Author Archives: Barry Kelly

After talking to Kathy, Frank made the decision to put out an immediate APB notice through the FBI to locate the Professor’s green Passat, license South Carolina SIT 301, last seen on SC Route 17 headed North in Myrtle Beach at 7 AM. He made it clear the requirement was not to apprehend only to locate and immediately inform the FBI, who would take over the surveillance, under strict instructions to follow discreetly, using air assets when possible.

The Professor crossed into North Carolina and was making his way to I-95 and Richmond. He knew his training protocol said he should change cars now. Changing cars always carried some risk. He decided he would abandon the car in Richmond, breaking the chain of ownership and renting or buying another one somewhere in the area. Using his iPhone, he sent an innocuous text message that gave the final go for the Charleston attack. He and his followers knew few, if any, of them would be alive tomorrow. They were Soldiers of Allah who were proud to die in his name.

Jack Brandon had just finished a long call to Kathy when the first reports of gunfire were reported as a news flash. Within the next 45 minutes, there were reports of attacks in nearly all Charleston areas. A car bomb had been exploded in the Medical Center of South Carolina University. More reports of gunfire and fire bombs were flooding the news services. The Emergency Rooms of the major hospitals were jammed with the injured. Every fire company in the city was out in full force. The airport was closed. The State Police were blocking airport access roads to trap the attackers who smashed through the gates and used gunfire and gasoline bombs on aircraft loading or unloading passengers at the gates. Casualties were climbing. The Mayor called for police and firefighters from the outlying areas. The Governor asked for federal help and issued orders to call up units from the South Carolina Guard. Homeland Security promised swift help. Shelter announcements were constant. Anchors and officials were struggling to keep panic from their voices. Charleston was in chaos.

Jack knew the action was beyond anything they could help with, but decided to bring Kathy, Lou and Storm back to Charleston tomorrow afternoon. Kelly had to stay in Georgetown to watch their serial killer. Kathy was certain that Hankins was not interested in getting in touch with the Professor. The little snake just did not have what it takes to be part of the Professor’s team. Kathy told Kelly to keep a very loose watch on Hankins. Drive-bys to check on the activity level at the garage would be enough. If Kelly saw him leaving Georgetown to follow, but very discreetly. And no static stakeouts to watch his apartment and garage. Too much risk without any backup. Kathy had emphasized her concerns, but on the drive back to Charleston she had the feeling that Kelly didn’t think Hankins presented much of a threat to her.

The following afternoon, when Lou, Storm and Kathy arrived and gathered in the Brandon condo, the news was full of the extent of the attacks. People killed numbered 37, injured 115. Property damage estimates were not all in, yet calm was returning to the city. The immediate attack was over. By early morning the last of the attacker holdouts had been wiped out. Southern resolve was reasserting itself. The people’s view of Muslims had shifted from one of tolerance to a hardened watchfulness.

Most of the attackers traveled in pickup trucks. The number of attackers was not known yet, but 22 had been killed in gunfights with the police. Several of those were killed at roadblocks set up by the State Police. There were no reports of any captured attackers. Pamphlets carried by the attack teams stated they were Soldiers of Allah and the war was just beginning. Before it was over, Charleston would be Cordoba of the South, named after the Muslim cultural city in Spain that was the high water mark of the Muslim invasion of Europe.

Late in the day Frank called Jack and said, “You have now seen the Professor’s work. His fingerprints are all over this attack. With 20 odd fighters, he brought a major American city to a momentary standstill. His weakness is that he cannot sustain an effort like the attack on Charleston. He just doesn’t have the manpower and cannot get it. Although we won’t get any credit, we won this engagement. Just as we won the Vietnam battle of Tet in 1968 in military terms. I’m not sure what the long-term political effect will be of this miniature engagement. I hope and suspect that the American people are much smarter and tougher than the Muslim strategists believe. If the intent of the KKK symbolism and attacks by the Soldiers of Allah in American cities is to terrorize the population and to turn faction against faction, it will fail. But, this is not over yet. It won’t be until we capture or kill the Professor.”

