Ultimatum

by Lynda Filler

  Luke was instantly alert.

  “Sying?” Luci shivered at the mention of the hideous woman who had kidnapped her child. “I thought she was in a French jail?” Luci looked at Luke.

  “I got on it immediately and learned she was released by persons unknown paying insane amounts of bribes. Intelligence has her using her Anjou passport arriving first in Shanghai and then Singapore, several days ago. After I heard this, I dug deeper. What’s even more interesting is she was seen talking with Billy Yee Lam at the rooftop bar-restaurant in Marina Bay Sands.” RB studied Luke, then Luci. He could see her mind churning and her hands in fists.

  “Who should we contact in Singapore, Luke?” RB asked.

  “I have a security team there. But loyalties are multi-layered in Singapore. Having more than one allegiance is normal. The triads are super strong. The PRC has spies everywhere. China is on the verge of an intelligence breakthrough against the US. They refuse to give up, and we think they have a relationship with ISIS as well. So, Singapore is in the middle of all of this. That’s why I have a security firm in place; but, for the most part, we don’t coordinate on missions in the US. The challenge I see is the US economy can’t handle a cyber-attack or any loss of confidence in the financial institutions by the American people. Especially after the bank bailouts.”

  They all sipped their coffee waiting for Raven to make a decision.

  “Our mission has always been to protect the United States of America against harm. Nothing has changed. Let’s catch this kid Josh, eliminate the threat in DC. We’ll put the CIA on the man in the Chinese Embassy. And head towards Singapore. Call Sikorsky and have our ride standby in Singapore. Keep listening, RB. Find out what they’re planning. Make sure all our special equipment is on board. This is one war we will not lose.”

  “Yes, sir!” They cleaned up their space, nodded to the baristas and exited Starbucks.

  “Luci, I want you in the first vehicle with me. The rest of you, take the second truck. ETA Nellis AFB in 20 minutes. There’s a prototype I helped design; they’ll let us hitch a ride and test cross-country capabilities. It will get us into Washington in less time than the drive to LA.”

  41

  Hong Kong, China

  MEI PRAYED FOR strength against her enemies. She had done what her government asked of her; she’d sent a stream of information, and now she wanted out. Would they let her go?

  Her maid helped her into her traditional Chinese clothing. Tonight, Billy was entertaining. She was unsure of the nature of this dinner, but she knew the staff had been asked to prepare a traditional meal, the best of everything that Asia had to offer, including her.

  The soreness in her body had ceased. Bruises were carefully covered with a special tinted cream she had found on her vanity table one evening. No words were mentioned, but her maid had also discreetly handed her an invisible jelly in an amber apothecary jar. Nothing was printed on the lid or the glass, no explanation; merely a slight bow, an acknowledgment woman-to-woman that this would hasten her healing.

  The sounds of the traditional music of China, played by a small ensemble of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, made her heart constrict. Unbidden thoughts of her mother powdering her face as she prepared for the stage assaulted her senses. She inhaled the remembered scent of bamboo and orchids in their family garden. And she reminisced how her mother danced to the pipes and qin, finally falling in exhaustion and joy. How she wished she had spent her teenage years learning of love from her, who shared her passionate voice with all of China.

  She fought back the tears grabbing a silken cloth to stop the mascara rivulets from coursing down her pale, chalk white cheeks.

  Mei wanted more from her life than being a concubine to China’s most dangerous underworld character.

  This was it. Mei was done. No matter the consequences, after Singapore, she would return to her family in China for good.

  42

  Las Vegas, NV

  “HOLA MOMMY. When are you coming home? Aka makes me bruth my teeth. You know Mommy, Alice no likes bruthing teeth!”

  Giggles erupted. Luci inhaled sharply. Alice was her life. Letting her out of her sight was something she vowed would never happen again. The cartels abducted Alice in Puerto Vallarta, and then Sying snatched her and flew to Paris. It was inconceivable to leave her alone with anyone. But Akaarn was not only a genius software programmer but ex-armed forces special ops guy. Raven only recruited the very best. Alice would be secure with this quiet Arizona warrior man.

  “Aka, no more!!!” Alice demanded. Luci couldn’t stop smiling. Akaarn had a way with Alice.

  “Mommy, tell Aka to thop tickling me.” More howls of joy filled the air.

  Luci watched Alice on FaceTime. Akaarn chased her like a wild woodlands creature. They both landed in a heap on the couch while the iPad bounced on its rubber corners and landed face down on the sandstone floors.

  Luci closed the screen, a smile on her face and her jade eyes misting over.

  “He’s so good with kids,” Luci sighed.

  Why couldn’t her life be different? What was the point of this silent conversation? She had chosen her life. The moment her parents were murdered by a suicide bomber in Israel, she’d dropped out of school and vowed revenge. Her aggression led her right into the arms of the Israeli Army. Mossad heard about her and took that hatred and molded her into a stone-cold killer. Black ops, with particular emphasis on assassinations, became her life.

  Now Luci had a second commitment to this project. She would help Luke and the Raven Group save the USA and by extension Israel, from its most significant threat, the Peoples’ Republic of China. And she would make sure this time that Sying was lying face down in a gutter absolutely dead.

