Read Omaha Page 7


  9. Tuesday January 16

  Time: 10 AM

  The next morning, Mark calls Joe from his cell phone and says, "We got that information you wanted. The distributer is Arrowmark Distributing and they deliver on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The usual run is about ten kegs on Monday and Wednesday and twelve on Friday, all standard 15.5 gallon domestic kegs of Millers draft."

  "How did you get the information? It's pretty detailed. Anyone suspicious?"

  "No problem really. We found the delivery driver and had a few beers with him. Then we broke into his truck while he was eating and looked at his schedule so that's how we know his route."

  "Okay, thanks. I'll get back to you. Just hang low."

  Joe immediately emails the data to St. Louis over what he thinks is an encrypted network. Todd reads the email before Jack does and forwards copies to Lance, David and Jay.

  When Jack reads it, he begins making some phone calls. First, he calls Ed and Jim and says be ready to head out of town for a few days, probably Wednesday night. Then he places a call to Denver where the mining industry makes explosives more readily available.

  His contact in Denver recommends RDX, Royal Demolition Explosive, or cyclo-trimethylene-trinitramine. When mixed with plasticizers, it's called C4. When mixed with PETN, it's called Semtex. It's one of the most potent of the nitramine class of explosives.

  Early Thursday morning a van begins its 550 mile journey from Colorado to Joe's warehouse in Omaha carrying three standard sized ordinary looking Miller Draught kegs packed full of RDX.

  Meanwhile, Jack has had his local tech expert buy another untraceable pre-paid cell phone and re-wire it so that when it rings, it will trigger a detonator. The cell phone, the detonator and about half a pound of RDX are packed together into a black soft plastic tube about eight inches long and about two and a half inches wide. The bottom end of the tube is sealed while at the top end there is a plastic plug from which the cell phone can be removed to turn it on. When the tube is placed between the kegs and the number is dialed, the resulting detonation of the kegs will result in a blast with enough force to bring down five warehouses the size of David's club. Jack doesn't want to take any more chances.

  Time: 2 PM

  Ed and Jim visit Jack Tuesday afternoon. Ed and Jim are a couple of feral psychopaths that do odd jobs around the Midwest, generally leaving a wake of corpses. Jack feels they are just the boys to handle this job and handle it the right way, no slip ups, no one left alive and not too particular about the body count.

  He explains to them the problem and the nature of the solution he's contemplating. He gives them the cell phone detonator, explains how to arm it. He hands them each several thousand in cash and tells them to meet with Joe at the warehouse in Omaha. He tells them to get out of Omaha as soon as they've planted the bomb. They leave an hour later for their 435 mile road trip to Omaha, planning to spend the night somewhere along the way.