CHAPTER 11
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (Submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost.” Qur’an 3:85
“In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3
After leaving St. Jude’s, Tad took a cab directly to taskforce headquarters, arriving shortly after 11 a.m. When Toby showed up a few minutes later, he found her in the conference room where she was busy checking the communications network that would be used to monitor all of the activity surrounding the Antiterrorism Day of Prayer and Action.
“Boy, I missed waking up with you this morning,” he said quietly as he snuck up behind the attractive, sensuous brunette and put his arm around her waist.
Tad smiled, looked around to make sure no one was watching and gave Toby a quick kiss. “I missed waking up with you, too, but I needed some time to think- and I really enjoyed being at the shelter with Sister Mary Frances. She’s still as sharp as ever- and she has more common sense and compassion for other people than most of the men she has to take orders from. If they made her Pope, I might actually consider joining the church, again. How was your service at the Cathedral?”
Sullivan thought for a moment before answering. “ I enjoyed the music,” he said. “As far as the sermon, the bishop said little to inspire me. He did tell us that Rector York is better, which is good news, but he also announced that the rector is being replaced by the associate pastor, who I believe is on the other end of the theology spectrum from Father York. That wasn’t such good news.”
“Well, that’s the trend these days, isn’t it?” Tad asked rhetorically. “Even Mary Frances seems to be a little afraid of the direction things are going- in both the church and the government.”
“I think she has reason for concern,” Toby suggested. “I’ve worried about this antiterrorism day of prayer and action most of the morning.”
“I’m concerned, too,” Davenport answered. “I have little hope that anything substantive will come out of it as far as finding evidence about the terrorists is concerned, because they are much too smart to be discovered by a bunch of amateur sleuths. The more likely result is that a few zealots will make fools of themselves by harassing some poor, innocent mid-eastern immigrants who own the local convenience stores. Hopefully nothing really bad will happen, and if that’s the case, it will just have been a lost week in the investigation.”
“I hope you’re right about nothing bad happening,” Toby replied. “Setting off a religious war among Americans is the last thing we need.”
Tad continued checking all of the channels on her communications screen as she responded. “I’m actually surprised we’ve made it this long without a major conflict. Fundamentalists in both religions are convinced that their understanding of God and truth is the only one possible. Neither side sees how crazy that idea is.”
“I’m afraid you’re right about that,” Toby replied, “and speaking of crazy, before things get too crazy around here, I’m going to run down to the deli to grab a sandwich. Can I bring you something?”
“Sure. Any recommendations?”
“Everything they have is usually quite good. You still like chicken salad? Theirs is exceptional.”
“Sounds great,” Tad responded. “Let me have it on wheat bread, with some chips and a bottle of sparkling water.”
“Will do. See you in about 15-20 minutes.”
Before leaving the building, Toby stopped briefly at his office and contacted Sheriff Hollis Richardson in Leesburg, just to see if he had any early reports from the churches.
“Nothing yet to report, Agent Sullivan, but don’t worry, everything’s going to be just fine. I expect we’ll be getting some early reports in an hour or so from the first group of canvassers that left out of First Methodist Church a little while ago. Don’t worry, the Lord is on our side.”
Toby suspected that if the Lord took sides he would have stopped the bombings before they occurred, but not wanting to upset the sheriff, he said, “I’m sure you are right, sheriff. I’ll be here if you need anything.”
After terminating the audio and visual communication, Toby took the elevator down to the lobby, crossed the street and walked a block to the small corner deli that had become a popular source of takeout breakfast and lunch food since opening just three years before. He ordered two chicken salad sandwiches, two bags of chips and two bottles of water and then picked up a copy of The Washington Tribune, a highly partisan, pro-CDR newspaper, to read while he waited for his order. He was particularly intrigued by the front-page below-the-fold article:
Senate leader says Christian amendment just two votes shy
WILMINGTON, NC- A key senate leader says that the senate will soon be just two votes shy of having enough votes to pass a momentous constitutional amendment. The amendment would officially change the name of the United States of America to the Christian Republic of the United States of America and would prohibit Congress from passing any laws in direct conflict with the New Testament and tenets of Christianity.
