Terror Toll
by
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-Chapter One-
On the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, Martha Burdette Simpson took Jenna and Peter to the Mall of
Martha’s neighbor and best friend, Alexandra Petty and her daughter joined them. Maryann, a high school senior, volunteered to accompany Jenna and Peter while Martha and Alexandra enjoyed a nice lunch at Napa Valley Grill, one of the Mall’s seven upscale restaurants. Their husbands, Chuck Simpson and Ward Petty decided to watch the Vikings play the Lions.
Some 30 miles from the Simpson residence Ahmad Saleh, Hatem Yousef, Abdulaziz Hassan and Muhammed Khalil had different ideas about how to spend a Sunday. They were members of a sleeper cell who entered the
Saleh and Yousef disguised themselves as overweight women. They each carried two reinforced Nordstrom’s shopping bags containing 50 pounds of HMX, a very powerful plastic explosive hidden beneath a small Nordstrom’s gift box. Another 50 pounds of HMX was layered around their bodies and covered by a large raincoat.
Hassan and Khalil drove a truck with logo You won’t need phones with sound by Krones on the doors. They wore the blue uniforms of the well-known company that had done business with the Mall since it opened in1992. Hassan and Khalil had worked for Krones for five years and were familiar to Mall Security.
They pulled their truck into the loading dock and began unloading six large black crates. Four contained the speaker systems for an early evening rock concert. Inside each of the two additional crates were 500 pounds of HMX. The crates were placed on dollies and transported to the four-story Rotunda for set up.
Burt Cassella, a Mall security guard greeted the two workers who smiled and returned the greeting. Hassan and Khalil unloaded the crates and began assembling the sound system. The two worked carefully with the amplifiers and speakers making sure all the wires were connected correctly. By
Saleh and Yousef drove to the mall in separate cars. Saleh parked in the West Parking garage; Yousef on the other side of the Mall in the East garage. In the trunks of each car were two containers, one with 25 gallons of gasoline; the other held 400 pounds of HMX.
A timer was attached to the explosives.
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About the Book
On Sunday, September 11, 2011, tens of thousands of people, including the daughter of the CIA Director and her children, are shopping when The Mall of America the largest shopping mall in the country is torn apart by massive explosions.
The CIA Director’s daughter is gravely injured and later dies in the hospital.
In
The country comes to a standstill. A shocked president addresses the nation and promises action. But a recalcitrant Congress refuses to recognize that its inability to deal with illegal immigrants has enabled these new attacks to take place.
The president authorizes the CIA and FBI to work together to find who is behind the attacks and bring them to justice by any means. The leaders of the two agencies know their working together is against federal law. But they are motivated by hate and revenge. What they learn shocks the country and the world.
About the Author
William Gamble began his career as a newspaper editor in the 1960s before joining the business world. He served with the New Jersey National Guard’s 50th Armored Division from 1962 to 1968. While with Exxon Corporation he served as senior communications advisor for the Arabian American Oil Company in
Gamble retired in 2001 after nearly 40 years in corporate communications and public affairs. He lives in