He continued, “Make it look like an accident. This will ensure that you aren’t questioned. Play the part of the devastated girlfriend. You will graduate from college in a few months. Begin to cut ties with any other friends you had while here. We’ll set you up with your next job. I have big things planned, Lena. And I want you to be a part of those plans.”
She thought of last night. Of skin on skin. Of the way he had made her feel. But it wasn’t who she was. She must remember that. Love and lust were fleeting. Duty and honor were immortal. She breathed in deeply, and then let out a slow release of air through her nose. Lena forced all of her emotion out of her body.
She looked back at the man sitting across from her. His single-breasted suit was exquisite. Gold cufflinks and an expensive watch. He spent much of his time in boardrooms and private jets, and looked the part. Jinshan was not here on business, however. Just how he became connected to the clandestine operations arm of her nation’s government was still a mystery to her. But she knew that he held a position of great authority within it. She also knew of his loyalty to those he took under his wing… and of his reputation for being brutal to those that crossed him.
This wasn’t a choice. It was a hurdle. Like so many she had jumped. Lena looked to ensure the barkeep was out of earshot and whispered, “Of course, sir. I will do this without hesitation. I will prove to you my loyalty to my country. My loyalty to China.”
The next morning, a bleary-eyed and nervous David walked into the classroom. He arrived ten minutes before the first session was supposed to begin. Lena stood up on her usual perch, at the top level of stadium seating. He tried not to look at her. He was positive she was looking at him.
In the front of the class, Natesh divided the group into teams as they entered. Each team was assigned a leader, and each leader received a single sheet of paper with instructions for the session. Natesh was going on about how the smaller teams would put out better work faster. Now that they were starting their second full day of work on the island, Natesh was driving them to move quicker and more efficiently. David’s team was to focus on disrupting communications.
Before they broke up, Lena announced to the room, “I need to say something. Just so all of you are aware, Bill Stanley has been removed.”
David thought that was an interesting way to put it.
Natesh asked, “What do you mean?”
Lena said, “Apparently, his wife is very sick. Last night he came to me after our meeting. He asked to be removed from the sessions and returned home. We reiterated the importance of secrecy and flew him off the island immediately.” She looked at David as she spoke. Like she was trying to observe any reaction he might have. He didn’t blink.
On the inside, however, he wanted to scream out to everyone that she was lying. At least, he thought she was. But he couldn’t prove it. And yelling out that he had seen Bill being dragged unconscious into a suspicious-looking helicopter might not be his best move. Not if he wanted to see his wife and family again.
Norman Shepherd spoke first. He was a burly former Marine from Long Island. David thought he had said that he worked for Maersk Line now.
Norman said, “So you just flew him off? Just like that? Man, tonight I’m gonna come say I need a trip to Vegas. Think that would be all right? I knew I heard a helo flying nearby last night. Friggin’ thing sounded like it was right outside my window.”
Natesh said, “Alright, thanks, Lena. Glad that Bill is taken care of.”
Lena nodded and said, “Me too. And please, if anyone else has any personal situations that need attending to, please don’t hesitate to bring them to my attention.”
Natesh said, “Okay, everyone, please go to your assigned team rooms. We’ll meet back here after lunch. Remember, if you need Major Combs or me to look up anything for you today, write it down and give it to me before you break for lunch at eleven thirty. We’ll get it back to you by the afternoon.”
The class rose and funneled out the door into separate meeting rooms. David followed.
He couldn’t believe that everyone just accepted Bill’s departure. But then again, why wouldn’t they? David had been kidnapped from outside his home and taken to this island only semi-voluntarily. The others came of their own volition. They would naturally be less suspicious. Lena had done nothing that would cause anyone to take her at less than face value. If anything, she had positioned herself as the helpful caretaker, able to solve any and all of their problems. She would get you towels for your rooms, organize the American defense for World War Three, and whisk you off the island at a moment’s notice if you asked nicely. The problem was, you might be unconscious or dead when you were whisked. But she was attractive and charismatic and had established credibility. She dished out this lie so effortlessly, and her audience eagerly scarfed it up. David wondered: if she was lying about Bill, what else was a lie?
He needed to keep on his mask. Whether Lena suspected him or not, he couldn’t let his guard down around her.
He now questioned the entire premise for gathering the Red Cell on this island. David had been working out the two most likely scenarios in his head. One, Lena was CIA, just like she said. It was possible that she had rendered Bill unconscious because secrecy was just that important. An extreme measure, no doubt. Not unlike kidnapping someone outside their home and throwing them in a car trunk. While David worried about his well-being in this case, he felt confident that he would likely still be transported back to the States when this was all over.
Hell, if it was just about secrecy, maybe Bill really was home with his wife right now. Maybe Lena had given him a tranquilizer that he had taken voluntarily. He ran it through his head. Okay, Bill. You can go see your wife, but we need to put you under until you get there. We don’t want you to see anyone or anything. Security, you understand. David had been kidnapped and thrown in a car trunk due to secrecy. That could be what happened to Bill. This was the best-case scenario.
But an unlikely one. It was the helicopter that bothered him. That helo didn’t look like any US Navy helicopter he had ever seen, even in the dim light.
The second scenario was what really concerned David. In this scenario, one unsettling question led to another. What if Lena wasn’t CIA? What if she wasn’t American? Then some foreign entity, likely China itself, was using the members of the Red Cell to gather classified information.
Why would any government take a risk like that? Was there really a countdown until China shut off all US satellites? Was there really an invasion plan? If the answer was yes, perhaps that was a big enough reason to justify kidnapping so many Americans from their soil.
What were Lena and crew going to do with David and the consultants when they were done with them? What would they do to them if they found out this was all staged? David couldn’t conceive of a way that any of the consultants would get home safely in this situation. Any intelligence organization that would do this would want to hide it — permanently. Whether that meant killing them or keeping them prisoner likely had to do with their future utility.
Lena was definitely involved in whatever was really going on. But who else knew? David needed to figure out how deep this went. And while he did that, he needed to pretend that everything was just fine. Until he knew who the good guys were, it was too risky to look suspicious.
David walked out of the classroom, careful not to look up at Lena. But he just knew that she was looking right at him.