Speaking at a Saturday morning pancake breakfast at the Eastern North Carolina Evangelical Church, Senate Majority Leader Roger Williams (CDR-NC) told those in attendance that the recent deaths of two senators may help pave the way for passage of the controversial amendment.
“As tragic as the deaths of Senators Morgan and Madison were,” he said, “the appointment of two pro-amendment senators to replace them is almost certain, which means that we will be only two additional votes shy of passage.”
Asked by a church member in the audience how likely it would be to secure the two additional votes, Williams sounded optimistic.
“I think the chances are very good,” he said. “One of the opponents is nearing his 100th birthday, and I understand that he may retire before the end of the year. And if we come within one vote, I like to think that constituent pressure on the remaining 34 senators will convince at least one to change his mind.”
Toby put the paper back on the counter when he heard the clerk call our that his order was ready. After scanning his fingerprint to debit his bank account for the amount of purchase, he headed back to the office, wondering if passage of the Christian Republic amendment was really that likely, or if the senator was just telling the homefolks what he thought they wanted to hear.
As he entered the lobby, he ran into Trey and Associate Director Drake, who were waiting together for the elevator.
“Hello, Sullivan. How were services at the Cathedral today?” Drake asked.
“Fine,” Toby answered, assuming that Drake was interested in knowing how the congregation had responded to the previous week’s bombing. “There was a packed house.”
“I heard through the grapevine that the bishop is replacing your rector,” Drake continued with a slight grin- or was it a smirk- on his face.
Toby clearly did not expect such a comment and had no idea how to respond, except to ask the first question that came into his mind. “How did you find out so quickly about that?” he asked as the three men entered the elevator. “It was just announced in church today, by the bishop himself. I didn’t realize it was general knowledge already.”
“Actually my pastor told me,” Drake answered. “There is a network of evangelical ministers in the D.C. area who try to keep their fingers on the pulse of everything taking place in the religious community. Their mission is to encourage all churches and all Christians to stay close to the Bible and keep Christianity pure.”
“Oh, I see,” Sullivan said, for lack of anything more intelligent or relevant to say. “I’m sure Reverend Oosterhoudt will do that.”
“What’s most important,” Trey said, “is that your congregation will almost certainly have an opportunity to hear God’s message in an entirely new way- more directly through the Bible, rather than through an imperfect filter.”
“Hearing God’s message is important, but people attend church for a lot of different reasons, many just because it is uplifting and makes them feel good, ” Toby said, “and that can’t be all bad.”
“That’s the problem with some churches,” Drake responded a bit testily. “I don’t think the church’s purpose is to provide a social club or to make people feel good about their sins. It’s purpose is to cut to the heart when we sin and to make a difference in people’s lives. Christ doesn’t want us just to ‘play church’. We are to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus even though it means suffering for Him.”
Now Toby really was completely clueless as to what to say, so he was glad that the elevator door opened just as Drake finished his mini-sermon. This allowed him to make his escape with an innocuous comment about his lunch.
“Well, I’ll see you two shortly, just as soon as I finish this sandwich,” he said quickly as he exited the elevator.
Toby hurried into Tad’s office, handed her a brown paper bag containing her lunch and told her about his conversation with Trey and Drake. “It’s absolutely incredible that Drake had already heard about our rector being replaced,” he said. “I never realized that the evangelicals had such an extensive network.”
Tad took her sandwich out of the bag and then responded, “Face it, Toby, they’re everywhere.”
“Yes, and that worries me,” he replied as he took a large swallow of water. “A priest friend once warned me to beware of humorless Christians, because Christianity is supposed to be a joyful religion. Unfortunately, I don’t see much joy in people like Drake. I guess we just have to hope that they truly do practice what they preach.”
“I’m not sure whether that would be a good thing or not,” Tad said just before Trey called out for Toby to come to their office.
