Once the warhead was mated with the delivery body, the torpedo mine would be reassembled. It had been purchased from the Russian mafia for $2 million. The MSS considered the acquisition of the Mark 12 Gadjúka—Viper—a bargain.
Kwan Chi returned to his stateroom on the upper deck. There was nothing more he could do this evening. The mission had its own momentum. The best he could do was to nudge it along.
He relaxed in the elegant bathroom’s soaking tub, where multiple jets needled and massaged his spine and shoulders. The previous evening, he and Elena had spent time together in the same chamber. That was nice, Wang thought, recalling how inventive Elena could be, especially after three glasses of wine.
He looked forward to their next hookup.
With a voracious appetite, Kwan had a stable of sex partners to call upon when he traveled throughout China and East Asia. In Hong Kong, his corporate center and his principal residence, Zhu Jia was his favorite lover. Just thirty-three, Ms. Zhu ran her own advertising agency, which thrived as mainland China’s evolving middle class clamored to catch up with the West’s insatiable demand for consumer goods.
Introduced by the wife of a business associate at a party, Chi took an instant liking to the beautiful and gracious Jia. She was equally attracted and they soon became regular partners. In concert with the sex, Kwan genuinely enjoyed Jia’s company. She was both “lovely and good,” embodying the meaning of her given name.
Kwan had considered marriage before he learned Jia was barren. Rendered sterile after a battle with uterine cancer as a college student, survivor Jia had focused all of her energy on building her business rather than a family.
Kwan had plenty of time to wed should the opportunity arise. Both of his older brothers had families—with sons, which satisfied generational pressures. Nevertheless, his mother remained relentless in her campaign for her youngest to produce offspring.
Kwan smiled as he envisioned the reaction he would receive from his mother if he brought Elena Krestyanova to Hangzhou for a family visit.
CHAPTER 37
DAY 23—TUESDAY
“That’s great news, Bill. Tell the boys I’m proud of T’em.”
“Will do, boss.”
Yuri was on his cell phone in Anacortes, standing on a floating pier near the Ella Kay in the early afternoon. Bill Winters was on the other end of the circuit in Barrow. Bill had just provided Yuri with a progress report.
“By the way, when will you be coming up?” asked Bill.
“Maybe next week, once I get through this test program.”
“Great, I could use your help.” Bill shifted gears. “When will you be able to tell us more about this mysterious prospective customer?”
Yuri detested lying but continued the deceit. “I had to sign a confidentiality agreement, so I’m hamstrung. If it comes together I can reveal what’s going on.”
“Can you at least tell me how the Adventurer is doing . . . she holding up?”
“Except for the bearing, she’s fine.”
Yuri had mentioned the bogus bearing issue to Bill, perpetuating the charade.
“That just doesn’t make sense to me . . . going out so quickly like that. Must have been a flawed bearing.”
“I agree. I chewed on the manufacturer’s rep this morning about it. Lucky for me he spoke English.”
“I hope it doesn’t screw up your test demo.”
“As long as it gets here in the next day or so, we should be okay.” Yuri hesitated. “I assume the bearing we sent you is working out.”
“Yes, it’s fine, and our spares are perfect, too.”
“Great.”
“Okay, good luck with your trial run. Talk to you later.”
“See you.”
Yuri ended the call and began walking back to the workboat. Thankfully, the rain had stopped. He’d already completed tinkering with Deep Adventurer, making minor adjustments to improve its stealth. None of the changes were necessary; they were part of his other charade to buy more time.
Having been summoned to Seattle for a meeting, Wang took off around ten o’clock. He provided no details, only that he would return the following morning. Dixon and Wang’s assistant remained aboard the Ella Kay to support Yuri with the repairs. Yuri figured they were watchdogs.
Laura and Madelyn were fine; he’d chatted with Laura at noon. That was a relief. Even so, he remained antsy. Yuri had not yet heard back from Nick, and he could only bluff Wang so far and then he’d have to resume the search.
