“What does this mean for Newbury?” Rodriguez asked.
“Frankly, I’m not sure. I was never a hundred percent convinced he fit the profile of a top-level Chinese spy,” John said. “More importantly, he was never privy to any high-level meetings. He spent most of his time sick in the hospital with Dr. Coffee, for goodness’ sake, biding his time till he risked heading back out to search for his family.”
“So his story about going to the bathroom in the woods…”
“Might have been the truth. He did have cholera at one point, don’t forget. And no matter how hard we tried, we never were able to extract a confession or any actionable intelligence from the man. By the end of this, we may owe him an apology.”
“He was waterboarded, Colonel.”
John stopped, his hands balled into fists. “Don’t you think that I know that? We didn’t set out to torture an innocent man, it just happened. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we won’t know for sure until we speak with Ray.”
They reached a long corridor packed with military personnel. Among them were General Brooks and Colonel Higgs, who were about to head into the dark room to watch the interrogation through the two-way mirror. Suddenly, a seemingly inconsequential piece of the puzzle took on a whole new meaning. John remembered how vehemently Ray had objected to Huan’s torture. At the time John had attributed it to the man’s kind and somewhat naive disposition. But now he could see Ray had been trying to protect Huan, perhaps on orders from his Chinese handler.
“You’re back,” Brooks said, about to head inside.
“Yes, and I heard about Ray. Let me be the first one to speak with him.”
“John, I don’t think that’s such a great—”
“He trusts me, General. I hired him for the job. If I don’t get anywhere then by all means send in the hounds.”
Brooks glanced over at Higgs, who raised an eyebrow.
“First we’ll need to fill you in on what we know.”
“So I can speak with him?”
“You can,” Brooks replied. “But you’ll have five minutes.”
•••
Following a quick debriefing, John took a deep breath and entered the interrogation room. Inside, Ray Gruber was still in his pajamas, his hands cuffed to the arms of his chair.
The cuffs made a metallic clank as he struggled to raise himself up. “John, there’s been a terrible mistake—”
“Save the theatrics, Ray. I know everything. I’m not here to hear you plead your innocence. We’re already past that point. First thing I wanna know is why.”
Ray’s eyes fell and the seconds ticked away.
“I want a lawyer.”
John laughed. “There aren’t any lawyers anymore. Probably the best thing to come from the social breakdown. It’s just you and me, Ray. You, me and the truth.”
“We aren’t going to win this war, John,” Ray said flatly. “No matter how much I tried to lie to myself, the writing was on the wall. I was just honest enough to plan ahead.”
“For the Communist takeover?”
“You’re what they used to call a survivalist, John. You know, do whatever you must to stay alive. Well, what I did was no different.”
John leaned back in his own chair. “I always took you for a naive optimist, not a pessimist and especially not a traitor.”
“Guess it depends which end of the barrel you’re looking down. I know what goes on in those camps and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be dressed in rags with a number tattooed on my arm.”
“And what about now? You’re a tired old man in a pair of pajamas. How’d that plan work out for you, Ray?” John folded his arms. “What did they promise you?”
Ray stared down at his hands. “The one thing you couldn’t. A comfortable life once this mess was over and done with. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were before, John. Was that so wrong? Right now we’re nothing but a wounded animal that needs to be put out of its misery. It was the only humane thing to do.”
“By selling your country out to the Chinese? Geez, Ray, if you’d told me you did it for a boatload of money or a harem of young girls maybe I could see it in you.”
“It’s about being on the winning side, John. And when they finally roll in here and take everyone you’ve ever loved? What will you have then?”
“My dignity, Ray. I’ll have my dignity and the knowledge that when the going got tough, I still had my faith. It’s easy to give up. Trust me, I know. After Iraq I was three-quarters of the way there, but I didn’t check the odds, I fought back and with everything I had.”
Both men sat staring at one another.
John was the first to break the silence. “They’re gonna kill you, Ray. And it won’t be a quick one either.”
Ray winced.
“I’m not trying to scare you. I’m just shooting straight. Unless you can give me a reason to spare your life, and it better be a darn good reason, even I won’t be able to help you out of this one.”
Ray scanned the room, searching every nook and cranny, perhaps for a way out.
“Do they know?” John asked.
“Who?”
“The Chinese. Do they know you’ve been made?”
Ray shook his head.
“What about other agents?”
“In Oneida? There aren’t any.”
“You sure? What about David?”
“The kid’s innocent,” Ray said with disgust. “His only crime was pulling his pants down in the forest to do his business. People latched onto him so tight, he had me convinced I would never get caught. He was a scapegoat, nothing else.”
Another pause as John let Ray’s new reality sink in a little.
“You got some good men killed. That’s something I’ll never forgive you for. But you’ve got a chance to work for us now, Ray, and maybe, just maybe you can start making amends for what you’ve done.” John stood and walked to the door. “So, Phoenix. What’ll it be? Will you work for us now or should we start measuring the hangman’s rope?”
