by Brian N. Cox
“So obviously their purpose is to generate military conflicts or limited wars, and the bigger the nations involved, like America, China and Russia, the more money they will make. So how do they do this?”
“First of all, we just refer to this group as ‘The Target Group’ or ‘TTG’, and our investigative group is ‘Department R’. What TTG has done is create a domestic terrorist group, who we refer to as ‘The Travellers”. Their purpose is to commit terrorist acts in various larger countries leaving evidence that a rival country is responsible. For example, if they commit a terrorist act in China, the evidence will point to the USA. We would like to get a Russian agent involved in this, but don’t know of anyone we can trust…yet,” said Bill.
“I might be able to help you on that,” said Rhona. “Let me give it some thought.”
“The Travellers are just getting started…just in the planning stages now. We assume they will commit some attacks within the US and leave evidence that either China or Russia was behind it. They may blame it on a Middle East country like Iran, Turkey or Pakistan. They want the accused countries to be large and strong enough that big purchases of military hardware will be generated. There is some evidence they may be planning an attack in Asia.”
“Who is the CIA officer that got this started? Am I allowed to know that?” asked Rhona.
“Since you have committed yourself to Department R, you will meet all those involved. The CIA officer is a fifteen year veteran of the Agency. You must understand that the existence of Department R is above Top Secret. No one knows of its existence including the top executives of the FBI, CIA, RCMP, etc….no one.”
“Have you identified the members of The Target Group and of the Travellers?” asked Rhona.
“Not yet; we are learning more about TTG but know almost nothing about the Travellers except that they exist and what their purpose is. You are in at the early stages, the same as the rest of us.”
“I am on board one-hundred percent,” said Rhona Lu. “This sounds more important than any assignment that I have been on in the past.”
“Remember, Big Sister,” said Li Mei. “Even the executive of State Security does not know of this. Only Director Duan of the Second Bureau.”
“I understand,” replied Rhona. “When and where do we meet?”
“I will let you know,” replied Bill. “Now, may I invite you both to dinner this evening? I understand the dining room in this hotel is top of the line.”
Li Mei smiled and nodded while Rhona Lu replied, “I’d be delighted.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
At an office in the Seattle Human Services Department building, Sergeant Chan Di of the Beijing Police met with Shirley Gong, June Wong and Sean McNamara. Sergeant Chan was in her early fifties, bordering on being overweight and looked more like a matronly grandmother than a police officer. She had a degree in child psychology and was the operational leader of the Beijing Police, Child Exploitation Bureau.
“Where is Li Mei?” asked Gong. “I was hoping she would be here since she was the only one, so far, that was able to get any of the girls to communicate.”
“She’s tied up at the moment,” replied Sean. “She said she would try to make it later.”
“What is the situation with the parents of the girls, Sergeant,” asked Sean, changing the subject. “Are the parents anxious to see their daughters? Do the parents want to come here?”
“A few of the families are poor, but the government has offered to fly them here at no cost to them,” replied Sergeant Chan. “The problem is that most of the families don’t have passports and getting visas and clearance to enter the USA presents difficulties, not to mention a lengthy time period. It is better to fly the girls back to Beijing.”
“Yes, you’re probably right,” replied Sean. “Are there any parents reluctant to have their daughters back, considering the unfortunate circumstances?”
Three of the families are Muslim and two are Christians,” said Chan. “One of the Muslim families and one of the Christian families believe the girls have sinned and disgraced their family. All the other families want their daughters back as soon as possible.”
“I was afraid this would happen. Do you have any suggestions, Sergeant?” asked Shirley Gong.
“We have sent counsellors to the two families and hopefully they can be made to understand that their daughters have been the victims of a horrendous crime and need their love and support,” replied Chan. “Only time will tell if they are successful.”
“This will make it even more difficult for the two girls to come to grips with what happened to them,” said Special Agent Wong. “I wouldn’t tell them about their parents’ attitude just yet; it could result in suicide attempts.”
“I concur,” said Shirley Gong. “I have experienced this before in similar cases. I recall a young teenage girl kidnapped by a serial rapist in Tacoma. She was eventually rescued but the parents wanted nothing to do with her.”
“I have to admit, this breaks my heart,” said Sean. “I have become hardened to unfathomable human behaviour throughout my career, but this is the absolute worst….these are their daughters.”
“It is unusual behaviour in the US and China,” said Sergeant Chan, “but in the Middle East and India, parents will often murder their daughters for being raped and thus disgracing the family, in their eyes. Impossible for us to understand, but the world is not a nice place.”
“If this can’t be resolved,” said Wong, “we must seek an alternative solution…possibly a foster home. If I wasn’t a single woman living in a small apartment, I would take them myself.”
“That’s very kind of you, June, but we will work something out within the system,” said Shirley Gong.
“The hard cases in the two families are the Muslim father and the Christian mother. I know their spouses are working on them, so it may get resolved in time,” said Sergeant Chan.
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Li Mei, Sean and Gary Webster met in Sean’s office after having lunch together at a local bistro.
“My concern is, Li Mei, that whoever put out the contract to kill you, will renew the contract with another party. You have to consider yourself still in danger,” said Sean.
“Maybe you should go back to China until we have this resolved,” added Gary.
“I can’t run off every time I am in danger. If that were the case, the only alternative would be to resign from the Second Bureau and take an office job in China. If someone wants to kill me, I will have to offer myself as bait but make sure they are not successful.”
“That’s a very dangerous plan,” said Sean, quite alarmed that the woman he loved would put herself in unnecessary danger.
“I have done this before and will do it again,” said Li Mei. “You can put your mind at ease by believing, as I do, that the assassin is in greater danger than me.”
