When they entered Cleveland Park in Upper Northwest the SUV slowed. Pine followed suit. Even at this late hour the traffic was brisk, for which Pine was appreciative, because it allowed her to blend in. But she also knew how to tail a suspect, and she was confident no one in the SUV was aware of her surveillance.
When they turned onto International Place, Pine stiffened.
She thought she knew where they were going.
When the SUV slowed and then stopped at a checkpoint, her hunch was confirmed.
Though the famed architect I. M. Pei had consulted on the facility’s design, Pine had always thought it looked like a fortress.
But then again, what did you expect from the embassy for the People’s Republic of China?
The SUV pulled through the entrance and disappeared from sight.
Pine couldn’t follow, so she drove down the street, hit a U-turn, and found a spot on the street to park. She cut her lights, hunkered down, and waited.
The Chinese. Could the guy who had beaten her up have been Chinese?
And what did Simon Russell, and presumably Ben Priest, have to do with the Chinese?
Pine had no jurisdiction to enter the embassy, even if she had been officially working as an FBI agent. That building might as well be in Beijing. It was Chinese land underneath it, as far as international protocols were concerned.
And if the Chinese were involved, how did that tie into the two Russians she had knocked out at Priest’s home?
Despite the late hour, she called Blum and told her what had happened.
Blum said, “Why do you think this Simon Russell is there?”
“It can’t be a coincidence that he came here right after talking with me. So that means that whatever Ben Priest was involved in, it had to do, at least partly, with the Chinese.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Wait until Russell comes out and follow him.”
Pine clicked off and slouched down further in her seat as a car came down the road and its lights cut across her.
Her car clock hit two a.m. when the same black SUV pulled out.
Pine knew it was the same SUV because of the plates. The only problem was she had no way of knowing if Russell was inside.
She had no choice but to follow.
There was hardly any traffic now, so Pine took a chance, shot ahead of the SUV, glancing toward it as she passed. But the windows were tinted and she couldn’t see inside.
She drove back to Russell’s place, parked, and waited.
Sure enough, he came walking up to his house a few minutes later, the SUV obviously having dropped him off some distance away.
She was deciding whether to approach him again when a quartet of men converged on Russell as he opened his door. They pushed him inside and shut the door behind them.
For an instant Pine sat frozen in her car. Then she burst into action.
She hit a U-turn, turned right, and then right again as she drove into the alley she had visited before.
She stopped at Russell’s rear yard and scrambled over the wall, landing softly in the grass on the other side. Keeping low, she glided up to the house and glanced through a window.
She couldn’t see anything, but she heard noises. She had no idea who these men were or what they wanted with Russell.
She was certain they weren’t cops. If they were cops they would have shown their badges and taken him into custody on the front porch. They would not have forced him inside his house.
If this had been a normal situation, Pine would have immediately called 911. This was not a normal situation.
She checked the lock on the back window and then took out her knife and pried back the bolt. The window opened quietly and she was inside. Keeping low, Pine saw that she was in the home’s kitchen.
She slipped out her gun as she moved out of the kitchen and into the hall. She had the advantage of having been in the home before, so she knew some of the layout.
She froze when she heard the raised voices.
“I don’t know what you want.”
That was clearly Simon Russell.
Pine took out her burner phone and dialed 911.
She gave the address and what was happening.
“Hurry,” was her last word before she put the phone away.
She pulled her Beretta from her ankle holster and moved into the hallway with a gun in each hand. Whatever she did or didn’t do, she had a feeling this was not going to end well for any of them.
But reverse was not a gear with which she was familiar.
She reached the intersection of the hall and the living room to her right, across from Russell’s home office.
The house was dark because no one had bothered to turn on any lights. Not that Pine had expected the home invaders to want to risk illuminating their litany of felonies.
She edged around the corner enough so that she could see what was happening.
In the ambient light coming in from the street she could make out the four men, all standing in a semicircle around Russell, who sat in a chair.
Russell said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I know no one at the Chinese embassy.”
“Funny, since you were just there,” said one of the men.
“You have me mistaken for someone else.”
“What did Ben Priest tell you?”
Russell slowly sat up. “What will that information buy me?”
“What do you propose?” said the same man.
“A free ride out of here.”
“I’m not seeing that. You’re in too deep.”
“I’m not in anything.”
The sirens outside made them all turn to look at the window.
“Shit,” said one of the men.
“You think?” said another.
“Deal with it,” said the first man. “Take the guys with you. You know the drill.”
The three men headed to the front. Pine saw them take something out of their pockets.
This left the first man alone with Russell.
