by Lynda Filler
Her hardworking parents provided computers and anything electronic that Sying wanted. In school, she registered off the charts in intelligence. Scholarship offers were abundant.
She chose Caltech, left her parents’ home, and was never heard from again.
She changed her name, graduated with honors and several degrees, and left the United States of America. She took the highest paying, most challenging job she was offered in an all-male environment in the business community of Shanghai.
Within five years she was running her own global conglomerate.
Many wondered where she got the funds to start her empire, yet no one dared to ask.
Sying was known to be ruthless, brilliant, cunning and attractive in a dangerous, fatal kind of way. They despised her in the private all-male boardrooms of China’s elite but were obsequious in her presence. She left a series of suitors ashamed and embarrassed when they realized she had used them to get insider information before the hostile takeover of their companies. She stole the best and the brightest women in business and built an empire the likes of which China had never seen.
Luke had taught her most of what he knew. He saw an edge in her that he couldn’t quite define, but he’d never imagined how obsessed with him she would become. Until it was too late.
And now, from what Luke could find out, a significant portion of her impressive wealth came from selling weapons and laundering money for the Chinese mafia.
And incidentally, she sold secrets to both the Russians and ISIS in the Middle East and anyone else who wanted to annihilate the United States of America.
But he’d also uncovered her weaknesses. Sying loved money, and she loved sex.
Luke had a plan.
He would exploit both.
13
HIS MOM NAMED him Luke after the movie. When he was a kid growing up in New Mexico, she said he was the spitting image of Paul Newman.
He stood over six-foot, lean, and rugged. His lightly greying hair kept getting in the way of his Walmart readers. He wore well-washed powder blue denim shirts. They matched his blue-grey eyes. Luke was only in his thirties but looked older. He’d lived many lives, most he could never talk about.
Money was a game. He spent it on things that mattered to him like a great bottle of wine, private jets, and real estate all over the world. And, of course, his toys, tech toys.
Unlike the worlds’ famous billionaires, Luke was a phantasma, a ghost. Few knew anything about him. And the few who do underestimate his power and his wealth.
His father was a tough retired Marine, his mother gentle and loving. He was his father’s son. Guns and explosive devices replaced T.V. and cartoons in his formative years. At an early age, he realized two things that would forever change his life: he loved making money, and he was smarter than everyone else.
School was important but easy. He frustrated his science teachers by knowing the answers before they finished the questions. He studied his University courses and wrote his exams while still in high school. And while working on secret projects for the US, he achieved his masters, in science and technology. By the time he was in his early twenties, he had three PhDs. Most degrees he read the books once, wrote the papers, never studied, and laughed at the questions. He aced the answers and spent the majority of his time imagining things no one else even thought was possible. He promised his dad he would never enter the Military. But Luke was powerful and competitive. When the Government heard about Luke, they wanted him for his ability to solve problems. He agreed to help but on his terms.
His first request: he insisted on going through Navy SEAL BUDS training. although he would honor his promise to his father and not make the military a career. He was unbeatable under water and the best shot the Navy had ever seen.
For fun, he taught at Caltech while working on his own private projects. He was always looking for a mirror. Someone as bright as he, someone to challenge him. He found it in RB and eventually, his friend Himanish.
And all the while he dreamed about space, time, speed and communication. And how he could make the world a safer place.
He remembered Sying. She’d been a brilliant student at Caltech until he realized she had secrets. Her punk clothing, tattoos, and piercings were a disguise.
He used to think that someday she would be a brilliant colleague. But now he knew she could only ever be an evil, vindictive adversary.
Over the years Luke knew the most essential value in Luke’s life was his freedom to dream.
Until he met Lily.
14
COMMANDER ANDREWS GUIDED the sub past Cabo Corrientes on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. In fifteen minutes they would reach the village of Yelapa, Jalisco, forty minutes south of Puerto Vallarta.
Mike had worked with Zach in Afghanistan. When they went into those tunnels hunting the Taliban, Zach was always first. It was as if he had a death wish. He gave everyone a copy of a Christian hymn he’d play on his cell phone before he’d go to war. Mike was also a Christian; but Zach, sometimes he verged on being an evangelical. But like all SEALs, they were brothers. The SEALs were Zack’s only family. Mike understood the loyalty and camaraderie, but he had a wife and two daughters back in Coronado always waiting for his return.
This mission wasn’t all that dangerous. What are a few Colombians with machine guns against the U. S. Navy boys! Mike looked at Zach’s woman Samaar. She and her daughter had fallen asleep. They must be essential for Zach to call on the help of his boys. That’s what brothers do, and Mike would do anything for Zach. He’d saved his life on many occasions. Besides, he had a soft spot for adorable little girls.
He gently woke them both.
“We’re getting ready to go in now. It’s almost dawn but if we hurry you should land before anyone sees you. We are rounding a deserted cove. A fishing boat is meeting us. Don’t worry. He’s a friend and will take you to Zach.”