  43

  Nellis AFB, NV

  LUCI, LUKE, AND the team stormed onto the tarmac at Nellis AFB. They were expected. Security was minimal.

  “I need warm clothes!” Luci announced.

  “Right this way ma’am.” A smart looking officer checked out Luci as she paraded through the HQ like she owned the place. Luke shot daggers at the staff studying Luci’s sleek and sexy form. The rest of the team laughed. They knew their leader well. Luke blushed, an infrequent occurrence.

  “Territorial much?” Maggie teased. Luke grinned.

  “Listen up; on the way in ten. Grab what you need from the commissary, bring something for the flight, and let’s roll.”

  Luke’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

  “Yes.” He listened intently. His eyes narrowed.

  “How do you know for sure?” Luke’s brow furrowed. “No surprise there.”

  “Navy Boy?”

  He hesitated, thinking.

  “Ok. We’ll be in Washington late afternoon. How’s the weather? I heard a blizzard’s coming.”

  The team had reassembled ready to board the jet.

  “What’s up boss?” Luci had covered her body in camo pants and parka, and somehow the effect was super sexy. Or maybe it was the black Lycra turtleneck that hugged her compact form. Or the weapons she carried strategically hidden in all the right places. Luke took his mind out of the bedroom and back to command central.

  “We have a break. We’ve got eyes on Josh!”

  44

  Somewhere in the Middle East

  “LOOK, TARIQ, we have a deal. Don’t fuck with us. Just because you think you have control doesn’t mean we can’t bomb the shit out of your camps, your tanks, and your people. We have eyes and ears everywhere. So, listen to me bud, we have an agreement, and you will keep up your end of it. If I hear any more rumors, you’re done!”

  Tariq smiled.

  “I don’t know what you’re referring to. Of course, we have a deal. And I’m doing what I was supposed to do.”

  “Well, you don’t have to take so much pleasure in the slaughter of those people. It makes us look bad. The pressure’s on to bomb your camps, cut off your supplies. And you know we can!”

  Tariq gripped the p
hone ready to spew Arabic curses at his business partner.

  “I really don’t know why you’re so upset. I will get you what you want. We will do what we promised. You and I will both be able to satisfy our needs. Chill man.”

  Tariq pulled some crumbs from his sun-bleached beard and strategically stamped his US Army combat boot on a cockroach traversing the worn wooden floor. The scar under his beard started to itch. He was losing patience with the arrogance of this infidel.

  Does he even understand the amount of power I have? With one phone call, I can activate havoc all over the world. Every so-called first world country should be shaking with fear. In every major city, in every first world country, I have teams of people waiting for a signal from me. I can tear down your cities, you ignorant piece of shit! And you threaten me?

  Tariq took a deep breath. He needed only thirty-six hours, and all this would be over.

  A voice on the other end of the phone threatened. “Don’t disappoint me.”

  The stone-cold killer listened to the American desk jockey.

  “I won’t.”

  45

  Nellis AFB, NV

  THE TEAM ASSEMBLED outside the hangar waiting impatiently to get into the air.

  “Luke. Who are we really working for?” Zach asked, but the others leaned in to hear the answer.

  “You know I can never tell you that. All I will say is there’s security in obscurity. With all the leaks in the US Intelligence community today, there has to be an all-powerful inner group to advise those who really run the government.

  There’s a place for those who will and can make the hard decisions without interference from politicians and bureaucrats. The US is so concerned about transparency, democracy, but let me tell you something. Let that first nuclear weapon hit, an all-out act of war or attack on any part of continental USA and you will see how quickly society will fall into line behind the highest level of security the world has ever known. We can’t be totally transparent. Then our enemy would be aware of where we are invincible and worse, where we are weak!

  We live in a world where honor is a foreign word and society is selfish. Money has become the god; possessions, conspicuous consumption, the haves, the have-nots. People have stopped caring about each other.

  But there will always be a few good men.

  I have dedicated my life and my fortune to keep the USA safe. And I will die doing it if it means my country and my people are secure. Let them sleep peacefully without the need to know what we know. Without the burden of comprehending how genuinely unsafe our world has become.”

  Zach stood tall. He remembered his struggles as a child, in a war zone in Beirut, his parents’ death, his mother’s look of horror as she was slain. America had saved his life, given an Israeli child a home. He was a patriot like Luke. Nothing would ever change his loyalty.

  Luke looked over his shoulder at Luci, Samaar as he called her when they made love. She felt the same way. RB and Luke, both geniuses admiring each other’s need to push that envelope; Maggie, a loner, non-conformer and a lesbian in a “don’t ask, don’t tell” military. He never once questioned their loyalty to him or their country. Their passion burned.

  They were like King Arthur’s original knights. They operated outside the boundaries of any government oversight in any part of the world.

  They did what they needed to be done.

  “Are we ready?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Let’s do this!”

  46

  On the road to Washington, DC

  “YES, OF COURSE, I’m not an idiot. No one followed me from Vegas!”