Pine took a closer look at him. He was in his fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair and longish sideburns. He had on a suit and tie. His face was weathered, and his nose had been broken at least once. He looked tough and probably was.
Pine flitted to one of the front windows and watched as a squad car pulled up to the curb.
Two DCPD officers climbed out. They were met in the front yard by the three men.
“Shit,” breathed Pine.
They were holding up shields and ID cards, just like she had done thousands of times.
They were Feds of some sort.
The two officers checked out the creds and started talking to the men.
She stole back over to her original surveillance post and watched the man and Russell.
“You can’t do this,” said Russell. “It’s against the law.”
“Nothing’s against the law if you are the law.”
“I want an attorney. Right now.”
“We have no arresting authority, Russell. It’s not how we do things. So don’t expect a Miranda warning. It won’t be coming.”
“You can’t force me to do anything.”
“Now there you just went off the rails. National security trumps all.”
“Even my damn constitutional rights?”
“The Constitution means protecting all Americans. If we sacrifice a few to do that, so be it. Simple math in my book.”
“I want you out of my house.”
“Oh, don’t worry. We’re going to be leaving. But you’re coming with us.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Wrong again. As soon as my men finish with the local yokels, we’re going to be taking a trip. We have a plane waiting.”
“Where are we going?”
“Classified.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a hint. We’re taking you to a place outside this country that will be more con
ducive to having a frank discussion with you.” He paused and added, “By any means necessary.”
“What, you’re going to torture me? Give me a break. You can’t do that anymore.”
“Funny, I didn’t get that memo.”
“You’ll lose your ass if you try that.”
“You think you’re the only guy we’ve had to persuade of late? And I’ve still got my whole ass right where it’s always been.”
Now Russell paled. “Look, this is ridiculous. I’m an American citizen.”
“So am I. Where does that get us? You know things that can get a lot of Americans hurt. If we have to do things to you to prevent that, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
“This is crazy. I’m going out there to talk to the cops.”
The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at Russell’s head.
“Not going to happen.”
“What, you’re just going to shoot me? Here?”
The man tapped the gun’s muzzle. “Suppressor. They’ll never hear it out there. Your choice. I’m good either way.”
“Look, you don’t have to go down that path.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid I do.”
The man suddenly collapsed to the floor.
Russell looked down at him, incredulous. When he looked up there was Pine holding her pistol, muzzle first. She’d used the butt of the weapon to clock the guy.
She beckoned to Russell. “Move your ass. Now!”
CHAPTER
35
Thanks.”
Pine looked over at the passenger seat of her Mustang.
They had left Russell’s neighborhood far behind. She turned onto a side road, pulled to the curb, and cut the engine.
Russell still looked pale and shaken, but some color was returning to his face.
“I didn’t save you just for the hell of it,” she snapped. “Now, you’re going to tell me what’s going on.”
“Look, I can’t, okay? I couldn’t tell them, and I can’t tell you.”
“Those guys were going to kill you. Or at the very least torture you within an inch of your life.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe about it. Who were they?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bullshit. They were feds, but the guy said they had no arresting authority in this country. That narrows the list way down. And you know it!”
Russell shook his head stubbornly. “The guy was just bluffing.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah, I am. This is America, not Moscow.”
“Funny you should mention that, since two Russians were at Ben Priest’s house in Alexandria and ended up trying to kill me.”
Russell glanced sharply at her and sucked in a shallow breath. He shook his head. “Look, no one’s going to throw me out a window or stick me with a nerve agent.”
Pine started the car up. “Fine, I’ll take you back to them, then. No sweat. Have fun wherever they take you. And whatever they stick you with.”
Russell placed a hand on the steering wheel. “No, wait, please, don’t do that.”
“Then I need some quid pro quo and I need it now.”
“What do you want?”
“You went to the Chinese Embassy. And don’t lie to me. I followed you there, just like the other guys did. Why did you go?”
Russell looked out the window into the darkness. His expression was one of a cornered beast, desperately looking in vain for a path to survival.
“Your visit prompted me to go there.”
“Explain.”
“Ben Priest.”
“What does he have to do with the Chinese? And the Russians?”
“I’m talking geopolitics, so it’s not a straight line. How are you at chess?”
“Try me.”
“Allies sometimes become enemies. And vice versa. The status can be temporary or long-standing. It can be situational. Transactional. A one-off. Hell, it can be anything, really.”
“Ben told me something like that.”
“He would know.”
“So, you do work with him?”
“I know of his work. Let’s leave it at that.”
“I’m not in a position to leave anything anywhere. What was Priest’s job?”
“He’s very well connected. He got things done that needed doing outside of official channels. That’s really all I can say.”
