Instead she turned back to the street, looking out the window, seeing the Chinese soldiers sitting in the sedan through the thin curtain. Lena gritted her teeth and pushed the door open, making her way out to the waiting car.
Chase was helped up by one of the CIA special operations group men. His collarbone stung, and he felt dizzy and tingly.
“I thought you said you could take her?” asked one of the FBI agents.
“Homeboy here pointed a shotgun at me.”
The cook had been disarmed and was now explaining his story to the local police officer, who had been called to the scene.
“Are we following her?”
“Yes.”
Two pickup trucks pulled up on the street outside. Chase recognized some of the passengers as members of SEAL Team Two. Everyone began leaving the restaurant, heading back out to the vehicles on the street.
One of the CIA men said, “You hear that?”
Chase frowned. “Hear what?”
The guy looked at Chase funny, then pointed at his ear.
“Damn. No. I think my earpiece got fried when she tased me.”
One of the men snorted. “Collinsworth says we have eyes on a suspected Chinese vehicle. They’re headed west to…”
The man jerked to the side, and then fell to the ground, the snap of a bullet whizzing by Chase’s head and then a distant crack echoing through the street. Chase ducked and ran for cover as all the men on the street scattered to their vehicles. Two blocks away, the yellow flashes of gunfire appeared from two darkened windows of a residential building.
The cabin door of the nearest SEAL pickup truck opened, and Chase dove in. It accelerated and peeled around the corner just as he shut his door.
“Contact one block east,” came the voice of the driver. He drove up on the empty sidewalk and brought the truck to a halt. “Spotter said there were gunshots coming from that second-story window.” Chase could see a green attached home with two second-story windows opened, a white shade flapping in the wind.
“More gunfire coming from the south side of town, hitting Delta squad.”
One of the SEALs in the back seat handed Chase a helmet and flipped on the comms. Chase snapped the chinstrap and could immediately hear the chatter from the SEALs and on-scene commander.
Susan’s voice came through in a frantic tone. “Air support is on the way. Maintain pursuit. But whatever you do, we do not want her killed. Don’t move in on her until I say so. Our best way to salvage this is to—”
Chase saw a flash of yellow from the open window across the street and then a spiderweb of cracked glass on the windscreen.
The driver slammed on the gas and turned down the street. Gunfire erupted from several of the windows, firing into Chase’s truck.
The SEAL in the passenger seat was firing through the moonroof while another fired from the left rear window, laying down covering fire as the pickup truck raced through what must have been set up as an ambush alleyway.
Susan’s voice came over Chase’s headset. “White pickup. Take your next left.”
She was directing Chase’s vehicle from overhead drone footage. The pickup swerved left onto the next street, and more gunfire rained down on the vehicle. Pops on the metal and shattered glass. The SEAL in the passenger seat let out a curse and a howl of pain. Chase grabbed an M4 from the man on his left and began firing towards the Chinese out of the rear right window. The buildings and flashes of gunfire blurring together as they sped through the streets.
“Coming up. Two more blocks. You’ll see a parking garage.”
The gunfire had ceased.
“I recommend you park there by the streetlights and proceed on foot.”
“Fuck that,” replied the driver. He pulled right up to the townhome.
“Team Bravo, you guys will have air support in two minutes. Team Charlie will be to you in one. You can wait—”
Susan’s voice. “Negative. Go in now. Don’t kill the woman, for God’s sake, but don’t let her transmit, either. We don’t know what she’ll send.”
The driver was checking on the SEAL in the passenger seat, who had taken two rounds, one in the arm and one in the shoulder. “Go. I’m good.”
The driver hesitated, then nodded and got out of the vehicle. Chase and the other SEAL followed. Weapons trained forward.
“I’ll breach.”
“Copy.”
The driver fixed an explosive charge to the front door and ignited it while all three men took cover to the side. After the explosion, they ran through the front door and began clearing rooms. Chase was the third man in but entered just as a Chinese soldier headed down the stairs with a rifle aimed his way.
Chase fired two rounds, both into the man’s chest, and he dropped, falling down the stairs.
The other two SEALs paused, realizing that if one had come from upstairs, the others were likely there as well. Chase let the driver lead the way. At the top of the stairs, he chucked a flashbang around the corner and down the hallway.
It burst, and Chase could hear the ringing in his ears as they raced forward and down the hallway. More gunfire. One of the SEALs was hit.
Someone screamed something in Mandarin.
Another burst of gunfire rang out.
Then Chase found himself through the entrance of one of the second-story rooms, staring at her. Lena stood next to a black electronic device that reminded him of a small TV satellite dish. It rested on a nightstand table next to an open window and was angled upward towards the horizon. A dead Chinese soldier lay on the floor at her feet. Next to Chase, one of the SEALs aimed a rifle at her head. Lena held a black 9mm pistol in her hand, but it was aimed toward the floor.
Chase looked at the SEAL. His knuckles were white. The man’s face was flushed. He had just witnessed two members of his team get shot. The one in the corridor might be dead.
Chase needed to defuse the situation. He stepped forward, placing his weapon on the floor. He held his hands out, palms facing the ground. “Put down the gun, Lena.”
He half expected her to raise it to her own head. But she surprised him and quickly placed it on the table. There was a mix of emotion in her eyes. She looked tired, too, which he didn’t think he’d ever seen in her before.
Chase stepped closer to her. She stared at him as they grew close. He removed a zip tie from his pocket and held it up, saying, “It’s over now, Lena. I need to do this.”
She nodded, holding her arms behind her back.
He could hear helicopters overhead now. Out the window, a half dozen vehicles filled with support team members parked in the street. Chase should have felt relieved, but he didn’t. Something didn’t fit. He couldn’t understand Lena’s transformation. She was a warrior. Why would she give up?
Chase fastened the zip tie and then began to march her out of the room when the satellite dish machine began making noises. A series of beeps and vibrations, and then the machine went quiet. On the digital display, a series of Chinese characters appeared.
She had sent her transmission.
Lena leaned in close to him. “Now it’s over.”
35
Admiral Song toured the hangar deck of his aircraft carrier. He liked to walk about the ship now and then. It was good to let the men know that he might spot-check their work at any time. This improved quality.
“Admiral!”
An aide was running through the hangar, waiving his hand. They had a no-radio policy now that the carrier group was getting closer to the American islands, and messengers were being used to communicate among the higher-ranking officers.