Cyber Countdown

by Terence Flynn

“He’ll be out for a while, Shen. I might’ve given him too much serum. It’s hard to judge, since everyone reacts differently. At least I know it works well on him. There was no resistance, and he answered the questions without hesitation, which indicates there was no deception. I’m certain all his answers were truthful.”

  “That’s good. How long will he be out?”

  “At least thirty minutes, Shen. Maybe even an hour. Let’s take the transmitter and go back to my suite and talk.”

  Both Park brothers were waiting for them at Kim’s suite.

  “It’s apparent from the interview that no one is a scapegoat and there is no trap,” Kim said. “Someone in America named Whitey is apparently looking to attack his competitors and is using foreign hackers so he can’t get caught.”

  “We agree. My brother and I are convinced that the project is aimed at American businesses. Good luck,” Lieutenant Park said as he and his brother left.

  “I’m happy that there are more hackers,” said Shen, “but I’m still worried about the schedule. What do you think, Kim?”

  “I’m also worried about the schedule. But we also need to find out who Whitey is.”

  “I agree. I’d better return to my suite before Flaherty wakes up.”

  “Yes, you better go. Call me after he leaves.”

  Flaherty was just waking up when Shen returned to his suite.

  “Sorry I fell asleep, Shen. I guess the long trip wore me out.”

  “No problem. What’d you want to discuss, Sean?”

  “I have this jump drive for you with the project schedules and targets, and I also need to discuss some reporting requirements.”

  “What reports do you need?”

  “I need grades on all your people by tomorrow, Shen.”

  “That will be difficult; they’re all excellent and I’ve nothing yet to grade them on.”

  “Nevertheless, I need those grades by noon tomorrow. I also want to review the information on the targets.”

  “What are the grades being used for?”

  “I don’t know, and it’s not your problem, Shen.”

  Shen frowned. “Okay, I’ll meet you in the hotel pub tomorrow at noon.”

  “That’s fine. I’m going back to my room. I have a splitting headache.”

  After Sean left, Shen turned on his cell phone and checked his messages. He saw one from Lian asking him to call. The message came in during his interrogation of Flaherty. Shen called Lian, but it went immediately to her answering service. He then called Kim and let him know about his discussion with Flaherty. As they were talking, Kim received a call from Lian.

  “I need to go, Shen. Lian’s calling me. We’ll talk later.”

  Kim took Lian’s call and immediately heard the anxiety in her voice.

  “Kim, something terrible has happened. Cai was attacked by her roommate’s boyfriend and is in critical condition at the Harbin Medical University Hospital. I just texted Shen and told him to meet you in the lobby and drive you here.”

  “I’m on my way,” Kim shouted as he ran out of the suite to the elevator. Kim saw Shen in the lobby and ran toward him as he grabbed his arm and almost dragged him into the car.

  “Let’s go, Shen. As fast as you can drive and don’t stop for anything.”

  “Okay, buckle your safety belt,” Shen said.

  The tires on Shen’s Mercedes squealed as they left the hotel lobby parking area. Shen wove in and out of traffic, hitting speeds over ninety at some points during the drive. Shen pulled into the hospital admissions area and brought the car to a screeching stop. Kim jumped out of the car and ran into the lobby. Lian was waiting for him and she took him to the waiting room.

  “Cai was beaten and stabbed, Kim. The police have been here and taken the information from Cai’s roommate, Mei.” Lian pointed to the woman sitting across the room with bandages on her arm. “That’s Mei. She’s the one who called the police.”

  “What happened?”

  “Mei said her boyfriend was drunk and he tried to take advantage of Cai. He was calling her all sorts of names. She rebuffed him, and then he shoved her. Cai tried to defend herself, but he hit her hard and she fell. Mei got a kitchen knife but he took it away and slashed her and then stabbed Cai when she tried to help Mei.”

  “I warned her. I knew this could happen. What do the doctors say, Lian?”

