Chapter 16
Spencer Crane had pulled into the subterranean garage of a hotel on the outskirts of Manhattan. Lucas was looking around for the vehicle.
"There on the left," Lucas said.
Crane followed his gaze and his eyes found the black Merc SUV. There was a parking spot next to it and without wasting much time he pulled up next to it and shut off the engine.
"Come on," Crane urged his companion as he slid out of the 4×4 and went to the back of the SUV, his friend followed. Opening the back of the van he was greeted with the equipment they needed to find the briefcase, avenge their fallen comrades and probably take a long vacation-that is if the organization allowed him.
In the back of the van lay a wooden crate with a closed lid and a metal crane on top of it. Befitting his name, Crane reached for it and cracked open the crate revealing it's contents.
A highly modified frequency scanner designed to read the signals that the briefcase emits-it was a prototype but Crane hoped it could do the job, there was a pair of Micro Uzi's, small radios for communication and a pair of switchblades. Crane moved towards the front leaving Lucas to check out the guns and ready the scanner. He opened the driver's door and looked at the leather seats, the keys were in the ignition, the tank was full and ready for moving.
Returning to the rear of the SUV he found Lucas carrying the scanner in his hands, he had powered it up and he got nothing from it's screen.
"You think this will work?" Lucas asked
"Let's just hope it does," Crane went and slid into the driver's seat while Lucas settled down beside him. Then he turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life.
"Where do we look first?" Lucas asked
"We start at the crash site," Crane replied as he reversed the SUV and pulled out of the parking garage and into the highway via the H-15 route. The first few miles seemed the road was not that busy but as they neared the heart of the city, they were surrounded by more cars. Crane turned into the West 33rd street stopping momentarily as Lucas detected the signals from the case.
"Go straight ahead and turn right," Lucas said and Crane steadily eased his foot on the throttle. No one would look at the slow moving SUV with much suspicion. Taking the turn, Crane realized they had entered Midtown South and they were approaching the West side of Fifth Avenue where the Empire State building stood tall above 1,200 ft. He found a parking space on the opposite side of the road away from the grand building.
He looked at Lucas who looked past him and at the building.
"You still think this thing will work?" Lucas asked
"Like I said before…let's hope it does," he replied and Lucas nodded at the building.
"The scanner's picking up the source from inside but it doesn't show which floor," Lucas said and Crane looked at the building with a dazed expression.
If Harriet and her team had secured themselves in there, them how the hell did they afford the accommodation, Crane thought as he drove into the highway. It would be too risky to strike during the day.
It would be best to strike when the sun was no more.