Chapter 113: Mission difficult but not impossible

Rick smiled in amusement at Rachel’s statement. A black mask, reminiscent of their times in the Black Ops, was the last piece of equipment he had yet to put on. Once they made the decision for him to infiltrate the White House, Teresa quickly brought them to a hidden location inside the capital where they found all the equipment he would need for the job. Boots, pants and top in night blue to fuse into shadows to not be detected.

He wasn’t the only one gearing up. Both women dressed up appropriately for an ‘outing’. Tactical vests, firearms, knives. Once Rick got the information and got out, they would immediately leave for their destination. Time was running out and they didn’t have the time to make any detours to gear up again.

The time spent on planning the break in had already been too much. Choosing a point of entry, learning the layout of the area by heart, being aware of the security measures put in place and the usual path of the patrols then out to get out, had been meticulously studied and thought about as much as they could.

“I’ll tell them you told me to do it.” Rick joked back, settling the mask properly on his face.

“Oh, yeah?! And how did I convince you of it?”

“Promises of course.”

“Promises of what?!

Rick silently and slowly looked at his favorite blonde from head to toe then settled on her chest. There was no need for words, Rachel immediately understood what he meant. She raised her hand, accusing finger pointed at his face. It was shaking. Not out of fear but anger. Before she could utter a single word however, he grabbed it and pulled her into his embrace.

“No sane man could say no to you with a promise of a single shared night.”

“Focus. Both of you.”

Teresa stood up from her position on the ground, having finished setting up a communication relay. While inwardly she felt nostalgic at the banter between her former subordinates, almost a tradition at this point right before the beginning of a mission, she had to set their mind straight. Rick caught the earpiece the Major tossed at him and put it where it was supposed to go.

“One last time. Plan.”

“I run as fast as I can along the rooftop and jump as far as possible to cross 15 ST NW to land on the top of the Treasury Building. From there I move fifteen feet to the right to get behind a chimney then drop down to the side of the building, grabbing the gutter and moving along twenty seven feet to reach the main building of the White House without being seen by surveillance cameras.

Then I put adhesive tape on the third window of the North side of the roof, break it soundlessly and drop down inside the building. From there, I make my way to the security room two floors down without being seen by the guards. On the off chance that I am, I am to quickly knock them out before they can raise the alarm.

Once on the basement floor, I use your security badge to get access to the servers room.” He pulled out a small keycard from his pocket. “It had been stolen and you’d report its theft first thing in the morning. Once inside the servers room, I connect this,” He pointed at his back where a small bag contained a just as small laptop. “Directily to the network. Since I’m not technically breaching anything, I shouldn’t be detected on the spot.”

Teresa cut him off. “The use of my badge will trigger a check by the security. While I have exceptional authorization to go almost anywhere in the White House and at any time—”

“A small team will be sent to check if it’s you because it’s four in the morning. Depending on how conscientious the guards in the security room are and how awake, I have between five to ten minutes to get the information we need and get out the way I came from.”

“It sounds so easy to infiltrate the place said like this.” Rachel remarked but knew it wasn’t the case. Rick needed to move fast enough to be less than a blur on cameras and no one could do that but him. Dodging the guards required his speed too.

“Once outside?” Teresa pushed for him to continue and finish.

“Since I can’t get back on this roof because of the height difference with the treasury building, I jump down into the street and run as fast as I can to Freedom Plaza where you’ll both be waiting inside a stolen car.”

“Good. Time?”

““0358”” Rick and Rachel answered at the same time after checking their watches.

Teresa confirmed her own too. “0358. Time to go.”

Rick went to the other side of the room on a jog. Once there he turned around and stretched, more to prepare himself mentally than anything. If he couldn’t make the jump, then the plan fell flat and they would have to improvise. In that case it meant storming the White House, probably getting caught on camera and the alarm being raised. That would bring a whole lot of trouble.

After regulating his breathing, Rick used his explosive speed to get momentum and ran as fast as he could. Within seconds he was at the other end of the roof. The jump was timed perfectly. He soared into the air and crossed the hundred feet separating the two buildings.

