by Robin Mahle
“I’m sure he’s tired, just like the rest of us. This entire thing has been like some kind of damn nightmare.”
Lacy walked toward Aaron and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling close and resting her head on his chest. “It has been a damn nightmare.” She chuckled. “Like I still can’t believe it’s actually happening, you know?”
Aaron kissed the top of her head. “Yeah. I know.”
Will walked back inside and noted their embrace.
Lacy spotted the shift in his expression and broke away. “What did Delgado say?”
“Nothing. He didn’t answer. We should drive to the hotel before meeting with Fraser and Ward. I’m hoping he just fell asleep.”
“A guy like that? Doesn’t sound like something he would do,” Lacy replied.
“No, it doesn’t. Come on. We need to go.” Will grabbed his keys and pulled open the door again. Only steps ahead was his car and he slipped into the driver’s seat.
Lacy sat next to him while Aaron stepped into the back. “You okay?”
“Fine. Why?” Will keyed the ignition.
“You seem preoccupied. That’s all.”
“Aren’t we all.” He pulled out of the parking lot and drove toward Lei Jian’s hotel, which was back toward D.C.
“You want me to try Delgado again?” Lacy asked.
“No. I can’t be sure we wouldn’t be causing a bigger problem if he’s in trouble.”
Perhaps there was a problem. He hadn’t heard from Delgado all night and now this morning, he wasn’t answering his phone. They’d all become guarded against losing anyone else. Good people had come to their aid and, for their efforts, had been rewarded with imprisonment and death.
Lacy spotted the luxury hotel ahead. “You know where he was parked?”
“Just over there, on the opposite side of the street.” Will pointed toward the location. “Looks like he’s there.”
She noted a slight elevation in his tone that sounded an awful lot like relief.
He began to drive by the car and peered inside. “I don’t see him.” And now that look was replaced with panic.
“We’ll find him. He must have gone inside. Just park and we’ll go in.”
“Shit.” Will shook his head. “I’ll go in. You two wait here.” He thrust the gearshift into park and stepped out, diverting toward the side of the building to avoid detection.
Under the porte-cochere were two Metro P.D. patrol cars and Will knew that was a bad sign. He considered returning to the car, but he had to know what happened to Delgado, or find him, if he was lucky. He approached one of the officers in the lobby and held out his badge. “Excuse me, I’m FBI Special Agent Caison. Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Didn’t know they called you guys out.” The officer began to size him up and displayed an obvious displeasure at his arrival.
“No, sorry. They didn’t. I’m here on other business and wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, well, there were reports of gunfire at about two a.m. this morning. But oddly enough, no one appears to have seen anything. And no reports of injuries. So, we’re still taking statements, but looks like whatever happened was hushed up real quick. I’ve got a couple men walking around with the manager checking rooms. Nothing’s turned up yet.”
“I see. Thank you, Officer. I’ll get out of your hair.” Will moved on and made his way toward the stairwell, darting inside when he was confident no one would notice his departure. He would have to walk the place to see for himself because this sounded like Jian’s work. Which also meant he had help in covering it up. This brought him greater concern for Delgado’s well-being.
Will continued to ascend the stairs, and floor by floor, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. No one was around and, in fact, it seemed unusually empty. They must’ve cleared it out as best they could. “Damn it.” He grew concerned that the manager and the cops opening up the rooms would find something and then all hell would break loose. He had to find Delgado and prayed he wasn’t lying dead in one of those rooms.
♦ ♦ ♦
A man thumped on Lacy’s passenger window. She jumped as both she and Aaron were startled by the sound. But once the fear passed and she realized who it was, Lacy immediately opened the door. “Delgado! Are you okay? What the hell happened?” She began to examine him. “You’ve been shot. Will’s inside the hotel looking for you.”
“He needs to get out of there now. Get him out now!”
Lacy stepped out of the car. “Sit down. You’re hurt. Aaron, call Will. Get him out of that hotel.” She lifted the flap of his jacket. “Oh my God. We have to get you to a hospital.”