“I hope this is an isolated incident,” Rawlings said as soon as Sullivan arrived, “but Sheriff Longino of Clarke County just reported that two canvassers from a local Baptist Church got into a confrontation with the owners of a convenience store about 10 miles from the church. It seems that the canvassers made some remarks about Islam and the Qur’an that did not sit well with the Pakistani-American storeowners.
Before Toby could respond, the videophone was ringing again. This time the call was from Sheriff Richardson in Leesburg.
“I’m sorry to have to report this,” Richardson said without even saying hello, “but we’ve had a bit of a problem with two members from one of our churches leaving some unsolicited religious materials at the home of two gay guys a few miles east of here.”
“What kind of religious materials, sheriff?” Toby asked.
Here’s a copy. I hope you can see it alright,” said the sheriff as he held up a little pamphlet with the following verses:
Leviticus 18:22, God reveals homosexual practice to be an abomination in His sight.
Romans 1:26, 27 declares homosexual activity is a lust of the flesh which is unnatural, degrading, and totally contrary to God’s will.
I Corinthians 6:9, 10 reveals that homosexuals are to be denied entrance into the eternal Kingdom of Heaven if they do not repent, receive Christ as their personal Savior, and abolish their homosexual life-style.
This was exactly the kind of thing that Toby had feared would happen when a bunch of Christian zealots were turned loose on a mission for which they had no training. “I can’t imagine why the couple would have been offended by such material,” he said in obvious displeasure that the canvassers were attempting to proselytize rather than concentrate on the task at hand.
“I know it may not be the most sensitive thing to have done, but you can’t blame the canvassers,” Trey said, trying to calm his partner. “After all, they merely want to prevent them from being turned away from God’s presence on Judgment Day.”
“Maybe that is their motivation,” said Sullivan, “but I thought we had made it pretty clear that such activities were entirely inappropriate.”
“You did, and I’m sure it won’t happen very often,” the sheriff acknowledged, “but evangelicals feel obligated to bring souls to God. What they did was well-intentioned.”
“I don’t know whether it was or not,” Toby answered, “but they have to maintain a little objectivity. They are not on a religious crusade. I hope you will do all you can to get that message through to people before something more serious occurs.”
By the tone of his voice, Sheriff Richardson was clearly not pleased at being lectured by the FBI agent.
“Look, Sullivan, you do your job there in Washington, D.C., and we’ll take care of our end of things out here in the country. These are good folks we have out there giving up their Sunday afternoon to help prevent future acts of terrorism and possibly find some clues about those responsible for your bombings. If a few homosexuals get their feathers- or plumes- ruffled a little, I don’t think that is such a big deal. I probably shouldn’t have called you about this little incident in the first place. If anything serious pops up, I’ll let you know,” said the sheriff just before the screen went blank.
“Damn it, Trey. We should have foreseen that this would happen and sent in some of our people to make sure it didn’t,” Toby said, still agitated.
“Look, Toby,” Trey responded. “I know you have a hang-up about evangelical Christians and how they approach religion, but don’t let your personal feelings interfere with your objectivity. Remember, the goal today is to help prevent terrorism. I don’t think that a few Christians leaving some unwelcome Bible verses with people is at all comparable with what the terrorists did.”
Toby thought carefully before responding. “You’re right. It isn’t comparable. It’s just unfortunate that the people conducting the canvass don’t see the larger picture, too. There is no reason they have to take on homosexuality or other religious issues as a cause when terrorism is our common enemy.”
“We don’t disagree about the main objective,” Trey assured his partner. “It’s just a question of how much in the way of collateral activity we are willing to tolerate to achieve the objective.”
“You mean collateral damage, don’t you?” Toby asked.
“Minor damage at most,” Trey responded. “We’re not talking about anybody getting killed, you know.”
At this point, Toby was willing to concede and drop the issue, but Tad, who was monitoring communications throughout the entire search area, suddenly appeared on the large LCD screen.
“I think you two will be interested in something that could be extremely explosive,” she said. “Turn your video screen to television station 11 and take a look.”