“Do you have any instructions for us? It seems to me this has escalated beyond our capabilities.”

“I may need your group when we locate the Professor. In the meantime you could deal with your serial killer. National security issues no longer protect him. Justice can take its course.”

Every hour on the network and cable news stations and channels, the attacks on churches in South Carolina were covered with new, but mostly speculative, reports and analysis. The most riveting were the interviews of eye witnesses to the violence. In one instance a man talked of attending the A.M.E. Church near McClellanville. He said, “I was just coming out of the church with my family, when a pickup truck roared up the driveway to a skidding stop in front of church. I was so close I could see the eyes of the attacker through the holes in his hood. The letters KKK were clear.

“My grandfather told me stories of these people. I pushed my kids and wife down behind the azaleas bordering the driveway. The man in the bed of the truck started throwing gasoline bombs at the church and at cars in the parking lot. A shotgun was poking out the passenger window. It swung my way and the KKK guy screamed, ‘Die, you black bastard.’ Before he could shoot, I jumped at him and jerked the weapon from his hands. The truck never stopped moving. I swung the shotgun up and emptied that pump gun into the truck. I know at least one of them was hit. When the cops found the wrecked truck, there was blood on the front seat at the passenger window. I’m a veteran and no KKK punk is going to threaten me or mine. No way, not anymore!”

Going north on Route 17 after his escape from the hotel, the Professor heard the report on CNN radio, when he was scanning to see if anything was being reported about what he thought might have been an attempt to capture him. He wondered if other American victims of his attacks had the same aggressive attitude. Both good and bad. Good, if he could channel the aggression inward, but bad, if it was channeled toward the attackers specifically and not generally against another racial group.

He missed not having some of his best people with him. Operating alone was even more difficult than he remembered. If the attempt was real, how could they have known he was there? As long as his source in the Counter Terrorism Center survived, he had a decided edge, even though he couldn’t call his source but had to wait for him to call. How did they find out he was even in the country?

He decided to step up his time schedule, but he would be even more careful. When the scheduled attacks in Charleston were underway, he’d move to the next phase of his plan and attack the capital of the land of Satan. Leesburg, Virginia, your Confederate past is coming back. It was also time to begin the blog campaign. One blog would copy the words and traditions of the KKK. The other blog would argue for Muslim rights in the name of The Warriors for Allah. The Muslim blog will be supported by pamphlets distributed during attacks. The KKK audience needed no support. Every Black in America knew about the hooded racists. The Professor was sure the media would pick up and replay the KKK propaganda. He planned the Muslim blog to be centrist enough to be acceptable to the Mosques of America. Here the media would follow the lead of the law enforcement/counter-terrorist forces in following the Muslim blog. The messages would be simple, consistent and pounded repeatedly, following Goebbels’ big lie theory, “Tell it often enough and people will believe it.”

He wasn’t worried about the cyber security of the blogs. His expert knew how to disguise the places of origin. His blogs were already written and had different themes, servers, domain providers and protection for followers and commenters. Modern revolutionaries had to use the new cyber techniques. Tonight he would make the phone call to start the blog publications. He didn’t expect instant results, just sow the seeds of discontent and religious intolerance.

His attack teams were ready. In five hours, just after dusk, targets in and around Charleston will be hit hard. This will be the last direct mass attack. The next phase will be random sniper attacks, spreading to other cities. Sniper attacks were very cost effective. Two or three snipers could tie up a city. They didn’t have to be great marksmen. In this kind of attack, even misses caused havoc. The snipers have full freedom in the selection of targets. The more random, the better. The goal is not to destroy but to terrorize the general populace.

Twenty minutes later, Frank’s team rushed into his room only to find it empty. A frantic search of the hotel and grounds turned up nothing. Not even a fingerprint was found in a short check of a few of the usual places fingerprints are always left in a hotel room occupied by normal guests. A housekeeping maid on the floor said, when questioned, she had seen a guest carrying a small bag go down the back stairs about 30 minutes ago. She looked at the Professor’s picture and said, “Yes. That’s the man. He was a good tipper and had very good manners.”

