Angelo's massive frame was still shaking as he glanced down at the diminutive woman standing in front of him.
Janet stepped sideways, to separate herself from the detective.
Amanda placed her hands on Angelo's massive chest, and tried to guide him toward a nearby bench. She might as well have been trying to push an oak tree.
"Angelo, we all want answers. We all want to find these bastards. Just have a seat. We'll talk about what we know and what we're going to do," Amanda said, as she looked up at him and smiled.
Angelo took a deep breath, shuddered, and said, "Sorry . . . Malcom and I were close, best friends, not just brothers. I still can't believe he's gone."
Janet sat at her desk, opened the lower right hand drawer, and debated on whether to pull out her 9mm or a bottle of Laphroaig scotch whiskey. She pulled out two eight-ounce tumblers and poured two fingers in each.
"You're too young to drink this early," Janet said to Amanda, while walking around the desk and handing a glass to Angelo.
"Are you sure she's old enough to drink?" Angelo asked, while swirling the whiskey and taking a sip.
"As of last year, I think. She'll be getting carded until she's 40," Janet said, as she set the glass on her desk, and looked at the dislocated pinky finger on her right hand.
"Whiskey first," Angelo advised, while taking another sip.
"Good idea," Janet said, picked up her glass, downed it, and pulled the finger back into place.
"Sorry about the finger," Angelo said.
"I've had worse. My Purple Heart was from an IED. A sliver of Hummer door frame went through my right forearm. I could have used some whiskey when I pulled that out," Janet said, while returning to her chair.
"Everything we got was from video. The loading dock was covered, and parts of the hospital corridors, including the elevators," Angelo said, while sipping from his glass.
"This is a whole lot better than the stuff I drink. What is it?" Angelo asked.
"10-year-old Laphroaig scotch," Janet said, while pouring another finger into her glass.
"Funny. One of my grandfathers was Scottish. Grandpa Jack used to refer to me and my brother as smoked Scotch. He was a good man, but he could be an asshole sometimes," Angelo said, while swirling the rich liquid and breathing in the aroma.
"They left the loading dock at 0315. The fog outside was as thick as pea soup. I learned that phrase from Grandpa Jack. They left the parking lot, and turned right on North Howard and disappeared. We're still pulling video from every camera in that area," Angelo said, while draining his glass.
"Now that's the way to start your day. Your turn, Director, and don't try bullshitting me or that ambulance will stay in the fog," Angelo said, as he reached over and sat the empty glass on Janet's desk.
"Another?" Janet asked.
"No thanks. Start talking," Angelo replied, turned to Amanda and winked.
Amanda understood the game. She had played mental chess with Detective Morehead before. She just hoped that her boss remembered the story.
The whiskey was numbing the pain in Janet's hand. The dislocated finger was only part of it. She could feel something grinding in the hand as she flexed it under the desk.
"When Amanda first started working for me, I gave her an analysis to perform. We had some indications that the Chinese had manufactured more HEU than we had estimated, but we didn't have enough data to prove it. As it turned out we had enough data, we just weren't putting all the pieces together properly. Amanda reanalyzed the data and concluded that the Chinese had enough material to manufacture 40-60 more fission devices than we thought they could," Janet said.
"So, you started all this shit," Angelo said, while staring at Amanda.
"No, they started all this shit. I just figured it out," Amanda said, while returning Angelo's stare.
"Amanda told me that you figured out what was going on in San Francisco," Janet said.
"I'm from the area, I played ball at USF, my mom still lives there . . ." Angelo said, then paused, as he remembered the look on his mother's face when he had Skyped her and told her what had happened to her youngest child.
"I knew it was something serious. I've got connections in the SFPD. I knew the chemical hazard story at a Chinese restaurant was bull. The federal reaction was too strong. It stopped just short of martial law. The Feds wouldn't do that unless it was something big. I figured it was a dirty bomb, but then I heard that the response was quietly expanding to the whole West Coast. Then our Chinese Special Forces boy showed up at Inova and tapped a bunch of folks. Then your girl comes and talks to me. Then the Feds pull a mini-San Francisco shutdown at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. Then it all went away. The only thing left was our friend under guard while recovering from getting his ass shot up by Amanda's boyfriend," Angelo said.
"He is not, and never has been, my boyfriend," Amanda protested.
"That's not what I heard from our SWAT Team. I heard he was ready to put down the Chinese agent in that restaurant, until you talked him down. As I remember, he was married to one of the nurses who were murdered at Inova. I'd have shot the son of a bitch myself, if I was him," Angelo said.
"All I did was keep him from committing suicide. Your team would have killed him if he fired again. I was standing right beside him," Amanda said, as a memory of the event flashed through her mind.
"Still, it takes a pretty strong connection to stop that much anger," Angelo said.
"Kind of like the mood you were in when you walked in here," Amanda replied.
"Yeah, I get it. I bet the guy's big, a hardass like me. It's a Beauty and the Beast thing. I had to take my girls to that damn movie three times. They just loved it. They were calling me 'Daddy Beast' for weeks," Angelo said.
"So what's your 'not the boyfriend' up to? Have you recruited him as part of this crew?" Angelo asked.