* * *
With Laura Newman in the passenger seat, Sarah Compton guided the jet-black GMC Yukon Denali down the asphalt driveway and into the parking court of Laura’s hillside home. Other than the perimeter lights, it was black outside.
Laura had wanted to take her BMW when they left in the mornings for work, but Sarah insisted on driving her vehicle. The modified four-door SUV had bullet-resistant windows all around, Kevlar-lined doors, body panels, and roof, and tires that if punctured could run on solid rubber cores. Powered by an enhanced V-8 generating over five hundred horsepower and equipped with a beefed-up suspension, “the Beast,” as Sarah referred to the Denali, could accelerate like a rocket ship and turn on a whim.
The Beast belonged to the company that employed Sarah. It came as part of the complete Executive Protection Package, set up by Yuri with the firm’s owner.
With Laura remaining inside, Sarah stepped out of the Denali onto the parking court’s concrete pavers. She used her smart key to lock the SUV’s doors. The engine idled but was barely audible due to the armoring. She heard a dog yelping to her left down the hill. She made a quick three-sixty. Nothing.
Sarah now faced the driveway. When arriving, she drove the SUV around the circular court to align it with the asphalt drive. The headlights illuminated the road; it led back to the public street about a hundred feet away. If a threat developed, Sarah could jump in and blast off.
Sarah took her time surveying the perimeter, looking for trouble. Finally, she walked back to the Denali and opened the driver’s door. “All clear,” she announced.
“Great.”
As Laura stepped out, Sarah activated the Denali’s automatic rear door-hatch opener and shut down the engine.
Once in the kitchen, Laura parked Maddy in her carrier on the table; she was awake, her eyes following her mother’s movements. Half a dozen grocery bags from Whole Foods were stacked on a counter. Laura needed to restock the fridge and pantry.
Laura was busy unpacking supplies when she removed the carton of gourmet hot cocoa mix. She turned toward Sarah, who stood nearby helping to empty the bags. Holding up the box, Laura said, “I’m going to have a cup of cocoa. Would you like one?”
“That would be wonderful.”
* * *
Acting on orders issued by Kwan Chi, the four-man team huddled together in the back of the heavy-duty Ford van. Parked two blocks away from the Newman residence, they all wore headphones and stared at twin side-by-side thirty-inch computer monitors. The screens displayed live video feeds from ten cameras. Earlier in the afternoon, two from the team spent almost an hour inside the residence installing and concealing six audio-video bugs. Four additional cameras, each with infrared capability, were positioned around the exterior of the home.
They observed Laura offer Sarah a cup of cocoa. So far, Lieutenant Commander Wang Park was favorably impressed with the bodyguard. They would need to take exceptional care when dealing with her.
* * *
Yuri and Nick connected a few minutes before ten o’clock. Nick called from his floating home in Sausalito. Yuri remained in Anacortes. With the wireless connection still live, Yuri exited the workboat’s main cabin. He stood on the floating dock, near the shore. His watchers remained aboard the Ella Kay. Dixon was in the cabin watching television, but Wang’s assistant had relocated to the pilothouse. It was high enough above the water to allow the PLAN operative to keep an eye on Yuri.
“All right, I can talk,” Yuri said
, speaking in Russian.
“Sorry to be getting back to you so late.” Yuri had left three voice mail messages for Nick. “But I was in meetings all afternoon and then a cocktail reception with the consulate general.” Too tired to bother with his normal commute, Nick commandeered a pool car and drove across the Golden Gate into Marin County and then home.
“I understand.” Yuri tried to calm himself. His angst had swelled all evening. “Have you learned anything new?”
“Nothing concrete at this point. I can’t find anything about Elena’s specific operation, but I did confirm with a second source that she’s working the China Desk.”
“How about my cover—any changes there?”
“No. There’s still nothing about your resurrection.” Nick hesitated. “Believe me, if that got out, someone would leak it. They’d earn a fat paycheck from the Western press.”
Yuri could see the headlines too: RUSSIAN SPY SUB HERO HIDING IN USA. And then the media vultures would pounce on Laura: MILLIONAIRE LOVER PROTECTS SPY.