  “She’s critical, Kim. The knife went into her back and punctured a lung. It also nicked some blood vessels and she lost a lot of blood.”

  “How long ago did this happen?”

  “This afternoon around three. Her roommate called the police and the ambulance. They took Cai into the operating room over an hour ago.”

  Kim walked toward the roommate, and he could tell from the look on her face that she was scared.

  “I’m not here to hurt you, Mei. I just want to know where your boyfriend is.”

  Mei slowly looked up at Kim with tears running down her face. “He’s not my boyfriend. I broke up with him weeks ago, but he won’t leave me alone.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He has friends in the Korean section of the city. He’s probably hiding out with them. He knows the police can’t find him there.”

  “But I bet you could, Mei. Cai said you used to work there.”

  “I won’t go back there by myself. It’s too dangerous.”

  “I live over there.”

  “Yes, but you live in the good area, not where he is.”

  “I’ll go with you. I promise you’ll be safe. Do you have a recent picture of him?”

  Mei showed Kim a picture from her wallet.

  “Do you know his real name, Mei?”

  “He said it was Woo Lei, but I don’t think it’s his real name.”

  Lian called out to Kim. “The doctors are coming back, Kim.”

  Kim, Mei, and Lian walked toward the doctors and Shen joined them. One of the doctors walked over and smiled.

  “Cai is a very lucky young lady,” the doctor said. “She’s going to be fine, but she’ll need to be here for at least a week. Cai lost a lot of blood and is weak. The knife wound, though serious, didn’t cause the damage it could have if the entry wound was an inch higher.”

  Tears came to Kim’s eyes for the first time since his father died, and he hugged the doctor.

  “You must be Kim. She kept saying your name when she was being wheeled into the operating room.”

  “Thank you, doctor. I am eternally grateful.”

  Kim asked Mei if she was ready, and she nodded.

  “I need you to take me back to my apartment, Shen. Wait in the car with Mei while I pick up some things I need.”

  “Can I drop Lian off at our apartment first and kiss her goodbye in case she never sees me again?”

  “Sure, but I can handle this. Don’t worry, Shen.”

  After they had dropped Lian off, Kim went into his apartment and put on some dark clothing and sneakers. He put a folding combat knife and a black woolen cap and black scarf in the pockets of his coat. Kim got into the front seat next to Shen, who asked Mei for directions. Shen drove as Mei directed while Kim was repeating the same words, “pyun yan sho yong haka.” Mei was staring at Kim with concern as he repeated those words. Shen knew that Mei must have understood what Kim was saying, since she was ethnic Korean. Kim had a hateful look on his face and spoke the words in such a violent manner that it scared Shen.

  Mei told Shen to park down the street from an old dilapidated apartment building. She pointed to the second floor and said, “That’s where some of his family lives. He’s probably in there.”

  “Drive the car down the street near the building entrance after I get out, Shen. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Okay, we’ll be there,” Shen said.

  After Kim left, Shen turned to Mei and asked, “What were those words Kim kept repeating?”

  Mei looked directly at Shen and said, “He was saying I will kill you in Korean.”

  As Kim walk
ed toward the building, he wrapped the black scarf around his face just below his eyes and put on the woolen cap. He could see lights and movement on the front of the building where Mei had pointed. Kim didn’t see any lights in the rear of the building, so he climbed up a drain pipe to the second floor and shimmied across a small four-inch ledge until he reached a window. He used his knife to pry the window open and entered without a sound. Kim allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark and listened. There were sounds from a room down the hall. He moved slowly until he saw a sliver of light from under a door.

  A TV was broadcasting a soccer game and he waited out of sight for about ten minutes until a young, slightly-built man came out the door. Kim grabbed him and covered his mouth as he threw him to the floor without making a sound. He could see it wasn’t his target, but he needed information so he pressed his knife against the man’s throat.

  “Where is Woo Lei?” Kim whispered.

  The man’s eyes grew larger and he started to say something so Kim uncovered his mouth. He pushed the knife against his throat harder. “In the room,” the man whispered.