"No, he's moved on. The Army transferred him. He's down at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina," Amanda said.
"So, did you find all the nukes?" Angelo asked.
"That's classified!" Janet said.
"The fog's getting thicker in here," Angelo replied.
Janet considered her options, and then said, "As I said earlier, the President and the General Secretary of the PRC reached an agreement on this matter. China provided a detailed list of the devices and their locations. We were able to retrieve all of the devices."
"You're good, very good. You don't have a 'tell'. I'd hate to play poker with you. But her, she fidgets and looks down when she's telling a lie, or, in this case, when she hears one," Angelo said, while glancing over at Amanda.
"You're short one, maybe more," Angelo said, locking eyes with Janet.
"Just one. It was located just outside Fort Benning, in Georgia. We're still trying to figure out how that happened. If we find out that the Chinese government notified one of Kung's agents inside the US, there's going to be a serious problem," Janet said, and gave Angelo a look that told him that he was pushing his luck.
"So why bust our boy out of the hospital? Why take the risk?" Angelo asked.
"That's a damn good question," Janet said.
CHAPTER 10
230 Harlless Bridge Road
Little Rock, South Carolina, USA
April 30, 2017
0930 hours EST
"Good morning, Aiguo. How did you sleep?" Lingli asked.
"Fine, but I need to get out of this bed. My body is turning to butter," Aiguo said.
"She is beautiful. She reminds me of Meili," Aiguo thought, as the doctor began removing bandages from the right side of his chest.
"This has healed sufficiently. It needs to be exposed to the air. We'll start stretching exercises tomorrow. At first it will hurt to move, and you will have little strength," Lingli said.
"How about my leg? When can the rods be removed? I need to get back on my feet," Aiguo said.
"The surgeons did a fine job repairing the femur. My x-rays show perfect alignment. The procedure was unu
sual in that it was a combination surgery. The bullet cracked the femur and left one large fragment. They aligned the bones and attached the large fragment with a small plate and screws. Then they used external fixation to lock everything into place and allow it to heal. I should be able to remove the external screws in a few days. Then you need to get back on your feet. A little stress will help in the healing process," Lingli said, as she finished removing the chest bandages.
"Another fine surgical job. The bullet punctured your lung on both sides, but just nicked one rib. You were lucky. This wound alone could have killed you," Lingli said, while examining the wound site.
"Lucky? I don't feel very lucky. I need to talk to Jian. Are he and the others still here?" Aiguo asked.
Lingli handed him two pills and a glass of water.
"Here, take these antibiotics and a pain killer, and yes, they are all here. They're in the midst of planning," Lingli said, while taking the glass and turning to leave.
"Planning? Planning what?" Aiguo asked.
"You need to talk to Jian. You're alert today. I'll let him know he can come for a visit," Lingli said, while removing her surgical gloves.
Aiguo watched her walk away, and again was reminded of Meili. He tried to lift his right arm, and grimaced at the pain. The pain reminded him of the American who had almost killed him.
"I was careless. If I hadn't been looking at a picture of Meili on my cell phone, I would have noticed him. A man that big is hard to miss," Aiguo said, then laughed at his own joke.
"I did hit him, but the plastic gun, the Kel-Tec, couldn't stop him. It was a good assassin's weapon, but not suited for a gun fight," Aiguo said, while closing his eyes and remembering the sensation as he sat in the back of the narrow restaurant near the Torpedo Factory.
"I glanced up when I heard a floor board creak. He was 30 feet away. The .45 was leveled and pointed at my head. If he had shot before I looked up, I wouldn't be here. He wanted me to see his face. He wanted that personal contact," Aiguo said, remembering the end of the fight, remembering the man's words as he stuck the barrel of the .45 in his face.
"I killed his wife . . . one of the nurses," Aiguo said, while lifting his right arm and swinging it in a circle. The pain helped him focus, helped him purge the memory of the man's hate-filled face from his mind.
"What is the American term? Collateral damage? That's all she was . . . collateral damage," Aiguo told himself, as he lowered his arm, closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.
. . . .
The House
1000 hours EST
"Renshu, why didn't you come by this morning? I told you I wanted to look at your wound," Lingli asked, as she served herself a bowl of salty wheat noodles and approached the common table for breakfast.
As she sat down, she reached over and grabbed an egg-filled steamed bun from a bowl in the center of the round table.
"The wound is fine. It is almost healed," Renshu replied from the other side of the table.
"Still, I want to see the wound," Lingli replied.
"OK, here is the wound," Renshu said, while standing and dropping his pants.
"Wah! Renshu, you're a pig. Pull you pants up before I lose my breakfast," Heng said, while turning away.
Bingwen and Chonglin both started laughing.
"You're right. It seems to be healed," Lingli said, after glancing at the naked man's wound site, while eating her noodles.
"Renshu, pull up your pants. Quit acting the fool," Jian said, while studying an image on his IPad.
"Jian, what are we doing here? What are your plans for us?" Renshu asked, while pulling up his pants.
"We are still on mission. Try to act like a professional," Jian said, staring Renshu into silence.
