by Ken Fite
“He’s going alone?” asked Jami, but Morgan didn’t reply. He didn’t need to.
“I think he could use your help, love,” said Morgan. “That’s why I’m calling. I can try to come up with an excuse to stall him until you get over there, but you’re going to have to leave now. Can’t stop him for long.”
“How far out are we?” asked Jami.
There was typing in the background. “Based on that northwest DC address that you gave me earlier, it’s exactly three miles south of you. You could get there in five minutes. I can’t delay him longer than that.”
She pushed open the front door and stepped outside as Chris followed. She turned back to look at him.
“You should go to the Hoover Building and meet up with Simon. Help him find Lynne May,” said Chris.
Jami furrowed her brow and realized that Chris knew what she knew—that the Russians wanted her, too. She understood that Blake must have shared that with Chris and Mark after they’d split up. Chris was right, they needed to find Lynne May. They also needed to figure out where Landry was and understand why he had taken Meg Taylor. She bit her lip and stared at Chris, shaking her head. “No, we’ll both go.”
“Guys,” interrupted Morgan, “he just arrived. If you’re going to go, you need to go now.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want our help. If he wanted us there, then he would have called us,” said Chris.
Jami frowned. “No, he wouldn’t,” she said and shook her head knowingly. “Morgan, send us the address.”
FORTY-NINE
MORGAN USED THE drone to help me lose the cops. I stopped the vehicle on Thirtieth Street, just short of a fork in the road at Benton Place that jutted out to the left. Through the windshield, to my right, I had a clear shot of the embassy. I saw a large green dome at the left of the building and asked Morgan what it was. He told me that it had been known as the Persian Room during the embassy’s heyday.
Two large windows at the back of the building faced me, right behind the green dome, which appeared to be located in an east wing of the main building. There were three tall, vertical windows in the back of the building with what looked like a large uncovered courtyard underneath. Surrounding trees blocked the west wing from my view. I saw a white concrete wall that surrounded the perimeter of the property.
“Morgan, this is taking too long. What’s the status of that drone?”
“Just give me another minute or so, mate,” he replied as I continued to stare out the vehicle’s windshield.
An occasional car rushed by me on the left, headed for Massachusetts Avenue, which Morgan said was lined by more embassies. He said that this was the best location for an approach into the building where I believed Dimitri Ivanov might be operating from. Another car approached, and I turned to my left to watch it through the driver’s side mirror. As it passed, I noticed two blacked-out vehicles right behind it.
I looked up and, through the rearview mirror, watched the SUVs slow down and park directly behind me. “Morgan, what’s going on?” I asked as I reached for my Glock and kept my eyes fixed on the vehicles until I saw that it was Jami who had parked behind me. That was when I understood what Morgan was doing.
Opening the door, I climbed out of the vehicle as Jami and Chris did the same, and I walked toward them.
“Are you crazy?” asked Jami. I stopped in front of her while Chris took another few steps closer to join us. “Blake, you’re not going in there alone.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head.
“I’m not alone,” I replied and moved the phone away from my ear and held it out in front of me.
“That’s not what I meant,” said Jami.
I looked them over and nodded. “I know,” I said and forced a smile. “You’re right. I could use your help.”
Jami told me about the address that she and Chris had gone to, and said it belonged to Bill Landry. She told me about meeting Meg Taylor when she got there, and said that she and Landry were romantically involved. We understood that Bill Landry was her informant. He was taking advantage of the young woman’s being new in town. I decided that Taylor had found out about me on her own and Landry filled in the details. Then Jami said that Landry had shown up and taken Taylor away by force, but I couldn’t understand why.
The three of us walked to the sidewalk and huddled together next to Jami’s vehicle. I put the call on speakerphone and held the phone out in front of us. “Okay, Morgan,” I said, “tell me what you’ve got.”
