Jason Elam - Inside Threat (A Riley Covington Thriller)

Visit Tyndale online at www.tyndale.com.

TYNDALE and Tyndales quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Inside Threat

Copyright 2011 by Jason Elam and Steve Yohn. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of man holding gun copyright Colin Anderson/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of hallway copyright Medioimages/Photolibrary. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of texture copyright Julia Starr/stock.xchng. All rights reserved.

Jason Elam author photograph copyright 2007 by Stephanie Mack. All rights reserved.

Steve Yohn author photograph copyright 2009 by Madeline Yohn. All rights reserved.

Designed by Dean H. Renninger

Published in association with the literary agency of Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, California.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Elam, Jason.

Inside threat : a Riley Covington thriller / Jason Elam and Steve Yohn.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4143-3173-7 (pbk.)

1. TerrorismPreventionFiction. 2. Football playersFiction. I. Yohn, Steve. II. Title.

PS3605.L26I57 2011

813'.6dc22 2011016087

JASON ELAM

It is to the real Jesus that I dedicate this book.

STEVE YOHN

To the God of uncomfortable surprises.

What a blessing it is to live and learn

through the undeserved victories and

the glorious disappointments.

Lord, we thank You first and foremost. You more than anyone know the miracle of this process. We ask that You continue to use this series to surprise people with Your truth.

To Tami and Nancy and all of the kids: Your love and support mean everything. This book wouldnt have happened without you.

To Matt Yates: You have moved from agent to friend to brother. We so appreciate all that you and the rest of the Yates & Yates team have done.

To Karen Watson: We could say the same about you, obviously, replacing agent with publisher , brother with sister , and Y&Y with Tyndale House , and probably getting more team-specific by including names like the editorially amazing Jeremy Taylor, the artistically spectacular Dean Renninger, and the assistantly irreplaceable Stephanie Broene, but other than that...

And finally, to all of you who have been reading through this series. Thanks for your unfailing support and encouragement. Picturing your smiles and laughter is what keeps the fingers moving over that laptop keyboard on those cold, lonely, basement mornings.

Saturday, September 10, 11:35 a.m. EDT

Washington, DC

The September sun soaked into Scott Rosss face so deeply that he could almost feel his skin browning. Yeah, baby, brush a little butter on me, and youll cook up a nice golden, flaky crust. The leaves around him hadnt started to drop yet, and the breeze that rustled them smelled fresh and cleannot always a given in the nations capital.

The moment of peace contrasted sharply with the insanity taking place around him. For Scott, as director of the counterterrorism divisions Special Operations Group Bravo, life was always a little crazy. But whenever a credible tip came in on an impending attack, it was Katy bar the door.

Scott and his team had gotten the call less than twenty minutes after Malik Abdul-Tawwab walked into the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Fourth District station. Less than half an hour after that, Scott was in an interrogation room getting the scoop.

Malik Abdul-Tawwab was a young, second-generation American Muslim who had been frustrated with his life. With no work and no prospect of that situation meaningfully changing, he had become bitter toward the land of his birth. It wasnt long before he found himself drawn to a radical group that had formed within his mosque. The talk of jihad, threats of revenge, and promises of a better life for all Muslims struck a chord with him. Gradually what he once had considered his homeland transformed into their homeland.

Then, three weeks ago, this ten-person cell received a call informing them that it was time to put their talk into action. That night, the imam asked for a volunteer who was willing to become shahid , a martyr for the sake of Allah. All ten members of the group raised their hands, including Abdul-Tawwab. All were ready to kill; all were ready to die. However, only one was needed, and the one chosen was a seventeen-year-old named Taqi Abdur-Razzaq.

Although disappointed for himself, Abdul-Tawwab was happy for his friend and proud to be part of an operation that would strike terror into the corrupt hearts of the American public.

At least, he had been proud. Then the other attacks had started happening.

The first took place eight days ago. An American-born Muslim walked into the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, and opened fire with an assault weapon, killing eight and wounding twelve before an off-duty police officer managed to put him down with a .45 cal to the chest.

Four days after that, a young Islamic man on a helicopter tour over Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, pulled the pins on a couple of M67 grenades. According to witnesses on the ground, it looked like the pilot had yanked the chopper to the left just before the explosions. As a result, the wreckage crashed into a field rather than the intended crowd that had gathered to watch a Civil War reenactment. Even so, four were killed, and seventeen were wounded by the flying debris, including a five-year-old who was blinded by a severe head wound and a three-year-old who would never walk again.

Thats when the reality of what Abdur-Razzaq was about to do set in. And the following day Malik Abdul-Tawwab walked into the police station. That was three days ago.

Foxtrot One, this is Foxtrot Three. You still awake? Gilly Posada asked through Scotts earpiece.

Yeah, Foxtrot Three. Ready and raring to go.

You sure? Cause Ive got you in my scope, and you look like youre in happy, happy dreamland. Posada was one of two snipers Scott had positioned in the vicinity of this bench.

I told you Im awake. Now point that thing somewhere else before you put someones eye out.