Luci, immediately on alert, wondered what Zach was up to and why he reached out to her. She was grateful and curious. Regardless, she knew this was a journey she could no longer manage on her own. From Israel, Uruguay, hiding out in Colombia, and now in Jalisco state, it was too much for her baby. She’d done it all on her own—well with some financial help from Himanish—and had no idea that Zach was watching over her. He had saved her life. Whatever he needed from her, she would do.
The water was much calmer now. Mike and Luci reversed their earlier maneuver and swam towards the fishing boat. Words were not needed as she waved at her saviors. They closed the hatch and disappeared from view.
The fishing boat’s outboard motor was jarring in the early morning silence. A few fish lay in the buckets of water. If the Mexican was alarmed at the sight of the mini-sub, he kept it to himself. Luci imagined he was well paid for his silence. He smiled at the woman and child and offered blankets to keep their wet bodies warm until they could change. Luci smiled back but held one hand on her Sig Sauer, the other on Alice, and thought of her knife secure in her right boot.
They rounded the edge of the bay and pulled into a tranquil cove. The waves were gentle, the tropical storm dissipated.
A familiar man smiled at the end of the private dock.
Safe.
15
Shanghai, China
“DID YOU KNOW the Port of Shanghai is the number one deep-water port in the world? I bet it’s the number one graveyard too!”
Sying’s bodyguard drove the armored Mercedes while Sying read the latest news by the Port Authorities SIPG.
“Listen to this Lao. SIPG has been awarded Port of Haifa, Israel operations for 25 years from 2021. SIPG will be responsible for the construction of the facilities at the back terminal, deployment and installation of the equipment and daily running and operation of the terminal.”
“What are the Israelis thinking? Control of their port by the Chinese! They are so busy fighting in their Parliament and trying to keep Hamas out of their territories that they don’t know who their real enemies are!” Sying
laughed.
Mist rolled in off the ocean in the industrial port area. The night was humid. The rains would come soon. They pulled up to what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse in a dark, quiet area of the port. At three in the morning, not much was happening. First Lao, then Sying, entered the building.
Sying’s stiletto-heeled red shoes blended nicely with the trail of blood beneath her feet. The brutal businesswoman watched as her men raised their AK47’s and aimed at three men roped together on the blood-covered cement floor. They looked towards Sying and knew their fate was a foregone conclusion. If they were begging for mercy, they were wasting their last breaths of air. Their screams never made it past their gags. The smell of loose bladders and emptying bowels was disgusting. Several other bodies already laid slaughtered on the warehouse floor, their faces unrecognizable. Her men stood in a semi-circle awaiting her command.
She took the time to light a cigarette and place it between bright red lips. It didn’t calm her anger.
“This is what happens to those who are disloyal to me!” Sying shrieked.
She looked around at her small group of Asian thugs. Some were trustworthy dockworkers, and the few who wore business suits were her most brutal lieutenants.
“I told you, if you fail me in any way, I will know. If you sell my secrets or steal from me, I will find out. Once you are a part of my organization, there is no turning back. Does anyone else feel they cannot continue in my service?”
Silence answered her. She turned towards her foremost soldier.
“We move forward then. This shipment of arms must be loaded tonight and out of the country before daybreak.”
Turning her back on her traitorous men, she motioned to one of her bodyguards.
“Blowtorch them, then dump the bodies in the shark tank. Let there be nothing identifiable about any of them. Move the goods out immediately. Make sure the manifest is airtight. I have commitments to meet, and there will be no mistakes.” They nodded and proceeded to annihilate the bodies of the last three men.
“Lao, take me to the office.”
16
THIS WAS HER most significant achievement to date.
The Shanghai sunrise blazed into Sying’s penthouse office in the Jin Mao Tower. It had been a long and intense night. Now it was time to celebrate.
A bottle of Veuve Clicquot chilled in an ornate ice bucket sourced by Behnke on a recent trip to Rome. She sighed as she stroked the Ottoman Empire mosaic table where her champagne glass waited for her attention.
She sipped her drink while surfing reports coming in from around the globe. Sying had many irons in her global fire. They would never know whom to blame. She’d engineered the hack of the century to bounce off so many countries, so many satellites. Ultimately, she wanted the incursion blamed on the Chinese Government.
It had worked.
The Office of Personnel Management, which was the target of the hack, had not officially notified military or intelligence personnel whose security clearance data was breached, but news of the second hack was starting to circulate in both the Pentagon and the CIA.
The officials said they believe the hack into the security clearance database was separate from the breach of federal personnel data announced last week — a violation that is itself appearing far worse than first believed. It could not be learned whether the security database breach happened when an OPM contractor was hacked in 2013, an attack that was discovered last year. Members of Congress received classified briefings about that breach in September, but there was no mention of security clearance information being exposed.
As of this week in June nearly all of the millions of security clearance holders, including CIA, National Security Agency and military special operations personnel, are potentially exposed in the security clearance breach, the officials said. More than 2.9 million people had been investigated for a security clearance, according to government records.
