Smoke and Shadow

by Gamal Hennessy

  Chapter Six: Setting the Stage

  Chu dissected the route between Maas’s dive bar and his brownstone with the precision of a surgeon.

  No one roamed the side streets of Park Slope at three a.m., so he took his time to pick the perfect spot. He needed a place he could reach before Maas paid his bill and stumbled home. It had to be on the same route Maas took every night to go back home. It had to be far enough away from the corners to be invisible to traffic from the intersections and secluded enough to give him a few seconds to work. It couldn’t have security cameras mounted on the side of the house or open sight lines from any windows. Finally, he needed to find a set of descending stairs high enough and steep enough to create the effect he wanted to mimic. If he couldn’t find the perfect location, he might not get another chance. The thought of Maria in his mother’s wheelchair drove him forward.

  His first location had the solitude and the stairwell on the side of the building, but the lens on the camera positioned over the front door could have been wide enough to capture movement on the side of the building he planned to work. Chu kept moving.

  His second choice had the darkness and lacked the cameras, but he couldn’t count on the lighting. The streetlight didn’t pose a problem. Its position across the street deepened the shadows in his prospective kill zone. But he had to take the moon into account. It peeked in and out of the clouds now, but on a clear night it would shine down on this spot like a beacon. Chu went looking for another ambush spot.

  His third choice had the cover of broad leafed trees to block out overhead light. There were no cameras close by and a set of stairs. But the stairwell seemed to shallow and loose dirt from an ongoing construction project covered the stairs. Chu couldn’t afford to create footprints and destroy his illusion. He moved on, wondering if he could execute his plan in such a limited geographic space.

  He found a spot a block away from Maas’s home. The stairwell didn’t sit right next to the sidewalk. A few feet of cobblestone path snaked from the side of the house over to the stairs and then up to the street. Chu preferred a shorter distance but he didn’t have many other options. This spot had the isolation, the lack of cameras and the quality of steps he needed to make his plan work.

  Chu walked in a convoluted SDR as he made his way back to the dive bar, assessing the other variables of his plan. He determined the distance and estimated the time it would take him to cover the ground between the bar and his ambush spot. He tried to recall how many dog walkers or other foot traffic he saw along Maas’s route during his past three weeks of surveillance. He couldn’t carry out his plan if someone happened to be walking down the street, and he couldn’t predict a random passerby or a delivery bike from Seamless Web, but he remembered the walk having few other pedestrians when Maas tended to be on the street.

  He checked the weather to see if conditions would be helpful or problematic. According to his app, mostly cloudy skies with a chance of rain and falling temperatures would prevail for the rest of the week. The forecast gave Chu more justification to hide his face with a scarf and made it less likely anyone would decide to take a night stroll through the neighborhood. Conditions seemed favorable for action.

  Then Chu checked the duty logs to see who would be following Maas at what time periods over the next few days. Chu wouldn’t be close to Maas today. He’d spent time in the bar last night and Baker wanted to be sure none of them got too close too often. Kean and Privti had shadow duty today. Chu and Privti were scheduled to work together on the day following night. The plan Chu had in mind would be easier to accomplish with Kean, but Privti would have to do. Maria might not have many more days left. Chu couldn’t wait for perfect conditions.

  During the SDR on his way home, Chu considered what he would do if things went wrong. He could abort if he saw someone walking on the street with Maas, but what if someone saw what he planned to do? Maybe he could pretend to be drunk himself; a guy who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Maas fought back, Chu would have to run to make sure the cops didn’t get involved. If he did get arrested, he’d just pretend to be a mugger who tried to rob Maas on the way home. He’d still go to prison, but the operation wouldn’t be exposed and Baker wouldn’t be compromised.

  Would Baker understand what Chu did and why he did it? Would Baker help get him out of jail or would he cut him off for disobeying a direct order and sabotaging a high profile op? Either way, Baker was the kind of man who would be there to support his mother. The small consolation reminded him of her.

  The thought of Sunny Chu crying in her wheelchair made him hesitate. He couldn't embarrass her, or hurt her, and he didn’t want to leave her alone to face Wei. But she wasn’t proud of him because he allowed people to suffer. She wanted him to protect people and Maria Maas needed his help. Sunny Chu knew her son. Maybe somehow she knew the things she said would lead him to his next attack.

  Chapter Seven: Taking the Fall

  Chu stood by the bar, watching for any sign of Chinese operatives trying to make contact with Erich Maas or anyone who might interfere with his plan.

  The rain started the night before and continued to pound Brooklyn with a steady downpour. The bad weather kept most of the bar patrons home, so there were fewer people Chu could use to hide from Maas, but it didn’t matter. The bulky hooded trench coat he wore, combined with the river of doppelbock Maas drank provided enough concealment to maintain his anonymity.

