Free Nightcrawler by John Reinhard Dizon Page A

merely a minor setback. This time, we are demanding ten million dollars as payment in dissuading us from turning your oceanfront into blood. If our demands are not met within forty-eight hours, we will make good on our promise.”
    “Oh my goodness,” Sabrina's eyes widened. “That must be the Reaper.”
    The CNN journalist announced that Al-Qaeda denied having any connections to the Octagon and would never solicit or extort money for a military action undertaken in the name of Allah. He also received word that the Cuban government confirmed they had merely acted as a broadcast platform for the Octagon and denied any association with the terrorist group.
    “If they developed an anthrax weapon they literally scattered to the four winds to demonstrate their capability, we can only imagine what they're planning next,” Jon was somber as he switched off the TV.
    “They've got to be in the chemical business, or know somebody who does,” Sabrina mused.
    “They could be getting the weapons from overseas,” Jon pointed out. “It could be Syria, North Korea, Iran, or even Russia.”
    “Why would they let them take that kind of chance in dumping the product? Suppose Homeland Security was able to trace some of the compounding agents? If there was an identifiable enzyme characteristic of a foreign manufacturer—“
    “The news reports haven't indicated whether or not Homeland Security was able to get any information from whatever must have been left in that briefcase,” Jon surmised. “Chances are they sent it to a police lab. We know they wouldn't do the same quality analysis as a mainstream company.”
    “I'll bet I know someone who could get me a sample.”
    “You're not afraid of risking your relationship? You might even run the risk of him being obligated to turn you in.”
    “He can't arrest what he can't catch. I was thinking Nightcrawler.”
    “Did you not promise me—!”
    “I didn't say I was jumping off the Statue of Liberty, I'm only wearing a disguise to go visit Hoyt!”
    “There's no use in trying,” he waved her off as he headed out the door. “I'll look over your paperwork on the Durham deal and have it ready by tomorrow morning.”
    Jon's statement hit Sabrina like a punch in the tummy. She realized she would be taking a major risk in losing the man she was falling in love with. Only the lives of
    innocent civilians might be at risk if she did not do so.
    She saw no alternative but to turn to Pastor Mitchell and see if God would help her find a way.

Chapter Six
    One week after the failed attempt to saturate the air above the Wall Street area with anthrax, Tommie Pressley and Kyle De Lorean were arrested on Manhattan Beach for violations of the Anti-Terror Act. Impersonating lifeguards on the crowded beach, they were apprehended before being able to detonate 500-pound shrapnel bombs hidden beneath their tower posts. The Coast Guard intercepted an oil tanker a mile from the beach bearing Syrian insignia and markings that was filled with Agent BZ in a liquid compound.
    The City, the nation and the world were horrified at the deviousness of the plot. The casualty rate would have dwarfed that of the Boston Massacre as thousands of bathers had packed the beach to enjoy the perfect spring weather. The explosions were designed to drive the survivors into the water, where they would have waded directly into the waves of Agent BZ being washed upon the shore. The swarms of emergency rescue teams would have clogged the boardwalk, causing more people to be pushed back towards the water to be ravaged by the toxic chemicals. It would have a catastrophe of epic proportions had the terrorists not been thwarted in time.
    Sabrina Brooks had visited Pastor Matt Mitchell again after meeting with him and Rita Hunt earlier that week. The Pastor was greatly interested in her proposal to provide financial backing for Christian couples interested in adopting. He agreed to wait for further word from her lawyer and her