Noah Wolf Box Set 2

by David Archer

  Sarah continued to look him in the eye, but a single tear began to trace its way down her left cheek. She said nothing, as Chung watched her.

  After a moment, he sat straight again. “Sarah, as you can see, we already know a great deal. Our concern is that, with our current trade policies being challenged by your leaders and political tensions beginning to reach levels not seen since the Cold War, this Camelot may become a serious threat to our own governmental officials. The entire purpose of our bringing you to China is to try to ascertain just how great that risk might be. If you will tell me about Camelot, then it is possible that we can stand down our efforts, and feel secure that he will not be employed against us.”

  Sarah continued to stare at him, but after a moment he saw her lick her lips.

  “Sarah? I need this information.”

  “And I’m not going to give it to you,” she said.

  For a split-second, Sarah saw a flash of anger in his face, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. His calm smile returned and he leaned slightly forward again.

  “Sarah, we must not play games. As you have pointed out, any failure on my part to learn what I must learn will result in more extreme measures being taken to secure that information. I do not wish to see you tortured, Sarah.”

  Sarah blinked a couple of times, and another tear made its way down her right cheek. She shrugged her shoulders with a slight grin, but shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I will not answer.”

  Chung sighed deeply and lowered his eyes to the ground. He started to speak, but she cut him off.

  “I’d like to go back to my room,” she said. “I’m afraid we have nothing more to talk about.”

  FOURTEEN

  The submarine ride had been much longer than before, and its pilot explained that they were having to go farther out to avoid patrols. It was after seven in the evening by the time they arrived back at Incheon Island, and Noah was surprised to see a bus waiting for them. A chubby, dark-haired American woman was standing beside it as they climbed out of the inflatable boat that had barely managed to carry them all to the shoreline, and Noah went straight to her.

  “Camelot? I’m Anna Harris. I work with South Korea’s Tourism Bureau, but I’m also CIA. We got a coded message telling us that you were able to retrieve our people alive, and I want to personally thank you for that. If you’ll get everyone into the bus, we have a Gulfstream 550 waiting for you. You’ll be in the air in fifteen minutes.”

  “At this moment, what I need is a phone capable of calling my HQ securely. Can I use my encrypted cell phone from here?”

  Anna’s eyes went wide. “Good Lord, no,” she said. “I don’t care how good the encryption is, every cell signal in this area is picked up by both North Korea and China. If it can be cracked, they’ll crack it.” She looked upset for a moment, and frowned at him. “Is it something that simply cannot wait? You’ll be in San Francisco in less than ten hours.”

  “It can’t wait. Delay the flight if you have to, but I absolutely must call in.”

  The woman rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, get on the bus. When we get to the hangar I’ll get you a line you can use.”

  Noah got everyone onto the bus, with Jenny enjoying the position of escort for Colonel Song this time. Anna climbed on with them, and the driver took them directly into a hangar that looked like it had seen much better days. A beautiful Gulfstream airplane sat inside it, its door open and a flight of stairs pushed up to it.

  Noah told Jenny to get everyone onto the plane, while he followed Anna into a small office in the hangar. She picked up the handset of a landline phone and dialed a number, then held it to her ear. “Kenny? It’s Anna. Listen, one of my tour group out here says he has to call the home office immediately. Can you patch him through? Great, just a second and I’ll put him on the line.” She scowled at Noah, but handed over the phone.

  “Hello?” Noah said.

  “Hello, sir,” said a voice. “This is Kenny Johnson at Republic Tours. Have you got a number?”

  Noah rattled off the number for E & E headquarters, and Kenny told him to wait just a moment. There were a series of beeps, some of them pretty loud, and then the voicemail message came on the line. Noah punched in the code that bypassed it and the after-hours operator came on.

  “This is Camelot,” he said. “Patch me through to the Dragon Lady.”

  He was on hold for less than sixty seconds, and then Allison’s sleepy voice came on the line. “Camelot? Report.”