  Maas lurched towards the bar to pay his tab. Chu used the ritual to cover his exit. He could feel energy building up in his limbs and hatred tensing the muscles in his face. He imagined the scene again, rehearsing the position and the movements in his mind as he had many times over the past two days. Memories of Wei Chu clouded his vision, but he shook them away, focusing on Maria instead. He made an extra effort to put on a friendly face as he weaved through the hipsters smoking under the awning and walked in the direction of Maas’s brownstone.

  Chu passed Privti’s position under the awning of the artisanal bakery. The short bulbous man spoke Hindi into his Bluetooth at a volume loud enough to annoy anyone who might come too close. Chu didn’t acknowledge Privti. Privti looked at Chu a heartbeat too long with an angry fear in his eyes. Chu crossed the street. Maas left the bar and trudged along his usual path. Privti didn’t look at Maas. Maas passed Privti without noticing his existence. Privti continued to talk for twenty seconds and then began walking in the rain about a half a block from Maas. When Chu couldn’t see Privti’s back anymore, he ran down a different street, hoping his hostile partner hadn’t detected his intentions.

  Chu ran as if he were being chased. With his scarf pulled over his face and his hood up over his head, he looked like a criminal fleeing the scene of a crime. But no one stopped him. Few people walked along the sloppy tree lined streets and the few pedestrians he did pass were more worried about getting out of the rain than challenging a mysterious runner.

  Chu didn’t stop for red lights and he didn’t look back to see who might be following him. It didn’t matter now. He had to cover twice as much ground as Maas in the same amount of time for his plan to work. Any counter surveillance team would see the break in his pattern and react accordingly. The only chance he had was to act so fast no one had time to react, not Maas, not his possible backup and not Ganesh Privti.

  His lungs burned from the sprint and his sneakers squished with rain water, but Chu reached the corner in time to cut off Maas. He saw his target’s shadow, meandering in an off balanced and broken rhythm down the street towards him. In the rainy dark, Chu couldn’t see Privti, but tradecraft dictated at least a half a block distance between the target and the shadow. Chu took a deep breath to try and calm his ragged breathing and then started walking towards Maas.

  He tried to time his steps to the movement of his target, but Maas teetered every few feet, making it hard to gauge his cadence. Chu had to slow down to create the right positioning. He fought the urge to rush things before Privti turned
the corner. His feet created ripples in the puddles with each step. Chu felt the ripples of violence pass from Wei to Sunny and from Erich to Maria. The rain hit the sidewalk with a fierce, relentless beat. He remembered the fierce, relentless beatings he watched during his childhood and his mission. Chu’s world shifted into a slow motion reality when the men got within ten feet of each other. His heart pounded louder than the rain. With one final glance around to check for witnesses, Chu stepped into the shadows with Maas.

  Chu positioned himself to put Maas between him and the stairwell. He didn’t look at Maas or take his hands out of his pockets. This time, Maas froze. Maybe he heard a footstep too close in the puddle next to him. Maybe Chu’s hostility and purpose sent enough negative energy between them to cut through Maas’s drunken self-destructive fog and warn him of Chu’s unspoken intention. Whatever Maas felt made him step away from Chu in fear.

  At the same moment, Privti took a step around the corner. He didn’t turn towards the men right away. Chu could still see his profile in the illuminated rain under the street light. He walked with his umbrella up and his head down, pretending to be just another commuter trying to get home. Chu knew his partner was a hundred feet away, but he’d reach their position in seconds.

  Chu moved without a sound or a break in his motion. He took one step towards Maas and rammed his shoulder, elbow and hip into the other man’s center line. Maas let out a rush of air as the wind left his lungs, but he didn’t scream. He didn’t have the time. Chu took a second step and launched his victim back, into the black hole of the wet concrete stairwell. Maas flailed for balance, but the speed of the attack, the slippery concrete and his drunken reflexes made his resistance futile. He tumbled down the stairs like a sack of garbage. Chu’s third step took him down into the stairwell, right behind Maas. He crouched low, holding one hand over his victim’s mouth and using his leg to keep Maas’s limbs from flailing.

  Privti’s umbrella passed over the stairwell without stopping or slowing his pace. Chu let the shadow pass over him, imagining his partner walking along as if everything still conformed to standard behavior patterns. A new darkness bubbled up in Chu’s chest. He saw himself rising out of the shadows behind Privti. He could wrap his arms around his fat neck and strangle those homophobic cultural perspectives right out of his head. He could leave the body in a dumpster, so everyone could see what a misogynistic piece of garbage he was. Chu could take his fragile manhood and his sexual harassment claims and…

  Maas’s mouth fought to scream under Chu’s hand. He lay face down with his back heaving in pain and his limbs struggling for freedom. The movements brought Chu back from his homicidal ideation. He waited a few more seconds to get Privti away from the scene, then he forced his knee into Maas’s back and pulled up on his victim’s chin. Maas gasped and groaned and whimpered something like a plea, but he offered no real resistance. When his limbs stopped struggling and the lungs continued to spasm, Chu knew it was done.

