Emerald Buddha (Drake Ramsey Book 2)

by Russell Blake

  Four hours later he was slogging through rain forest, his night vision goggles lighting the way, his submachine gun clutched in one hand and a razor-sharp machete in the other. His GPS had told him that he was only a half mile away, and he slowed his pace as he neared.

  Reggie smelled the reek of smoke before he came over the rise and saw the building. He moved as close as he felt was prudent and watched as Shan Army fighters collected bodies and tossed them onto a pile – a funeral pyre. The work went on by torchlight, and after observing for thirty minutes, Reggie powered his satellite phone on and called his control.

  When the man’s nasal voice came on the line, Reggie spoke in a hushed whisper.

  “The place is crawling with Shan Army. I mean, hundreds of them. Looks like there was a full-scale war down there. They’re dragging bodies to the perimeter, and I count at least fifty.”

  “Any sign of the woman?”

  “Negative. It’s a killing field, though. The outlying building’s just a smoking crater, and there are corpses lying around everywhere. If I had to bet, I’d guess that the Red Moon organization is history.” Reggie paused. “I wouldn’t send the team in. There’s no way they can go up against hundreds of Shan. They look well equipped, and they’re obviously on alert.”

  The control officer sighed. “Continue monitoring the situation while I get feedback.”

  “Will do. But I’d rather not be here come first light, in case these guys come looking for stragglers.”

  “Roger. Stand by.”

  The phone went dead and Reggie frowned at it. Another desk jockey caught with his pants down while Reggie waited in purgatory. That was always the way it seemed to go down. He was in enemy territory with no backup, and his superior wanted him to wait while they had a meeting back at the ranch.

  As the minutes ticked by, Reggie’s self-preservation instinct battled with his loyalty, and he was considering disobeying his orders when the phone vibrated in his hand.

  “Yes?”

  “Stay in position until the team’s on the ground and we can get better intel. We can’t risk that the girl is still inside and we didn’t do everything we could to rescue her.”

  “All due respect, the jungle will be crawling with hostiles shortly. If this was a rout of the Red Moon group, they’ll be looking to finish it – and I’m at ground zero.”

  “Understood, but word came down that leaving is not an option. Take all necessary evasive steps, but stay on site until you get word from us.”

  Reggie hung up and watched the activity below anxiously. The orders were idiotic, in his opinion. Then again, nobody had solicited his views. He was just the field talent and would be expected to put himself in harm’s way unquestioningly.

  That may have been the job, but at the moment Reggie was seriously questioning his continued commitment to his choice of careers. His superiors were safe in an office where the biggest risks were a paper cut or catching a chill from the air-conditioning, and Reggie’s ass was hanging out while death roamed the field below.

  Reggie grumbled an oath and settled in for what he was sure would be an agonizing wait. He just hoped that headquarters came to its senses before he paid for their cavalier attitude with his life.

  ~ ~ ~

  Christine swallowed hard as three pairs of eyes bored holes through her.

  “Liu was my boyfriend. We met through an acquaintance at my meditation center. He was Chinese, a couple years older than me, and the smartest man I’ve ever met. He was easily a genius – anything having to do with computers or technology, he was like a fish in water.” She winced as a flash of pain shot through her shoulder, and gasped as it took all her effort not to cry out. When the spell had passed, she continued. “Anyway, to make a long story short, it was boy meets girl, both fall head over heels. Fairy tale, except that he was also kind of a radical. Turns out he blamed the U.S. government for a lot of the world’s misery, and he had been working with a group of hackers to, as he put it, expose them for what they are.”

  Allie nodded an understanding she didn’t feel, encouraging Christine to continue.

  “So we’re together for three months, and one day he announces that he cracked the code. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but when he explained it, I was scared witless. He’d somehow penetrated the Pentagon’s files and downloaded a ton of top-secret evidence – information he said would make the whole Snowden revelations about the NSA read like a greeting card. And then he gave me an example, and I realized instantly that what he had was dynamite.” She sniffed back a tear. “That’s when I made my first mistake.”

  “Which was?”

  “I called my dad.”

  “You told him what Liu did?”

  “No, I just asked him some questions. Told him I’d seen some stuff on the web, where I was in China. I asked if he had any way of confirming it was true – I mean, he’s like a bigwig in Washington and chairs a committee that deals with the military. I know my father – there’s no way he would be a party to the kinds of atrocities Liu had told me about. I mean, it’s beyond criminal stuff. Terrorism. False-flag attacks. Assassinations. Massacres. Lies about some of the biggest events of the last hundred years that are accepted as gospel.”

  “And?”

  “My dad told me that he had no idea what I was talking about, but that there were a lot of people who hated America because of our prosperity, because of our freedom, and they would invent lies, but not to believe them.”

  Spencer’s face could have been cast from bronze. He raised an eyebrow. “But you didn’t buy it, did you?”

  “Something about his voice. It was like, all of a sudden he was really distant-sounding. I don’t know if he was afraid someone was listening in or what, but no, I didn’t believe him.” She sat up straighter and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. “Liu was out of town. I…I didn’t tell him I’d talked to my father. I should have, but I didn’t want to think…” She choked up and couldn’t continue.

