As the two SUVs neared Milan’s very modest Chinatown, the Team Leader said over comms: “Five minutes out.”
Sam put his comms on. The team were using tactical throat mics and earpieces.
“Is there a back entrance to the building across the street?” Sam asked.
“Affirmative. We have a man on the scene to let them in. Let’s get Ryan and your girl up there with the .50’s.”
“Roger that” replied the driver, accelerating the SUV that was in the lead. He turned to Ryan who was navigating. “How’s traffic on the ring road?”
“Not much. Make a left at the second set of lights.”
Xue Lin looked out the window at the change of scenery: “Wow! It’s pretty here.”
“Next right. Then it’s two hundred meters on the left. Yes Ma’am. It’s a beautiful city. Let’s hope we don’t infect it with that big ol’ virus that your boyfriend is carrying” Ryan said.
“Call me Snowflake,” she replied loading the pistol on her hip. “How the fuck do these comms work?” she asked, struggling with her new necklace of communications technology.
Ryan turned around and helped Xue Lin position her throat mike.
“Try it now.”
“Good morning Vietnaaaaam!” she yelled, deafening the whole team.
Everybody winced in both vehicles.
“Best if you just talk quietly Ma’am,” Ryan quipped, smirking.
The first SUV pulled up at the back entrance and Xue Lin and Ryan got out and jogged through a door being held open by a man who seemed to be expecting them.
As Xue Lin followed Ryan up the stairs to the fifth floor where the access door to the roof was unlocked. The second SUV slowly pulled up to the curb a block away around the corner and out of the line of sight of the Chinese lookout.
Ryan pointed to a spot at the edge of the roof: “That’s us right there.”
The two of them unpacked near the edge of the building. Xue Lin snuck a look over the edge with the thermal scope at the building with boarded up ground floor windows. She could make out her parents sitting close together, and one man standing near them.
“I’m showing the two hostages on the ground floor near the back of the building with one guard. Two more on the ground floor just inside the front door.”
Ryan was scoping the rest of the building: “I have one on the top floor at the window and one on the second floor.”
“I’m calling them now,” Sam said, the line already ringing.
“Welcome to Italy. I hope you brought the vials” the voice said.
“Yes, we have the vials. We just touched down in Milan.”
“I hope you had a nice flight. You made very good time. I am sending you our coordinates. We are in Chinatown in the center of Milan. Forty minutes from airport by car.”
The text came through with the coordinates. Sam nodded confirmation to the team that they were in the right place.
“Just one of you can come in. You understand of course.” The Chinese agent was being very polite. “Please believe me when I tell you that we just want to make exchange. No trouble. No dead bodies.”
Sam nodded before replying: “I’m with you on that.”
“We are in agreement then. When you come?”
Sam looked at the Team Leader and shrugged.
“Forty minutes I guess. Good for you?”
“I look forward to seeing you,” he said, hanging up.
Sam wanted to go with Plan A and try for an exchange, but he was very concerned about the Virus getting out of his sight.
“What do you wanna do Xue Lin? How does it look from up there?”
She looked at Ryan for his opinion.
Ryan replied on the radio: “If we went in now without the package they wouldn’t be expecting us. They probably wouldn’t shoot the hostages. They need them as leverage. Snowflake and I could take out three from here. That would leave you with two on the ground floor. That’s if you can get in that big ’ol door. I don’t think we are equipped for that kind of breach.”
Xue Lin added: “With the door, that’s a whole bunch of moving parts.”
Sam thought for a minute. He asked: “Ryan can you see what the front door is made of?”
“It’s wood sir, but they make ‘em thick here. We’d definitely have to quietly take out their lookout on the street and then you’d have to blow the door.”
Sam was still very pensive. “Xue Lin, if you took out that guard at the front, you could grab his comms and we could listen in for a while before making a decision.”
Ryan shook his head: “Security cams outside the building sir.”
“Damn it Ryan. Then what do you suggest?” Sam asked, getting frustrated.
“Sir, I think we have to go with Plan A: You go in; hope they don’t wand you, and we’ll back you up.”
“Jesus. Is Ryan always this annoying?” Sam exclaimed.
The Team Leader nodded: “Yeah but he’s usually right. He’s just like my wife… only a better cook.”
“And better in bed,” Ryan’s voice chimed in.
Everybody was sniggering a little bit despite the gravity of the situation.
Xue Lin said: “We have a little over thirty minutes before they are expecting us to arrive. How about Sam goes and knocks on the door now. Push them off balance a bit. Sam, if they want to wand you or take your comms, you haggle! They are Chinese don’t forget. That guard out front looks young.”
“Roger that Snowflake.”
‘Interesting angle…’ Sam thought to himself.
“I’m going in.”
Sam opened the door of the SUV and stepped to the pavement. There were people in the street, mostly Asians returning to work after lunch. Sam had the backpack slung over one shoulder with the three vials inside. He had a pistol on his hip and one on his ankle.
He walked around the corner, and started towards the Chinese guard posted outside the front door. The guard saw him coming and gestured for him to approach and said something into his comms. The guard tried to start frisking him but Sam wagged his finger at him authoritatively. The guard looked very uncertain and shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the door which had just opened inward. Sam cautiously looked inside before entering. He counted three men in black suits, two of them with machine guns, now pointing them at him. To the back of the building he could see the hostages seated but not gagged.
“Hi there! My name is Sam. How have they been treating you?”
“Very well actually,” the male replied. “This is a real nice hotel. Have you seen our daughter? She’s a Chinese girl, not very talkative, very pretty…”
“That’s enough talk!” the shortest Chinese man snapped. He was clearly the senior officer.
“Do you have the vials?”
Sam opened the bag and one of the men came over to take them from Sam.
“Go and check them!” the officer barked, as the vials were taken upstairs to the scientist on the second floor.
Sam looked at the Barbecue Couple and asked: “Is there anything I need to know?”
This time the woman replied, oddly shaking her head: “They just want the vials apparently.”
Sam’s gut was telling that there was some lying going on. He was scanning the couple’s faces for a sign. He was picking up some subtle but quite non-reassuring head gestures. It seemed that not everything was above board.
Sam said to her: “Your daughter is safe.”
They both looked suddenly very relieved. “Thank God!”
“Well, you’ll forgive me for not trusting anybody here and staying on the ball,” Sam replied, communicating with his colleagues outside.