A check of the hotel’s surveillance cameras confirmed the maid’s report. There was no question the Professor went down the back stairs as the team from Frank’s office was coming in the front of the hotel. The team chief called Frank at CTC and told him the Professor was gone. Frank was furious and asked, in an icy tone, what had happened? The team chief said he didn’t know. The Professor must have been scared off by something the two women, who were sitting on him, did.

Frank said, “The woman you talked to has more experience than your whole team combined. She is the best I have ever worked with. I’m sending her back to the hotel to find out what happened, since you can’t tell me. Report immediately to my office. You and your team get the next flight to Washington.”

As usual, the team chief was left with a dial tone.

Frank called Kathy when he cut off the team chief. Kathy and Kelly had just arrived back in Georgetown to eat, rest and resume coverage of Hankins.

Frank asked her what could have happened to make the Professor disappear.

Kathy said, “Frank, I’m surprised. I can’t tell you what happened. The team leader refused my offer to help. I offered to go over his plan and he blew me off. He is without a doubt one of the most condescending son-of-a-bitches I have ever run into. I was surprised at how they were dressed, all in dark suits and ties. They looked like a Government team in a sea of tourists, beach people and golfers. It’s hard to find a group of young men in suits at Broadway at the Beach. That’s about all I can say. Is the Professor’s Cadillac CTS still there?”

“I don’t know. Please go up there, show your badge, make it a criminal law thing and find out what happened.”

“Okay. I’m on my way.”

“Kelly, you have to cover Hankins on your own. Frank wants me to find out how and why the Professor got away from his team. Remember no risks, no confrontations, and do not get made. It wouldn’t hurt to use a different car.”

“Got it. Call me if I can help.”

On the way back to Myrtle Beach, Kathy wished she had a siren. This speed limit driving was making her crazy. The return trip took her 40 minutes, not bad considering traffic conditions. She left her Ford Taurus in valet parking and flashed her badge at the attendant and told him to keep it handy. The front desk was clear when she walked up, flashed her badge and asked to see the manager. The manager came right out and asked her to come into his office. She showed her badge again, along with a picture of the Professor coming into the hotel.

Kathy said, “This is important but no need to upset the routine of your hotel or its guests. This man had a room on the fifth floor. I want to know what name he used, how long was he here and whether he had been here before. Also what ID he used. After that I want to see his room. Please put it off limits for a few hours. Lastly. I want to know what our team did when it came into the hotel early this morning. I’ll need all the relevant camera coverage, starting with this man coming into the hotel last night and going up to the fifth floor. Coverage of him leaving by the back staircase is especially important.”

Kathy smiled her sexiest and told the manager she didn’t want to take much of his time. He called an assistant manager and passed on Kathy’s requests and told him to make it his top priority.

While she was waiting, Kathy went up to the fifth floor, checked camera coverage and walked down the back stairs. When she opened the outside door, she saw the route the Professor must have taken. He wouldn’t have stashed a second car in the hotel lot, but in the shopping strip mall adjacent to the hotel lot. She walked over and checked camera coverage. It was not extensive but, if operating, it should show cars coming and leaving, as well as foot traffic in most of the parking area. Again flashing her badge, she checked in with the small rent-a-cop mall security office.

“Sure you can see our camera take. We record over it every other day, so if you want today, you got it.”

“Show me starting from 6:30 this morning.”

“Can do. Just sit over there at the other monitor. Tell me if you want to stop or blow up a frame.”

It took a few minutes for Kathy to orient herself to the camera angles. There were a few overlaps but more gaps than multiple coverage. Right at 6:55 AM, she saw a figure entering the southeastern edge of the parking lot. She had Terry blow up the image. It looked like the Professor to her. She then tracked the figure to a green car two rows in from the street. Blowing up the image, she saw it was a VW Passat with a South Carolina license plate. She watched as the car started out and got a license number. Thanking Terry and getting him to make her a copy of the tapes, Kathy went outside and called Frank.

