2230, Day 7, Broadway Towers, Oakland, California
2235, Day 7, Over Oakland Police Headquarters, Oakland, California
0900, Day 9, Command Center, Agua Dulce, California
1345, Day 9, Granada Hills, California
1410, Day 10, Command HQ, Agua Dulce, California
1730, Day 10, Command HQ, Agua Dulce, California
0825, Day 11, Sierra Highway at Davenport, Agua Dulce, California
0835, Day 11, Lombardi Ranch, Bouquet Canyon, California
0922, Day 11, Sierra Highway, Canyon Country, California
0935, Day 11, Foothills above Sierra Highway, Canyon Country, California
0936, Day 11, Foothills on East Side of Sierra Highway, Canyon Country, California
0937, Day 11, Casey Residence, Agua Dulce, California
0948, Day 11, Sierra Highway Near Vasquez Canyon, Canyon Country, California
1002, Day 11, Hangar 14B, Edwards Air Force Base, California
1018, Day 11, Sierra Highway Near Vasquez Canyon Road
1026, Day 11, Over Sierra Highway, Agua Dulce, California
1028, Day 11, Sierra Highway, Agua Dulce, California
1026, Day 11, Casey Residence, Agua Dulce, California
1040, Day 11, Johnson Residence, Vasquez Canyon, California
1144, Day 11, Johnson Residence, Vasquez Canyon, California
1152, Day 11, Johnson Residence, Vasquez Canyon, California
1155, Day 11, Sierra Highway, Agua Dulce, California
To my lovely and dedicated wife and the best family anyone could ask for. A family who starts with a hug and finishes with “I love you.” You guys are the paracord that binds, the crazy glue that keeps the pieces together, the first aid kit to heal any wound, the GPS to keep me on the right path, the LED light at the end of every tunnel, and the nourishment for my body and soul.
Prologue
Day Zero, 0817, Glendale, California
Dayyan Imaad Shalah arrived at his appliance repair shop in a small strip mall on Pacific Avenue a short distance from the 134 Freeway. His shop provided appliance repairs on small items such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, and other small needs of the gluttonous American lifestyle. Not a profitable business in any sense of the word, but the small business provided him a convenient occupation seeing little scrutiny from the city, state, or United States government. The business also provided a method to receive funds under the guise of “cash sales” without any bank or tax agency taking a closer look. Dayyan did not care about profit. His chosen place was to be patient and wait for the calling.
His phone vibrated and then played the silly tone announcing a new text message. Thinking it might be his friend Naseem, he withdrew the phone from his belt pouch and looked at the screen. The message was a simple line of eight characters, A-T-5-2-Z-Q-H-3. He tensed up when he read them. Was it time? Has the day finally come? Dayyan thought. Or is it a simple test?
He clicked on the display that opened the message. The sender phone number was “000-000-0000.” Whoever sent the message was using a cloaking device to hide the sender phone number. He got out a small notepad and quickly figured out the correct reply. Using the small keyboard of the cell phone, Dayyan typed a simple reply: B-V-8-6-E-W-O-1. The formula was simple. Add one letter alphabetically or numerically to the first character, two to the second, and three to the third and so on. He double-checked the formula and pressed the Send button.
Although the shop was cool immediately after reading the first message Dayyan had started sweating. Seeming like an eternity, but in reality only thirty seconds, the phone again played the text message tone. Dayyan looked at the screen. “God is great. Remain at your shop. Some customers shall join you shortly. You should be receiving a package. We shall seek your services today.”
Dayyan realized his long-awaited activation had just occurred. For what exactly he did not know. The word “Today” in the text message had the first letter capitalized. This simple hidden key told Dayyan whatever would happen would do so before midnight tonight. Spotting misprinted words in a document was part of training he once received.
Dayyan Imaad Shalah was an Iraq immigrant. Before the Iraqi Freedom campaign, his father was one of Saddam’s high-ranking officials. This position of importance landed him on the “Most wanted” deck of cards as the ten of spades. This deck of playing cards, an evil creation of the Coalition forces was issued to the combat troops during the invasion and used to identify the most valuable human targets. Nevertheless, his father was a traitor. When it became obvious to his father Iraq would lose this war quickly, he defected, and using a mole, he contacted the American Central Intelligence Agency.
For self-preservation, his father did not consider the fate of the other loyal Saddam officials. This included Dayyan’s favorite uncle Ammar. His father had traveled extensively for the government, and his uncle had done more to raise him that his father. Dayyan’s father would beat him savagely for minor infractions. Ammar, the opposite of his father, was a kind man, never once laying a hand on Dayyan.
So when the American Army with its CIA advisers came for his Uncle Ammar and four other high-ranking officials who were in hiding, it was obvious that Dayyan’s father had turned them in. Several of those faithful to Saddam died when they fought back during the brief battle with the US Special Forces. Dayyan was only seven years old when he ran out into the yard and stayed with Ammar while he was bleeding out from the multiple gunshot wounds. Dayyan was kneeling over his dying uncle when an American soldier came up and kicked him out of the way. He then began to torture Amman during his last few moments of life, asking the dying man for locations of other officials. Dayyan would never forget that day, and his hatred for the Americans and his traitor father would sizzle for years.
Shortly