O’Reilly did nothing to hide his anger when he learned that Cardinal had been tortured at the hands of Cypher’s goons. With a look of disgust on his face, O’Reilly said, “Ryan, if you get the chance, I want you to pay Cypher back in spades for what he’s done.”
Mitchell grinned and nodded. It would be his pleasure.
Donaldson led off for the team back in the States. Flashing up images from CNN, he said, “A few hours ago, an earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale had flattened Cypher’s factory. That the devastation was confined to the factory and the local area was being hailed as a miracle by the local authorities who unfortunately had yet to find a single survivor from the deadly quake.”
Mitchell shook his head. “I doubt that divine intervention had limited the death toll, more like careful planning. Cypher and Atsuko were undoubtedly far away when the quake struck.”
Next, Jen’s smiling face filled the screen. For the next few minutes, she explained what had happened when she visited Joe Kataro at his cottage in Vermont. As she recounted his wartime experiences on Matua Island, it only served to cement Mitchell’s burning desire to get up to the island and take a look around as soon as possible. Joe’s information, combined with what Taro Satomi had told him about Atsuko’s fascination with the secret weapons development on the island, left no doubt in Mitchell’s mind on his next course of action.
Mitchell asked, “Sir, is the State Department going to do something about Cypher?”
O’Reilly despondently shook his head. “Ryan, without irrefutable evidence linking Cypher to illegal activity, the folks down in Washington aren’t even going to pick up the phone, let alone do something about it. Besides, with the government squarely focused on the Korean peninsula, there is precious little interest in taking the time to delve into a matter that is still officially under investigation by the FBI.”
Mitchell wasn’t surprised by the bureaucratic response. It was one of the reasons that he had left the military to pursue a career on his own terms.
“Ryan, I spoke with Mister Satomi earlier in the day and despite the bad news about his daughter, he is still willing to pick up any costs associated with this investigation, so what do you want to do next?” O’Reilly asked.
“I’m going to Matua Island to try and find out what exactly Cypher and his girlfriend are planning,” replied Mitchell. “There has to be something there that can give us a clue as to his next move.”
O’Reilly nodded. He knew exactly what Mitchell was thinking before he even said it. “Jen has scanned all of Mister Kataro’s notes and diagrams on the island into Mike’s computer. I suspect that they are already on Yuri’s secure laptop, waiting for you to read them.”
“Mister Kataro’s map shows a tunnel system on the south-western side of the island that is not on any map I found on the Web,” explained Jen.
“Can you trust his memory after so many years?” Mitchell asked.
“I was a little apprehensive going to meet him, but after I did, he seemed as sharp as a tack to me.”
“If you trust him… so do I.”
With that, the meeting wrapped up. Mitchell promised to call back in an hour when he and his compatriots had come up with a workable plan of action.
Across the street, in a darkened room in another tower, Cypher’s assassin, Tara, lowered her handheld listening device and smiled to herself. She found that trailing Mitchell had not been as difficult as she first imagined. Once she determined whom he was working with, it was only a matter of bribing the right people in Yuri’s shadowy world to find out where they were heading. Quickly dialing a number on her secure cell phone, Tara waited until Cypher picked up the call.
“Please tell me you have good news,” said Cypher.
“I have Mitchell and his accomplices in sight,” said Tara, smiling evilly. “It’s too dangerous to try and take him out where he is. The risk of collateral damage is too high. However, I know exactly where they are going next and his disappearance would go unnoticed until our operation is complete.”
“Superb news, Tara. You are truly my favorite.”
A delicious warmth spread though Tara, hearing Cypher’s words. “Sir, if you wish to deal with your other problem, I could kill two birds with one stone, if you want.”
A silence filled the air while Cypher left his chair and walked up to the front of his jet. A few seconds later, he spoke. “Tara, I believe your idea has merit. I’ll have my plane divert to Beijing where Miss Satomi can be dropped off. Have a rendezvous location sorted out by the time we land in Beijing. I’ll have Atsuko flown to you. Please ensure that her remains are never found.”
“With pleasure, sir. You can trust me to ensure that she’ll never be found.”
“I know. That's why you are my favorite,” said Cypher as he ended the call. Pocketing his phone, Cypher picked up a wall-mounted phone and told the pilot to make a quick stop in Beijing. After that, he made his way back and took his seat beside Atsuko.
“Something wrong?” asked Atsuko, seeing the distant look in her lover’s eyes.
Cypher turned and looked deep into her brown eyes. “No, my dear, there’s nothing wrong. We’re just going to make an unscheduled stop in Beijing. I need you to get off and join Tara. She is working on something very important for me, and I want you to help her out.”
“I’m not sure what good I can be to Tara, but if that’s what you want, I’d be glad to help.”
“It would help things out immeasurably,” replied Cypher with a wide smile on his face that made Atsuko think she was looking at a shark.
Right away, Atsuko’s pulse began to race. Deep down, her stomach warned her that things were changing between Cypher and her. Sitting back in her chair, Atsuko turned her head and looked out her window. Clouds blanketed the world below from view. A feeling of abandonment began to seep into her heart. She didn’t have to be told; Cypher was cutting his ties with her. Fighting to keep her emotions in check, she began to wonder where she would be heading and what it was Tara needed help with. Her instincts told her that none of it was good, and that she would be lucky if she were alive in a day’s time.
34
A heavy rain fell on the small fishing boat as it sailed over the growing, dark gray swells toward Matua Island.
Mitchell stepped out from below, placed a green ball cap on his head to block the blowing rain from hitting his face, and then looked up at the tall volcano that towered over Matua Island. Named Sarychev by the Russians who occupied the island in 1945, the volcano was one of the most active in the Kuril Islands, having erupted last in 2009. The island itself was oval-shaped, eleven kilometers long and six kilometers wide. Uninhabited for years, the island sat quiet. Rusting pieces of military hardware littered the island as a reminder of the World War II and the Cold War.
Judging that they had perhaps twenty minutes before they reached the shoreline, Mitchell made his way back inside to join his friends belowdecks. Jackson was sitting at a table playing with the handheld, ground-penetrating radar they had picked up in Japan, while Yuri cleaned a futuristic-looking SAR-21 assault rifle that he had been able to obtain on the black market for the team. Built compact, with the magazine behind the pistol grip, the weapon had a laser sight and was light and deadly. Rounding out their arsenal, Yuri had also managed to buy some plastic explosives, 9mm automatics, and a brand new mine detector. After Jen had told them that the place had been booby-trapped, Mitchell thought it wise if they had something with them that could detect explosives hidden in the walls or floor of the tunnels that ran under the island. He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down.