“Did he?”
Kwan snorted. “Of course not! He told me there was no CIA team in town, as they are forbidden to act inside the U.S.. He then said that he was here to brief the mayor and the Board of Supervisors, and nothing more.”
“I see.” Rhee’s expression was ice cold. “Did the police make any headway at the pier?”
“The feds took over — FBI, DEA, ATF. The SFPD is only assisting now. The investigation is being managed by D.C., and they are not releasing information yet.”
“I thought you were an important leader.”
Kwan shrugged. “Important city leader. My power base is here in San Francisco, with some pull at the state level, but zip at the federal level.”
Rhee tilted his head. “There is a U.S. senator retiring soon, is there not?”
Kwan nodded. “Two years.”
“Excellent. For right now, do you know where the mayor will be tomorrow?”
Kwan pointed to the dining room. “I have her itinerary on the table.”
Rhee strode to the dining room table and picked up a sheet of paper. He walked back into the living room, stood next to the lamp that was on and read the paper. When he was finished he looked up at Kwan. “Where will you be when the mayor visits the DEA office?”
“There’s a Board of Supervisors meeting at the same time. I will be there.”
“Good.”
“What’s so good about it?”
Rhee smiled coldly. “It is time you took on more responsibility, sachon.”
Kwan felt his stomach twist when Rhee called him cousin. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t need to know. I—”
Something in Rhee’s coat pocket buzzed. The major scowled and plucked a cell phone from the pocket. “Ne?” He listened for a few seconds, then said, “I want a full alert at the ranch! I will be out there shortly. Did the doctor and the shipment make it? Good. You have your orders — carry them out!”
He put the phone away, then stared at Kwan. “The Americans are becoming a problem. They attacked an important facility tonight.”
“Any of our people hurt?” Kwan asked, though the words felt bitter as he uttered them.
“Aniyo,” Rhee replied. “It was only Triad jang-gae, no one important. But the Americans missed destroying our plans by a few hours. They seem to know much.”
“They must have a spy inside the Triad.”
Rhee frowned, but nodded. “It is the only thing that makes sense. I must see to a few things. For now, do not deviate from you normal schedule. You are a vital part of the fight against American Imperialism. Now you will begin your rise to heights where you can help the state the most.”
Kwan felt his stomach twist again. “Of course, Major.”
Rhee left as silently as he had come. Kwan waited a few minutes, then searched the house, but Rhee was gone. He locked all of the doors and returned to the living room. He reached over and poured another glass of scotch.
“Goddamn jongpuk,” he muttered.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The new Red Ice lab was located in the heart of the state’s historical Gold Rush territory. Less than ten miles from Sutter Creek, the ranch’s former owner had fallen on hard times due to the ongoing drought and ended up selling the property to a front company set up by North Korean intelligence.
The sun edged over the horizon as Rhee got out of the car and walked toward the house. The ranch covered two thousand acres of mostly open land. The southern half of the ranch, the part closest to the road, was flat and open, while the rear northern half consisted of low rocky hills that rose above the rest of the spread. The facilities included a covered corral next to a large barn, while a low, wide ranch house lay to Rhee’s right. The ground was mostly a dull brown, the dried grass and dirt roughly the same color. The only green came from the occasional tree that dotted the hills.
Muhn and another soldier stayed with the car. As Rhee stepped up onto the porch, the front door opened and another Asian man stepped out. He wore jeans, a flannel shirt, with work boots. He had the compact body of someone who did heavy work frequently, but his eyes in the light of the porch light were hard and cold like diamonds.
He stepped aside and bowed, then spoke to Rhee in his native Korean. “Sir, please come to see our progress.”
Inside the house, the place resembled more of an army barracks than a home. Furniture was minimal, with patriotic posters of the three Kims who had ruled the homeland for seventy years exulting the soldiers to work hard and complete their mission. Several of the front-facing windows had been turned into machine-gun posts, each with a tripod-mounted DShK heavy machine gun ready to be moved into position should the ranch be attacked.
Rhee was led to a kitchen at the back of the house. “Coffee, sir?”
Rhee shook his head. “Any problems, Myoung?”
Senior Captain Myoung Kyung-ju, in charge of the ranch, shook his head. “The supplies and chemists, including Dr. Mori, arrived as expected. According to P’il, the prisoners are behaving.”
“Where is Mori?”
“In the lab. Ryuk says the first new batch of Red Ice will be ready in twelve hours.”
“Has he learned the patbingsu formula yet?”
Myoung shook his head. “She’s still keeping it a secret.”
“What about the ammonia nitrate?”
“Slow. The Americans are regulating sales of fertilizer, and we have to be careful not to buy too much from the same dealer. Also, the government is replacing the ammonia nitrate with a new formula that is not explosive. We currently only have twenty bags.”
“We need twenty times as much. We will only have one shot at causing massive casualties using this method, and I will not accept any excuse for delay of this stage.”
“Understood, sir. I have located four storage facilities within a hundred miles where there is fertilizer in sizable quantities. With your permission, we will raid one of them tomorrow night.”
Rhee shook his head. “No, we will raid all four of them tomorrow night. We will have only one chance to secure ammonia nitrate. After that, the Americans will get wind of our plan and crack down. They will not allow us a second chance. Better to have too much of the fertilizer than too little. What about the other items?”
“The trucks are rented. The other ingredients required to make the bombs have already been secured. Everything is in the barn.”
Rhee smiled. “Excellent. I’m going to the lab.”
“Now? Breakfast is nearly ready.”
“I will eat when I come back. I will not be here long.”
“Of course sir.”
The tunnel was in the basement, accessible by a hole dug in one corner. The tunnel itself was narrow, only six inches wider that Rhee’s shoulders, and the height of the tunnel would have brushed Muhn’s head. Wooden support frames were spaced every twenty feet, from which hung bare bulbs that illuminated Rhee’s path. Despite its dimensions, the tunnel was straight and level and the walls, floor and ceiling were smooth.
Less than two minutes later, the tunnel opened into a small underground room twice the width of the tunnel. In the center, surrounded by a waist-high barricade of sandbags and protected by a shield was a DShK heavy machine gun pointing down the tunnel. The two guards, each wearing a set of plain brown fatigues, stood and snapped to attention.
“Where is Captain P’il?” Rhee asked.
“Control center, sir!” one of the guards replied.