Rick Mofina - Every Second

Then she’d recruited Adam Patterson, a despondent arts student from Chicago, and Doug Kimmett, a part-time mechanic out of Binghamton, New York, who wanted to be “part of something big.”

All were clean-cut young Americans who, through bloodlines or marriage had relatives overseas in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Libya. Spencer, Patterson and Kimmett had become disillusioned with their country and had converted to Islam, ignoring the peaceful teachings and gravitating to extremism. Nazihah Samadyh had further radicalized them, convincing them to take action. She’d arranged for the group to communicate online with commanders in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan who’d indoctrinated them and helped them adopt Arabic names. They became members of the YLOI, the Young Lions of Islam, an ultraviolent group. After swearing allegiance to the black flag of the extremist movement, they’d sought opportunities for a mission inside the country.

As Hudson paused to question why this intelligence was not acted on earlier, he found his answer in a supplementary note from the analyst in California.

“The report was in its draft stages and never finalized. It was found on the officer’s computer after he’d died of a heart attack.”

Hudson took a breath, shook his head and resumed working just as a new, updated alert concerning NSA intercepts on a potential attack came in from the US base in Menwith, England.

After breaking down the new information on the Queens case, the NSA analysts at Menwith linked Jake Spencer to a satellite phone purchased online and shipped to a post office box in Minneapolis.

Analysis of newer intercepted chatter between senior leaders of the YLOI in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Kuwait showed that they were discussing an impending attack within the US. Intercepts of recent conversations showed the phone used by Jake Spencer was involved in these discussions.

The chatter had made cryptic references to a wedding with many gifts and guests, resulting in “a glorious celebration,” but now there was heightened and excited discussion concerning the “most beautiful gift,” and how it would come from “the clock maker.”

The analysts translated that to mean bomb maker.

“He’s finished,” one of the intercepts stated.

A new alert from Menwith flashed on one of Hudson’s monitors.

The bomb maker was an American living somewhere in the eastern United States.

Who? Where?

Identity and location were still to be determined, the NSA responded.

Hudson continued working as fast as he could.

Coyote Mountains, New York

It’s them!

Lori and Billy held their breath to listen.

The distant sound of voices was unmistakable. Lori looked in all directions, not seeing them but feeling them.

She searched the dark foliage in vain for an escape route. Which way, which way?

The smooth earthen line to the left would be the obvious choice, but the men would spot it. The dense thicket to the right would be tougher and the agitation of the branches against the suicide vests could end everything.

Either choice was a risk.

“This way!” she whispered, shouldering the backpack, seizing Billy’s hand and rushing into the thicket.

Branches pulled and scraped against them as they knifed through the undergrowth. With each step, Lori feared the slapping and tugging might detonate the bulky vests.

They moved quickly and quietly. The ground undulated with jagged little cliffs hidden by the dense growth. At times she lost her balance; at times Billy stumbled. But they never stopped. They accelerated where the terrain allowed. Lori’s tears for Dan became tears of rage as she vowed to fight to the death for her family. But her heart sank when she glimpsed a movement of color through the trees to the distant left.

That’s one of them!

Far off to the right she saw a flash of a T-shirt.

Another one!

Casting back over her shoulder, she glimpsed a third one gaining on them. Turning to look ahead she saw the fourth one moving into position. There was no escape. Squeezing Billy’s hand, she veered into the darkest part of the woods where the forest was most dense. It swallowed them as they knifed through the tangles of trees. For a few moments they’d be out of sight, but Lori knew there’d be no escape.

They’re going to kills us! They killed Dan and they’ll kill us-but I’m not going to make it easy for them. We’re not going down without a fight!

Then something occurred to her: they could have detonated the vests by now, ending this chase once and for all. But they hadn’t-why? As she adjusted the weight of the bag on her shoulders, it suddenly made sense. The killers needed their laptop because it held the plans for the operation-information that would be lost if they detonated the vests. She scanned the dense groves then stopped.

“Mom!” Billy whispered full bore. “What’re you doing?”

She reached into the backpack for the laptop and ensured it was on. It showed about seventy percent battery life. She concealed it inside a small rock pile at the base of a tree with three distinctive fork-like branches at the base. Then she pulled off a chunk of bark leaving a white patch on the tree’s west side at her eye level. If somehow they survived, they could come back with help and experts who could maybe track the laptop.

“Let’s go!” she whispered.

They pushed on until they stopped at a shallow hollow in a thicket on a gentle slope.

“We have to hide!”

Frantic, Lori gathered huge bunches of shrubs and branches, burying Billy and herself under a thick, convincing blanket of camouflage in the heavily wooded section.

With their hearts pounding, they struggled to quiet their breathing. Amid the smells of earth and moldy leaves, pine needles pricked at their faces and hands. They heard branches cracking and leaves swishing as their pursuers approached.

Billy was trembling and Lori held him.

At least two of the killers were within a few yards. She heard them panting and sniffing. Then the other two arrived.

“They should be here. Did they come through your lane?”

“No. I thought they went your way.”

“They’re here. They have to be.”

“Okay, everyone shut up. They’re in this area.”

Everything fell silent.

Lori knew they were scouring their surroundings. Likely looking right at us! In the quiet, the entire woods waited. The wind waited. Lori could feel sweat webbing down her face. Billy began trembling again; his shaking rustled some of the branches covering them.

Lori held him tight.

Pulsing with fear she caught sight of a boot then a gun barrel.

A creeping sensation suddenly tingled along Lori’s skin as a spider worked its way up her pant leg. She choked back her need to scream and swat at it; her entire body was paralyzed with fear.

The quiet was soon broken by the gunman standing nearest.

“I think I heard something over here.”

Lori bit her bottom lip and held on to Billy.

“Right over here.”

Lori and Billy could hear them raking the thickets beside them.

God, please! Please!

Lori clenched her eyes shut and held her panicked breath.

Coyote Mountains, New York

The gunmen froze, standing motionless as faint whomping rolled over the treetops.

“Hear that?” Cutty said. “It’s a chopper.”

“It’s coming this way,” Vic said. “To hell with this, let’s go! We’ll come back for them. Go, go!”

They moved on fast, climbing to a high point that gave them a view of the grove where their prey was cornered while providing a dense canopy of cover overhead. They watched the sky through a patchwork of light as the helicopter’s thudding grew louder before fading away.