“Okay,” Yuri said, “at least I don’t have to worry about that—yet. Any news on Dixon or the PLAN officer?”
“Still nothing on Dixon, but I did get a hit on this David Wang character. First of all, you wouldn’t believe how many Wangs there are. But when you told me his ship supposedly made a port visit to Vladivostok in July four years ago, I checked. A PLAN ship did visit the port and there was in fact a banquet.”
“So he was there?”
“Someone named Wang Park with the rank of lieutenant was aboard. I got a copy of a souvenir photo taken of the event. It’s decent quality. I’m texting it to you now.”
Yuri waited until the image flashed onto the screen of his cell. He zoomed in and examined the faces. “That’s him.”
“I took a chance it was the right guy and ran him through our system. The GRU has a file on him. He’s Navy but for the last three years, he’s had shore duty. He’s attached to a special naval operations unit based out of Shanghai.”
“What kind of unit?”
“Zhongdui—similar to our naval Spetsnaz.”
Yuri moaned. “He’s not just a sailor, is he?”
“I’m afraid not. You need to watch out for him.”
“Govnó!”
CHAPTER 38
DAY 24—WEDNESDAY
They waited until 0345 hours before making entry. The high-end security system was nothing more than a nuisance to the team. During the first penetration in the afternoon, they disabled the system within just twenty seconds. The name of the alarm monitoring company was prominently displayed on placards placed around the house. Using a smartphone, they consulted a cloud-stored file that listed various types of equipment used by the alarm company and a host of other security-alarm providers. The People’s Republic of China manufactured the electronic monitoring components for many alarm systems, including the target residence. To remain operating, those mainland manufacturers “voluntarily” provided the bypass codes to the MSS. The secret practice had been in place for decades.
Commander Wang and his two companions reentered on the ground floor—a daylight basement—picking the lock of a door that opened to the backyard. Already familiar with the house, they headed up the stairway to the first floor. Black-clad in assault gear with POLICE stenciled in reflective letters on the jacket back, each man carried a suppressed compact submachine gun.
The fourth zhongdui team member remained in the van monitoring the spy cameras. He was in direct voice contact with Wang and the others, employing an encrypted short-range radio system.
“Status report,” Wang whispered in Mandarin into his voice-activated boom microphone.
His earbud activated. “Primary remains in room six. Secondary is active but remains in room three.”
“What activity?” Wang asked.
“Reading.”
Doesn’t she ever sleep? Wang knew the second target was the immediate concern. They had been waiting for the bodyguard to climb into her bed. Yet she remained fully clothed, except for her shoes. For most of the night, she’d circulated throughout the vast home, checking door locks and windows, and monitoring the alarm system. About twenty minutes earlier, she’d relocated to the bedroom, where she currently sat in a chair by the window reading. Running out of darkness, Wang elected to proceed.
They were on the main floor next to an elegant stairway that led to the second floor and all of the bedrooms.
Wang hand-signaled to his men.
The two gunmen advanced up the stairway, one after the other.
They were now huddled outside the doorway to room three, both squatting. The man nearest the room trained his weapon on the closed door. His companion was busy studying the screen on his smartphone.
Wang, still at the base of the stairway, monitored the same video image. The secondary sat in a chair by the bed reading. “Proceed,” he whispered.
* * *
Sarah Compton heard the click of the doorknob as it turned. Startled, she launched herself out of her chair in a flash. She reached for her pistol just as the door swung open.
The first hollow-point hit with sledgehammer impact. The nine-millimeter round blossomed to twice its diameter after smashing through a rib under the right breast. The mushroomed mass of copper and lead shredded a lung before embedding itself in the spine. The next missile plowed into the belly, obliterating the spleen and part of the colon. The third bullet from the sound-suppressed burst clipped a kidney and exited through her back, smacking into a dresser packed with linen and spare blankets.
Sarah buckled to the floor.