“No. The bullet went clean through. I’ve been hiding for the past few hours and managed to find a first aid kit. This was the best I could do with what I had.”
“He’s coming back now. I told him we have Delgado,” Aaron said.
A moment later, they spotted Will jogging toward them. He jumped into the driver’s seat, noticing Delgado was now in the passenger seat with Lacy and Aaron in the back.
“What the hell happened? I didn’t see anything inside. Is Jian still in there?”
“I doubt it. I tried to take him out, but he had help.” Delgado pressed hard on his wound. “I managed to stay hidden.”
“Why didn’t you call us for help? Why did you try to kill him?” Will’s temper heated quickly.
“He killed my boss and I knew he wouldn’t stop until he killed all of you too. I did what I thought I had to do.”
“And you almost got yourself killed in the process. For God’s sake, you may have just jeopardized everything.”
27
The morning sun became obscured by clouds as the hour moved closer to noon. They returned to the shabby hotel and helped Delgado back inside.
“We don’t have much time before we’re due to meet with the station chief and Agent Fraser at the site. We’ve pushed it back long enough.” Lacy opened the door and held it while Will and Aaron helped Delgado. “Look, I know we started off on the wrong foot, but why didn’t you call us when you were hiding? We would’ve come to help you.”
They placed him on the bed. “I couldn’t take the chance. I had no idea if Jian and his people were still looking for me and there was no way I was getting you all caught up in the crossfire. I fucked up. I know that. I should’ve taken him out, but I wasn’t expecting him to have help. I figured Yang was offering lip service. My informant relayed to me that Jian was on his own and that was the way it was supposed to be. Instead, he had hired guns.”
Lacy walked into the bathroom and gathered a few towels. “Here, let’s change your gauze.” They’d stopped to pick up supplies to help him. “You should be in a hospital. I’m no doctor and I have no idea how bad off you really are.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Lacy regarded Will with concern. “We have to go to the site, but I don’t want to leave him here alone.”
“I told you, I’ll be fine. I’m coming with you.”
She laughed. “I don’t think so. You’re in no condition.”
“She’s right,” Will began. “You’ll only drag us down. Sorry, man, but it’s the truth.”
“Fine. At least let me ride with you. I’ll stay in the car. I can’t stay here and do nothing.”
“You do see all the blood, right?” Lacy asked.
“Just stitch me up. I saw a sewing kit in the bathroom. It’ll do for now. Besides, the bleeding is slowing.”
She marched into the bathroom and retrieved the tiny kit. “This?” She raised it high. “You expect me to sew you up with this?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem?”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” She pulled away the towels and began to wipe the blood from the wound.
“You sure you can do this?” Will asked.
“No. But do you want to give it a try?”
He shook his head and slowly backed away.
“I didn’t think so.” Lacy went to work stitching a wound with fabric thread and a tiny needle that was supposed to be used to sew on buttons, not sew skin back together.
Will noted a call coming in on his cell. “It’s Fraser.” Into the phone, he began, “Caison here.” He watched Lacy cringe every time she pulled the needle through and swallowed down his rising bile. There were far worse things he’d seen in his day, but it was her reaction that made him queasy. “Yeah, we got delayed. Delgado had a run-in with Jian. He’s fine. Well, he will be soon. Just stay there. Keep her there. We need to do this. There won’t be time tomorrow.” He listened as Delgado moaned. “We’ll be there as soon as possible.” He returned the phone to his pocket. “Lacy, you got to hurry. Fraser is already down there and he doesn’t want Turner to know. The station chief is there too.”
“This is the best I can do.” She pulled upright and examined her work. “I don’t know if it’ll hold.”
“It’ll hold for now. Thank you.” Delgado sat up again. “Let’s go.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Arriving at the site, once again forced Lacy to work harder than ever to control her feelings. No matter how hard she tried, images of burning buildings, burning and screaming people; they always flashed through her mind and she had no control over them. She doubted it would ever get easier standing at the place where her husband’s visit to a jewelry store ultimately cost him his life.