  Maas let out a wail more terrible than anything Sunny Chu or Maria Maas ever made. Chu ignored him, peering out of the stairwell left and right to make sure no one walked towards his position. Without another look back at Maas, Chu slipped out of the stairwell and between a pair of cars parked in the street.

  Another death scream cut through the rain, prompting curious residents to turn on lights in their homes and open curtains. Chu jogged across the street under the cover of the trees putting more distance between himself and his victim.

  It took two more broken and anguished cries for anyone to open their doors or venture out of their homes into the rain, but by then Chu had turned the corner and headed for the safe house, knowing tonight would be different for Erich and Maria Maas.

  Chapter Eight: Shared Secrets

  “Tell me again how a routine assignment becomes a complete and total cluster fuck.”

  Baker stalked through the motel room like a bear forced to rise too soon from hibernation. The cane he leaned on for support didn’t appear to be a restriction if he decided to attack. If anything, the steel tipped, hardwood stick had the potential to be his weapon of choice if and when the beatings started.

  Sweat beaded on Privti’s head, since he knew he’d be first in line for any real or metaphorical ass whipping. “Mr. Baker, I followed the subject along his normal route according to standard practices. I didn’t maintain line of sight with him because I didn’t want to reveal my position. Maas never deviated from his route. Everything proceeded according to…”

  “Don’t talk to me about standard behavior patterns, Ganesh. Talk to me about awareness. Talk to me about paying attention and having your head on straight.” Baker stopped pacing to loom over Privti like an executioner. “Tell me how you walk right past your target after he fell down a flight of steps and broke his goddamn spine.”

  Privti couldn’t make eye contact as he searched for an answer. “I didn’t see him fall. I didn’t hear him. He must have been unconscious when I walked past his position.”

  “Eyewitness reports say they heard screaming a few minutes after midnight.” Kean stood in a corner to take himself out of Baker’s line of fire. He looked down at his tablet as he spoke so he didn’t have to make eye contact with his boss. “That matches the timestamp we have for Maas leaving the bar, and it fits with his normal time frame of walking from the bar back to his house. Everything fits his pattern of behavior.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize falling head first down a flight of steps fit in his normal pattern.” Baker turned on Kean with a withering glare.

  Kean tried to back pedal and then realized he had nowhere to go. “What I mean is, Maas was a heavy drinker. The streets were dark, the sidewalk was wet. We’ve all seen him stumble back to his place. It could have--”

  “That’s my fucking point.” Baker turned back to Privti. “You all saw him stumble home every night, except last night, the most important night, you didn’t see anything. That is simply not acceptable in a professional surveillance operation. Why am I paying a man who can’t perform basic surveillance?”

  “Ghost, if Maas took a tumble there isn’t much Ganesh could have done about it, even if he saw what happened.”

  Chu spoke up because he didn’t want Baker to read anything into his silence. Besides, he figured defending Privti now would be the last thing a guilty man would do. “If he stepped in and tried to help, he would have made the situation worse. Calling an ambulance for Maas might have exposed the operation. Trying to move him might have compounded the injury. If Ganesh did see Maas tumble, continuing down the street might have been the best move either way.”

  “That would all be true Smoke, if I only cared about what happened to Maas. But my point is bigger than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If Maas could vanish right under your fucking nose, he could have made contact with Beijing dozens of times without being detected. He could have picked up dead drops, made a brush pass or contacted the Chinese intelligence some other way. Hell, he could have been kidnapped and we would never know it.” Baker paused to rest his gaze on each of the failed operators. “We’re in the intelligence business, gentlemen. It’s our job to collect information. If you saw him fall and didn’t help him, that’s fine because then we would still have the intelligence on what happened to him. Why should our clients pay for a stake out operation if they could learn the status of the target by reading the Daily News?”

  Chu nodded, but didn’t want to say anything else. No one said anything for a long uncomfortable moment until Baker let out an exasperated sigh.

  “Fine. Let’s try to pick up the pieces. What do we know about Maas’s condition?”

  “Not much” Kean flipped to something else in his tablet but still didn’t look at Baker. “We know he had to be immobilized when EMS got to him. Preliminary news reports suggest paralysis, but that hasn’t been confirmed by the hospital or Mrs. Maas.”

  Baker resumed his pacing, laughing to himself. “Paralyzed? T
hat’s a shame. I’m sure Mrs. Maas will be crushed when she finds out her husband can’t express his particular brand of affection anymore.”

  Kean tried to get in on the joke. “I doubt it. This might be the best thing that could have happened to her.”

  “It is.” All at once, Baker turned to give Chu a curious look. “We might be fucked, but Maria is very lucky things turned out the way they did, isn’t she?”