“Just moved the drone north of the embassy. All clear. Didn’t see any movement in the courtyard, either. Now I’m south of the building and still not seeing anything. No Tangos visible on the perimeter, Blake.”
“You got schematics?” asked Chris.
“No, and I’m not even sure what it looks like inside. The building’s still owned by Iran, not many pictures.”
“Morgan, we need to know what we’re dealing with,” I said.
“Here’s what I can see from overhead,” he said. “There are three ways in. The first is through the courtyard at the north side where you’re positioned right now. Another up a ramp that’ll take you to the second floor from the west wing of the building. The last way in is from the south, through the front door.”
“It’s a big building,” I said as I turned my head to glance back at the old, abandoned embassy. “Ivanov could be anywhere.” I turned back to the team. “And if he’s in there, he has Charlie Redding with him.”
Jami turned to me. “What’s the plan?”
“There are three ways in and three of us,” I said as Chris motioned for us to join him at the back of his SUV. He pulled open a drawer, revealing extra ammo, and handed some to us. “We’ve all got to take an entrance to make sure that Ivanov doesn’t get past us.” I pointed down the road we were parked on. “Chris, you head south on Thirtieth Street and take the main entrance in.” I looked to the small hill leading to the back of the property. “Jami and I will enter through the back. Jami, you go in through the courtyard. I’ll move over to the west wing and take the ramp up to the second floor, and I’ll meet you two inside.”
I grabbed two extra magazines and stuffed them into the pockets of my jeans. Chris found a charge pack along with a small brick of C-4. I went to the passenger door, found my messenger bag, and returned. Chris placed the charge pack inside; then he opened a smaller drawer and handed earpieces to Jami and me. We paired them to our phones, I patched them in with Morgan, and Chris pulled down on the hatch.
“Guys,” said Lennox, sounding worried.
I dropped the phone into my back pocket since I had Morgan on Bluetooth. “We’re here. Go ahead.”
“I’ve got the Predator drone north of the property, and I’m seeing movement inside the courtyard now.”
“What kind of movement?” I asked.
“Trying to zoom in,” he said and paused while I turned to look back at the building through the trees. “Looks like two Tangos, wearing all black. One of them has a weapon in his hand, the other guy’s outside my line of sight now, but I’m assuming he’s also armed. Don’t think Chris can go south on Thirtieth now.”
I looked and saw that he was right. They’d be able to see him from the courtyard. We needed another plan. “Okay, we’ll all head in from the north and split up at the courtyard. Keep the Predator in place, Morgan.”
We climbed the steep hill and stopped when we got to a large oak tree on our side of the wall. I stepped up to it and used it to hide my face as I slowly moved my head to the left until I caught a glimpse of the men that Morgan had spotted from the drone circling overhead. They had semiautomatic weapons. I dropped to my knees. With four fingers, I pointed left, and Chris moved south along the wall. Jami remained where she was as I moved north, past her, crouching as I went. I stopped and leaned my back against the wall.
“Morgan, do you still have a visual?” I whispered into my earpiece.
“Yes, but I can only see one now. Looks like he might be talking to the other
guy that I can’t see,” he said.
“I need you to tell me when I have a clear shot,” I said, whispering again. I turned to my right and saw Jami staring back at me. Chris was farther down from her, also looking in my direction. “Chris, I’ll need you to create a distraction, okay?”
He nodded, and I faced forward, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.
Finally, Morgan spoke. “Now,” he said.
I opened my eyes, gripped my weapon, and nodded to Chris.
FIFTY
STILL GRIPPING MY weapon, I watched as Chris turned to face the wall, found a rock, and tossed it close to the courtyard. As soon as I heard it hit the ground, I spun around, raised my Glock over the wall, and saw the two men looking in Reed’s direction. Then they noticed me. I closed an eye and squeezed twice.
“Go,” I said, knowing that Ivanov would have heard the shots and would know that something was wrong.
