Overbrook Farms

by Neal Goldstein

  “Mr. Montgomery’s talking with his attorneys.”

  “Send money, guns and lawyers. The shit has hit the fan!” Hunter quoted from the Warren Zevon song.

  After Montgomery put Roger to bed and finished consulting with his attorneys, he joined them in his sitting room.

  “How’s the boy doing?” Hunter asked.

  “He’s happy…maybe for the first time in a very long time,” Montgomery said.

  “That’s good to hear,” Hunter responded.

  “Now that we’re all here, I have a question,” Benson said and turned to Montgomery and Jarvis. “How long have you known that the North Koreans are involved in the plot to seize control of Mr. Montgomery’s business?”

  Jarvis looked over to Montgomery and asked, “Do I have your permission to respond?”

  Montgomery nodded, “Go ahead.”

  Jarvis told the two detectives and Hunter what Hanna Chao had disclosed, and despite their concerns regarding the woman’s questionable credibility, they decided to proceed on the assumption that it was more or less accurate.

  After a beat Montgomery asked, “So, if what she told us is true, how are we going to get the North Koreans to back off and leave me alone?”

  The room went silent as the men individually considered the options.

  After several minutes passed, Hunter said, “Maybe there’s a way

  Montgomery raised an eyebrow, “Go on.”

  “It appears the President is planning to meet with Kim Jong Un. Something to do with saving the world from a nuclear disaster that only he can achieve.”

  “Yes, the great dealmaker wants to pull off something none of his predecessors could do, no matter what the cost.” Montgomery observed sarcastically.

  “I worked for assholes like that when I was in the Navy. All bullshit and bluster and no substance,” Jarvis added.

  “Agreed. But what if we can tie in what Hanna and Scarface, and the powers behind them, are doing as leverage to block the meeting? You know, if it ever got out that the North Koreans have agents in our country, it would throw a big monkey wrench in the President’s plans,” Hunter added.

  “And, if the press reported that Kim Jung Un sent assassins to murder Mr. Montgomery’s heirs to seize control of his company, to get free access to ingredients he needs to make the very nuclear weapons the two big shots are supposed to be meeting to stop…POTUS would look like a fool,” Hunter said.

  “So, how are we going to do that?” Loman asked.

  “We have to catch Scarface and Hanna, and the rest of them, in the act. Capture them, make them confess, and convince the President that if this gets out it will kill his big moment on the world’s stage.”

  Benson shook his head, “We just might be able to stop Chao and her pals, but I’m not so sure we’ll be able to convince the President.”

  “Maybe, but the outfit your wife works for just might be able to help us out.”

  37

  Qwon’s hotel room

  “Can you explain how all of the shipments due from Triple M have been cancelled? I thought you told me you set it up to continue through different channels after you were terminated?” Qwon’s tone over the phone was glacial.

  “I did,” Hanna Chao replied.

  “Then why have the shipments stopped?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “That is not a proper response.”

  Chao paused before replying, “There’s been a development that we may be able to use as leverage.”

  She told Qwon that Michael Montgomery had taken custody of her son. That he might be amenable to making a trade, allowing her to reassume her position with the company in return for waiving her parental rights for the boy.

  Qwon considered the proposition. “I have a better idea. Does your son still have the implant?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we can still track his movements?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll get back to you soon, Be ready.” Qwon terminated the call.

  She was still livid over the Ran’s insane antics. She could not understand what possessed him to attempt to kill the boy. If he had been successful, the blowback would have resulted in the cancellation of the summit. She needed to get direction from her superiors on how to address the situation. In the meantime, she would have to hold things together.

  Pyongyang North Korea, 20 years earlier

  Qwon Du Pak was the fastest child in the district. Her long legs and easy stride astonished her parents and the elders in the impoverished village in the northeastern province in North Korea where they lived. At ten years old, she had turned in the fastest times in both the 100 and 220 meters at the district meet. The North Koreans take track competition very seriously. To Du Pak’s parents their precocious daughter’s talent brought honor to the entire family and enhanced their status in the community.

  One week after the competition, the political leader of the district, approached Du Pak’s parents and offered them an opportunity that would dramatically change their family’s fortunes. If they agreed to allow the DPRK to assume custody of their daughter, the family would be relocated to the Republic’s capital and Mr. Qwon would be provided a job that would assure his family a comfortable life.

  “But what will become of my daughter?” he asked.

  “Do not worry,” the official responded. “Your daughter is a very special child. We know she is not only a gifted athlete. Her teachers have informed us that she is also a brilliant student. The Republic has a special school for children like her.”

  The offer was, of course, too generous for the peasant family to reject. The next day, the man whom her father referred to as ‘Commissioner’ told Qwon, “You have been chosen by the Supreme Leader to serve the Republic in a manner reserved for a select group of exceptional people.”

  Even at her tender age, Du Pak understood it was not wise to question the actions of those in authority. “Do you understand that, child?”

  “Yes Commissioner,” she replied.