Toby used a voice command to turn the receiver to television and then channel 11. He was shocked at what he saw. A large crowd of people- at least 200- who, based on their clothing, appeared to be Muslims, were shown in front of a church. After turning up the volume on the audio, he listened to the reporter.
If you just tuned in, we are covering a fast-breaking story in Germantown, Maryland. Apparently, about an hour or so ago, a small group of people who claimed to be members of this Evangelical Christian Church in Germantown, paid a visit to the a local Islamic Center located just about a mile west of here. While they were there, some words were exchanged between the Christians and some Muslims who were at the center. What happened next is disputed. Members of the church claim that they simply asked some questions about the center and whether any strangers have been seen around the center in the last few weeks.
Muslims with whom we spoke tell a different story. They claim that at least one Christian made anti-Islamic comments and said that all Muslims are condemned to go to hell. The Muslims are here at the church demanding an apology from the pastor, who, apparently says he has nothing to apologize for, because the evangelical Christians were simply attesting to their faith.
“Jesus Christ,” Toby exclaimed while turning down the volume. “What next?”
“Toby, I would appreciate it if you would not invoke the Lord’s name in that manner,” said Trey, obviously exasperated with his partner’s insensitivity. “It is not His fault that some of his followers might be a little too zealous.”
“No, it isn’t,” Toby agreed, “but what is wrong with these people? Have they no common sense? Why in the world are they trying to make American Muslims hostile to us? Isn’t it enough that a good percentage of the world’s billion or so Muslims in other countries already hate us?”
Suddenly, Margaret Peabody’s image appeared in the bottom right-hand corner of the LCD screen, a section that could be utilized by the director at any time for announcements.
“All members of the task force please report to the conference room immediately,” she said. “Director Drake has an important update on today’s canvassing.”
Toby and Trey halted their discussion and joined the rest of the taskforce around the large conference room table. Drake asked Margaret to turn down the audio on the large LCD receiver before he spoke.
“I’m sure you’ve all seen the reports of the incident in Germantown,” he began. “But before everyone gets worked up about a few Muslims being insulted, which I in no way condone,” he added with a slight grin, “let me bring you up to date on the bigger picture.”
After pausing to look through some handwritten notes, he continued, “There are more than 20,000 people participating in today’s canvassing, and only a handful have been involved in anything controversial. For the most part, things have been extremely peaceful and virtually all of the designated search area should have been covered within the next couple of hours. I want all of you to stay focused on our mission and not get too worked up if there are a few missteps along the way. I have a good feeling that someone will turn up something important, so keep in close contact with your local officials and be ready to move on a moment’s notice.”
And then, almost as an afterthought, Drake said, “Remember, the war on terror is a struggle between Judeo-Christian values and Satan. We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God have been raised for just such a time as this.”
Toby looked at Tad, who appeared about to say something when Drake rose from his chair and said abruptly, “Let’s get back to work.”
Toby followed Tad to her office. “What were you about to say?” he asked.
“You could tell, huh?” she answered. “I was about to tell him that I thought it was a mistake to downplay the importance of the incident in Germantown and of several other incidents involving homosexuals, Asian-American convenience store owners and at least one Pakistani cab driver. Maybe no one has been killed, but we’re damn lucky that no one has been.”
“So why didn’t you say something?” Toby asked.
“After Drake’s comment about the ‘army of God’, I was too stunned,” she responded, “and besides, do you think it would have done any good?”
“No,” Sullivan said. “He obviously has strong beliefs and doesn’t want to hear any information that challenges those beliefs. I’m going back to my office, but keep me apprised of anything else you hear. I do want to know everything that’s going on- good or bad.”
When Toby arrived back in his office, he and Trey began contacting all of the local officials in their target area. After nearly two hours, they had not talked to anyone who had information that seemed relevant to the investigation. Then suddenly, just when they had begun to think the day had been a total lose, they received a call from Sheriff Richardson.
“Agents, I think you two ought to get out here as quickly as possible. A team of canvassers from St. Paul’s Evangelical Church just contacted their pastor, who then contacted me. They say that they have found an abandoned house that they think might have been recently occupied by several Muslims.”
