He’d tried many times to convince Li Feng that elaborate plans were always a terrible idea and that if she hated a man, she should kill him. Ziggy Peng had killed many men that he hated, and many more that other men hated. This was the first time he’d been involved in an intricate plot just to make a man look foolish. Men rarely needed help looking foolish.
“Are you ready?” Ziggy asked Bingo when he answered.
“For which part?”
“For all parts. You need to go tonight. Soon.”
“I’ll be ready.” Bingo hung up.
With the key part of that plan in motion, Ziggy turned his mind to the problem of Dale Gai.
Arrow Donaldson was in the back of his SUV when Ziggy Peng called to tell him they were a go. When they hung up, Arrow called Millie Martindale.
“I’m still very impressed at your initiative and stubbornness,” Arrow said.
“That’s very nice of you to say, even if it’s a lie,” Millie said.
Arrow clenched his teeth and took a pause so he didn’t say something that would put the whole plan in jeopardy. He’d had enough of this woman’s second-guessing and impertinence. A man in his position had earned deference. Was owed it. Why was that so hard?
“Take it however you will,” Arrow finally said, “but the truth is that you made your case and I don’t see any reason not to put Li Feng in your care as soon as possible.”
“Really?”
Her tone was more suspicious than thankful, but he held his temper in check. He wasn’t an impulsive man, and the reason he’d made it as far as he had — and was able to get people to do his bidding — was because he didn’t fly off the handle like he’d seen other men in charge do. A response to a challenge should always be calculated.
“I have other things to attend to. This city is very important to me, and I am very important to this city.”
“Yes, I understand,” Millie said, her tone once again implying doubt.
Arrow felt a flare of anger, and reminded himself that Millie Martindale would soon no longer be a thorn in his side. He gave her the address of a hotel on the water and the room number where she was to go and hung up before she could say anything further.
14
Room 3347 at the Golden Desert Casino and Resort was packed with CIA protective agents on loan from the local Agency field office, room service staff, three of the U.S. government delegates, and Millie Martindale. She wasn’t sure how her room had become the operations center for everything, but as she hung up with Arrow Donaldson, she was happy they were all together. Millie banged on a room service platter until everyone in the room was quiet.
“We have a change in plans. We’re getting Li Feng out tonight. Right now.”
“This feels more like a kidnapping exchange than a transfer of custody,” one of the agents said.
“I don’t trust this guy any more than I trust a kidnapper,” Millie said. “Maybe even less.”
“Then why are we doing this? Why are we negotiating with a private citizen for a government asset?”
“This is a complicated situation with multiple stakeholders, private and governmental,” Millie said. “Your job is to follow my directions.”
Another agent joined them, and then two more. All men.
“What if you’re sending us into a trap?” another one of the agents asked. He was the tallest man in the room, and he loomed over Millie.
“We are men and women of the CIA,” Millie said, squawking a bit at first, but finding the depth in her voice quickly. “Every room we go into could be a trap. Every restaurant, every drive, every phone call could be our last. If you want a safe job and a boring life, go work for Treasury.”
Millie stood on the balls of her feet as she finished, partially to compensate for the male agent’s height, but also because she was energized and excited after her speech. Perhaps, naïvely, she expected the speech to be enough that the rest of the group would fall into line and head out, even if they didn’t cheer out loud for her. But nobody moved and everyone in the room continued staring at her.
“You’re the only woman here,” the first agent she’d been talking to said.
“What if the person we’re going to rescue doesn’t need to be saved?” another agent asked.
The tall one kept looking at her with a crooked smile, and she hoped he was about to say something to galvanize the crew to her side. Instead, he said, “Treasury took down Al Capone.”
Millie was spared further embarrassment when the phone in her room rang. She pushed through the group of men to get to it.
“I own a high-rise of beautiful condos near the site where I’m building my arena,” Arrow said.
“Are they as beautiful as the casino you built?”
Millie could hear Arrow sigh on the other end of the line.
“Li Feng is in the penthouse expecting your visit.”
“I’m on my way over there right now,” Millie said.
“I know you want to protect her, but maybe don’t take an entire army over there. She’s used to a certain level of luxury and discretion. I fear your goon squad dressed like an assault team might do more harm than good.”
“I hate to admit it, but you might have a point.”
Millie hung up and looked around at the men in the room. Almost all of them were dressed in military gear, including all three who’d been taunting her. Three others, though, would work. One was wearing casual office attire and could have come from an IT department, and the other two were dressed in blazers, dress shirts, and dress pants. She pointed to the three of them and told them to follow her.
“The rest of you stay here and make sure no one steals anything from the minibar.”
15
Bingo had finished the code for the drone hack well before Ziggy Peng called, but he’d hoped to fine-tune it more before go-time. That wasn’t going to happen now. He only had a few minutes to finish processing everything and track down the drone he was going to use.
The plan had been much easier during the initial stages, because the Chinese government had been testing stealth drones throughout the country, including heavily in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. But the recent unrest and protests in Hong Kong had diverted the government’s attention, and most of the drones had been sent to Hong Kong, leaving only a couple in Macau.
Ziggy Peng called again. “They are going to be in the penthouse of the building we discussed. It’s a circular suite with windows on all sides, so targeting shouldn’t be a problem.”
“All of those fancy buildings have window coverings. It won’t stop a bullet, but it will make it hard to see who I’m shooting.”
“It’s all controlled electronically. I trust you’re able to hack something as simple as window shades.”
Electric shades were as easy as anything in a house was to hack, but it added another task to an already tight time frame. But knowing his protests would fall on deaf ears, Bingo said nothing.
Perhaps sensing Bingo’s silent discontent, Ziggy spoke again with a more pleasant tone.
“Arrow Donaldson has talked the female agent into taking a smaller group of agents with her.”
This was not the type of good news Bingo had been expecting. Ziggy continued talking.
“If the American woman is killed during the attack, Arrow Donaldson has promised bonuses for all involved.”