  “How many?”

  “Two men.”

  “Thanks,” Kim said, as he removed the knife from the man’s throat. He then hit him with the knife’s handle, knocking him out.

  A large man came through the door while calling out for someone—probably the man Kim had just disabled. The large man reached for a gun when he saw Kim, who quickly reacted by kicking the gun out of the man’s hand and into the room. As the man turned and went to pick up the gun, Kim ran toward him and kicked him hard. The large man was knocked into the room. Kim quickly followed him and saw Woo Lei sitting in his underwear in a chair six feet away. He threw his knife at Woo’s groin, and Woo began screaming. Kim was grabbed from behind by the big man, who tried to crush his ribs. Kim disabled him by slamming his leg down into the side of the big man’s knee while driving his right hand into the man’s throat. The big man fell to the floor, gasping for air before passing out. Kim took the gun and walked toward Woo Lei, who was still screaming as blood streamed from his groin.

  Kim looked at Woo Lei with contempt. “It looks like you’ll need to have your appendage stitched, Woo.” Kim then pushed down hard on his knife while pulling it quickly out of Woo’s groin.

  Woo screamed again. “You cut it off,” he cried.

  Kim took a pillow and put it over Woo’s face.

  “Be quiet and listen, Woo. If you ever come near Cai or Mei again, I’ll kill you.”

  With that, Kim hit him with the gun and knocked him out. He then walked down the stairs, out the front door, and got in Shen’s car.

  Kim called the police and told them there’d been a bad fight and that someone was screaming. He gave them the address and asked Shen to take him and Mei home.

  “Did you kill him?” Mei asked.

  “No. It was still breathing when I left.”

  “It?” Mei said, with a confused look.

  “Yes. He’s no longer a man. Do you have a tissue? I need to clean his blood off my knife.”

  Mei smiled while handing Kim the tissue.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Shen drove the car back to the hospital, his eyes as big as saucers.

  13

  James really missed JoAnn. Her trip to Minnesota to visit with her constituents was the longest period they’d been apart. He followed her trip in the Minnesota news and was happy to see that her popularity was soaring due to her successful support for less state and local government regulation, lower taxes, and economic growth.

  He was also grateful for her support for the president’s cyber-attack bill in the house as opposed to the oppressive bill in the senate.

  The local press lauded her support, since Minnesota had almost thirty billion dollars in exports to China the previous year, a growth of more than twenty percent that could be jeopardized by the senate bill. James called her to see if her flight back to DC was also in jeopardy due to a predicted Minnesota snowstorm.

  “Hi, baby, is your flight getting out today? Minneapolis is in the path of a huge storm.”

  “It just started to snow, but we should be leaving on time. I really miss you and can’t wait to get home, James. Don’t forget to meet me.”

  “Reagan National, 6:10. I’ll be there.”

  “How’s your investigation going?”

  “Rick and I made some progress while you were gone. I’ll tell you about it tonight.”

  After getting off the phone with JoAnn, James called Ann.

  “Hi, Ann, how are you? How’s the new house?”

  “Everything’s fine, James, but you’ll never guess who I’m having dinner with.”

  “Who?”

  “George Solomon. The rich old bastard called me last night and asked if he could meet for a late lunch. I told him only if he comes to St. Mary’s County. I don’t drive to DC anymore unless I have to. He agreed, and I’m waiting for him at a small restaurant on Solomons Island. I bet George selected it because he probably thinks the island was named after him.”

  “Possibly, we all know George has a big ego. Try to be nice—he did help the company when we were getting started.”

  “Yes, I know. He enjoys telling everyone about how he was responsible for the company’s success.”

  “I know. Just let it go.”

  “I will. Have you ever been to this place? It’s called Rick’s.”

  “Yeah, really good food. Try the crab cakes and the key lime pie. Why’s George meeting you? Did he say what it’s about?”

  “Haven’t got a clue, but I’ll let you know. Got to go, he just walked in.”