“And what makes them think so?” Trey asked.
“Well, you may find this strange, but the back door was open so they went in,” said the sheriff, “and when they got in, they heard something that sounded like a foreign language. Checking further, they found a clock shaped like a Mosque, with a recording that they think was in Arabic. They looked around a little more and then contacted their pastor who, like I said, contacted me. I’ve sent some of my boys over there to make sure no one else gets in. How quickly can you get here?”
“We’re leaving right now,” said Trey. “Give us about 50 minutes.”
Toby and Trey stopped briefly by Drake’s office to tell him of the discovery.
“Well, let’s go,” he said before asking Peabody to have his driver bring the car around immediately.
Rawlings and Sullivan followed Drake out the front door and hopped in the back of his new hydrogen fuel cell powered sedan. In addition to being quite luxurious and spacious, it had the latest navigation equipment and, they soon found out, an extremely powerful engine.
“Darn, this thing has almost as much pep as my Jag,” said Toby as the driver stepped on the accelerator when he left the garage.
“Oh, it’s peppy alright,” the driver replied. “This is one of the cars that the Bureau is testing. I love it. It’s smooth and powerful, and the engine is no bigger than a briefcase. Look at all of the extra room the cabin has, and yet the overall dimensions and weight of the car are much less than the old models. It is definitely the wave of the future.”
On the way, Drake contacted Tad and told her to get as much information about the house and renters as possible from Sheriff Richardson and from the agency handling the rental.
“This verifies the information that we received from New Mexico,” the director reminded Toby and Trey. “I have a feeling that we’ve hit the jackpot.”
Being in the new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle on a Sunday afternoon with little traffic, the three taskforce members arrived in Leesburg in less than 40 minutes and then followed the sheriff west on Highway 9 just a few miles out of town. By the time they arrived at the suspect house, down a dirt driveway nearly 1/4 mile long, it was surrounded by patrol cars from several law enforcement agencies, and crime tape had been wrapped around the yard to secure the investigation site.
“Be my guests, gentlemen,” the sheriff said to Drake, Toby and Trey as he pulled back the yellow tape on the front door that appeared orange in the direct light of the evening sun.
The three FBI agents walked together, with Drake in the lead. As usual, Trey had his miniature notebook computer out and made detailed notes after entering each room. Toby pulled up the rear and, believing that a picture is usually worth at least a thousand words, made numerous digital photographs as well as his own subjective observations that he filed away loosely in his head for possible future reference.
From the beginning of the search, Drake seemed convinced that this was the house used by the terrorists. One by one, the threesome entered each room, with Drake commenting on items he considered important clues. He was particularly intrigued with the small alarm clock housed in a model of a mosque. Although he wanted to hear the message that the sheriff had described, he carefully picked up the mosque using his latex gloves and put it in a plastic bag that the sheriff provided. He did the same thing with some eating utensils that were left on the kitchen table and some clothes found in one of the closets. “I’m going to make sure that these get quickly to Henry in Quantico,” he told Trey and Toby.
Drake also called attention to one room that was empty, except for three prayer rugs near the front windows, which Toby noticed were quite colorful as they caught the orange rays of the evening sun. And he pointed out a white powder residue in the basement. “This should be easy for the lab to identify,” he said.
After they had searched the house and yard thoroughly, Toby and Trey had the driver take them to the two closest houses, both nearly a half mile away. Neither of these neighbors had ever seen anyone at the remote suspect house.
“It’s getting late,” Drake said around 7 p.m. “You two should put together as many law enforcement officials as possible and spend the next several days in the area talking to anyone and everyone you can find. Someone is bound to have seen the people who stayed here. I have a team coming to seal the house and Henry’s team will be here later tonight. Meanwhile, Davenport is trying to track down whatever information she can through the rental agency. Let’s get back to headquarters and then get some rest. Tomorrow is likely to be another eventful day.
“I’m sure it will,” Toby said to Drake and Trey. “But I hope it will be a little less eventful than today,” he thought to himself.