“Does Luntz know that we have his handler?”
David said, “There’s no indication that he does. The handler was supposed to break off contact and go underground, to avoid Luntz getting found out. The last thing he did was give him a new list of dead drops and meeting locations near Raven Rock, which we now have.”
They spent the next thirty minutes going over the possible meeting locations, and how they would take down Luntz.
“Our lookalike agent will be standing by to go meet with Lena. The agent has strict instructions on what to do and say. Then they’ll make an excuse and leave, so as to limit the potential for saying the wrong thing and tipping Lena off.”
Chase shook his head. “Look, you’re the one with the field experience here, but this just seems…”
Susan said, “We know, Chase. There’s a good chance that Lena will realize something is amiss. That’s why you’re here. You’ll attempt to take her down if she flees. And she’ll probably have backup from the South Sword Team. Your friends from SEAL Team Two will be there to assist you if things go…”
“Tits up?”
“Colorful. But yes, exactly.”
Chase said, “So let’s say she buys it. We get the lookalike agent to Lena, she hears what he has to say and transmits it back to China. How does that help us?”
David said, “General Schwartz has been working with an assault team on Hawaii. The whole point of this operation is to give them the best chance possible of defeating the Chinese fleet.”
“An assault team? As in guys with guns? I may not have had much sea time, but I was still in the Navy long enough to know that’s not how you win a sea battle. How the hell is an assault team going to take down the Chinese fleet?”
David’s face was stern. “That information is compartmentalized from this op. We don’t need to discuss it here.”
Chase shot him a look.
His brother shrugged. “Sorry.”
Chase could see that something was bothering Susan. “What is it?”
Susan said, “The Chinese fleet is moving faster than expected. They’re only another few days from Hawaii. And they’ll be in range of Johnston Atoll within twenty-four hours.”
“Will we be ready?”
“I don’t know. But Luntz knows about our defense plans. We believe that’s the exact information Lena Chou is attempting to get. Control of the Pacific depends on this one decisive battle.”
Chase saw something else was bothering his brother. “What aren’t you telling me?”
David looked at the floor.
Susan said, “Your sister, Victoria, is leading the mission to attack the Chinese.”
Chase’s mouth dropped open, the air gone from his lungs.
Susan said, “We’ll do a few dry runs with all of the players tonight.”
Chase, regaining his composure, said, “When is the meeting with Lena supposed to be?”
“A few hours from now.”
34
Lena Chou was driven by one of the South Sword soldiers. They rode in a sedan, traveling through winding mountain roads near the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania.
They parked in the underground garage of an apartment complex. The troops wore American winter clothing, their weapons hidden under the jackets. And they were never in teams of more than three.
Once in the apartment, Lena met with the old Chinese man who maintained the safe house. It was owned by one of his LLCs, and he was the only one who ever went there. He had been living in America for many years. He owned two car washes in the county. The MSS paid him in cash, and he laundered the money through those businesses. He wouldn’t have had a business if not for that extra influx of cash. Times had been tough, and his English wasn’t so good. He owed everything to his Chinese benefactors and was loyal to his birth country.
The man’s children had all been put through college with those funds, and one of his sons ran the business now. Lately, the old Chinese man spent more of his time reading on his phone in the parks and public spaces within driving distance of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex.
Lena knew that it was too risky to have the old man meet with their agent. He wasn’t trained for it. But he had taken many pictures of the potential meeting locations and observed the patterns of life. It was these descriptions that he passed on to Lena now.
When she was done listening, she went into the guest bedroom. Three of the soldiers were in there, including Lieutenant Ping, their commander.
“I have selected my location. I will need you to transmit the meeting time and place in one hour.”
“Just give us the coded transmission, Miss Chou, and we will send the communication.”
An hour later, the transmission was sent. As soon as it was, Lena said, “Tell your men to be ready to move. And give me the keys to your vehicle.”
“Do you want us to go with you?”
“No. I will go alone.”
She could tell he disapproved, but the young officer remained obediently quiet. She liked him, she realized. He reminded her of someone else. Chase Manning. A man she wished she had met in a different life.
“Have your men waiting in their vehicles. If our agent is compromised, I will signal you, and you will need to move quickly. But if that occurs, make sure you send at least one of your men back here to transmit what happened.”
“And if things go well?”
“If the meeting goes smoothly, I will return within the hour and send the transmission myself. No one can leave this apartment before that happens, lest they give away the location of our transmitter.”
“I understand.”
Lena nodded approvingly. A few miles away, two teams of three were parked in a crowded Walmart parking lot, their presence hidden by tinted windows. A few miles in the other direction, more teams waited in two other safe houses. Remote cabins in heavily wooded areas. At their lieutenant’s signal, they would converge on a dozen different locations within minutes, ready for combat. But for operational security, she had kept the exact location to herself, until now.
“I have set the meeting location at checkpoint four.”
Lieutenant Ping nodded. “Good luck.”
She drove out of the garage and down the street. She passed a police cruiser on her journey, which made her feel more secure. If the Americans knew where she was going, they would likely have kept local police away. Or if the true professionals were handling it, they wouldn’t have said a word.
She parked her car on the town’s quaint-looking main street and began walking along the sidewalk. She kept her cotton winter hat snug over her head, and a maroon scarf tight around her neck. A tight-fitting down winter jacket kept her warm. She spent twenty minutes conducting her surveillance detection route. An infinitesimally short period, but she didn’t have the luxury of time.
For the first time in quite a while, Lena Chou felt nervous. Preparation had always been one of her strengths. Over the years, her importance to Jinshan had given her the ability to say no to operations that could get her caught by the FBI’s counterintelligence division. It was her duty to say no. So meticulous planning had to be done before Lena was brought in.
But now all cards had to be played. Even she was expendable today.
Only two restaurants were still open, and they both looked almost empty. One had an outdoor seating area, covered with a black tarp. An outdoor heating lamp in the corner of the space. Lena walked into the restaurant and a chime alerted the hostess. She requested the seat in the far corner of the outdoor space. From there she would be able to see everyone coming and going from the street. She could hop the three-foot-tall wrought-iron fence around the sitting area and make it to the alley around the corner in under five seconds. The alleyway opened into several egress options.