“Lacy?” Will approached her. “You all right?”
“No. But I will be soon enough.”
“We need to move.” Will started ahead toward the spot where the ceremonial groundbreaking would take place in less than a day. “I know this isn’t easy, but we risk too much if we aren’t all on the same page.”
“I understand.” Lacy looked back to Aaron, who was helping Delgado.
“I got him. You go on ahead,” he replied without her saying a word. “So much for you staying in the car, huh?”
“I see her up ahead.” Will continued toward the far end of the area, which had already been cordoned off for the attendees.
Lacy hadn’t met this woman, but admired her already, despite knowing she admitted to what Axell had done with the illegal surveillance. She looked back again and confirmed Aaron and Delgado were still okay, but continued ahead to catch up to Will. “I see her too.”
On approach, Elizabeth Ward smiled warmly. “You must be Lacy Merrick.” She offered her hand.
“Yes. And you helped my friend, Aaron Hunter. Thank you for that.”
“I should’ve done more for Agent Axell, but I haven’t given up on him. I’m Elizabeth Ward. Keith Colburn was one of mine. I’ve had enough skin in this game without knowing the players. Now that I do, I’m here to help.”
“Thank you. What’s going to happen here tomorrow will change everything. And Axell will be released,” Lacy replied. “So what we need to do now is organize.”
Agent Fraser soon arrived. “I apologize, but I was checking the perimeter. Did I miss anything?”
“No. We’re just getting started,” Will began. “As you know, we had eyes on Jian, but unfortunately, after a run-in with Delgado, we lost him.” As he spoke of him, Delgado and Aaron finally caught up.
“You look like you lost the fight,” Ward said.
“You should see the other guy. SSA Delgado. FBI Headquarters.”
“You must’ve been the one to have the run-in with Mr. Jian?”
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Yes, I attempted to resolve our problem once and for all, but unfortunately, it backfired on me. So, you better believe I’m ready to make this happen. He won’t get the drop on me again.”
“That brings me to another point,” Lacy said. “How do we get Jian here? This place will be swarming with FBI, CIA, police, and everyone in between.”
“Yes, but he knows you will be here and he’ll want to revel in his own handiwork. That will be a big enough draw for him,” Fraser said. “Turner has the agenda and I know for a fact he relayed the information to Jian in their meeting at the hotel yesterday. His assistant, Dunn, was there. I had an opportunity to slip a recording device inside the liner of his jacket when the three of us met the other night. So he’s been listening for us. And it just so happens that Turner cleared his schedule and will be here, alongside the secretary of state. Good news for us.”
“I can almost guarantee this has Yang’s fingerprints all over it.” Delgado tried to put his weight on his own two feet. “He doesn’t want Jian to screw this up for him and because he agreed to provide additional security, the payback is that Jian has to step away from his plans, at least during the event. Afterwards is another story. Yang has far too much to lose to let Jian screw this up.”
“Speaking of Yang and the Dalian Company,” Ward began. “I had an opportunity to do some research on the Chinese corporation. And what I found is that they have ties to not only Lei Jian and the MSS, but to those inside the Uyghur Separatist Movement.”
“I’m sorry, but who are they?” Aaron asked.
“In a nutshell,” Will began, “a hodge-podge of terrorist groups that have carried out numerous attacks in the Xinjiang region of China. Most of these groups want an independent state that aligns with ethnic groups in Central Asia. Which brings a whole other element to our problem. One that we cannot afford to let fester should Dalian succeed.”
“I agree. It makes what we’re doing all the more important,” Ward replied.
“How much help are we going to get tomorrow? We need protection. Merrick and Caison most of all,” Delgado asked Ward and Fraser point blank.
