+18 - eps 22-27 - A case takes Russell and Brock to the brink of death. It'll be up to Gillian and the team to rescue them before they're killed by a white supremacist militia. And in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the threat of a bio attack fo...
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**picture: police and first responders on Paris streets, November 13 2015
Cooper looked a little surprised, but didn't refuse to follow Gillian to the team's office. On their way, Gillian saw all the staff gathered before the large screens, following the news in a shocked silence.
Not her team. They had the news on, too. But all of them were too busy to watch them. Gillian invited Cooper to sit at Aldana's desk—because Aldana was at hers, for a change.
"What d'we have?" she asked, approaching Tanya.
Ron replied form a board where a map of Paris was pinned. "This far, we can only be sure of three hits: Stade du France, in the northeast, and a grill and a café near the river. The President was at the stadium and has been evacuated by helicopter a couple of minutes ago."
"What about the rest of the people?"
"They didn't suspend the game," said Hank, reading from his phone, and explained, "A friend of mine is there. Germany vs. France—can't miss that."
Fred frowned. "Wait. Wasn't there a bomb threat this morning at the hotel where the German team is staying in Paris?"
"Yep," replied Kurt. "They evacuated the hotel and searched it for two hours. Found nothing."
"Another explosion at the stadium!" said Aldana, reading from her computer.
"And another shooting outside a bar at the Ninth District," added Tanya.
"Another one?" asked Cooper.
"What are they saying about the shootings?" asked Gillian.
"Nothing official yet, but Twitter's on fire. Big long guns, kinda blitz attack. They jump out of cars and open fire on people sitting at tables on the sidewalk." Ron pointed at the map. "Here, here and... where was the third?"
"Err... Fontaine au Roi and Faubourg du Temple," replied Aldana.
"Jeez, they're sitting ducks!" muttered Fred, also at his computer.
"Casualties?" asked Cooper.
"At least three dozen and counting. Many more wounded," said Hank.
"Another shooting," warned Tanya. "This time at a theatre."
Cooper looked up at the plasma. Of course the news didn't have that information yet.
Kurt filled them in. "People's tweeting about gunshots from inside a theatre were an American band is playing. Eagles of Death Metals, anyone?"
"From California, they're alright," said Fred. "They're saying the second explosion at the stadium was at one of the gates."
"Tell me about the theatre," said Gillian.
"Room for twenty-five hundred people."
"Holy shit," grunted Ron.
Hank's phone buzzed and he read aloud. "France won the game. Now they're directing people to the field. They're telling everybody to wait until they clear all the gates and secure the exits."
"How many people?"
"Forty thousand, give or take?"
"Holy shit!"
"Guys..." Kurt's shaky voice caught everybody's attention. "They took hostages at the theatre. People are escaping any way they can—even jumping off two or three-story windows..."
The same shocking memory from fourteen years ago played before their eyes at his words. Tanya didn't make it any better.
"The attackers were among the audience and opened fire in the middle of a song, shooting people down around them. They're wearing ski masks, yelled something about France's war on Syria and they've taken hostages. At least a hundred of them."
"Sons of bitches!"
"Okay, lads, let's go over their basics."
Gillian's firm voice was what all of them needed to snap out of the horror twitching their guts at the avalanche of reports. Cooper saw how they turned their backs on Kurt and Tanya to face her, as if to ignore the last information. But they were all in control and focused.
"Public places. Crowds," said Aldana.
"No specific target," said Fred.
"You mean other than the frigging President?" argued Hank.
"Circumstantial," replied Aldana. "Soccer game, food places, rock gig."
"They're going for the numbers," Fred said.
"The most paralyzing strike," said Gillian, nodding. "Anywhere and anyone can be next."
"Jesus! They're saying sixty dead and over a hundred wounded!" said Kurt.
"A third explosion outside the stadium," said Tanya. "This time a McDonald's."
Ron turned to the map. "So we're talking at least three cells of at least a couple of subjects each to carry on simultaneous attacks at different locations."
"A survivor from the first street shooting just tweeted that the attacker opened fire shouting Allah is great," said Aldana.
"Daesh," growled Fred.
"Three cells," Gillian repeated. "They know the turf, the where and when."
"Local cells. Outsiders posing as refugees wouldn't know that," said Ron.
"Dormant local cells, then?" said Hank.
Cooper nodded, completely absorbed, following their reasoning.
"It figures," said Fred. "France has the largest Muslim population in the EU."
"And the highest rate of extremist recruiting," said Aldana. "They find assets even among followers of other religions."
"Fanaticism requires basically the same mindset, no matter the symbology," said Gillian. She grabbed a marker and scribbled by the map. "So Muslims, locals, public places, large crowds..."
"We need to contact all the Imams here in town," said Aldana.
"And ask them if any of their usual followers acted strange lately," said Ron.
"And keep the mosques safe," said Gillian.
"Reg's right," said Fred. "As soon as people know this has anything to do with the Islam, they're gonna take it out on the first Muslim they find."
Cooper stepped closer. "Take the Islamic Society in Cambridge, it's right between the MIT and Harvard. I'll have agents keeping any other Islam-related community center."
"Ron, bring your scanners, just in case."
Cooper stopped Gillian on her way out and lowered her voice to say, "Your son's at the MIT now, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Send him over. We need all the help we can get to stay updated."
Gillian would have hugged and kissed the Iron Lady for thinking of an excuse to bring Connor to a secure location, but she just nodded and hurried to the elevators after the others.
She let the team take two SUVs and she went to her car, already calling Connor.
The boy didn't waste time on loving greetings. "Mom? What's going on?"
"Listen to me, son: get whatever you need for the weekend and wait for me outside your dorm."
"Is there any threat to the campus?"
"No, don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen this side of the pond. But T can use a hand to sort out what info we can use."