  Drake asked gently, “What happened then?”

  “One of his cyber-buddies posted an alert about an impending attack in Pakistan. It never took place, so I thought he’d gotten it wrong, and I relaxed some. Next thing I know he’s back home and telling me we need to run, that something went wrong, that he’d also been snooping around in the Chinese defense department’s servers, and somehow they’d caught on. So we leave in the dead of night, and…and you know the rest. The plane went down, he’s dead, and now the Chinese are after me.”

  Spencer shook his head. “Why?”

  “They probably think I know more than I do.”

  Allie rose. “We should get moving. We’re assuming these four were the only ones. There could be more.”

  “Do you think you can make it?” Spencer asked Christine.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Drake let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding and asked the question that was nagging at him. “Do you think…do you think you’ll be safe if you go home?”

  The look she gave him was bleak. She held his stare and then looked away. “I don’t know where home is anymore. But if you’re asking whether my father would actively conspire to have me silenced?” Christine struggled to her feet. “The truth is that I have no idea. I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”

  “And the computer?”

  “Liu’s. It’s encrypted, so nobody but me can access it. I’m the only one who knows the password.”

  Spencer stood without speaking for a moment, his attention on Jiao, whose lifeblood was draining from him. “The Chinese would gladly kill you to get their hands on it.”

  “Sounds like they’d have to stand in line, doesn’t it?”

  “What are you going to do?” Allie asked softly.

  Christine tried to smile, but the effect was more of a grimace. “Try to stay alive.”

  Chapter 48

  The bridge from Myanmar to Thailand wasn’t a viable option for anyone travel
ing without documentation, so after arriving in Tachileik at mid-afternoon, Spencer and Drake spent several hours trying to find someone to take them across the Mae Sai River, which served as the border between the two countries. Eventually they were able to work a deal with a local fisherman, who ferried them across at dusk for a hundred dollars.

  A taxi spirited them south to Chiang Rai, where they checked into a small hotel that catered primarily to the backpacker community, judging by the other guests, who were uniformly shaggy, unshaven, and almost as filthy as Drake and his companions were. After showering, Drake and Spencer set off to find a doctor who would be working at such a late hour. They didn’t have to look far: the first pharmacy they came across featured a physician who lived upstairs, who cleaned Spencer’s wound and gave him an injection of antibiotic without comment.

  “Do you have a feeling he’s seen more than a few bullet wounds in his time?” Spencer asked, as they descended the stairs from the doctor’s home office.

  “In this area, it’s probably his main source of revenue. At least he’s had a lot of practice.”

  “Now we need to buy a phone. Let’s hope there are some shops open this late.”

  Luck was with them, and they found an electronics store at the night market in the city center, which was teeming with humanity, mostly bored youths killing time without spending anything, groups of them wandering the lanes and eyeing the young girls, who pretended to be oblivious to their interest.

  When the phone was activated, Drake called Collins, who sounded surprised to hear from him.

  “Where are you?” Collins demanded.

  “We just crossed into Thailand.”

  “We?”

  “Yes. I was able to rescue Allie and Spencer. Oh, and Christine. But Uncle Pete didn’t make it.”

  “What? Where precisely are you in Thailand?”

  “Chiang Rai.”

  “Give me all your information.”

  “Like what? How I was nearly killed by the goons that captured them? Or how the CIA did nothing to rescue them before they were murdered?”

  “Ramsey, this isn’t a game. Tell me exactly where you’re staying so I can get agents there to debrief you.”

  “Fine.” He gave Collins the hotel information. “Now what?”

  “Wait for our man to arrive.”

  “When?”

  “Probably tomorrow morning.”

  “That really narrows it down.”

  “My next call is to the local office. Expect visitors shortly.”

  Drake hung up and tossed Spencer the phone. “I can’t believe these guys. They would have left you for dead, and he sounds pissed that everyone made it out alive. He didn’t even ask what happened to Uncle Pete.”

  “That’s the agency for you. Not all that great a bedside manner.”

  “Well, screw them.” Drake looked both ways, and they crossed the street to where a vendor was selling steamed food from a cart. “Think this is safe to eat? I’m starved.”

  “After the shot the doc gave me, I could probably eat a fistful of maggots and they wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

  Spencer rolled his eyes. “You asked.”

  They ordered skewers of something resembling chicken chunks slathered with a brown sauce, and sat on the curb, which was littered with discarded paper plates. Drake tried a tentative bite and smiled. “Not terrible.”

  “I don’t want to even guess what part of the dog this came from.”

  “What do you think will happen with Christine?” Drake asked as they wolfed down their meal.

  “I have no idea. It’s out of our hands. We did our job, so we’re off the hook. Let Collins and whoever figure out their mess.”

  “Now you’re starting to sound like me. What happened to the whole ‘You don’t want to say no to the CIA’ line?”

  “Getting shot and almost killed gave me time to reconsider.”