Chris, Jami, and I got over the wall and started to move. Chris ran south along the building, past where the large green dome was located, and disappeared from my line of sight as Jami and I moved west.
From what I could tell, the area just inside the courtyard was clear. With my left hand, I let go of my weapon and motioned toward the back entrance. Jami approached as I continued moving west across the back of the property. As I moved, I watched her approach the back door to enter through the courtyard.
As soon as she disappeared inside, I got to the west wing of the building and scaled the steep ramp that Morgan had told us about so I could enter the building from the second floor. I was breathing hard as I moved quickly and carefully climbed the ramp while scanning my surroundings. To my right, I saw three tall windows lining the outer wall, and I tried to look into the building as I passed them and approached the door at the top of the ramp. They were old and the glass was dirty, making it difficult to see inside.
“Can’t get into the big room on the left,” said Jami through the earpiece. “Two large doors, both locked.”
“Keep moving,” I said. Then two shots were fired near the front of the property as I got to the top of the ramp and I crouched by the door. My eyes grew wide and my heart was racing. “Chris, you okay?”
“Had to use my key,” he answered. “Jami, I’m at the front and moving your way.”
“Copy,” she said.
I studied the door. It opened from the inside. I couldn’t kick it in. I stood, aimed my weapon, and fired. It took three shots to get it open. I stepped inside and was overwhelmed by the same mildew smell that I had experienced hours earlier inside the building at Garfield, the smell of a building that hasn’t been used by anyone in decades. I moved fast, sweeping my weapon from side to side, and stepped through the room.
Doors had been taken off their hinges and rested against the walls. Blue, seventies-era velvet tufted sofas were covered in dust, and several of them had large mirrors and lamps resting on top of them. “First room upstairs is clear,” I said to the team as I continued to the next room and tried to keep myself focused.
As I stepped inside, I noticed oil paintings and old, framed photographs. They were all of the same man, either wearing a suit and tie or an olive-colored military uniform. I guessed that the man must have been the Iranian ambassador. I continued to step across the dirty floor, but nobody was in that room, either.
Large boxes were pushed up against the wall in the next room. I glanced down and saw that they were filled with old documents and what looked like Iranian passports. Stepping through, I found a huge grand ballroom, empty, with electrical wires dangling from the ceiling along with a large chandelier in the center of the room. I didn’t go inside, just checked it from the door. I looked down at one of the large doors taken off its hinges. The doorknob was golden and stamped with the symbol of the Imperial State of Iran.
“Upstairs is clear. Heading down to join you,” I said as I moved to the stairs and descended. On my left were tall, thin stained-glass windows with dim light shining through from outside. To my right, I saw that the metal railing was decorated with golden birds weaved in an ornamental fashion from a time long ago.
“Rest of the building is clear,” said Jami as she and Chris met me at the bottom of the staircase.
To my left, a tall set of windows stretched from the floor to the ceiling, revealing another courtyard. This one was in the center of the building, which wrapped around all four sides. In the middle were remnants of what looked like an old fountain. What was once a regal decoration was now just a rusty centerpiece.
“Show me the room, Jami,” I said, referring to the room with the locked doors that she had mentioned. She motioned for me to follow and led Chris and me down the hallway, and we stopped outside the door.
I looked to the left, out a large window. Past the inner courtyard, I saw the green dome on the roof. “Morgan,” I said into my earpiece, “looks like we’re outside the Persian Room you told me about earlier.” I paused for several seconds while I checked the door. “I need to know what we’re walking into over here.”
“Just a sec,” said Lennox. Several seconds passed as we heard the man typing. “Okay, found an old image on the internet, Blake.” There was more typing in the background. “But the image is about thirty years old. Looks like a very large room, thirty-foot ceiling. Looks like a good place for Ivanov to set up shop in.”
I knelt and pulled the strap for my messenger bag over my head and I set it on the floor. I opened it up and motioned for Chris to join me. “Can you set the charge, Chris?”