* * *
Wang rejoined his companions. The secondary remained on the floor, huddled into a fetal position on her right side. She moaned. Her tortured rasp was the product of the shattered lung and the unmitigated agony erupting from the lacerated bowel. Blood continued to drain from the wounds, leaking onto the oak flooring. A pungent coppery scent mixed with the stink of gunpowder flooded the room.
Wang stared at the hapless victim. The bodyguard was a worthy opponent, but she’d had no chance—by Wang’s design. She might survive if they provided first aid; all three were trained medics. However, his orders were unequivocal.
Wang stepped next to Sarah Compton’s side, taking care to avoid the pooling blood. He lowered the barrel of his weapon to her temple. He ended her misery with a single round.
Wang looked up, facing his charges. “Time for the primary,” he whispered.
* * *
Laura lay on her left side with knees slightly bent. Madelyn was in a crib next to the bed, just a few feet away. In the dimness, she could see Maddy bundled in her pajamas. Her daughter’s breathing was steady, a soft reassuring purr to Laura’s ears.
With Yuri gone, she wanted Maddy close by. He slept with a light ear, always the first to wake when Madelyn fussed. Yuri would rise and check Madelyn, changing a diaper and warming a bottle as needed—a true blessing to Laura.
Laura had been awakened five minutes earlier, but not by Maddy. For what seemed like hours, she was back at Caltech inside a crowded classroom struggling with a physics test she had not prepared for. Just as the proctor’s cell phone alarm went off, announcing “time’s up,” Laura woke. She’d relived the same dream dozens of times since graduating.
Reassured to be back in the present world and knowing she’d actually aced the exam, Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping for another hour or two of sleep.
Still conscious, she heard the single creak. One of the bedroom’s oak floorboards by the doorway had delaminated. It was scheduled to be repaired later in the month.
Laura turned to her right and started to sit up.
Before she could utter a word, a black hulk smothered her body, clamping her mouth shut and pinning her gyrating form to the mattress with its bulk. Almost instantaneously, something lanced her neck, an arctic spike that surged to her brain in a lightning burst.
And then nothing.
CHA
PTER 39
Standing beside the bed, Wang scrutinized the primary as the assault team stood nearby. She lay unconscious, knocked out with a syringe-delivered sedative laced with ketamine and other downers.
He trained the barrel-mounted light from his SMG on Laura Newman. Her predominant Nordic facial features and shoulder-length auburn hair caught Wang’s eye. Clad in a pajama top and panties, her long, lean, and curvy form was a stirring sight. Her chocolate complexion came as a surprise. He was not aware of Laura’s biracial heritage.
Wang addressed his charges, “Bind her and then take her downstairs.”
“What about the child?” asked one of the zhongduis.
“I’ll take care of it.”
The two men leaned over the bed and slipped a pair of plastic flex cuffs over Laura’s wrists and ankles, tugging both sets of cable ties tight. They hauled her to their side of the bed. One of the operators grasped Laura’s torso with his arms and in a fluid motion pulled her up, placing her abdomen across a shoulder. With Laura’s head and arms hanging over his back, he gripped her thighs with an arm. He carried her downstairs, his partner following.
Wang remained in the bedroom, relocating to the crib. The child continued to sleep. The decision was his; Kwan did not care either way.
* * *
The Ford van was waiting in the darkened carport. Laura was loaded into the cargo bay, a blanket used to conceal her presence. Standing beside the open rear door of the van, Wang handed the portable carrier to the man who had hauled Laura downstairs.
Wang said, “She remains asleep, but will likely awaken soon.”
The commando stared at Madelyn, unsure of his orders. His nose flared, catching a ripe odor.
Wang smiled. “She needs a diaper change.”
The commando’s jaw dropped in horror.
Wang opened an oversize maternity bag he carried with his other hand. “I found this in the bedroom. It has diapers and other items for the child.” He unzipped the top of the container and pointed to a pair of bottles filled with an off-white fluid. “These were in the refrigerator in the kitchen. Probably her mother’s milk.”
The Forever Spy Page 13