  “I hear it’ll do that.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Reggie worked his way along the ridge, his night vision goggles fading as the battery waned, and cursed his control officer for the thousandth time that day. He’d had to play a running game of hide-and-seek with the Shan patrols that had circled the production facility, and was soaked through with sweat, as well as exhausted. When the call had come in ordering him to stand down and find his way to Chiang Rai immediately, with no explanation of what had happened to the team of commandos that had been winging their way to Thailand, he’d been both relieved and furious. His anger had changed to disbelief when his control had told him the reason for the urgency.

  “So the amateurs rescued the girl?” he’d repeated, his tone deliberately flat. That civilians had been able to find her and break her out of a heavily fortified location left him dumbfounded. “You’re kidding me.”

  “You heard me loud and clear. We’ve got people on their way from Bangkok, but we’d prefer to have you handle the girl.”

  “Handle? In what way? She’s safe, isn’t she?”

  “It appears so. But we’ll want you to take her into protective custody until we can get her out of the country.”

  “I see. You want me to take an American citizen, the daughter of a senator, into custody…”

  “It’s for her own good.”

  “Right. And who am I turning her over to?”

  “We’ll let you know. How soon can you be there?”

  “Not until dawn, best case.”

  “That isn’t acceptable.”

  “I’m deep in the jungle and have to hike out. Then I have to drive the night roads in a country that hates Americans and that’s swarming with drug traffickers and rebel forces, cross an international border, and make it to Chiang Rai. The only way I can be there faster is if you send a helicopter.”

  “Let me see what I can do.”

  That had been three hours earlier, and he was still a half mile from his vehicle. The phone buzzed again, and he stopped on the trail to answer it.

  “Yes?”

  “No go on the helo. Where are you?”

  “I should be at my car shortly.”

  “Report in when you’re in Thailand and you have her.”

  “What about the field office personnel?”

  “They’re on their way, but there was a glitch on their end. You might arrive first. Just call when you arrive.”

  “Will do.”

  Nothing about this operation had gone according to plan, and now it seemed to be running further off the rails with each call. Reggie’s goggles were all but dead by the time he reached his car, but he kept them on with his headlights off for another twenty minutes, preferring to chance colliding with an ox than alerting anyone to his presence on the road.

  He didn’t dare risk taking the car across to Thailand, given how he’d come by it – the last thing he needed was to be jailed for driving a stolen vehicle – so he jettisoned his weapons and walked across under the watchful eye of the Thai military. Once in Mae Sai, he found a working taxi and was soon on the road south. He arrived at his destination at five a.m., dizzy from sleeplessness, and woke the proprietor of the hotel to rent a room. The old man seemed annoyed at the imposition until Reggie flashed his wad of baht, at which point he was all smiles.

  Reggie stowed his gear and rinsed off in minutes, and felt marginally human by the time he knocked on Drake’s door. When Drake opened it, his hair was matted to one side from sleep, and he looked disoriented.

  “I’m Reg. Where’s Christine?” Reggie announced as Drake glared at him with red eyes.

  “She’s two rooms over. Number seven. Like I told Collins.”

  “I tried that. Nobody answered.”

  “Maybe she’s asleep,” Drake said with a shrug, and began closing the door. Reggie blocked it with his boot.

  “Why don’t you be a sport and help me wake her?” Reggie asked, a smile in place, but his tone dangerous.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” Drake spat, looking dow
n at Reggie’s boot.

  “I’m your new friend. Let’s see how Christine’s getting along and I’ll be out of your hair, okay? Sound like a deal?”

  Drake didn’t say anything. Reggie waited while he retreated into the room, pulled on a new T-shirt with the name of a Thai chewing gum emblazoned across the back, and stepped outside.

  Reggie knocked on Christine’s door again with the same result. Eventually Allie opened her door, which was adjacent to Christine’s room, and eyed Reggie and then Drake.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Where’s Christine?” Reggie demanded.

  “How would I know?”

  Something inside Reggie’s head snapped, and he growled an expletive and kicked Christine’s door as hard as he could. The flimsy lock gave and the door sprang open. All three of them looked inside, and Drake shook his head.

  “Looks like she’s gone.”

  “What do you mean, gone? Why didn’t you stop her?”

  “You mean why didn’t I, a private citizen, stop another person, who’s over twenty-one, from doing whatever she felt like? Um, because I haven’t slept for two days and was catching up on pillow time, for starters. That, and I’m not a cop,” Drake said sarcastically. “And neither are you, Reg, are you? Because if not, it looks like you’ve got some explaining to do,” Drake finished as the proprietor neared them, carrying a baseball bat, two of his sons trailing him.

  Reggie’s pulse throbbed in his temples while the owner glowered at him and jabbered in outraged Thai. Allie smiled at Drake and paused in front of her room. “Breakfast in maybe…six hours?” she asked.

  Drake returned the smile and, after a wave at Reggie, winked at Allie.

  “It’s a date.”

  Chapter 49

  Drake and Allie sipped tea after their meal in a local restaurant while Spencer drank what passed for coffee. Ten hours of solid rest had more or less revived them after their jungle ordeal. Allie was studying the photographs of the temple cave on the little digital camera as Drake and Spencer chatted about the CIA thug who’d kicked in the door.