Kathy told Frank, the Professor had a clear view of the coffee shop used by the team that morning from his balcony. The doorman told her all the suits came in together. Kathy told Frank there was a half-full coffee cup and a burned down French Gitane cigarette with the full ash intact. Kathy said she believed the Professor was sitting there early this morning, having his coffee and a cigarette when the team came en masse across the street. It looked like he left abruptly. The hotel camera time confirmed his departure. She added, “I visualized the route he must have taken. The natural escape route led to an adjacent strip mall parking lot. I checked with the security office regarding camera coverage and now have coverage of the Professor walking along the edge of the strip mall and getting into a late model green VW Passat, South Carolina plate SIT 301. I don’t think he’ll keep the Passat very long. Finding the Passat quickly is our best shot at locating this slippery bastard. One more thought, if we can keep the whole affair quiet, the Professor won’t be sure the danger was real or just his paranoid instincts kicking in. If he isn’t sure, he may keep to his schedule.”

“Kathy, that is a first class bit of police work accomplished in an amazingly short time. I wish you would come back and work for me.”

“Frank, thank you. It’s nice to be wanted. Anything else I can do before I head back to Georgetown and Mr. Hankins?”

“No. But I want you to know that I’m sending your pompous friend back from whence he came when he shows up. I pulled you off because I didn’t want you getting mixed up in a possible high profile arrest with all the media coverage. This administration is so hungry for positive press that they will leak anything that makes them look good. I’ll be in touch.”

Kelly and Kathy were sitting in their car focused on the front entrance of the hotel. Kelly said, “How are we going to make sure the Professor doesn’t leave by another exit?”

“With two people we can’t. But, being the smart operatives we are, we have located his car. I can see it from here. It looks like he’s playing the role of a well-to-do businessman. If I’m right, he’s locked himself into that role. He wouldn’t be slipping out another entrance into another parked car or going out an entrance to the rear parking lot and walking around the front to the overnight valet section. Hotel people would notice that. Not in keeping with his cover. A good cover is necessary but it also has some built-in problems, such as required behavior. Knowing the behavior required allows hunters like us to predict some of the target’s actions. Unless he suspects some hostile group knows where he is, he will not leave the hotel dressed as a cowboy or a golf-playing tourist from Minnesota. So be patient and watch the front door. Of course, we don’t want to miss Mr. Hankins’ departure. If he doesn’t come out in the next 20 minutes, you will have to check if he’s still in the bar. We also have his car in sight.”

“What if Hankins leaves and kills some young woman?”

“This is a tough business. We have to try to prevent the greatest threat. And right now that’s the Professor. He’s already killed more Americans than Hankins ever will. If the car bombs had succeeded, dozens or more could have been killed or badly hurt. We were lucky that time. We need to be a step ahead of the Professor. We don’t need to build a legal case against him. He’s an enemy combatant trying to kill us. If we can pin him down anywhere, he’ll be picked up, interrogated, and imprisoned or executed under the jurisdiction of a military tribunal. All we have to do is keep him located until he can be grabbed. No one will be reading the Professor any rights. There now, do you have any more short questions that need long answers? If not, go check on our pervert.”

Kelly was barely in the lobby when Kathy saw her come out and hurry back to the car. She opened the car door and said, “Hankins was paying his bill. Look for him to come out any minute now.”

“Okay! When he drives away, we’re going inside. I want to have a drink in the booth he just left. You go first and make that happen.”

When Hankins’ tail lights disappeared going back toward Georgetown, Kelly and Kathy walked into the lounge. Kelly asked the hostess for a booth and pointed to the one near the back of the lounge. Once they ordered drinks, a soda and bitters for Kathy and a draft light beer for Kelly, she asked, “Why are we sitting here?”

“Two things. I want to see what he could see sitting where I am now, facing away from the entrance the way you said Hankins was facing. I want to check the seating area, just to be sure he didn’t leave a note, mark or signal of some kind for the Professor. When the waitress left, I checked the underside of the table and the edges of the bench.”