Ray’s eyes stayed glued to the table and suddenly John could see he was no longer looking at a captured Chinese agent, he was watching an old man who’d sold his soul to the devil, one who wasn’t sure if he would ever get it back.
Ray spoke, his voice barely a whisper. “I’m in.”
Chapter 51
“I think it’s time we set David Newbury free,” John told General Brooks and Colonel Higgs. The three men were in the dark room watching a deflated Ray Gruber through the two-way mirror.
“We’ve already seen to that,” Brooks replied. “But he can’t stay in Oneida, not anymore. In the minds of a lot of folks here, he’s still guilty.”
“We sure did jump to conclusions,” John admitted. “We learned an important lesson here. Knowing there’s a mole in your midst has a nasty habit of making the best of us paranoid. I’m just sorry David had to be the one to suffer for that.”
General Brooks opened a file and tossed it on the table in front of John.
“What’s this?”
“A report from the front lines,” Higgs informed him. “Seems the Chinese have redeployed a sizeable portion of their forces to meet the NATO threat from the north.”
“So Ray already sent it in?”
Brooks flipped the page. “He did, along with info on the planned mission to blow up a trainload of supplies that never existed.”
“I had a feeling,” John said, unable to stop seeing the faces of the three men he’d just lost. “I guess that’s what counter-espionage is all about, right? Lie to your friends and hope the information somehow makes its way back to the enemy.”
Brooks handed John another folder, this one with the words TOP SECRET stamped across the top in red letters. Inside was the outline for an operation called Anvil. It looked like a full-out assault on the Chinese forces camped along the foothills of the Appalachians. Listed among the American and allied forces were ten divisions of NATO troops. But they we
ren’t coming in from the north, as the Chinese believed. The landing in Halifax had been one of those little fibs John had alluded to earlier. It wasn’t a complete lie, of course. A single division had come ashore and was pushing south. The Chinese had to believe some sort of relief force had arrived. The main landing, however, had come through the port of Norfolk nearly a week ago, and most of the men and materiel were being sent to reinforce the American center in preparation for the main thrust.
John shook his head.
Both General Brooks and Higgs looked on in surprise.
“You finally got your offensive, John.” Brooks paused. “I thought you’d be more pleased.”
“The Chinese are dug in all along the line,” John told them. “There’s too much that can go wrong launching a frontal attack.”
“Yes, but our side’s been stockpiling ammunition and fuel for one giant push,” Brooks countered.
“I’m sure they have, and so did Hitler in the winter of 1944 when he threw everything he had against the Allies. As you surely know, they had limited fuel for their Panzers, which meant that if the Germans didn’t seize fuel depots soon enough, the entire advance would grind to a halt.”
“We don’t need another history lesson, John,” Brooks shot back. “I’m showing you this plan out of courtesy, not to get your okay.”
“I appreciate that, General. I just think there’s a better way.”
Brooks sighed and grabbed the folder back.
“It can’t hurt to hear him out,” Higgs said.
Brooks was seated now, looking like a child who hadn’t gotten his way.
“Those who fail to learn from history…” John began.
“Are bound to repeat it,” Brooks said impatiently. “Yes, we know. What is your suggestion?”
John glanced through the two-way mirror at Ray Gruber. “I say we used the one asset the Chinese will never suspect. First we get Phoenix to feed the enemy false intel that our troops are starving and deserting every day by the thousands and that our center line is on the verge of collapse. With the threat of a large NATO relief army bearing down on them from the North, the Chinese supreme commander might realize it’s now or never and throw everything he has right at the American center. Then we do to the Chinese what the Carthaginians under Hannibal did to the Romans at the battle of Cannae.”
“We pull our men back in the center, feigning a rout,” Higgs said.
“Precisely. We draw the Chinese in until they’re fully committed and then we swing our flanks in and snap the trap shut.” John pushed his hands out and then clapped them together to emphasise his point.
“But what about the NATO forces?” Brooks asked, perking up in his chair.
“When the Chinese realize they’re being surrounded,” John told them, “that’s when NATO pushes up through the center and annihilates what’s trapped in the pocket.”
“Well, I’ll run it by General Dempsey, Colonel Mack, but I can’t promise you he’ll go for it.”
“Then tell him it was your idea.”
Brooks looked up, surprised. “It’s your plan,” the general said. “You deserve the credit or the reproach.”
“I don’t care for either one,” John replied without flinching. “If I had it my way, I’d be back at my cabin, clearing a patch of land so I could start growing some simple crops.”
Colonel Higgs smiled. “You’re the last of a dying breed, John. A true citizen soldier.”
Higgs was talking about the tradition during the Roman Republic of soldiers who would hang up their weapons and armor after the conclusion of a campaign in order to return to the family farm.
From inside the interrogation room, Ray began calling John’s name.
“John, if you can hear me, there’s something important you might wanna know. It’s about Brandon.”
Chapter 52
“Tell me you know where he is,” John said, slamming the interrogation room door behind him.
