Anya walked over to Dimitri and kissed him on the cheek.
“You’re still too pretty, Dimitri.”
Dimitri smiled. “You’re gotten even more beautiful than I remember, Anya.”
“What are you doing in America, Dimitri?”
“I came here after the war. Where’s your father?” he asked, to avoid Anya’s question.
Antonina responded. “Marat has always been late. He was even late for our wedding, but I’m sure he’ll be here soon. Come, Dimitri, let’s all sit and talk so we can catch up.”
Marat finally arrived and kissed his wife and daughters as he took off his coat. He sat with them to enjoy the tea and cakes. After talking for a while, Antonina asked her daughters to help with serving the dinner and Marat led Dimitri to the living room.
“Have you found out anything more about the Big Man?” Marat asked.
“No, nothing yet, but I’m working on it. Thanks for your help.”
Antonina and her daughters had prepared a marvelous traditional Russian dinner. It consisted of a beef solyanka soup, a kabob dish called shashlik, pelmeni dumplings, and beze pastries for dessert. After dinner, the two younger daughters went out to meet their friends, and Marat and his wife left Anya and Dimitri alone to talk.
“I hear from your father that you’re a surgeon. Do you enjoy your work, Anya?”
“Most of the time. I hate it when I lose a patient. What do you do, Dimitri?”
“I’m a security consultant for a law firm. I don’t enjoy it, but it pays well.”
“Father said you’re not married. Are you involved with anyone?”
“No, I don’t have time right now,” he lied.
Dimitri couldn’t tell her that his romances were mostly one-night stands like the one with Irina.
“Have you been serious with anyone, Anya?”
“Not since you. I’d like to see you again. Maybe you could spend a weekend at my house in Stony Brook.”
“I’ll try, but my schedule is very difficult.” Another lie.
Anya moved closer to him on the couch. Dimitri didn’t respond, even though he was still very attracted to her. He resisted until she pulled him closer and kissed him passionately on the lips. He kissed her back, and for a moment he thought that maybe she could change his life. Then he realized he’d hurt too many people to ever feel worthy of a woman like Anya.
“I have to leave, Anya.”
She kissed him again. “I have something for you,” Anya said.
She handed him a small envelope with photographs of the both of them when they were lovers in medical school. She even had the dates and some inscriptions on the back. There was one photo of them standing with Dimitri’s sister, mother, and Marat, taken in happier times before the war.
“Thank you, Anya. This is the best present I’ve ever gotten.” Dimitri kissed her again, and put the envelope in his coat pocket.
“My card with my address and phone numbers are also in the envelope. Call me, Dimitri. I still care for you.”
11
FBI Director Shelly Brockner was between a rock and a hard place, and she knew it. The investigation into Senator Thompson’s death was definitely not within the FBI’s jurisdiction. It belonged to the DC police, at least until it was proven to be a murder. Evidence of potential foul play triggered a deeper investigation that uncovered the business cards of a Chinese diplomat on the senator’s property. The victim had been the leading proponent of the senate version of the foreign cyber-attack bill, and he had been running ads in his state that were definitely anti-Chinese. Both could’ve made him a potential target of the Chinese government.
While Shelly didn’t think the Chinese would ever do anything so stupid as to murder the majority leader of the US Senate in the capital of the United States, she had to admit that the pieces fit perfectly. She requested a background check on the Chinese diplomat, Zhou Ming, who was identified as an employee of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Shelly knew that was a cover often used by intelligence operatives. The Chinese had the motive to kill the majority leader, and the evidence pointed to Zhou Ming. The case read like a damn James Bond novel, and she knew the American people might buy it.
Her only possible play was to discredit any evidence of murder presented by the medical examiner, while hoping the Chinese could provide evidence that exonerated Zhou. Shelly Brockner knew that if the Chinese embassy refused to cooperate and claimed diplomatic immunity, the relations between the US and China could be irreparably damaged. She decided to request that the senator’s body be transferred to Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda for further examination. That would surely be objected to by the DC government, which had temporary jurisdiction. It would also upset the senator’s family, who demanded the release of his body for burial. She knew that a second autopsy was their only chance of avoiding an international incident.
Shelly had precious little time before the situation went public and the proverbial shit hit the fan. So far, she’d convinced the DC police chief not to bring any charges, and just detain Zhou without releasing his identity. While the chief was a friend, she couldn’t delay much longer once the DC mayor got involved.
The mayor was no friend of the president. Joseph Meredith had publicly criticized the corruption in the DC government when he was in Congress. The mayor would take great joy in having his police make the arrest of a Chinese agent that the US government seemed to be protecting.
Shelly left for her meeting at the White House and went directly to Barbara’s office. She greeted Barbara, who was talking with her secretary.
“Hi, Shelly, how’s your day?” Barbara asked as she smiled.
“It’s been interesting, to say the least. I’m sure it’ll be a three-martini evening.”
“I bet,” Barbara said as they walked to the Oval Office. They were ushered into the office as the president finished a phone call.
