“We need to secure the prototype as well as the plans. What of the girl’s parents?” General James asked.
“We are monitoring them, James,” General Carter said. “But they are a risk factor. As we speak, the father has made plans to hand over everything in exchange for the girl.”
It was a decision he could not understand. In his book, the security and welfare of his country came first, over and above family. With that technology in the hands of hostile forces, whether other countries, terrorist groups or criminal gangs, then their defense system could easily be compromised. They would be left open in the event of an attack. It was an untenable situation.
“That cannot be allowed to happen,” Admiral Hanson said in a voice that brooked no argument.
No one seemed inclined to argue with him as everyone nodded in agreement.
“I know, which is why I’ve called Jade in.”
“Jade Han?” General Dakota asked, sitting up even straighter than he already was.
“Well, can you think of anyone better suited, Fabian?” General Carter asked with a wry smile.
“So we know for certain that the Chinese are behind this?” General James asked.
“Ninety percent certain.”
“Then Jade is the best person for this,” General Dakota said.
General Carter kept his face blank, but he knew that Fabian Dakota had more than a passing acquaintance with the woman in question. He pressed the intercom in front of him and spoke into it.
“We’re ready for Ms. Han now.”
*
Jade walked into the office, her stride confident and bold. She felt the eyes of the men seated around the conference table and met their gazes boldly.
“Ms. Han, glad you could make it,” General Carter said, getting to his feet. The other men joined him.
“I got the impression that this was an order, General,” she said, shaking his hand briskly.
He gave a brief smile. “You know we are always happy to have you here, Jade.”
Jade did not return his smile. She was here for business and when she saw all the vice chiefs of staff standing around the table, she knew it was serious business.
“Gentlemen, this is Jade Han,” General Carter said, introducing her to the other men as well.
Jade shook their hands one after the other, holding their gazes. When she got to General Dakota, she smiled.
“Good to see you, Fabian,” she said, truly meaning it.
They went back a long way and had once had a brief affair. That was after he lost his first wife. He had wanted to make things between them permanent, but Jade had been young and at that time, she did not do permanent and so she’d broken things off. Come to think of it, she still didn’t do permanent, which was why she preferred to work solo.
“We called you here because there is a looming emergency in D.C.,” General Carter said once they were seated. He proceeded to bring her up to speed on the situation.
She listened in silence to everything. It should have been a simple assignment but for two elements. First, the possibility that the Chinese government might be involved. And second, the girl’s parents. They were an unpredictable factor and a dangerous one at that.
“The details are all in there.” A file was passed on to her.
She opened the file and found herself staring at the face of a young girl. There was something about the girl’s eyes that drew her to the picture.
“That is Kendra, the girl we had in protective custody.”
“You took this girl away from her parents so that her father could work on research for you?” She spoke without taking her eyes off the file, but she felt the change in the room.
“We did what had to be done, for the sake of our country,” one of the men said.
Jade finally put the picture away. She speed-read the report that was on the file then moved on to the next page, which was picture of the parents of the girl. She looked at the father’s face and there was something familiar about him. She turned the page and read the profiles of the parents. It was as she suspected, they could either be her greatest help or her greatest stumbling block.
“Can you handle this, Ms. Han?”
She looked at the admiral for a moment then gazed down at the file.
“Let’s hope I can, Admiral. We wouldn’t want the government’s fingerprints smeared all over this.”
She picked up the file and got to her feet.
“All the resources you need are at your disposal. We would prefer that there be no collateral damage,” General Carter said.
She noticed the faint amusement in his eyes but just nodded.
“Don’t fail us, Han,” General James said.
Jade nodded once again then turned and left.
*
General Carter stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows in his office, not particularly seeing anything. It was almost noon. The meeting had run through the morning, but he was fairly confident that they would get both the prototype and the girl back without any harm coming to either.
He thought about the parents of the girl. He knew them very well and knew they were not going to leave any stone unturned in getting their daughter back. It was what he’d counted on right from the beginning. He had foreseen a situation such as this. It had been a perfect way to kill two birds with a single stone, now he wasn’t so sure.
The fact that the duo was emotionally involved had always been a risk factor. It was an irony that the very thing he was depending on to ensure that everything went according to plan was also the main risk factor, which was why Jade was necessary. He had confidence in her, but just in case anything went wrong, he had a backup for the backup. When it was time for the presentation at the convention, the prototype as well as the plans had to be there. That was what really mattered.
Chapter Eight
Saturday, 5:00 p.m., Chinatown, New York City.