In the hack of official personnel records announced last week, two people briefed on the investigation disclosed Friday that as many as 14 million current and former civilian U.S. government employees have had their information exposed to hackers, a far higher figure than the 4 million the administration initially disclosed.
American officials have said that cyber-theft originated in China and they suspect espionage by the Chinese government, which has denied any involvement.
“I’ve got what I need now! This will make me the richest woman in the world. Let the bidding begin!”
17
ZACH STARED IN wonder at one of the most beautiful women he had ever known. Even covered in a blanket, Samaar was totally unaware of the sexual effect she had on him. He watched her lean down lovingly and whisper to Alice. “That’s Zach, baby girl. He’s Mommy’s friend.”
A mini-Luci stared back at him. Big serious jade eyes peaked out from under long brown eyelashes; a disheveled auburn braid hung lopsided over her shoulder.
“Mommy fremd?”
“Yes, baby.”
She looked at Zach cautiously, then came to a decision “You can hold my Maddie.” Zach’s grin widened.
She trusted him to hold her doll. Samaar smiled. Kids always know.
Zach held dolly while Alice struggled out of Samaar’s arms. Then put her hand up for Zach to help her walk along the pier.
“Come. Let’s get inside. You can change into something dry. Lorena’s cooking. Coffee’s on. Do you drink coffee, Alice?”
“No.” The giggling tiny creature with Samaar’s easy smile held on to Zach’s hand. “Mommy says only leche.”
Zach was delighted to hear this mini-Luci speak Spanish. He remembered the brief on Alice. Her father was unknown to most, but Raven had dug deep and found that he was an Arab man undercover as a journalist for the Mossad. Their affair was cut short when he was captured and beheaded by ISIS. Samaar didn’t know she was pregnant at the time. When Luci went on the run from the Cartels—and if the rumors were correct, a corrupt group within the CIA—she’d hidden in plain sight in South America. When Alice learned to walk and talk she was under the care of a faithful Spanish speaking nanny. More than likely, Spanish was her first language. But knowing Samaar, Hebrew and Arabic would follow in the next few years.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Zach. You’ve saved our lives.” She reached for him, holding him tightly.
“Me too Mommy,” a tiny voice spoke. Zach lifted Alice into his arms and walked along the wooden pier.
Out of habit, Luci scanned the coastline. She saw what others didn’t.
She took in the Ventana Inn, a casual yet elegant hotel. She could barely make out fishermen preparing to go out to sea after a night of crazy weather. She saw lights blinking on in beach casitas, palm trees hung heavy with rain and ripe coconuts. And somewhere in the distance, she thought she could hear a waterfall. This was a place to explore, maybe work out, in the days to come.
“Where are we, Zach?”
“We’re close to Puerto Vallarta, on the Bay of Banderas. Yelapa is a fishing village, a small town, accessible only by boat. Unless someone wants to hike in over the mountains. Don’t worry Samaar. All approaches are being monitored.” He leaned in and whispered. “This is a safe house. You’re both fine here.”
Samaar smiled at the use of her Israeli name and thanked God that she had met Zach while training in the Mossad. Whatever he’d been up to he always seemed to know when she was in big trouble. Samaar wondered how he had traced her and why the U. S. Government had gotten in the middle of this problem. Or was Zach no longer working for the government?
18
SAMAAR LAID ALICE gently onto the couch. She loved her daughter and would give her life for her safety. Maddie was cuddled securely beside a sleeping Alice. Samaar turned her attention to Lorena and studied her interactions with Zach; the way she smiled when he spoke, how her hand lingered on his arm. Men are so oblivious. Lorena was in love with Zach, and he didn’t seem to be aware of it.
“Alice is ti
red and finally asleep. Thanks for the food and the place to stay Lorena. I’m so sorry to put you out.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve been looking after this safe house since I left the U.S. and officially retired from the FBI. Nothing is ever what it seems, right?”
Samaar felt her warmth and her nurturing energy, both emotions agent Luci rarely acknowledged.
“Samaar, we can talk freely in front of Lorena. After 9/11 Lorena was part of a joint task force on terrorism. That’s where we met. I was loaned from the SEALs and Lorena from the FBI. We both had personal reasons for wanting to be part of the fight against terrorism on United States soil. I suppose this is the best time to tell you both. I’m now retired from the Navy SEALs.”
“But the Navy was your life!” Lorena was stunned and sad he’d not revealed this last night.
For Samaar, this created a multitude of questions.
“After the most wanted man in the hunt for terrorism was killed in Abbottabad, I had to disappear. Some press-hungry member of the government had to shoot off his mouth about the operation. My usefulness was over. It was no longer safe for me to be part of the US Navy SEALs. I’ve been working as a contractor of sorts doing top-secret National Security projects, part of a clandestine group, accountable only to one man.
Samaar, I had no idea where you disappeared to, or even whether you were alive. I didn’t know about Alice until a week ago. According to Mossad, you were dead. The rumors surfaced that someone in China was very interested in a woman matching your description. You are persona-non-grata in the CIA. I can only imagine why.”