President Meredith smiled at both Barbara and Shelly and said, “Ladies, please sit down and make yourselves comfortable. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Barbara laughed. “Not right now, but Shelly was just saying how she might have a few adult beverages later. I may join her.”
“Okay, Shelly, where do things stand with the investigation of Senator Thompson’s death?”
“I assume you’ve been briefed on the possible Chinese intelligence agent being detained by the DC police.”
“Yes, I have,” the president said. “But do the DC police really believe he murdered the majority leader? Until we know for certain that Senator Thompson was murdered, this is still just an investigation into the cause of his death. The Chinese would’ve had to have lost their collective minds to murder the majority leader.”
“In my opinion, the Chinese government has no involvement in the senator’s death, and I know Barbara agrees,” Shelly said. “Zhou Ming’s dossier identifies him as a thirty-five-year-old Chinese national who’s married and has two children. He’s listed at the embassy as reporting to their Minister of Commerce. We have no proof that he’s an intelligence agent, although the Ministry of Commerce is often a cover for their intelligence operatives. It allows them access to our businesses, and in some cases, US government or military personnel who contract with those businesses. The CIA believes he may actually report to their Ministry of State Security.”
“Don’t we monitor these guys when they’re here, Shelly?”
“Some of them, but the FBI doesn’t have the resources to monitor all of them. Our primary focus these days is finding and monitoring potential terrorists, which has left us pretty thin in the homeland counter-intelligence role.”
“Is there enough evidence to have Ming arrested?”
“There can’t be an actual arrest until there’s evidence that the majority leader was murdered. In any case, the evidence against Mr. Ming is all circumstantial. There’s no physical evidence other than his business cards that were found on the senator’s property. I think the case is very weak
, but there’s enough evidence to have him detained for questioning. At this point, Mr. Ming is just a person of interest. I think the mayor is simply looking to embarrass us.”
“I know the senator’s death falls under DC jurisdiction, but since his cards were found on the senator’s property, couldn’t the FBI have detained him on suspicion of espionage, Shelly?”
“Maybe, but it would only temporarily delay a possible murder investigation. If the senator was murdered, jurisdiction is entirely federal and the FBI takes over the investigation.”
“Shelly’s right, Joe. Also, the FBI detaining the Chinese agent based on possible espionage would suggest that the senator may also have been involved. That would really hurt us politically. You’d be smearing a deceased majority leader from your own party to protect a Chinese intelligence agent from murder charges. I’m sure the opposition would love to run on that in three years, and your party wouldn’t be thrilled, either.”
“I knew there was a reason I selected you as my chief of staff,” the president said as he smiled. “Okay, Shelly, what’s your next move?”
“I want to have a second autopsy performed at Walter Reed to determine if the DC medical examiner was correct in her analysis. If we can get Walter Reed to do the autopsy, any indictment for murder would be delayed until there’s absolute proof. That would give the FBI and CIA time to investigate Zhou Ming’s background. It would also allow the Chinese embassy time to find any credible witnesses who might be able to provide an alibi, maybe someone who can verify where Ming was on the night of the senator’s death.”
“What do we need to have Walter Reed agree to perform the autopsy?” the president asked.
“You’d first have to personally request the family’s permission, sir.”
“I’ll do that right after this meeting, Shelly. I met his wife when she and the senator campaigned for me when I ran for president.”
“You’ll also need to tell the secretary of defense that you want the surgeon general to review the autopsy results. Someone will also need to get the mayor to agree to the review of the autopsy. That might not be easy, since it would be putting the competency of his medical examiner in question. He has nothing to gain from that, Joe.”
“True, but the mayor also has a lot to lose, Barbara. Without the FBI’s help, the Chinese embassy will never provide any assistance. They might just claim diplomatic immunity, since they’ll never deal directly with the DC police. The Chinese would consider that beneath them, since they’ll certainly see this as a federal matter.”
“I agree,” Shelly said. “The mayor is in a no-win situation, and we can use that to our advantage.”
“Given the fact that the mayor and I don’t exchange Christmas cards, I suggest you deal with him, Shelly. Barbara, I’d like you to handle the interaction with the Chinese embassy, since you seem to have an excellent relationship with the ambassador. Looks like we have a plan. Now I need to make my calls to the senator’s widow and the secretary of defense, and the both of you have work to do. Please keep me informed.”
President Meredith called Senator Thompson’s widow at her home. He explained to her the need to be absolutely certain about the cause of death, and she agreed to allow a second autopsy. The president also called the secretary of defense, who agreed to assign the autopsy to Walter Reed.
Shelly’s call to the mayor didn’t start off well. Merely requesting his help wouldn’t work. She knew his type; in fact she’d dealt with men like the mayor most of her adult life. The only thing they understood was power.
“Mr. Mayor, if you don’t allow the autopsy results to be reviewed by Walter Reed, the president will hold a press conference. He’ll let everyone know that he’s granting Zhou Ming diplomatic immunity because his right to a fair review of all the evidence against him was being denied by the DC mayor.”
