by Jack July
“I want to go home,” said Kristy.
“And that’s exactly where you are going. What do you say we clean you up and get you some new clothes so you look nice?”
Cai opened the car door when he heard the sirens. He looked at Kristy and said, “Oh no, I’m afraid someone else wants to take you. They are not nice either. Come, follow me.”
He opened the trunk where there was a blanket. He picked her up and sat her down inside it, then put a cartoonish look on his face, “Hurry up, hide. When we get past the bad guys I will stop and you can ride up front with me, okay?”
Kristy nodded and lay down. Cai jumped in the car and headed for the front gate to find it blocked by local police. He stopped and politely presented his diplomat ID. They stepped aside and he drove on.
Aida breathed a sigh of relief as she walked back toward the ship. A crewmember standing by the bow yelled for her. . She followed him to the other side of a container. He smiled and said, “Señor Reyes has a message for you.”
He handed her a piece of paper. When she looked down to read it he pulled a large wrench from his back pocket and shattered her skull. He wrapped a heavy piece of chain tightly around her waist, rolled her off the pier into the water and went back to work.
Danny reported to Tatiana, “We have her T, she’s just been put in the trunk of a small blue car and is being driven to the gate. It seems to be blocked by local police.”
“Okay, make sure they hold him,”
Danny turned to Edie and said, “Contact the police and make sure they hold him.”
“I’m trying but I’m not getting anyone,” said Edie.
Danny and Edie watched the drone feed as Long Cai drove through the gate and away from the police. “OH SHIT!” Danny yelled, “T, he got through the police and he’s driving away.”
“HOW IN THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!” screamed Tatiana.
“Diplomat ID,” said Elle.
“Okay, keep the drone on him. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” said T.
The telemetry on the drone feed started flashing. Danny looked up and said, “What the... oh no. T, the drone is low on fuel; they’re breaking off surveillance.”
“THE FUCK THEY ARE, TELL THEM TO FLY IT TILL IT CRASHES!” Tatiana yelled into the headset.
Edie looked at Danny and said, “That drone is controlled by the German Military. They don’t listen to me; they need orders from above. We can’t stop it.”
“Negative T, we can’t stop the drone from leaving station,” said Danny.
Tatiana looked at Elle and shook her head. “Danny, get picture of that car circulated. Let them know Long Cai is probably headed for Berlin. I’m going have a little chat with the captain.”
“Roger that T.”
November 27th 10:30 A.M., The White House
“What do you mean they LOST HER?” said an increasingly upset President.
“We had her and the car she was in on drone camera when the drone ran out of fuel,” said Director Dotson.
The President bowed her head, removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “Ma’am, the whole country of Germany is looking for them. They have a description of the car, and there is no way he will escape.”
“Tim, you get that little girl back, I don’t care how you do it, get her back.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Tim turned to leave when Grant Engel, Secretary of Defense, walked in. Tim passed Grant on the way out and gave him the ‘she’s pissed’ look.
“Ma’am.
“What do you need Grant.”
He sat a piece of paper down on her desk, “ma’am, you can’t do this.”
“I sure can. Now execute the order.”
“Ma’am, it’s beyond what we should do.”
“Was she on the ship Grant?”
“Yes, ma’am, but..”
“Was Kristy Wilson ON THAT SHIP?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The President turned her chair and stared out the window. She allowed herself to relax so she could make the decision in a good frame of mind. She turned back to Grant, stood up and said, “Grant, you’re a good friend and a good man. But we are going different directions when it comes to the security of this nation. I would like your resignation on my desk in the next half hour.”
“Ma’am I…”
“I’m sorry Grant, you’re fired.”
She walked around the desk and gave him a hug before sending him out of the door. The President hit a button on the phone, “Stevie, get David Gist in my office, now.”
Steven Collier, the President’s chief of staff, said, “The commandant of the Marine Corps?”
“DO YOU KNOW ANOTHER ONE!?” The President nearly shouted.
Stevie jumped up from his desk and said, “No ma’am, I’m on it.”
CHAPTER 43
November 27th 10:15 A.M.
Cai drove for about 15 minutes and, after taking a few turns down a rural road, came to an old barn. He pulled in through the open door and parked. He lifted the trunk and smiled when Kristy looked up at him. “Are you okay?” Cai asked, feigning concern.
Kristy nodded and Cai helped her out of the trunk, knelt down so he could look her in the eye and asked, “Are you thirsty?”
Kristy nodded her head. Cai opened the door to the utility van parked next to the Ford, reached in a cooler and pulled out a small bottle of fruit punch. “Here you go. I brought you some juice. Are you hungry? I have some Chips, crackers and cookies. Anything you want.”
Kristy shook her head. She wasn’t hungry because Louis let her snack on the ship.
“Why don’t you sit here a minute, drink your juice and rest.” He pointed to an upside down plastic bucket, and she sat.