  “I’ll make this quick,” he said. “In the course of the mission, I was personally captured by the same people who had the targets, and locked in with them. While there, I learned that their organization’s management has a very serious security leak, a mole. Were you aware that CIA has picked up chatter indicating the Chinese have been looking for a way to identify me?”

  “Hell, no,” Allison said, suddenly wide-awake despite the fact it was 4:30 in the morning for her. “Where did you get this information?”

  “My targets had heard about it. Under the circumstances, I chose not to terminate the targets but to bring them out. There is a mole in the CIA, selling information to China, and some of that information is what got them arrested. It appears that North Korea only picked them up for the Chinese, they didn’t even seem to know what they’d been doing. Their local station chief was also involved, and was the one who actually handed them over. She has been terminated. However, we then learned that the mole has even turned some of our own people, and this led to a new hypothesis which has proven to be true. Somehow, the mole found out that Team Camelot was involved in the Bangkok operation and that our female operative was part of the team. Knowing that China is after me, they would give just about anything to get their hands on one of my team members, so the mole contacted Randy Mitchell on Jenny’s team, while they were still in Hanoi. Randy was instructed to notify one of the Nay Thas bosses about Sarah being in the prison undercover and who she really was. That man arranged the abductions, and undoubtedly made contact with China to arrange for transportation there.”

  “Damn!” Allison yelled in his ear. “I can’t argue with your logic, it makes too much sense. I’m calling our liaison at Langley and reaming some ass, but that isn’t going to help the situation. I’ll call in every possible favor and see if we can find out just where in China she might be held. Meanwhile, we need to get those agents back to the states. It might be that they can help figure out just who that mole could be.”

  “They are already on the plane, and I’m sending Cinderella back, as well. She will be bringing Randy to you, and he might be able to help identify the mole. I want to take my team back to Thailand. I know who Randy contacted, and I believe I can track him down and make them talk. At the moment, I’m only a couple of hours from there by air. If we can get any kind of location, I can get to China in pretty short order. If Sarah hasn’t been broken yet, we may still have the chance to get her out alive.”

  Allison hesitated. “Noah? You’re right about being close, but are you really thinking this through?”

  “I believe I am,” Noah said. “Sarah is extremely valuable, and while she may not know enough to do any serious damage to national security, she’ll still be facing treason charges if she gives up any information at all. If I can get her out, I want to; if not, I think she’d rather be terminated than betray our country.”

  “And could you pull the trigger?” Allison asked harshly. “Could you actually terminate her if it came down to it?”

  “Yes,” Noah said. Allison waited, but he didn’t add anything else.

  “All right, then,” she said at last. “Send the others back with Cinderella, and I’ll instruct our liaison there to provide anything you may need. I will authorize you to go to Thailand and to stay there for three days, and hopefully you can find out where she’s being held by then. If you do, I want you to do everything possible to bring her back alive, but if you cannot do that then I expect you to eliminate her.”


  “Yes, Ma’am,” Noah said. He handed the phone to Anna and indicated that she should put it to her ear.

  “Hello? Yes, Ma’am. I can do that, Ma’am, but I’ll need authorization from—yes Ma’am, no problem.” She hung up the phone and turned wide eyes to Noah. “Seems I have to put you up for a little while,” she said. “Get the people you’re keeping with you off the plane. I need to get it in the air.”

  Noah went into the aircraft and told Marco and Neil to come back down. He glanced at Colonel Song, who was belted into a seat with Dave and his pistol facing him, then quickly explained to Jenny what was going on.

  “You did what? Where’s that phone? I’m not leaving you to handle this all by yourself, let me call…”

  “Jenny, stop it,” Noah said. “You have your orders, just as I do. I appreciate all you’ve done, but this one is all on me.”

  Jenny scowled at him, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. “Fine! But next time we’re both in Kirtland, let’s get together and hang out. Just make sure you got Sarah back by then, or I’ll kick your ass myself!” She flopped hard into her seat and started buckling her seatbelt.