“The evidence is getting a fair review by our medical examiner, Director.”
“The Chinese won’t see it that way. They’ll almost certainly file a claim for diplomatic immunity, and the FBI, the State Department, and the president will support it.”
“If they did that, your administration would be dead. Current polls indicate almost fifty percent of American voters believe Mr. Ming was involved in the senator’s death.”
“Those same polls indicate that almost seventy percent of the voters are also very worried about a possible war with China due to the current situation. I’m sure you wouldn’t want the administration to blame you for a possible war with China.”
“That’s real hardball, Shelly. Okay, you win. I’ll agree with your request for a second autopsy.”
The Chinese ambassador was surprised when he was told that the DC police had detained Zhou Ming. He assumed it was based on espionage, which was under the jurisdiction of the FBI, not the local police. When he was informed that the police were detaining Zhou Ming for questioning in the murder of Senator Thompson, he became irate. He called the law firm that represented the Chinese embassy and requested that they get him released immediately.
The attorney for the Chinese embassy went to the police station and demanded to speak to his client. When Zhou was brought to meet with him, the attorney noticed that he had a bruise over his right eye.
“Hi, Zhou, my name is Bradley Smithson. I’m your attorney. What happened to your face?”
“The police threw me to the ground when I tried to retrieve my cell phone from my car.”
“Did you explain that you only wanted to get your phone?”
“Yes, several times, but they ignored me.”
The attorney left Zhou and confronted the ranking officer on the case.
“Why was my client beaten, Officer Garret?”
“He wasn’t beaten. He resisted being taken into custody.”
“Have any charges been filed against my client?”
“Not yet, counselor. We’re still reviewing the evidence.”
“Then unless you charge my client, we’re leaving right now. I also want all of my client’s possessions returned, including his car.”
“I need to call the lieutenant.”
“Go ahead. I’ll wait.”
Ten minutes later the officer returned.
“Your client is free to go with all his possessions, counselor.”
Ambassador Yang called the White House the next day and was put through to Barbara Chang, who was expecting the call.
“What can I do for you today, Mr. Ambassador?”
“Are you aware that one of our best young diplomats was stopped in his car in Georgetown yesterday morning and detained for several hours? He was also beaten by the local police and treated like a common criminal.”
“We had nothing to do with that, Mr. Ambassador. It was entirely a local matter. When we heard the news report, the FBI director contacted the mayor, who agreed that Mr. Ming should be released.”
“Why was he detained?”
“My understanding is that he was being questioned in relation to the death of Senator Thompson. His embassy business cards were found on the senator’s property.”
“Where’s the senator’s home located?”
“In Georgetown, not very far from your embassy.”
“Do you know where the cards were found on the property?”
“No, I don’t have that information. You’d have to ask the police about that.”
“Our lawyers are already in contact with the police and the mayor’s office, Ms. Chang. We’ll also be talking with the Department of State about the physical abuse of a Chinese diplomat.”
“The president and the administration are very sorry about that, Ambassador. We have requested that Walter Reed Medical Center review the autopsy evidence from the medical examiner to determine if it’s valid. We’re also reviewing the business cards found at the crime scene. Any evidence your embassy might have that would demonstrate your diplomat’s innocence would be helpful.”
“The president’s assistance in this matter is greatly ap
preciated. I’ll see what we can do with respect to providing any new evidence. Please keep me informed on anything new related to this regrettable incident.”
“I’ll certainly do that, Ambassador.”
“Thank you, and please give my regards to the president.”
Ambassador Yang was very concerned that relations between his country and the United States were starting to unravel. Something or someone was pushing the two nations into a potentially catastrophic conflict. He was worried that the American populace might believe the Chinese were the monsters this situation portrayed them to be; and he was also worried about how the Chinese government might react.
The ambassador knew he needed help from Colonel Sun Yu, an old friend who was legendary within Chinese intelligence. Sun was a tenacious agent who wouldn’t quit until he solved any problem he was given. He was excellent at evaluating intelligence data to find patterns and trends with automated tools and was superb with languages and social skills. Sun also spoke fluent English and was well versed in American customs, culture, and law.
Sun Yu arrived at the ambassador’s residence late the next evening and immediately was escorted into his private office.
“Sun, old friend, how are you? It’s been a few years.”
“I’m well. But I miss the fieldwork, and I’m bored. These days I’m in charge of developing training materials for students at the institute. I hope you’ve got something interesting.”
“I do. I need you to investigate who’s framing one of our agents for the possible murder of the US Senate majority leader.”
“I heard about the death of the senator but didn’t know it was a murder.”
“Actually, that hasn’t been determined yet. The business cards of our agent, Zhou Ming, were found at the majority leader’s residence in Georgetown, and he’s a suspect. Here’s the case file with all of the information we have so far. You’ll have access to any resources you need.”
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