The girl sat huddled in a corner. She glanced around her, noting the dark interior of the office. It was not that there was no light in the room, but all the furnishings were dark and the furniture was a really dark grey, casting a gloomy shadow on the room. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as she cast furtive glances at the men in the room. They stood silently, watching the man sitting behind the large table. His hair was all grey and he had a fatherly look about him, but his eyes made her shiver even more. They reminded her of a predator snake she’d seen in one of those nature shows she used to watch with Alma and Dick.
She shut her eyes tight as she thought about them and felt the deep ache in her chest. She did not want to think about Alma and Dick. She was not going to think about their lifeless bodies covered in blood. She was not! But she was thinking about it and she could feel the bile rise up in her throat, threatening to come out. She opened her eyes and blinked hard.
I can’t freak out here. Mom and Dad will come for me. They will!
But she didn’t really believe that. Not anymore. She had spent several years waiting, hoping that they would finally come for her, but they hadn’t. They had probably forgotten about her. But she had not forgotten. She would never forget. She tried to pull their faces from her memory but the images were blurry and faint.
No, I have to try again, she thought fiercely. I can’t forget. I can’t!
Her eyes stung with unshed tears as she tried again to pull up the image of her dad. She remembered that he was tall and he had blue eyes, much like hers. Other than that, she could not make out much again. She began to panic.
But Mom, I still remember her, right?
She thought of her mother, and what she remembered was the feel of her arms around her in a warm hug. Her mom always smelled so nice. She had nice green eyes like the mint-colored gerbera daisies Alma liked to place on the dining table. And her hair…that was red, right? Or was it blonde? She could not remember.
She quickly shut her eyes again as two tear drops escaped and slid down her face. She brushed them off impatiently. It was
clear that no one was coming for her. And she was done with waiting. It was time she found a way to escape from the nightmare that had become her life.
Just then the doors opened and a man walked in. Behind him were four other men. He walked straight to the old man and bowed low before him.
“Father, we apologize for keeping you waiting,” he said, still keeping his head bowed.
“Peng Ho, nǐ hǎo ma?” the older man said, asking how the other man was. His voice was gravelly and he spoke slowly.
Hearing the words in Mandarin, Kendra’s head perked up in interest. Then she shrunk back again. Alma and Dick Cutts had spoken Mandarin at home and she’d learned to speak fluently as well. But it was best if no one here knew that she could understand what they were saying. There was no use drawing attention to herself.
“Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?” the man called Peng Ho replied the greeting before straightening up.
They continued the conversation in Mandarin.
“We need to know about the parcel,” the older man said. “Do you have it?”
“No, Father. But we have secured it.”
Kendra felt their eyes on her and knew that they were speaking about her, even though she didn’t know exactly what they meant.
“You mean the girl?” the older man said, confirming her suspicion.
“Yes. Nothing can go wrong.”
“You are foolish,” the man said in quiet voice. “You talk nonsense in eight directions. You think the girl’s parents will not do anything to get her back?”
At that, Kendra held her breath. Her parents? She listened keenly to every word that was said after that.
“We have taken care of that, Father,” Peng Ho replied. “They will deliver the parcel in exchange for the girl.”
Her heart began to beat rapidly. Her parents were coming for her? She did not know what to believe. She had hoped and prayed for so long that they would come and she had believed, then a year had gone by, two years, three…and after a while she had found it difficult to hope anymore.
Suddenly she saw a pair of legs stop in front of her. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she’d missed the thread of the conversation.
“Girl, look at me,” the soft voice said in English. Although the voice was gentle, she had no doubt that it was a command.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze to find the old man standing before her.
“Can you hear me?” he asked in English.
Kendra nodded.
“Good. You will see your father and mother tomorrow. But you try anything and we kill them. You get that?”
Kendra stared at him, keeping her face blank the way she’d learned from the Cutts. She could not let them see her fear.
“Girl, you hear what I say?”
Kendra met his gaze unflinchingly. “Yes.”
He held her gaze and she refused to avert her eyes. She knew very well that meeting his gaze so boldly was an insult. Alma had taught her not to do that whenever they entertained friends from Asia. But Kendra did not care.
The old man leaned down and touched her hair. Kendra recoiled, seriously creeped out. He smiled, but there was nothing warm about his smile. It sent chills down her spine.
“Very good,” he said. Then turned and walked back to the table. “Make sure you get the parcel,” he said, switching to mandarin. “Back home, we are losing patience.”
“We will get it,” Peng Ho promised.
“You have plan?”
“We will ambush them. We will have our men stationed in strategic points. Once we’re sure they have the parcel, we’ll pick them off before they even see us coming.”
Kendra felt a chill go through her spine. They were planning on double crossing her parents? The swine! She could think of worse things to call them but she did not have the time. She had to listen to what they were saying.
“When you do, get rid of the girl,” he said.
“The girl?” She heard the slight hesitation in Peng Ho’s voice.
The old man must have heard it also because he turned piercing eyes on the other man.