  Noah carried his duffel off the plane and collected Neil and Marco, then followed Anna Harris out of the hangar. A Kia Sorento was waiting beside the building, and she motioned for them to get in. Neil and Marco got into the back, while Noah took the front passenger seat.

  “Do you have ID kits?” Anna asked. “Passport, anything?”

  “Yes,” Noah said. “We’ve got the basics, and we each know our back story. I’m Ross Duncan, and if I’m checked out you’ll find I live in Taos, New Mexico, and make my living as an investment analyst.”

  “Well, good, that saves me a little bit of a headache, at least. We’ll run through customs; there’s a special desk we use for private flights, so it’ll only take a few minutes. I’ll put you up at the Hyatt, here at the airport. That’ll cover everything. It has restaurants inside, a casino…Everything will be charged to your room, and we’ll pick up the tab.”

  She stopped at a small building that sat outside the terminal and took them into it. This was the customs inspection desk for private aircraft passengers, and she was right; it took only a few minutes to get them legally into the country.

  When they got back into the car, she fumbled in a pocket for a moment and passed Noah a business card. “That’s my office number. If you need anything else, call me there with a landline. If you need to call in again, call that number and say, ‘hot relay.’ Whoever is on the switchboard will transfer you to my secure line, and the operator there will ask for the number you want to call. Do not use a cell phone for anything that might be even remotely sensitive. If you run into any kind of problems, make sure you call me first. I know the lawyers, the cops, even the judges around here. I’ll get you a plane arranged tomorrow to take you to Thailand, so don’t get too comfortable here. You’re not staying that long.”

  It seemed to take only a few minutes to get to the hotel, and Anna walked inside with them. She spoke briefly with the desk clerk, who seemed to speak perfect English, and then Noah, Neil and Marco produced their identification. Within minutes they were booked into separate rooms that were side-by-side on the fourth floor. Anna said she’d check with them the following day, and all three of them headed for the elevator.

  Noah called in immediately, using the “hot relay” through Anna’s switchboard, but only left a message with the hotel and room number. As soon as that was finished, he stripped out of his clothes and took a long, hot shower. One of the best luxuries to be found in a luxury hotel, he decided, was a nearly endless supply of hot water.

  When he came out of the shower, Noah opened the duffel and spread its contents on the bed. The clothes he had been provided were all dark, suitable for a mission that might have to be carried out stealthily. He stepped into a pair of briefs and sat down to put on his socks, then chose a pair of gray slacks and a matching polo. Once he was dressed, he stepped out into the hallway and tapped lightly on Neil’s door across the hall.

  Neil had obviously showered as well, and Marco’s hair was also wet when he responded to the knock. “Time to eat,” Noah said.

  Neil scoffed. “It’s been time to eat for the last twelve hours. I’m ready.”

  They went to the West Tower, where a buffet was available twenty-four hours a day. All three of them loaded their plates with steak, vegetables and fruits, and all three went back twice for more. The food was delicious and hot, and went a long way toward restoring them.

  “So what are we doing, boss?” Marco asked.

  “Well, we know that the CIA has a mole,” Noah said. “For some reason, they didn’t bother to let the Dragon lady know that little fact, nor did they mention that the Chinese are trying to track down a particular agent of the government who is known as Camelot. It seems the mole has been doing a lot of business with China, feeding them information for money. Those people we just rescued were doing a job for Uncle Sam that the Chinese have interest in, and it appears that they were arrested for the purpose of handing them over to China. Our hostess back there, Soo Mi, handed them and me over to the DPRK State Security on his orders, so that got me to thinking; the mole would undoubtedly be aware of China’s interest in Camelot, and the CIA helped set up the Bangkok prison rescue, but instead of sending their own people in to find Miss Ingersoll, a request came in to have E & E do it. My gut feeling is that the mole got wind of the fact the job was handed to us, and would have known that the girl who got sent into the prison to make contact was one of us. One quick message relayed through Randy Mitchell, and China sets up an operation to have her snatched and handed over.”

  Neil was still eating, but he was listening intently. Marco looked at Noah for a moment and then nodded.