Rachel and Teresa, watching from their vantage point, held their breath. It was as if Rick was moving in slow motion to the other side of the street. Like time was standing still. The feeling wasn’t helped by the dead silence of the night. Their hearts nearly stopped beating when it looked like, from the trajectory that he wouldn’t make it. They had reason to be worried, Rick barely grabbed the ledge of the building’s roof and nearly let it go. Had the building been half a foot taller, he wouldn’t have made it.

Releasing the breath she was holding, Rachel cursed. “I nearly had a heart attack. God, that’s a hundred feet he covered in one jump.” She sounded disbelieving and awed at the same time.

“We need to go, Liquid.”

Hearing her codename, Rachel immediately fell into step. Her mind focused on her tasks: getting down the roof, stealing a car stealthily then waiting at Freedom Plaza for Rick to come back.

The first was easy, they just had to take the elevator down and exit the Hilton hotel the same way they got in: through a side door reserved for the staff. At this time of the night, security was easy to circumvent. Not like it was really extensive for the establishment.

That’s where they separated. Teresa left to get their gear from her own car. A street over, while Rachel went about her own directive.

The second step was more complicated but barely. Finding a car on the sidewalk had been easy. Finding one inconspicuous was another matter. The area was for rich people and the cars were expensive and luxurious models. The kind of car the Police would find more easily which wasn’t what they wanted. Thankfully a lone, black, Toyota Camry caught her eye.

It was perfect. While Teresa went to get their gear from her own car, Rachel pulled a thin steel wire from the pouch at her lower back. She slithered it in the gap between the door and the window and pulled up the lock. Tucking back the wire where she pulled it from she picked a small knife instead.

Opening the door, she got behind the wheel and reached for the fuses and electrical wires under it. The fuse used for the alarm was removed, reducing to zero the odds of her making a ruckus. There would be no getting unwanted attention and wouldn’t have to flee, compromising the mission a bit and creating the need to adapt on the fly.

After cutting the right wires then stripped them a bit, she crossed them together and made the car start.

“Here we go.” She whispered to herself.

Leaning back against the driver seat, Rachel adjusted it for her height then the back and side mirrors to finally pull out of the parking spot. Within minutes she joined Teresa who was waiting with two military grade crates near her car. Without getting out Rachel opened the trunk to load their gear. It was done in record time and Teresa opened the passenger door to ride shotgun. Making sure to drive slowly to not catch attention, they reached Freedom Plaza within minutes.

“0407.”

Rachel, hands on it, was taping on the wheel with her fingers. It wasn’t so much worry, she knew Rick like the back of her hand and there was no way he would be caught if discovered. It was impatience. They had five hours until President Graham made his speech at the peace talks. That wasn’t even taking count the time necessary to get to their target, making their window of investigation and action even smaller.

At 0414, Teresa saw a shadow move at very fast speed in their direction in the side mirror. She barely had the time to warn Rachel that Rick opened a door and got inside the car.

“Got it.”

From the bag at his back, he produced the small laptop Teresa had given him for the occasion and handed it to her. Teresa immediately began to work, looking at Wilson’s schedule and his movement over the past month.

“Well? Where?” The suspense had been too much for Rachel who urged, as politely as she could her former Team Leader.

“That’s curious.” Teresa's words made the other two in the car frown. To them it sounded like a set back or worse: a failure. “Wilson is scheduled to be present at the peace talks but he’s been visiting the location often.”

To Rachel it was a given. “He is the Secretary of Defense.”

“Yeah but that’s not his job to oversee the security of the event. And one month prior? Multiple visits?” Rick shook his head. “That’s fishy.”

Teresa agreed with him even though she didn’t verbalize it explicitly. “There is no other location that could fit. He didn’t leave town at all. I doubt his base of operation for his illegal and treasonous activities would be right under the White House or the diverse federal buildings he went to.”

It was enough for Rachel. “Then Andrews Air Force Base, here we come.”