“Getting back to the chess. What’s the first move? And how did we reach this point?”
“I don’t know anything for sure. It’s speculation.”
“What’s your connection to China anyway?”
“I’ve done work on their behalf.”
“Spying against this country?”
Russell furrowed his brow. “Don’t be stupid. They have legitimate interests, and I make those interests known in the right places. But I can tell you that the Chinese are concerned that something major is about to happen. They aren’t sure what, but they have their suspicions. As do I.”
“Speculate away.”
“The world is seriously screwed up right now. We’ve always had hot spots. The Middle East, in particular Iran. Russia. North Korea. But we’ve never had them all exploding at the same time. Some people, in those situations, look for the fast and easy way out.”
“There’s an Asian guy involved in this. He could be North Korean or Chinese. He almost killed me.”
“That’s interesting. I’m sure you know that this country is in peace talks with North Korea aimed at them giving up their nukes?”
“Yeah, I know. And I know the Chinese have a great deal of interest in how it turns out.”
“Well, those talks aren’t going well. In fact, they may collapse any minute.”
“So, what would be the reason why a North Korean would be over here?”
“How about a change in government leadership?”
Pine stared across the width of the Mustang at him. “Where? North Korea?”
“How about right here?”
Pine’s eyes widened. “That’s nuts.”
“One thing I’ve learned over time, never say never.”
“How could anyone possibly manage something like that here?”
He shook his head. “What did I call you when we first met?”
“Rogue. Wait, are you saying that people within our government are plotting to overthrow it?”
“It’s certainly possible.”
Pine sat back against her seat. “And, what, they’re teaming up with North Korea to do it? That’s crazy.”
Russell pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a book of matches. “You mind if I smoke? I’m stressed beyond belief.”
“Roll down the window and blow it out that way. And how do you play basketball and smoke?”
“I have maybe one cigarette a month. If that’s going to kill me, so be it.”
He rolled down the window, lit the Marlboro, took a puff, and blew smoke out the open window.
Pine said, “Okay, since you’ve opened up to me, I can tell you that Ben exchanged places with a man who rode a mule down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then disappeared.”
“What man?”
Pine showed him the digital sketch on her phone. “Do you know him?”
Russell studied the image closely, then shook his head. “If I had to speculate, I’d say that this person might have known what was going on and came to Ben for help.”
“What would he do?”
“The guy might want to bring that information to the right quarters but was unsure how to do that effectively. You mentioned helicopters and Ben being snatched? How do you know that?”
“Because I was there. And the chopper was one used by the Army.”
“Shit, this thing does go high up, then,” said Russell anxiously.
“How high is high?” said Pine.
“Maybe higher than we want to believe. If they took Ben, they might be tying up loose ends. Or quarantining everything, lik
e they do with Ebola. That’s why they came to me.”
“But they let me live,” said Pine.
Russell studied her. “Then you’re very lucky.”
“You really believe that people in our government are planning some sort of coup?”
Russell looked amused by her incredulity. “Didn’t you just tell me that Ben got taken away in an Army chopper? And I know that the FBI bleeds red, white, and blue, but your agency has been taking it on the chin, hasn’t it? You’re all corrupt, so they say.”
“But toppling the government?”
“People are fed up with DC. They see it as an impediment. And then they see autocratic governments kicking ass around the world and they want that, too.”
“That is not who we are.”
“Who we are is dictated by those powerful enough to say who we are. If anything, we’re a plutocracy and have been for a long time now. And the next logical step in a plutocracy is an oligarchy. I’m not on a soapbox. I’m just stating facts. I’ve seen it happen in lots of places.”
“Is there anything you can talk about that might help me find Ben Priest?”
Russell took a long drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke out the window. “Have you ever heard of SFG?”
“No, should I?”
“It’s an acronym. Stands for the Society for Good.”
“Sounds remarkably cheesy.”
“In reality, it’s a group of very serious people. They cover a variety of issues of global significance. They’ve got some heavyweight members in all sorts of professional disciplines from all over the world. It’s like a think tank.”
“There are already think tanks on the left and right.”
“This one isn’t politically oriented. It’s been around for about eighty years. They do a lot of TED Talks. Publish papers, give presentations, work with governments and companies all over the world. Trying to do good, as the name implies.”
“And what does this have to do with my case?”
“Ben Priest was a member of SFG.”
Pine was silent for a few moments as she absorbed this.
“Okay. You think whatever plan he had with the missing guy might have been run through the society?”
“I don’t know. But I can tell you that SFG has been involved in some whistleblower cases, government malfeasance in some developing countries, things like that.”
Long Road to Mercy Page 20