Ray sat up straight. The man’s face was flat, as though he no longer felt the need to lay on the charm.
“Of course I know,” he replied, his cuffs rattling against the arms of the chair. “His unit’s been moved to Jamestown.”
John’s brow furrowed. “Tennessee?”
Ray nodded. “That’s right. All you need to do is head through the Scott State Forest. But I’m not the only one who knows, John. You and your Rough Riders have become something of an itch in the Communists’ backside. A Chinese special ops team’s been tasked with taking you and your men out.”
“The ambush near Lenoir City,” John said. “That was them.”
“They wanted me to handle it myself, but I told them getting close to you wasn’t so easy.”
“You lied.”
Ray frowned. “You may not think much of me, John, but I also have my limits. Although I’ll admit those limits didn’t involve withholding from the Chinese that Brandon was your son.”
“My son? You told them that? But it isn’t true.”
“Sure it is, John. Diane might not have given birth to the kid, but you’ve treated him like a son since I’ve known you. Gregory felt it too. Why do you think he was so desperate to make you proud of him?”
“I don’t need a lecture from you.”
“No, you don’t. And mainly because you don’t have time. That special ops team is under a man named Zhang Shuhong, one of the most ruthless commanders they’ve got. He and his team are heading for Jamestown as we speak. I handed you to them on a silver platter and they failed, so now it seems the plan is to lure you out into the open by threatening the life of someone you love.”
“Why are you telling me this? So you can spring another trap?”
“No, John. To show you that I can be trusted.”
•••
As soon as John left he was intercepted by General Brooks.
“The new battle plan is a go, Colonel Mack.”
“You pitched it to General Dempsey?”
“I did and he loved it. Although I decided to follow your advice and claim the idea as my own.
John grinned.
“But there’s a catch.”
“Isn’t there always.”
“All available forces in Oneida have been redeployed to a town near the Appalachians called Colonial Heights. It overlooks the junction of Interstates 81 and 26. And it’ll be our job to ensure the trap we’ve set stays closed. That means stopping any Chinese troops attempting to flee. So start getting your forces together. Whatever militia Oneida can spare will need to head out by first light.” General Brooks collected the files on the desk. “I heard your conversation with Gruber, John. I’m sorry, but there isn’t time for a mission to save Brandon right now.”
“But General—”
“That’s an order.”
John gritted his teeth. “Yes, sir.”
By the time John left the jail, the crowd out front had largely dissipated. Already preparations to move out were underway as Humvees sped through the cleared back streets, some towing 155mm artillery pieces.
Back at the radio room, he caught up with Henry.
“I need you to reach out to your contacts in the resistance,” John told him. “Something big is going down. I want ambushes set up along every major highway and interstate heading east. At some point within the next twenty-four hours the Chinese are gonna try to send reinforcements to the front. We can’t allow that to happen.”
Henry’s eyes were wide.
John turned to leave.
“Where are you going?”
John paused without looking back. “To save one of my sons.”
•••
Not long after, John secretly set out with the rest of Alpha squad, heading for Jamestown. In the earliest days of the struggle, the town had been one of the first liberated from the Russian fifth columnists sent to take over. Then the Chinese had showed up, causing many of the folks to flee, heading through the Scott State Forest to join those already in Oneida.
&nbs
p; For once, John’s plan was simple. He didn’t have one. The group of eight men—Heller would have made nine—made quick progress on horseback through the narrow forest trails. He supposed for disobeying a direct order, he risked court martial and maybe even execution, but it was a risk worth taking. The men accompanying him didn’t know any better, but that would only help to solidify their innocence.
A sparse collection of small homes on big plots of land signaled the outskirts of Jamestown. These would help to provide some cover for John and his men as they drew closer to the military barracks located further into town. With little to no intel, they would need to hunker down somewhere with a good vantage point and observe the comings and goings.
An abandoned barn nearby offered as good a place as any to keep the horses. The rest of their weapons, along with the M30 mortar and the M249 wielded by Benson, would be carried on their backs the old-fashioned way. As had become the norm, Reese split from the group, heading south to do some reconnaissance, armed this time with the suppressed Remington 700.
The truth of the matter was, they hadn’t come here with the sole aim of freeing Brandon. He was only one of several Americans press-ganged into serving in the Chinese army. Chances were good that each of them had been told if they failed to perform, their family members back at camp would be executed on the spot. As the special forces commander seemed to understand well enough, if you wanted to manipulate the man, your best bet was to threaten his family.
The remaining seven men from Alpha broke into two teams. One team of three—John, Moss and Benson—would make their way onto a nearby rooftop and try to identify which building was being used as the barracks. The final team of four would carry the mortar and head north.
Moss pointed to a cell tower. “If you can handle heights, that’s probably our best bet.”
They made their way up the tower, leaving Benson and his M249 at the base pulling security. Near the top, John felt a strong wind trying to push him over. He held on with one hand and brought his binoculars up with the other.
Last Stand: Turning the Tide (Book 4) Page 17