“Yes. She would have made a good companion. The age is right. But keeping her is bad for business.”
A companion? Did it mean what she thought it did? She wasn’t sure, but there was a sinister ring to the words.
Kendra wrapped her arms around herself as she did her best to stop her body from trembling. She did not need anyone to tell her what get rid of the girl meant. They were going to kill her. And if they decided to spare her, it would be to condemn her to a fate worse than death. The thought of it almost made her throw up.
The old man left with some of the men who had been in the room, leaving only Peng Ho and the men he came with.
“You, girl. What is your name?” The question was asked in English.
Kendra looked up at the man who addressed her. It was the one the old man had been speaking to. Peng Ho.
“Kendra,” she replied softly.
“Good. You be good and you’ll get to see your dad and mom tomorrow,” he said, repeating what the older man had said.
Kendra looked at him without emotion. In her mind she was thinking, yeah right. She knew their plans, but she also knew that they had no idea she’d understood every word they said. She was not stupid enough to let them know that she understood Mandarin. If she could just remain quiet, maybe she could get to know everything they were planning. She had no idea if that knowledge would be useful, but Alma always said that information was power. So, yeah.
“If you try anything, we kill them. Understand?”
She nodded. “I understand.” She blinked her eyes twice, putting on an innocent and helpless look.
They seemed to have bought it because she felt some of the tension ease in the room as Peng Ho nodded in approval.
“Good girl. Now, you come with us.”
She got to her feet unsteadily. The floor tilted slightly before she got her balance. She’d had nothing to eat since the night before and the last time she checked her watch, it was past four p.m. And that was a while ago. They had taken her cell phone, but Alma and Dick had made sure she always wore a wrist watch. Even to bed, which she had found odd, but whatever.
“What is wrong with you, girl?”
“Actually, I’m hungry,” she said quietly. As if on cue, her stomach let out a growl.
Peng Ho swore in Chinese. Kendra felt her face heat up at some of the words he used. He turned to look at the men who had brought her there.
“You want to kill the merchandise before we get our hands on the goods?” he asked in rapid Chinese.
They bowed low, saying sorry several times.
Peng Ho turned to her. “We’ll get you some food. You like Chinese?”
Kendra nodded.
“Fine. Come on, let’s go.”
Kendra walked beside them. When they stepped out, she looked around. They were in Chinatown. She’d come here twice before. She hadn’t gone out much while she lived with the Cutts, but they had brought her here. She knew there was no use trying to escape while here. It would be pointless.
But she would have to escape somehow. Maybe in D.C. If her parents were really coming for her, she needed to find a way to get to them. She had no idea how that was going to happen, but she was a smart girl. She got straight A’s in school. She would figure out a way, before it was too late.
**
10:23 p.m., the safe house, somewhere outside Chicago
Rusty tapped on the keyboard. He scanned the site then switched over to another tab. It was for an underground forum that he ordinarily should not have been able to gain access to. He should not even have known it existed, but he did, thanks to the wonderful woman in his life, who was also a badass hacker. He’d used the forum to sometimes to track activities in certain locations. Particularly locations where their operators were working.
The areas he was focused on now were New York and Washington D.C. He had detected some unusual excitement centering aroun
d the D.C. area, among the underground and illegal sites. Something was going down in the capital city and he needed to find what it was.
“Hey, honey?” The enticing aroma of gourmet coffee hit him first, then the sweet smelling scent of the woman he’d given his heart to enfolded him just as she placed a cup of coffee beside him then leaned down to kiss him.
It was mean to be a quick kiss, but once his lips touched hers, he just had to savor the taste. Eventually, she drew back with a smile on her face.
“Wow, someone sure missed me,” she teased, tenderly running a hand over his head.
“You know I did,” he said, reaching for the coffee. “Is this Mrs. S’ coffee?” Mrs. S, Emily’s mom, made the best coffee ever and it would be a sin to let it get cold.
“Yep, and I was only gone for half an hour tops.”
He watched her take the seat beside him at the large desk that sat in the home office. Beneath that desk was a secret pathway that they could use if they were ever attacked. But his attention was not on the secret pathway, it was on the secret smile on the woman’s face. There was something different about her, a sort of glow. He carefully placed the coffee on the table.
“Are you pregnant?” he blurted out.
She gaped at him. “Rusty!”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m such a jerk. I didn’t mean to ask like that…what I mean to say is that it is possible, right? I mean, if we aren’t, it won’t be for lack of trying…”
Her face turned red and suddenly he lost his awkwardness. She really was cute when she was embarrassed and given that it was not a usual occurrence he didn’t feel at all guilty about enjoying himself.
“Hell, you say the damndest things sometimes,” she said with a frown. But he noticed her eyes were shining.
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