“Let’s talk about what really needs to happen,” Will began. “Yes, we need security. But I think tomorrow’s our best chance at getting Jian into custody. Fraser, you have audio and have been present at meetings with Turner. We also have the Kendrick letter and pictures of the deputy secretary with Jian. Lacy, after your speech, as we discussed prior, you’ll present that evidence to the secretary of state, who will be alongside the president, I assume.”
“Right, but we hadn’t figured out precisely how to execute that plan.”
“They’ll both likely be shaking hands with the victim’s family members, including you. That’s when you’ll want to address the secretary and inform him that you have this information. You’ll have to be discreet. And so will he, but I don’t think that will be a problem. Any hint of an issue tomorrow will be addressed swiftly and quietly,” Will replied.
“And while you’re doing that, I’ll have operatives in place to keep an eye on Jian. We won’t let him slip out,” Ward said. “Fraser, I know you’ll have people here too.”
“Hunter, you can offer backup for Lacy because questions will be hurled in her direction and both of us will have to be there to field them,” Will said. “They’ll ask about you and Axell and your involvement.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“What we’ll all need to remember is that we will have very little time to pull this off,” Delgado added.
Ward began to walk around. “Let’s line out where we’ll all be and time everything out. We have to be precise. The secretary and president won’t stay one minute longer than their schedules allow.”
“What about Director Mobley?” Lacy asked. “Do we let him in on this? He knows we’re working on something. He could offer support.”
“My concern with that is when this hits the fan, I don’t want him to go down with the ship.”
“Maybe you’re right, but he better step up when this does come to an end. We’re going to need his support, Will. The time for political maneuvering is over.”
“I couldn’t agree more. But the fewer people who know about this, the better we’ll all be. The MSS could have people in places we have no idea about. Including the FBI.”
♦ ♦ ♦
The deputy secretary tossed back the last of his drink and set his glass on the kitchen counter of his hotel suite. “Your men couldn’t find the body? So we have no idea if the man who
came after you is dead or alive, or who the hell he is?”
“I can only assume he is associated with the FBI agent and the woman. I’ve been forced to leave my hotel and lost a man—one who didn’t belong to me—and I’ll have a price to pay for that alone.” Jian clasped his hands behind his back and paced the room. “But I don’t see that you’ve offered any additional help, so I feel as though I am on my own in this venture.”
“You’re not on your own, I assure you. Everything will work itself out tomorrow at the groundbreaking ceremony. You just need to trust me.”
“Then perhaps you should seek to have me placed under your protection. How can I continue to fear for my safety in such a manner?”
“As Yang is still indebted to you and now me, he will make the necessary arrangements should he wish to continue to reap the spoils of our new arrangement.”
“What is in this for you, Deputy Secretary?” Jian eyed him. “You were not part of our initial plan and, in fact, the undersecretary worked exceedingly hard at ensuring your exclusion. So why are you offering to help now? What do you stand to gain?”
“You forget that I protected you and Yang by ensuring your dirty little secret didn’t reach the upper echelons of my government. That goddamn letter Kendrick wrote. If the secretary had been made aware, you would not be standing here right now and would have suffered a worse fate than the plush surroundings your government provided for the past six months.”
“You have not answered my question. Apart from the fact that your political career and aspirations would certainly be slaughtered were the truth to be revealed, if our plan succeeds, as I suspect it will, what do you have to gain?”
“As you’re aware, the same administration was re-elected by the American people earlier this month. And as such, my job is secure for the next four years. However, when my time comes to an end here, I do not wish to run for higher office, and would certainly not be a hold-over were a new political party to take control, so where does that leave me?” He poured himself another drink. “I’ll tell you. It leaves me to garner speaking engagements, write a book, and perhaps eke out enough money to allow for a mediocre retirement. I, however, wish for more.” Turner smiled. “After the attack, after Kendrick’s retirement, the writing on the wall was quite clear. I purchased a large quantity of Dalian stock in the immediate aftermath, before it began reaping the benefits.”
