Black Flagged Apex

Chapter 46





2:53 PM

Loring Terrace Apartments, Apt 2A

District Heights, Maryland



Reggie Taylor struggled violently for a few seconds and settled. There was little use. Any time he tried to stand, at least two pairs of hands held him down and another punched him in the stomach. They'd barely said a word to him since throwing a bag over his head and pulling him into the van. It happened so fast, he barely resisted at first.

He'd been walking down Loring Drive, trying to convince the Popcorn Shrimp Combo from Long John Silver's to stay down. He'd overdone lunch again, which hadn't come as a surprise. His new work schedule at the National Counterterrorism Center had wreaked havoc on his sleep and corresponding appetite. He normally worked the 4:00 PM to midnight shift, which was bad enough, but recent events had increased staffing requirements, splitting the security section into two twelve-hour shifts. He'd spent the past three days working 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM, which had been miserable. He'd take the bus home, eat some cereal and pass out, only to wake up starving a few hours later. It was hard to break those natural biorhythms.

He never heard the van pull up. Traffic was common on this street, and the school buses were due to arrive at the Loring Terrace complex soon. Hundreds of kids would be dropped off at various points around the vast network of three-story buildings, transforming the well-manicured area into a busy neighborhood. District Heights didn't have the best reputation as a D.C. area neighborhood, but he had never felt threatened walking around during the day. Some of the areas were fairly sketchy at night, but the Metro bus dropped him off at the entrance to his apartment complex. Loring Terrace was peaceful and quiet after midnight.

Getting jacked in broad daylight had never crossed his mind, which was why he didn't offer much resistance until his face had been pressed into the metal floor of the van. Suddenly realizing that this was far more serious than a mugging, he went haywire for a few seconds, which earned him a brief but severe beating. He'd calmed down long enough for them to tie his hands and duct tape his mouth, before rampaging to little avail. He struggled again, until one of his captors slipped a garrote around his neck and pulled tight for a few seconds. He got the message.

They drove for a few minutes and stopped the van, pulling him onto the pavement somewhere nearby. With the garrote around his throat, they quickly guided him through a door and up a set of stairs. He recognized the smell through the thick bag over his head. Musty wood paneling. His suspicions were confirmed when they walked him down a hallway and pushed him through another doorway. The faint scent of his wife's perfume penetrated the bag, followed by all of the familiar smells of his home. That's when he lost it. They had brought him back to his apartment, less than twenty minutes before his kids were due to arrive. He had to get out of here to warn them. He had to do something. He tried, but it had been useless. Even with the garrote removed, he couldn't build up any momentum to stand. Instead, he wobbled on both knees in the middle of his living room, thinking of a different strategy. Someone yanked the hood from his head, and he stared in disbelief. He had been jacked by two white guys, a Mexican woman and a Jamaican. What the f*ck?

"Mr. Taylor, this brings me no pleasure, but I need to show you something," the Jamaican said.

He pointed at an open laptop computer on the coffee table and nodded at the woman. F*ck, they weren't wearing masks. They planned to kill him. The Hispanic woman pressed a few buttons, and a digital feed started playing. His heart sank. They had his wife and two children. How was that even possible? He watched and listened in horror as someone placed a mean-looking, stainless steel knife against each of their throats as they whimpered. Rage welled up within him momentarily, replaced quickly by a sense of hopelessness. Who were these people? He mumbled, "What do you want?" through the duct tape. The Jamaican said, "Enough," and the woman stopped the recording.

"Your family is fine at the moment. We contacted the kids' schools and your wife at work about two hours ago. You'd been hit by a car, and they needed to come immediately. We even sent an unmarked police car to round them up. Sometimes I shudder to think how easy it is to take an entire family off the streets without raising an eyebrow. We need you to do something for us. It's a very simple task. We'll release your family upon completion of the task. I promise you that. If you refuse…we'll tell you where to find their remains. You'll probably be late for your next shift. Can I trust you not to scream if I remove the duct tape?"

He nodded. Screaming hadn't crossed his mind. He'd follow their rules and pray to God that they were telling the truth about not hurting his babies. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for his wife, Danni. She was in the same room with the kids. For Reggie, it was real enough seeing the digital file, but she could probably feel their breath in the dark, scared out of her mind that these might be her last moments with them. One of the white dudes ripped the duct tape from his mouth, searing his lips.

"What do I have to do?" he uttered breathlessly.

"Look the other way for three seconds," the Jamaican said.

"At the center?"

"Yes. You look the other way, and I release your family. It's as simple as that."

"You want me to let someone into the Operations Center? What are they going to do?"

"You don't need to worry about that. All you need to do is focus on your family. I promise you they will be fine if you follow our instructions. Three seconds of inattention, and you don't say a word to anyone. That's it."

Taylor thought about the consequences for a few seconds. He didn't like the idea of letting someone off the street into the operations center, but what choice did he have?

"The place is locked down tight. I can try to slip someone through my checkpoint, but there's a good chance they'll be stopped inside the center. Another guard might stop them right there if they don't have a badge. My checkpoint is for internal NCTC traffic only, people already cleared to be in the building. You can't bring someone in from the outside and hope to get them through my station without attracting attention."

"We're not using someone off the street. You'll recognize the person, and so will the rest of your crew. He's a regular around there, but he doesn't have access to the operations floor for the current operation, so we need your help. Just three seconds of your time. If you do as we ask, your family will be released, regardless of the outcome. Can you do this for us?"

"What will happen to me afterward?"

"I can't say. They may never figure it out, and if they do…you didn't really have a choice, did you?"

He shook his head. It didn't sound so bad, whatever they had planned. A little corporate espionage? It didn't matter.

"As a matter of fact, you can go to the authorities as soon as your family is released and tell them everything. You might lose your job, but nobody will blame you for looking the other way. Nobody with a family, that is. Frankly, I don't see them figuring it out…it's highly possible that your name will never come up."

Taylor felt less conflicted. How bad could it be if they thought that his moment of "inattention" might go unnoticed?

"I'll do this, but I can't control the situation beyond my station. If your man gets through my checkpoint, you have to honor your word," Taylor said.

"Don't worry. He'll get through fine, as long as you don't get cold feet or decide to do something rash at the last second. Don't think you can f*ck us over on this. The stakes are too high for you. Understood?"

"Yes," Taylor said, nodding emphatically.

He hoped their man sailed through without drawing any attention. There was no way this group could figure out if he raised the alarm upon arrival and arranged a sting operation inside the operations center. They were blind once their man entered the building and even blinder when he walked through Taylor's checkpoint into the Operations Center. If the man didn't succeed, he'd never see his family again.

"Tell me what to do."