“I didn’t see you do that.”

“You weren’t supposed to, nor was anyone else. I don’t see how Hankins could have seen the Professor or the Professor him. And nothing was left in this booth. I doubt Hankins used the men’s room. You would have seen him. So now I’m reassured this was a coincidence, not a scheduled meeting of any kind. Also I assume Hankins did not use a cell or hotel phone while he was here. So now let’s get situated so we can watch the lobby for the Professor.”

Just after midnight Kathy signaled for the bill. She explained to Kelly that it was unlikely the Professor would be coming down to the lobby to meet anyone, and they were too exposed to hang out any longer in the lounge. Back in the car, Kathy said she would take the first watch and for Kelly to get in the backseat and get some sleep. If any cops came by when Kelly was on watch to wake her, and she would use her badge and tell them they were okay.

Kathy’s cell vibrated at 6:30 AM. It was the head of the unit Frank sent to take over the coverage and taking of the Professor. She agreed to meet them right away in the Piccolo Coffee Shop near the hotel.

They had pictures and a brief on the Professor from Frank. Kathy briefed them on the Professor’s car and its location. She didn’t know the room number or what name he was using, only that he was probably on the fifth floor. Kathy asked if she and her partner were needed any longer. The team chief said no, they would take over from here. When Kathy asked if he wanted to go over his plan, he acted as if she wasn’t cleared and told her she could go now. They had to move quickly.

Kathy and Kelly were on their way back to Georgetown within the next five minutes. The Professor, following a lifelong habit of getting up at five AM and was now enjoying a cup of dark French Roast coffee on the terrace off his sitting room. His one light bag was packed. This morning he planned to leave the Cadillac CTS in the valet parking and take the VW Passat he kept stashed in the shopping center parking lot in the next block. From long practice he constantly scanned his surroundings. He was just finishing his most recent check of the front of the hotel, when he received a cell call. The caller told him to leave immediately, a team of counter terrorists knew where he was and would soon surround the building. Looking from his balcony, he saw a group of young men in suits come out of a coffee shop and walk directly toward the front of the hotel. In all his checking of the hotel environment, he had never seen a group like that. They surely weren’t tourists and, if they were well-dressed businessmen, they would not have had breakfast or even coffee in a place like that. No, trust his instincts and his inside source. It had been a few years, but he knew his spy was dependable. He had used this source for years.

Without another thought, he picked up his small bag and walked down the back stairs and across the back of the hotel parking lot to the shopping mall and drove off in his VW. In his business, there was no such thing as over-reacting. There was only being alive or being dead. Always take the safest action and forget convenience or inconvenience.

When Kathy cut off, Jack called to check on Lou and Storm. After a couple of rings, Lou picked up. Jack said, “Can you talk now?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Jack asked, “What do you think of the Aryan attack? What are people, especially biker folk, saying?”

“Storm and I’ve talked about these attacks over and over with several bikers and have some general insights but nothing specific and no leads. We have been to and talked with bikers in Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Surfside, Savannah and Columbia. They’re all talking about the raids and who could be doing it. These people aren’t cold-blooded killers. No way would they be part of burning churches and killing innocent people. We believe the attack bikers aren’t from or part of organized biker groups or gangs. Sure, some of them are hard people, some have records and they won’t be pushed around but killing innocent people isn’t them. We think the attackers are their own group with a political objective justifying the unprovoked violence. None of the people we talked to would send a note to the media justifying the attacks as revenge for the actions of Templars during the Crusades. This has to be a Muslim political fringe group behind these attacks. I don’t think we can do any more running around on my bike. We’ve given out a phone number to a few people to call if they hear anything about the biker raids. Jack, I think we might as well come in.”

“Yeah, I agree. It sounds right. Come on in. Check back into your hotel rooms. You may be needed by Kathy in the Georgetown area to help with covering a few people. Call when you get a decent sleep and are settled in.”