  Josh shook his head in frustration. He was tired, sad, and scared. The few hours of rest he grabbed at truck stops didn’t cut it. Uppers made him jittery. He wanted this whole thing to be over.

  “I’m listening to the news. Blizzard warnings? I can’t drive this old van in that shit!”

  “Where are you?” His contact calmly queried. The van, of course, had been under surveillance since he first checked in. But why let the boy know that.

  “I’m not far. I passed Hagerstown and am on I-270. Good thing I put in GPS or I would be lost. Man, the exits, super crazy here. And so much traffic. It’s already snowing, so visibility is very low. I can barely read the signs! And I don’t have snow tires!!”

  The agent sighed; another boy genius with no life experience.

  “Look, I’m sending directions through to you. Take a screenshot in case there’s a problem with the weather and Internet is down. These will be your rendezvous coordinates. You will see a MacDonald’s. Go in. Look for a guy in a navy ski jacket, red scarf, and a Blue Jays baseball cap. He will have three hot apple pies on his tray.”

  Josh rolled his eyes at the tradecraft.

  “Asian?”

  “Of course.”

  “I thought you wanted me to show up at the Embassy.”

  “Too dangerous. We have reason to believe you are expected there.”

  Josh panicked. He looked out his slush covered window. The wipers groaned with the snow. No visibility. A car in front of him slithered and came to a stop on the shoulder. But if someone were up there flying, they’d have to give up with blizzard warnings in effect all along the Eastern Seaboard.

  “Well if someone can track me in this weather, good luck. Do you have my new vehicle and ID’s?”

  “Of course.”

  Josh sighed. This was almost over. He had his own ID and transport stashed, but he had to play the game. Getting around the Beltway would definitely be the worst part.

  “Josh.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t fuck up. Don’t try to play games with the information. Just so you know, we’ve got Cai.”

  “What the hell?”

  Dead air.

  47

  Washington, DC Area

  THE RAVEN TEAM squeezed into a Black SUV after removing toys and winter gear from the trunk. The prototype had flown high above the weather. Other than the dicey landing, they had avoided the storm. They skidded around monster snow trucks pushing slush off the tarmac and maneuvered their way out of the private airport facility.

  “Let me get the latest intel.” Luke concentrated on his cell phone.

  The team checked their weapons. More than likely the transfer would occur in public spaces. With luck, they wouldn’t have to plan an incursion or incident within the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China.

  “Yes, I’ve got it. We take both, right? Are you sure no one else will be with them?”

  Luke nodded in concentration.

  “Right. Okay. Get back to me on that.”

  “Listen up boys and girls. We have weather here. I know we should be used to it with our cabin on Whistler Mountain, but this is big city driving. No snowmobiles here. Watch for traffic, surveillance. We have a meeting point. This is certainly not what we expected. Check your iPads now. Pics are being downloaded of the truck, the contact, and the boy. By the way, we’re not the only ones that have been tracking him. He’s disguised but recognizable. Now here’s the challenge.”

  The team stretched, cracked fingers, stroked weapons, their adrenaline pumping while listening to Raven. Their jackets had FBI written on the back. Nice touch, Luci thought; should avoid any questions from the locals.

  “So, we all know what’s at stake here. Any pro that interferes is going down. Luci, do what you do best. I know you miss parkour. We’ll drop you near the dumpster in the back. You will go up here. Tricky with the ice and snow but your hi-tech boots should recognize the conditions and grip accordingly. It’s a two-story structure. See the window entrance here and here?”

  “Yes. I get in here, on the mezzanine level. I like that; getting rusty in the desert, too flat for me.” Everyone laughed.

  “RB, eyes on the comms. We’ve moved our satellite over to check for weapons in the immediate area. That should tell us if it’s a simple meeting or others are involved. Intel will be online in a minute.
”

  “Boss, what if the kid does something stupid?”

  “We go into low-tech mode and Taser.”

  “And interference from outside? What if it’s our people?”

  “Maggie, I can assure you that any interference of a professional kind is definitely not our people. There might be a few things I have left out. Let’s just say…”

  “Boss! Look at this!” RB raised his iPad. “I count four armed bystanders. When I say armed, I mean flash bangs as well as handguns. And I spot some serious hardware in their vehicles.”

  “As I was about to say, we may have a rogue CIA group. They’re after the funds from the El Guapo cartel. They were supposed to get fifty million dollars transferred from the sale of drugs and arms to the cartel; it’s complicated. We’ve been working on this since the President of Mexico sent the drone into Manzanillo. That money, plus all the connecting accounts offshore, is rumored to be in the multi-billion-dollar range. It’s accessible with the codes Josh has. He has the missing link, but he has no idea what’s at stake here.”

  “I’m still thinking ten billion dollars, Luke. That’s a lot of bonus money for us!” Team tension deflated with laughter all around.

  “Yeah, well, this is only a small part of the money picture. The rest is in Singapore. You two neutralize the watchers, quiet and clean; civilians are inside, but the storm has kept most people away. We need to get the drives from the kid, secure the critical intel.

  RB, you will lead with Josh. Show him what I received on my iPad. We have an ambulance on the side street that will take over when we neutralize the contact. Let’s rock and roll.”