  And with that she was taken to the man’s vehicle, where an unsmiling woman wearing a military uniform silently motioned for her to sit in the rear seat; she was then driven away from the village. This was only the second time she had been outside of her village, and had never before been away from her family.

  She looked out the window at the barren countryside and wondered what lay ahead. Why had she been chosen by the Supreme Leader? Should she be frightened, or exited with her new life? Several hours later, her escort took her to a dormitory in which twenty or so girls of varying ages were standing by their cots.

  The girls eyed the newcomer in silence, as Du Pak was led to a cot at the far end of the room. When the matron left one of the girls, a short girl with an ugly scar on her forehead, approached her.

  The short girl looked up at Du Pak, “How old are you, girl?” she asked.

  Du Pak shifted her eyes downward, and held the other girl’s stare in silence.

  “Are you dumb?”

  Without saying a word, Du Pak shoved the girl to the floor, jumped on her, and began to choke her. When the girl’s face began to turn red, Du Pak loosened her grip; the girl gasped for breath. Du Pak’s merciless eyes shifted from the girl on the floor to the others in the room as she stood up. Thus, began her lonely ten-year journey at the DPRK’s training facility for exceptional children.

  Her mentors quickly determined that the girl’s intellect far exceeded their initial assessments. As she matured, her natural athletic skills, competitive drive, and stoic personality separated her from the others. By the time she was sixteen, she had grown to her full height and blossomed into a beautiful young woman.

  The young men with whom she trained tried to become friends with the quiet girl who shunned their advances. Du Pak’s dorm mates told them they suspected she was a lesbian. This only heightened the boys’ interests. More than one of them found out the hard way that Du Pak was more than capable of convincing her suitors she
had no interest in a romantic encounter.

  What none of her classmates understood was that Du Pak had an innate mistrust of anyone who tried to penetrate the shield that isolated her from intimacy with others. A barrier against allowing herself to believe anyone who professed kindness or love, feelings that she was taught could be used against her. Her teachers tried to use those very tools to keep her in line, explaining that if she showed any disloyalty to the Republic, her family would suffer the consequences. But her parents had abandoned her, so those tactics never worked.

  When she was twenty, she was ‘volunteered’ to the RGB and trained in the arts of war. As in all of her previous training, she excelled. She was a skilled marksman, especially with long guns. For a time, her superior officers believed her solitary personality made her a candidate to become a sniper. However, her martial arts proficiency was even more impressive. All of these skills, and her apparent total absence of normal feelings of humanity resulted in her designation as an assassin.

  Her initial field assignments, targeting individuals charged as enemies of the state, were performed flawlessly. Her superiors marveled at the young woman’s ruthless ability to dispatch her quarry without any sign of remorse. She was a veritable killing machine.

  What those in command failed to comprehend was that Du Pak’s exceptional skills had effectively enabled her to pick her assignments. Her targets were among the worst purveyors of tyranny in her country, men who starved and imprisoned others, and exploited the poor masses from which she had emerged. Her rationalization that her successful missions were acts of revenge, however, could not mask the fact that the murders she had committed had been directed by men who were even worse than her targets.

  38

  Friday morning, June 8,2018

  Michael Montgomery and Roger were having breakfast in the sitting room of the suite the day after his rescue. Roger wanted to know how his father was going to arrange for his custody, as well as where he would live and go to school. As they were eating Clooney, Leonard Jarvis’ chief of staff, came into the room. Clooney was holding a device in his hand that he pointed at the electrical outlets, the telephone, lamps, and other objects.

  “Father, what’s he doing?” Roger asked.

  Montgomery smiled, “He’s sweeping the room for bugs.”

  Roger looked confused, “Bugs, like ants?”

  “No. Mr. Clooney can you explain?”

  Clooney, a large well-muscled man, with a shiny bald head who looked like one of the Marvel Comic Book superheroes, walked over to Roger and showed him the device. It looked like a remote control for a TV. “You see the two lights at the top of the wand?” he asked the boy.

  Roger nodded.

  “One’s red and the other’s green. If there’s an electronic device, like a miniature microphone or camera, in the room, the green light goes off and the red light will start blinking.” As Clooney moved closer to the boy, the red light on the device began to blink.

  Clooney shifted his eyes to Montgomery and looked concerned.

  “Why is it doing that?” Roger asked, his voice strained.

  “I don’t know,” Clooney answered calmly, and waved the wand from Roger’s head downward. As he moved it closer to the boy’s legs, the red light blinked, faster and brighter. When he lowered it to his feet, the blinking light got slower and fainter.

  “What’s wrong?” Roger said as he got out of his chair and ran to his father.

  Montgomery hugged his son, and threw a questioning look at the security man.

  “I think someone planted a chip in your son’s leg so they could track his whereabouts.”

  “Is it dangerous?”

  “No.”

  “Why would anyone do that?”

  Clooney shook his head, “I’ll call my boss.” Before he left, he looked directly in the child’s frightened eyes to reassure him. “Don’t worry. We’ll take it out. It won’t hurt,” he said gently.