Cai was moving things around in the van as Kristy started feeling really tired. Cai saw her start to wobble and just managed to catch her before she passed out. She was drugged yet again. Cai picked her up, gently placed her in a concealed compartment in the floor of the van and closed the lid. He changed into movers’ coveralls, started the van and continued his journey on the back roads of Lower Saxony heading east to Berlin.
By the time Tatiana and Elle arrived four helicopters were circling the ship. Rocky shook his head and said, “Damn T, we need air traffic control.”
“Set us down,” said T.
“Where?” asked Rocky.
“On the dock next to the ship.”
“T, there’s no room to land.”
“DO NOT PISS ME OFF,” growled T.
Rocky shrugged his shoulders, “Okay, here goes.” He kicked the tail up on the military version of the Bell 407 and power-dived toward the dock. Elle grabbed the sides of the seat and sucked in a quick breath.
Rocky smoothly dove under the extended crane, over a stack of containers and set it down next to the bow. “See, I knew you could do it. Let’s go Elle.”
Tatiana and Elle showed their IDs to the BND agent in charge and went up the gangplank, up the ladders then onto the bridge. Sanjay and Galeno sat on the floor cuffed. “Everybody out,” Tatiana commanded.
“Captain Sanjay is it?”
The captain nodded his head yes.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me where Kristy Wilson is, can you?”
“No, she left with Mr. Lew 30 minutes ago. They told me nothing; I didn’t even know who she was or why she was here. I was following orders from the cartel.”
“Which cartel?”
“Quiet.” said Galeno in Spanish.
“That’s right, you don’t know who I am do you?” Tatiana watched Elle carefully out of the corner of her eye, wanting to gauge her reaction. “Let me help you understand.” T flipped open her folding knife, grabbed Galeno by the hair and cut his throat. Sanjay let out a small scream while Elle stood stoic, other than a quick eyebrow rais
e.
“Now that I have your attention, where the fuck is she?”
The captain was nearly in tears when he said, “I don’t know I swear on the name of Mother Mary, I don’t know.”
“We’ll see about that. Elle, hand me my bag.”
Then Tatiana’s phone rang.
“T, it’s Dotson. Let them go. Let the ship go. Get the hell off of there and go find Kristy Wilson. They don’t know where she is. You’re wasting time.”
“Are you... what? LET THEM GO?”
“Orders of the President. Get your ass off that ship now.”
Tatiana hung up without answering. “It’s your lucky day Captain. Let’s go Elle.”
“What?” said a surprised Elle.
“President’s orders. I don’t know what the fuck those people are thinking.”
They made there way back to the helicopter, jumped in and Tatiana said, “Rocky, back to the compound.”
November 27th 11:00 A.M.
Edie sat studying a report in German. She looked up at Danny and said, “The Chinese government or businesses own 644 properties in Germany. 219 of them in and around Berlin.”
Danny shook his head and said, “That’s just too many to search. How many are pre-war or built during the war.”
“That will take a deed search.”
“How long will that take?”
“Hopefully only a couple of hours.”
“We may only have a couple of hours.”
Danny called back to Langley for a list of Long Cho’s business affiliations. Danny looked over at Edie and said “Cho is not listed as the owner of Long Phat Aviation.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not.”
“True, maybe we can check the board of directors.”
Edie hit a few keys and said, “Lew Hong, same name as some of the 200K transfers. Long Cai on a board of directors?”
“His profile shows him to be highly intelligent.”
“Do you think he is working alone?”
“You know as well as I do, to keep a secret like this for this long is nearly impossible. But, you never know.”
Edie sighed and said “Okay, lets keep digging.”
Commandant David Gist walked smartly into the Presidents office. His uniform sparkled. He was black as night, stood six feet tall, and his voice made James Earl Jones sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks. At 48 years of age, he was a physical specimen who could outperform men twenty-five years his junior. He began his career as an enlisted man and climbed the ranks the hard way, by results on the battlefield.
“Commandant Gist reporting as ordered ma’am.”
“At ease. Can I call you David?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
President North took the direct route with a direct man and said, “Good. David, I just fired Grant Engel and I need a new Secretary of Defense, would you like the job?”
He paused for a moment and produced the standard answer, “ma’am, I serve at the pleasure of the President.”
“That’s nice. David here’s the thing. The world is getting pretty intense and it’s only going to get more so. I fired a bureaucrat and I need a warrior. Can you work with me or not? No is an acceptable answer.”
“Ma’am, I would be proud to work with you.”
“Good, I’ll leave it up to you to appoint the next Commandant. In fifteen minutes you will have a meeting with Tim and Sec State. They will read you in on what’s going on. Before that I need you to make this happen.” The President picked up the piece of paper that Grant Engel left on her desk and handed it to the new Sec Def. He studied it for a moment and said, “Yes, ma’am.
CHAPTER 44
November 27th 11:30 A.M.
