Chapter 28

 

4th Floor, Surgical Ward, The American Hospital, Oud Metha, Dubai:

25^th February; 2pm.

 

Jamie had listened as her two fellow conscripts explained their concerns about an attack on a prominent event or iconic building in Dubai, and shared their view that there was a reasonable chance it could be the Schools Symposium, given the fact that it was being held in the lower floors of the Burj Khalifa and yellow school buses would be used to deliver the schoolchildren to the venue.

“We’re placing a lot of reliance on the premise that the Madrassa’s yellow school bus is being used for the attack and that this ‘Shadow’ is using the bus, just as he did to collect the explosives.” Jamie was acting as devil’s advocate.

“We know, Jamie, but the reality is we have nothing else to go on unless we take Mullah Khaweini into custody and beat him with rubber hoses until he talks,” Max answered.

“And we all know that isn’t going to happen unless we have some better evidence than we do now,” Todd added.

“All right,” Jamie said, after a moment’s careful thought. “This is what we need to do. First, have all school buses for the schools attending the event provided with a security pass. We don’t need to cause alarm, we can just explain it away as a matter of parking availability. Second, we’ll construct a database of the school buses licence tags and check them against the buses that turn up for the event. If a licence tag doesn’t match the database, the bus will have to drop the kids off on the road and they will have to walk to the Armani Hotel. The same rule applies if the bus driver doesn’t have a pass. If we notify the schools only about the drivers’ passes and one of them leaks that information to the terrorists, they’ll think that a forged pass will be enough to get them into the grounds. But they’ll be wrong.

Third, I think we need Special Forces to be on standby. They could be in fast response vehicles parked in the underground parking lot at the Mall, as it’s only two minutes from there to the Armani.

 

Fourth, check with the Sheikh, see if we can borrow a sniffer dog or two from the Airport and ensure that once the kids are off the buses the dogs are allowed to check for explosives.”

“Is there a fifth, Jamie? Because my shorthand can’t keep up,” Max grumbled with a smile on his face. Jamie laughed.

“Sorry. It’s just that, as the only police officer here, I thought I should offer a few suggestions.”

“You need to be careful. If the Sheikh knows how good you are, they’ll never grant you an exit visa,” Todd remarked.

“Yes, well, I may have some bad news on that front.” Jamie hesitated before continuing. “Homeland Security has recalled me. They want me to convalesce in the USA.” Max and Todd looked forlorn at the news. Jamie smiled. “But don’t worry. I don’t think I’ll be well enough to fly for at least two weeks.”

***

The Shadow, or more correctly, Kwong Chong Lee, made the final connections to the explosives and tested the circuits which would detonate the explosives from a remote location. He intended to drive the bus to within yards of the target before leaving the door open, as if schoolchildren were due back any second to occupy its empty seats.

Satisfied that a cursory inspection of the bus would not reveal the presence of the explosives, which were well concealed in the structure of the bus and in the space usually filled with air conditioning plant and pipework, the Shadow stepped out of the bus.

If Kwong Chong Lee’s calculations were correct, and they usually were, the immediate blast radius would be around sixty metres. Anyone in that circle would die instantly; some would be vaporised. From sixty to ninety metres away, some people would survive but would inevitably lose limbs, eyesight and hearing. Beyond that there would be damage from flying debris, burns from secondary explosions. Given the expected crowds, he would estimate that around thirty to fifty people would die, and perhaps a hundred would be injured. Best of all, for his clients and his own satisfaction, the bulk of the casualties would be Americans.

***

Jamie sat alone in her hospital bed. The various tubes connecting her to bags bringing in and taking out fluids would be removed in the morning, and then she could really start her recovery. Scanning the internet on her iPad, she searched for other potential targets but none was quite as alluring as the Schools Symposium. Something niggled at the back of her mind, however, and she knew instinctively that something was wrong.

Whenever she was concerned about something she could not bring to her recollection she would begin the slow process of de-mapping, that is to search her mind map for something that might trigger a memory or bring a blinding light of inspiration. With the warmth and the painkilling drugs swimming around her body, she was asleep before she had made her way through a quarter of her mind map.