  39

  Later that morning

  Hunter looked at the caller ID and saw the call was from Jarvis. “They put a homing device in the boy’s thigh?” he responded in disbelief after Jarvis told him of the discovery.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Did Roger remember when it was implanted?”

  “No. He had no knowledge of it. When we removed the device, from the markings, it looks like the Norks did it,” Jarvis replied.

  “Figures. Is it still functioning?” Hunter asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Is there anyway they’ll be able to tell you removed it?”

  “Negative.”

  Hunter took a few seconds to think over the possibilities. “OK. I’ll get a hold of Benson and Loman. We’ll be there soon. Increase your security.”

  “Already in place.”

  Lena could tell from the half of the conversation she heard what had happened. They were sitting in their dining room having coffee. She was holding the baby in her arms, gently rocking him. Haley had already left for school. Her parents, who were still visiting, had gone out for the day.

  “After everything that poor child has been through, now this. Why would they do something like that?” She could tell from his expression that Hunter was deep in thought.

  “I guess they wanted to keep track of him,” he said. “I gotta get in touch with Benny.”

  Later when they reassembled at Montgomery’s suite Hunter said, “I think we may be able to use this tracking device to our advantage.”

  “Go on,” Benson said.

  “Instead of waiting for Qwon to make her move, let’s go on the offensive.”

  Eight hours later they were ready to implement their plan.

  Michael and Roger Montgomery, along with Jarvis and Clooney, left the penthouse suite of the Rittenhouse hotel at 5 pm. They took the private elevator to the garage. When the elevator doors opened, they were greeted by Hunter, Benson, and Loman and escorted to a black Chevy Suburban with tinted windows that was idling in front of the elevator. Before he got in the vehicle, Jarvis handed Hunter the tracking device they had removed from Roger’s thigh that morning.

  Hunter, Benson and Loman got in another vehicle that was idling in front of the Suburban in which Michael and Roger and their security were passengers. Hunter’s vehicle drove up the ramp and out of the garage, while the SUV in which Montgomery and his son waited until they got the all clear.

  Five minutes later, as they were approaching the entrance to the expressway Hunter noticed the sedan trailing them. When the vehicle behind them followed them onto the Blue Route, he texted Jarvis the all clear.

  Montgomery had leased an estate in Chester County, off Radnor Chester Road. It was on the grounds of Ardrossan, the famous 750-acre estate owned by the Montgomery-Scott family in Radnor. Back in the day, Hope Montgomery, who had been anointed by the gossip columnists as the queen of Philadelphia’s WASP community, lived there. She was the inspiration for the main character of the play, ‘The Philadelphia Story,’ and the movie ‘High Society,’ and was also a distant relative of Michael Montgomery. He selected the place because of its secure location and its proximity to Episcopal Academy where Roger would soon be enrolled.

  Benson’s wife Nikki and her boss had convinced Homeland to partner with the Philadelphia Police Department to set up a trap for the North Korean RGB agents. The PPD had selected a property that the Feds had confiscated several years before and had been using it as a safe house in the horse country of Chester County for the take-down operation.

  The property consisted of a farmhouse with a barn, and a hundred acres of open fields. The buildings were set back a half a mile from the road, with no neighboring properties closer than three quarters of a mile from the site. The secluded premises were ideal for their purposes. The former owners had used the place for manufacturing and dealing meth. At the height of their criminal enterprise they had built a 75-foot tunnel between the farmhouse and the barn, where they made and stored their product. The tunnel was an ess
ential part of the plan Hunter and Benson had devised to capture Qwon and Scarface if everything played out as anticipated.

  * * *

  “They’re moving the boy,” Ran Kang-Dae said as he watched the transmission from the homing device on his monitor as it tracked the boy’s descent from the penthouse floor of the Rittenhouse Hotel.

  “Take Kim and follow them,” Qwon ordered. She detected an eagerness in the man’s response and added, “Just tail them and report to me. Under no circumstances are either of you to approach the boy or Montgomery. Is that clear?”

  Ran shifted his empty eyes at her in response and walked out of the room.

  Qwon knew that Ran was a dangerous psychopath whose continued usefulness had reached its limit. She cursed herself for not taking care of him when he tried to kill the boy by blowing up a block of Chinatown. She decided that after she addressed whatever Montgomery had planned for his son, she would eliminate Ran.

  An hour later she received Kim’s call informing her of the boy’s location. “Keep the site under surveillance until I get there. Do not let Ran hurt the boy.”

  When she approached the designated rendezvous point a quarter mile from the farmhouse, she saw six or seven police vehicles with their light-bars flashing, surrounding the building. She continued to drive, stopped a mile past the farmhouse, and pulled over when she was sure there was no one watching. She made her way back on foot and took cover in time to see the police leading Ran and Kim in handcuffs out of the building.

  She realized it had been a mistake to allow them to follow the boy and his father while she waited for the authorization to eliminate Ran. She should have followed her intuition and taken the man out after his crazy attempt to assassinate the boy. In the back of her mind she struggled with the proposition that Ran was not just a loose cannon murderer, and instead had been actively working against her, trying to scuttle the mission. But why would he do that, and on whose orders was he acting?