Long Cai was getting comfortable with the thought that he was home free. A little over an hour into his journey, he pulled the van over and began his customary ritual. He pulled out a little baggie of meth and dumped some on a small mirror. He carefully chopped and then artfully laid out two perfect lines. He put the rolled up American dollar bill to his nose and snorted a line in each nostril. The familiar burn made his eyes water and his body tremble from the pain. He then took a small nasal spray bottle of saline solution and sprayed twice in each nostril. Minutes later, the drug released from his sinuses and fell down the back of his throat. He felt his heart bang and his eyes opened wide. Then he reached in the cooler for a beer, opened it and took a nice long drink. The flavors of the beer mixed with the drug made him smile and caused his body to react. He turned and looked over his shoulder at the compartment where Kristy lay, then reached between his legs and rubbed his erection through his pants. He wanted her right then, but he would wait. After all, he had his fans to please.
Captain Sanjay could not believe what was happening. First he watched the helicopters fly away. German Coast Guard boats turned and left. The BND agents packed up their equipment got in their vehicles and drove away and then the police cars left. This happened all within the space of an hour. Nobody said anything else to him. Finally he looked around and saw he was free to go. He didn’t wait for them to change their minds. He immediately gave the order to set sail for the coast of Africa; he would make port in Senegal and sell his cargo there.
November 27th 11:45 A.M.
T and Elle walked back into the communications room. T sat down and said, “Okay, what do we have?”
Danny said, “We are trying to find a building where that valve could be located. We are separating the Chinese owned buildings by industrial and residential, pre- and post-war. It would have to be pre-war industrial.”
“Okay, what then?”
“Then we have to take the list Atila gave us and see what those buildings were being used for. That should give you a few places to search.”
“How long before we get that information?”
“Probably a couple of hours.”
“How about matching the addresses with the names on utility bills?” asked Elle.
Edie spoke up and said, “The BND did that, nothing stood out. Fake names.”
“We don’t have that much time. How many buildings are we talking about?”
“Two hundred and nineteen.”
“Elle, Cody, grab your stuff. Danny, find out where the prostitutes and drug dealers hang out. Give me addresses close to there and give me a picture of Long Cai.”
Danny handed her a picture off the pile and said, “Be careful.”
Tatiana looked at Edie then back at Danny and said, “Yeah, you too.”
“What?” said Danny. Edie pretended not to hear it.
T and Elle were giggling as they walked out of the room.
They walked down the long corridor when T looked over at Elle and said, “Sometimes this is what it comes down to, old fashion detective work. Running the streets. It’s the most dangerous part of the job because you don’t get to plan what’s going to happen; you react to what’s happening to you. Keep your eyes open and don’t let your guard down.”
Elle nodded and proceeded with weapons checks as they neared the exit.
CHAPTER 45
November 27th 12:30 P.M.
T said, “This looks good, let us out here,”
T and Elle got out of the car. Their jackets were light considering the thirty-eight degree weather. But as T explained, a little discomfort is better than not being able to reach your weapon. They showed Cai’s picture to the day walkers, who were standing in the warmth of building doorways. Then they arrived at a building on the list, but it had been converted into a taxi depot so they continued on.
They approached more ladies showing Cai’s picture. Then Tatiana said, “Are you seeing it?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“Two behind us, two across the street.”
“Very good. Are they pros?’
“No, they’re worse than Danny.”
“Excellent, let’s find a place to do business.”
They cut diagonally back across the street to be going the other way forcing the men who had been tailing them to come together. They ducked into a dark shaded alley. When they heard the steps behind them they were waiting for, they stopped, turned around, and acted lost until Tatiana made eye contact with their clumsy tails who were now back-lit against the brighter street.
She put on a big smile to go with the sultry look on her face and said in German, “Look Elle, big tough Nazi skinheads. You boys are making me wet already.”
The tattooed, leather clad men stopped, looked at each other and then smiled a smile that told T the fools thought they were going to get lucky. Her next thought was about lambs to the slaughter.
Then Elle spoke up, saying to Tatiana, “I like smart men. Which is the smartest?”
T looked at the skinheads and spoke in German again, “My American friend said she will only fuck the smartest. Which of you is it?”
Three of them looked to the man standing on the left. He also seemed a bit bigger. How Nietzsche, T thought, and so much easier. She whispered to Elle in English, “In three.”
Effortlessly switching back to German, T took a step forward and looked directly at the leader. “I think I will try you first.”
The leader straightened up as T pointed at him. “You second,” she pointed to another. She paused and crossed her arms across her chest as if in thought. Her gun hand slipped under her open jacket and found the butt of her SIG. She fluidly drew the weapon from concealment and aimed. “And you are third!”
In the span of less than a heartbeat, she and Elle dropped the three henchmen with well placed silenced rounds to hearts and heads.
Elle held the barrel of the .380 to her lips and blew the smoke away like an old gunfighter. The leader, eyes wide and mouth agape, started to turn, but T said in German, “No, you don’t want to run, you’ll just die tired.” He froze.
Elle took out Cai’s picture and T asked, “Have you seen this man?”