The Bin Laden Plot

It was dark by the time Harrison returned from the store. As he pulled up beside Christine’s SUV, he spotted the two protective agents slumped in their seats, their heads and headrests splattered with blood, two bullet holes in the windshield. His hand instinctively went for his weapon, but he carried none tonight. He stepped from his car and moved quickly toward the SUV, pulling on the driver’s side door handle. The door opened, and Harrison retrieved the agent’s pistol, which he verified had a full magazine of bullets, with one round chambered.

Staying close against the house, he moved toward the front door, stopping when he reached the edge of the dining room window. Through the glass, he spotted Angie and Christine sitting at the dining room table across from each other. Angie sat frozen with a terrified look on her face, her eyes filled with tears. Christine was seated with her back to Harrison, but he could see the tension in her shoulders. His pulse quickened when he saw Maddy sitting in Mixell’s lap at one end of the table. One of Mixell’s arms was wrapped around her waist while his right hand wielded a knife, resting on her shoulder. Maddy was trembling in fear, her eyes focused on a board game on the table before her.

Mixell kept Maddy’s head between him and Harrison, so Harrison couldn’t get a clear shot; he’d have to enter the house first. He dropped below the window and moved to the front door. It was closed, but the doorframe had been shattered. He pushed the door open as gently as possible, but it made a scraping sound as it freed itself from the frame.

Mixell had likely been alerted, either by the sound of the door opening or Harrison’s car coming up the driveway. He was also seated facing the dining room entrance. The odds of surprising him and getting a clear shot with Maddy in his lap were low, plus he didn’t want to risk Mixell’s reaction to his sudden entrance, with a knife near his daughter’s throat.

Harrison slid the pistol inside his waistband behind his back, then moved slowly into Mixell’s view at the dining room entrance. Mixell spotted him immediately.

“Hello, Jake.”

Mixell spoke in the same casual tone he had used after Harrison confronted him in Afghanistan after he had killed his second prisoner.

“Lonnie.” Harrison kept his voice steady, despite his rising trepidation for his daughter.

“Hands in the air,” Mixell said, “and turn around.”

Harrison complied, and Mixell noticed the pistol stuck behind him.

“Put your weapon on the floor and kick it over to me.”

Slowly, Harrison pulled the pistol out as he faced Mixell again, then placed it on the floor and kicked it across the room.

Mixell smiled and spoke to Maddy. “It’s your turn.”

She hesitated, her eyes going to her father.

“Go on,” Mixell urged. “We need to see who reaches the end first. This car represents you.” He touched one of the small plastic cars on the game board with the tip of his knife. “And the other car represents your mom. We need to determine who lives and who dies.”

Harrison recognized the board game, one that the three of them — Mixell, Christine, and himself — had played often as children: The Game of Life, which Harrison had bought for Maddy a few years ago.

Maddy spun the wheel, then moved her car six spaces.

“You’re cheating,” Mixell asserted. “You moved an extra space.”

“I did not! The wheel says six, and I moved six spaces!”

“You moved seven.”

“I did not! I started here” — she pointed toward her original spot — “and moved six spaces!”

“You started here,” Mixell replied, pointing to a space one spot behind where Maddy had started, “and you cheated, moving an extra space. You know what happens to cheaters, don’t you?”

Maddy shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.

“Have you heard of the Code of Hammurabi? It’s an ancient code of laws often described as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. When one man takes something important from another man, he gets to do the same.” He kissed Maddy on the cheek. “You don’t understand what I’m talking about, but your father does.”

“I didn’t cheat,” Maddy said, her words barely audible.

“I’ll tell you what,” Mixell said. “I’ll spin for you.”

He moved her game piece back to the space he had pointed out, then turned the wheel slowly, stopping on the number five.

Maddy moved her car five spaces, then looked at Mixell with her hand still on her car. He nodded, and she released her game piece.

“Oh my goodness!” Mixell’s voice shifted to a sweet, lilting tone. “This is perfect, since we’re running short on time.”

Maddy had landed on a stop sign labeled Safe Route on top and Risky Route on the bottom, with the path to the end splitting into two roads.

“Only we’re going to change the options. One route is for Maddy, and the other one is for Angie.” He looked at Harrison. “Your father gets to choose.”

“That’s enough, Lonnie,” Christine said as she stared at Mixell with a hateful look. “Let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”