  “Call me back later. I need to talk with you.”

  “Will do. Goodbye, James.”

  James was working from home while on his leave of absence. He’d been given the complete report of Captain Kinsley’s interrogation and was going through it in detail. He was still puzzled how the feds could’ve obtained information on VSI’s “secret sauce” without getting it from Philip, as indicated by the polygraph.

  As James considered the possibilities, the phone rang. He looked at the caller ID.

  “How was lunch, Ann?” James asked.

  “Lunch was great, but George is still an SOB.”

  “What happened?”

  “He asked me to provide my VSI proxy to him. When I told him that I’d already agreed to provide the proxy to you, he became upset and tried to convince me to change my mind. I believe he even threatened me.”

  “I can’t believe he’d do that. How’d he threaten you?”

  “He mentioned something about Philip violating his NDA, but I’m not sure what he’s talking about. Do you know?”

  “No, I don’t, but I need to meet with you and Jim on this and other issues involving Philip. Can you meet me and an FBI agent who’s working Philip’s case at your summer house tomorrow morning? It’s very important.”

  “I can make it, and Jim’s been staying with me since the funeral, so he should be available as well.”

  “Great, see you and Jim tomorrow morning at about ten.”

  James quickly ended his call with Ann to answer an incoming call from Rick.

  “Rick, I was just talking about you. Where are you? It’s noisy.”

  “I’m driving home with the top down. Really nice weather for this time of year.”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been out all day. So what’s up?”

  “The admiral called me earlier. Apparently, Captain Kinsley took leave right after our interview.”

  “You think the two are related?”

  “The admiral does. Kinsley listed it as emergency leave.”

  “I guess we must’ve really touched a nerve. I’m glad you called. Can you join me tomorrow morning at about ten at the Wu summer house to talk with Ann Wu and her son, Jim?”

  “Sure. What’s it about?”

  “George Solomon and possible extortion by him to gain control over VSI.”

&
nbsp; “Sounds interesting. Pick me up at my house in La Plata—it’s on your way to the Wu house. I’ll text you my address.”

  James suddenly heard what sounded like Rick cursing and the squealing of tires.

  “Is everything okay, Rick?”

  “I need to go, James. I have a crazy driver trying to race me.”

  Rick loved everything about his new Mustang GT, with the exception of the idiots it attracted wanting to race. This one was a big pickup coming up right behind him. Rick slowed down and moved to the right lane to indicate his lack of interest. He saw the truck’s passenger-side window open and then the barrel of a rifle protruding from the window.

  Rick slammed on his brakes and used his phone to take a picture of the rear of the truck as it went by him. The truck also slowed down, and he could see the barrel of the rifle turning toward him. He took another picture as he heard the boom of a shotgun and the sound of buckshot hitting the front of his car.

  “This ain’t no damn race,” Rick said aloud.

  Rick pulled behind the pickup and rammed the rear bumper on the driver side in an attempt to spin the truck. The truck wobbled, but didn’t spin. Too heavy, Rick thought, as he grabbed his Glock and accelerated toward the truck’s passenger side. The shotgun turned toward him again and Rick swerved to the left out of the line of fire as two shots hit the Mustang’s passenger side. Rick accelerated and fired several shots into the passenger side of the truck, which veered into the front quarter panel of his Mustang, forcing it to spin off the road.

  “Shit!” Rick said, right before he hit the tree.

  When James got to the arrival area at Reagan National Airport, he saw JoAnn standing there with more luggage than she left with.

  “Hi, baby, I’m glad you’re home,” he said, as he gave her a big kiss. “It looks like you did some shopping. I hope we can fit it in the car.”

  “I guess I should’ve told you to bring the SUV,” JoAnn said.

  “I’ll get it in.”

  After squeezing everything in, James realized that his beloved sports car was probably doomed after he got married. Maybe even sooner when he saw the look on JoAnn’s face as she squeezed herself into the passenger seat.