He nodded as I handed it to him. “Just need a minute or two,” he said as he took it from me, went to the large doors, and got started.
“We checked the other rooms downstairs,” said Jami as she turned and gestured to the other side of the building. “All of the doors were off their hinges. I don’t understand why these are up and why it’s locked.”
She was right. It didn’t make much sense to me, either. I shrugged as we watched Reed quietly at work. “Found the same thing upstairs,” I said as I checked my weapon and got ready to enter the room.
“What are we going to do if Charlie’s not inside?” Jami asked with a whisper, keeping her voice down.
I kept my eyes on the door. “No need to whisper,” I said. “I’m sure they heard the shots I fired earlier.”
“Blake, you didn’t answer the question.”
We exchanged a look. I shrugged because I didn’t have an answer.
Chris finished securing a strip over and around the area where the two doors locked together. He set the charge and ran over to join us. “Back up,” he said, and we took a few steps backward and ducked behind a wide concrete column. The three of us knelt together. “Got it set to thirty seconds. Get ready,” he added.
“I’ll lead us in,” I said and started to count as I closed my eyes and thought about Charlie Redding.
I thought some more about Jami’s question. What would I do if Charlie wasn’t inside the room? If I was wrong and Dimitri wasn’t inside? I took a deep breath and tried to slow my pulse. This had to be Ivanov’s location. I was sure of it. I kept counting. A few short seconds later, there was a loud bang as the explosive detonated. The sound was deafening, and I flinched as chunks of wood and concrete flew past us. I looked at Chris, then at Jami. They looked back and I nodded. I spun around the column and moved to the door.
The three of us approached, weapons drawn, and stepped through a blanket of thick white smoke. I stepped closer to the door and swung my weapon left to right and continued with the sweeping motion as I crossed the threshold and moved farther inside. My eyes moved back and forth, scanning the room as I moved past the thick haze. I kept moving until I finally saw what was waiting for us on the other side of the smoke. I slowly lowered my weapon. “Morgan,” I said, trying hard not to panic, “we have a problem.”
FIFTY-ONE
“WHAT IS IT?” asked Lennox from my earpiece as I turned back and watched Chris and Jami step through the smoke. They lowe
red their weapons and joined me in the center of the large Persian Room.
“We’ve got two laptops, some papers,” I said as I turned back and walked to a table at the end of the room. “But no sign of Charlie or Ivanov.” I scanned their work space. “Looks like we just missed them, Morgan.”
I stuffed my weapon into the small of my back and turned a laptop around to face me as I kept my back to the door. Chris started to check out the rest of the large room as Jami started looking at the other laptop.
The laptop I was looking at was locked. I noticed a small webcam indicator light turned on. To our surprise, Jami’s was unlocked. She started to check the various applications that were up and running. “Looks like they were monitoring the news. I’ve got a story up about the ransomware attacks from yesterday and the explosion at DDC.” Jami tucked a lock of brown hair behind an ear, stood up straight, and shrugged. “I’ll have to keep digging, not seeing much else. Maybe I’m missing something.”
We heard Lennox sigh. “Guys, I’m getting pinged by Simon again. He says it’s urgent and he needs to call me right away. Give me a minute to switch over, love, then I’ll come back on the line, and I’ll help walk you through setting up a direct connect so I can get into that laptop, and we’ll see what else we can find, okay?”
Jami pushed the laptop away and stepped back. I followed her gaze as she started to look up along the walls and turned around to take in the room. I glanced over to Chris Reed and saw him doing the same.
The Persian Room, as Morgan had called it, seemed to be perfectly intact. It was the only room in the entire embassy that had remained exactly as it had been, I imagined, for over thirty years. The walls and carpet were green—the same color as the dome overhead. A large red carpet covered the length of the room, from the entrance to the back wall. Three red sofas were placed at the back and sides of the room, and the upper part of the walls, halfway to the top of the ceiling, were covered with large oil paintings.