  “Shame about Randy,” Marco said. “If the mole was really threatening his family, you think there’s any hope for him to come out of this?”

  “That’ll be up to Allison,” Noah said. “I’m sure he’ll never be trusted on a team again, and it’s possible she’ll even order him executed. I just don’t know.”

  “Okay. Then what’s our next move? Sarah’s been in somebody’s hands for close to a week now. She’s a tough little gal, but that’s a long time to be under interrogation.”

  “I agree. Allison is going to try to find out what she can from CIA, and call in every other favor she has coming to her, from NSA, Homeland Security, whoever. The idea is to try to find out where they’d be most likely to take Sarah, and if she gets any leads at all, she’ll let me know. Meanwhile, we’re leaving sometime tomorrow for Thailand again. We’re going back to Pattaya; Randy’s contact was a guy named Lom who works for Pak, the promoter. We’re going to start with him, and find out who he passed her off to. Sooner or later, we’ll find out where she was taken.”

  Neil chased the last few peas around his plate with a fork and shoved them into his mouth. “Noah,” he said, “do you really think there’s any hope we’ll find her? That we’ll get her back?”

  “If we can get to her in the next forty-eight hours, I think we have a chance. She would have been in transit for the first couple of days, so she’s probably only been under interrogation for the last three. Most interrogators don’t go straight to torture unless something is time sensitive; I’m hoping she hasn’t been hurt too badly, but I figure it won’t be more than two more days before her captors will do whatever it takes to break her. She’ll fight, she’ll try her best not to tell them anything they can use against us, but nobody can hold out against some of the things they will do.”

  “Then why are we sitting on our asses? We’re in South Korea, it’s not that far back to Thailand. Let’s go see that asshole now, tonight, and just beat it out of him, find out where she is.”

  Marco glanced at Neil, then cut his eyes back to Noah. “I get the feeling the kid is pretty worried,” he said. “Thing is, he’s actually got himself a point. Pak or his boy could maybe tell us where he
sent her, and that might save a lot of time in getting to whoever’s got her now.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” Noah said, “and that’s going to be the next move, but we’re not going until tomorrow morning.”

  “Morning might be too late,” Neil said. “We should be on the way now!”

  “Not one of us has had more than a few hours sleep out of the last forty-eight,” Noah shot back. “We’re going to go back upstairs to our rooms and rest for tonight. I’ll check in with Allison in the morning, and shortly after that, we’ll be getting on a plane and headed back to Pattaya. We need to rest, Neil, or we won’t be in any shape to help her when we get there.”

  Neil slammed his fork down onto his plate, and it bounced off the table and onto the floor. “I know, I know, you’re right,” he said. “I just can’t stand the thought of what she might be going through over there. Scares the hell out of me, you know?”

  Marco leaned close to him. “Let you in on a secret,” he said softly. “Scares the hell out of me, too.”

  “You barely even know her,” Neil said, the anger evident in his voice and face. “If Moose was here…”

  “Moose is gone,” Noah said. “Marco is part of the team, now, Neil. I’m sure he can imagine what she’s going through, just as well as you can. None of us want her to suffer, so we’re going to do everything we can to get her back. Understood?”

  Neil glared at him for a second, but then he lowered his eyes and nodded. “Understood,” he said. “Sorry, Marco.”

  “Ain’t nothin’,” Marco said. “We good.”

  FIFTEEN

  Noah was already awake when the phone in his room rang at just after six AM. “Hello?”

  “It’s Allison,” he heard. “I’ve been on this all day, and I’m making a little bit of headway. I got through to Alex Kuiper, he’s my top liaison with CIA, and I reamed him a new asshole over this. He confirmed that they do have a security leak, and that there is an ongoing internal investigation. He swears up and down he hadn’t heard about any Chinese interest in you before this, but after listening to me scream at him for half an hour, he managed to find it. It looks like somebody high up in Langley was trying to keep it under wraps until they could get more information, but it’s been confirmed. China has been trying to track you down for over a year, so you’re right, that would have made Sarah an attractive opportunity for the mole.”