“I really want to believe that, but it is very difficult,” replied Sean.
“Your job is not without risk, Sean,” said Li Mei. “I don’t suggest you abandon your duties and seek safety.”
“OK. I get it. Let’s formulate a plan together.”
“Thank you. Good idea. You realize I am going to be away from Seattle quite a bit with Department R, but I will keep in touch. I will check with you when I am away to see if your team has learned anything about Weins.”
“We must remain open minded on this also,” said Gary. “Since you were driving a Mei Hua car, the Triad may be the target.”
“Possible, but doubtful,” said Sean. “No one would put out a contract on a car; the assassin saw Li Mei from about fifteen feet away, raised his gun and fired.”
“Nevertheless, I have told my contact in the Mei Hua of the incident and they will be investigating themselves. If the target was the Mei Hua Triad, the assassins had better leave the country,” said Li Mei with a smile.
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That evening, Sean and Li Mei had one last dinner together before she left to participate in the activities of Department R. They had decided to meet in New York and they would not rest until the leaders of The Target Group and the Travellers were identified and neutralized. This would be an extremely difficult case, not only due to the power, money and resources of TTG, but also that for the most part the investigators were operating without the knowledge or authorization of their superiors and therefore did not have access to all the resources they would normally take for granted. The TTG had too many of their members in high places in both law enforcement and the intelligence agencies. The wrong person being made aware of Department R and they would all be marked for death.
After dinner, Sean and Li Mei drove to Sean’s apartment where they spent the night. This was the first time they had the chance to be alone for several weeks and both the lovers were able to forget all about their cases, plans and the dangers involved. Just being in each other’s arms transformed them to another world.
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“The Chinese Woman” Spy-Thriller Novels
I have written several non-fiction books relating to criminal investigation and child safety and protection, but in 2008, while living in Chongqing, China, I wrote my first novel. I decided I would write about things I knew about, i.e., criminal investigations, intelligence work and organized crime. My last assignment was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police “National Crime Intelligence Section” which was primarily responsible to collect intelligence on organized crime and terrorism. In 2001, I travelled to China to study their police training and Chinese organized crime. Since I lived in China for several years, and am fairly knowledgeable about that country, I selected as one of the two main characters, Li Mei, an intelligence officer or secret agent with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, Second Bureau; Li Mei is “The Chinese Woman”. The main male character is FBI Supervisory Special Agent Sean McNamara, stationed at the Seattle Field Office in the first novel, “The Barbados Conspiracy”, but who is transferred to New York in the second novel, “Operation Fox Den”. McNamara returns to Seattle in the third and fourth novels, “Mystery Assassin” and “Red Dragons”.
In these novels you will see how I weave FBI law enforcement investigation tactics and strategies into the activities of a Chinese intelligence officer, how they interact with each other and the similarities and differences of the two occupations.
While a member of the NCIS, and again in China, I studied the Chinese Triads, called “Hei She Hui” (The Black Society) in China. I assure you that the high-end Triads make the Mafia and the Hells Angels look like amateurs in comparison. Naturally, a representation of one of these high-end Triads, the Mei Hua Triad, has a recurring role in these novels.
Have a look at these links:
My website….. www.bcoxbooks.com
My blog…The Secret World….. http://tinyurl.com/3nfde6h
The Chinese Woman: The Barbados Conspiracy…on Amazon… http://tinyurl.com/6u53je5
The Chinese Woman: Operation Fox Den…on Amazon… http://tinyurl.com/6v6e26h
The Chinese Woman: Mystery Assassin… on Amazon… http://tinyurl.com/kz7dle3
The Barbados Conspiracy and Operation Fox Den are also available on Barnes & Noble Nook, Mobi, Ipad, etc.
I also wrote a mini-manual for novelists, including screenwriters, of mystery novels, thrillers and detective procedurals. I noted there were some excellent writers whose novels, TV shows and movies failed to achieve blockbuster status because they didn’t understand how police and intelligence officers think and what they actually do, thus resulting in a weak or unrealistic plot. Subsequently, I wrote a mini-manual entitled:
How to Write an Award Winning Mystery Thriller: Understanding Cops and Spies. This is available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99 http://tinyurl.com/ksrry3m
Another non-fiction book I wrote was written for police investigators or police officers wishing to become investigators. (This book will also be beneficial to writers of mystery and detective novels or screenplays):
How to Solve a Case: Criminal Investigation for Police Officers…Instead of being mired in legal procedures, this manual provides invaluable information and instruction on how to actually solve a crime. Although it was written to assist police officers and criminal investigators around the world, it will also be a valuable resource for private investigators, security officers and writers.
Available on Amazon Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/7pxjllp
One other non-fiction book will interest you if you are a parent or grandparent:
Safety Crusaders: Keep Your Children Safe…I co-authored this child safety and protection manual. It is actually 3-books-in-1…a parent’s manual, a child manual, and a series of humorous stories and poems to emphasize and reinforce the important information contained therein. We emphatically state that the only way a child can be safe is for the child to be trained to protect him or herself since they spend most of their time without an adult on hand to protect them. For more information, go to www.safetycrusaders.com and http://tinyurl.com/7qzzf2s
On a completely different subject, I co-authored a book with my wife, Tian Yong, a master of the ancient Chinese anti-aging art, entitled:
How to Look Younger and Live Longer: The Ancient Chinese Art of Rejuvenation
You can find information about this art and photos of Tian Yong, who looks twenty-five years younger than her actual age, on my website: www.bcoxbooks.com She is also the model on “The Chinese Woman” novels book covers; she was forty-five years of age in that photograph.
Available on Amazon Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/kjlp73y
Brian N. Cox
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Rtd)