look round the place. He handed me the money, and I didn’t even have to count it to know the bonus was in it. He asked me if I knew where New Orleans Street was in my town. I was a little surprised when he asked me that. He didn’t give an address, he just said to take them there and I dropped them off on a side alley off New Orleans Street.”

Campbell and Burrows jumped up, saying “New Orleans!” in unison. Alice was startled by their movement and she thought hard. She remembered the two suspects had told Mr. Woo they were going to New Orleans. Could there be a terrorist cell on New Orleans Street?

“Mr. Hassan, could you give us a minute, we’ve got some calls to make, can we use your office?” – Campbell was already ushering him out – “We’ll want to know more in a minute so please stay in the showroom.”

Alice sat there and watched Campbell punch numbers into his cell phone. Behind them, Burrows had gone out and picked up the phone at the desk. She didn’t know who they were calling but she wasn’t going to ask another “silly” question; this moment was very crucial. Alice just sat there guessing what was going on. Both agents were too busy and excited about this new lead to think about her and she felt as irrelevant as a fly on the wall.

Burrows came back in the office and sat down, flashing only a slight smile at Alice. Alice took to mean,
Sit there and do nothing
, so she did.

“Yes sir, we’ll do that straight away,” Campbell said finally and got off the phone.

He sat back down and spoke to Burrows. “Brubaker says the New Orleans address could be another ploy to throw us off their tracks but he’s going to get all CCTV from the area to see what our boys can find. A house-to-house of the area will soon be ordered to see what we’ll come up with.”

Burrows nodded. “I’ve asked our boys to trace the phone calls to see if we can trace Mr. X.”

“Great… but I won’t hold my breath on that one. I hope they have an idea where it came from. I’m hoping it’s New York.”

Campbell could see the confused look on Alice’s face, and he had to explain it to her.

“The commissioner of New York is a big believer in CCTV; they have state-of-the-art cameras. It’s called ‘Domain Awareness’ and it’s the most sophisticated camera system in the world. Now we’ve got good photos of our two suspects from their Algerian passports, and this computer’s got what they call Facial Recognition technology. Basically they show the computer the photo – it’s a little like fingerprints, only it picks out parts of your face instead – and then the computer can recognize that face on a busy street from a camera feed even if the person being looked for has got half of their face hidden. It’s that good! The computer can look through hundreds of tapes at the same time. It can find someone in minutes where it would take our boys days or even weeks to go over tape after tape.”

“Well let’s hope we can chase them to New York then,” Alice said with a smile as bright as Campbell’s.

“Shall we have Mr. Hassan back in now?” Burrows asked impatiently. “The sooner we finish this interview the sooner we can go and check out that street.” She didn’t wait for his approval; she turned, tapped the window and beckoned Alfred in.

They asked Alfred a few more questions and in the middle of it all, Campbell’s cell chirped away in his pocket. When he took it out and saw the caller ID, he thanked Alfred and walked out of the office to pick up the call, leaving Burrows to finish off. She did so in no time and put her note book away. She thanked Alfred again and she walked out with Alice, thanking the girl at the desk as they passed.