"Jian, we all want to know. You told us before we rescued the Lieutenant that you would tell us the long-term goal after we got him. Well, he's here. What is the plan?" Heng asked.
"I don't have to tell them anything. They will do as I order. That is our way. But they should know. They need to understand, not just obey," Jian told himself, while considering his options.
"All right, I'll tell you everything I know, including why we are here," Jian said, pausing to make sure he had their attention.
"When you were sent to the US, each of you was given a new identity. Each of you was assigned to act as a minder of a certain family and their . . . property. You weren't told why, because you didn't need to know. We have all been trained, that as Special Forces operators, we are to obey the orders of our superiors . . . period. And that is what all of you have done. I pulled you away from your assignments for a specific reason. We were all part of a plan developed by Lieutenant General Kung Yusheng. He was the commander of 22 Base," Jian began, then paused, as they all stopped eating and stared at him.
"That got their attention. They all know what's located at 22 Base," Jian thought, then continued.
"Decades ago General Kung devised a plan to insert multiple nuclear devices into the United States. He was a devoted follower of the principles of Sun Tzu. He knew that a direct confrontation with the United States was suicidal. He felt that these weapons would give China the leverage it needed to remove American influence from Asia," Jian began. The room was silent. Even Renshu had stopped fidgeting.
"I was assigned to oversee our devices in the southeast US. I had 21 devices in my responsibility. There are many large military bases in this part of the country. Each was targeted with at least one nuke. We had five agents inside the US at my level. I had more devices than any other agent. Each of us was assigned to oversee a different section of the country. My West Coast counterpart informed me of a problem before he was captured. One of his devices in San Francisco was discovered, and the whole program began to unravel. There was a confrontation between our government and the Americans. I don't know the details, but for some reason our government kowtowed to the Americans. General Kung was executed, and we were given up as part of the deal. I pulled Heng and the rest of you from your assignments, and had you remove the device that Heng was monitoring. It was the least vulnerable, and the easiest to remove. Now we have one device still under our control. The last device is located in the crate inside the locked outbuilding beside the barn," Jian said, pausing once again, as he gauged the impact of his words on each individual sitting around the table.
"Why didn't you pull everyone in your area if you knew the Americans were coming after us?" Heng asked.
"I tried. Some of them were already captured or killed, but more on them later," Jian replied.
"We were all part of General Kung's great plan in some way. We all thought that we were here on assignment with the blessings of the leaders of the People's Republic of China. Well, our supposed leaders have betrayed the nation and the people of China. Our government has told the Americans the location and identity of every one of Kung's agents in this country. If we are captured, the Americans will squeeze every bit of information they can out of us. Then they will return us to China, where we will be summarily executed, if we're lucky," Jian said.
"You still haven't said why we are here; other than the fact that we have nowhere to go. What is our mission now?" Heng asked.
"We are going to complete the mission that General Kung gave us. He wanted to bring the United States of America to its knees . . . to make them kowtow to us . . . to the people of China," Jian said.
"But our government? We should obey them, even at the cost of our lives," Bingwen said.
"I am the senior agent left in this country. I can order your obedience or shoot you if you disobey, but I won't do that. We are past such things. If we go on, we go on together. All of us must agree to continue with the mission, or we separate and finish our lives as each of us sees fit," Jian said.
The screen door swung open. Lieutenant Gong Aiguo stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the mid-morning sun.
"Are you insane? What are you doing out of bed?" Lingli said, while jumping up from the table.
&n
bsp; "My chest is healed. I need you to remove these damn rods from my leg," Aiguo said, while hobbling into the room. The screen door slammed shut behind him, with that unique sound that only a screen door can make.
"The femur will not be completely healed for months. You need to be back in bed," Lingli said, as she rushed over to his side.
"Enough, Doctor! You said that the surgeons had done an excellent job, and that they had attached a plate inside to fix the bones in place. I want these rods out now," Aiguo said, as he pushed her aside and headed for a sofa on the other side of the room.
"While the doctor is removing the rods, I want to talk to Jian and the others. I stood outside and overheard most of your conversation. Jian is correct. We have been abandoned by our government. Before I was wounded, I was in touch with my grandfather, Colonel Peng Zihao, General Kung's adjutant. He told me about San Francisco. He also told me that my mission was a failure. After the Americans had captured me, and I had recovered from surgery, they started to interrogate me while I was in the hospital. They were going to move me the day that you arrived to rescue me. For that, I am truly grateful," Aiguo said, while looking at each person, and bowing his head.
"They were going to take you to Walter Reed. It is more like a military base than a hospital. We would never have been able to get you out of there. That night was our only chance," Jian said.
"The nurse, what happened to him? He was one of your agents?" Aiguo asked.
"He did not make it. He was killed during the assault," Jian said, while glancing at Chonglin.
"Chonglin, what are you carving now?" Jian asked, distracted by the scratching sound of a knife carving into the table top.
"Ahh, don't mind him. He just does it to occupy his mind," Bingwen said, while slapping Chonglin in the arm.
Chonglin scowled, but returned his knife to the sheath on his waist.
HARRIS (Detonation) Page 4
