“Nice try, Inspector Navarro,” Locsin said with wicked glee. “But, you see, I have things to do. Big plans.”
He stood up again and waved for his men to help him. They each put one of Locsin’s arms over a shoulder.
“Scuttle the boat,” Locsin ordered in a strong voice. “Let them wonder whether I’m dead.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Oh,” Locsin said, nodding toward Navarro, “and finish him off.”
Without hesitation, one of the men raised a pistol and aimed between Navarro’s eyes. The last thing he saw was its barrel spitting fire.
6
VIETNAM
Eddie steadied himself on the concrete lip at the top of the train tunnel opening. He had ditched the suit jacket and wore a harness around his legs and waist. The rope lashed to his harness was connected to a nylon line. One end of the weighted line dangled below them, just above the tunnel, while the other end was threaded through a winch anchored farther up the forested slope. Zhong Lin and the six other operatives with him made last checks of their harnesses and QBZ-95 assault rifles as the sound of the approaching engine echoed through the tunnel.
Zhong kept his eye on Eddie for any sign of betrayal or that he would chicken out of the assault. He made it clear that Eddie would be among the first four to drop onto the train, and if he didn’t do it, Zhong would shoot him on the spot.
Eddie had no intention of backing out, despite the challenge of getting onto the roof of a train moving at thirty miles an hour. He’d rappelled down cliffs and jumped out of helicopters many times, but this operation was something new. Although he could feel the surge of adrenaline that marked the beginning of any operation, he had no fear. Of course, he didn’t want Zhong to know that, so he maintained a mask of abject terror.
“Remember,” Zhong said to his men, “we drop the lines just as the engine passes beneath us, not before.”
They all returned a crisp “Yes, sir.”
He looked at Eddie. “Last chance to tell me the truth.”
“This is the train,” Eddie said in a deliberately shaky voice. “I’m sure of it.”
Zhong nodded. “It had better be.” Via a camera that had been set up at the tunnel’s opposite end, they had already confirmed the engine’s number was the same as the one Juan had texted to him.
They all lowered goggles over their eyes. Eddie gripped the rope tighter when the diesel motor reached a thundering crescendo below them. Just as it burst out of the tunnel, Zhong’s men took their cue.
They dropped two lines straight down onto the diesel engine. The weights at the ends were powerful neodymium magnets that attached themselves to the top of the steel chassis. The lines were yanked tight as they spooled out from the winch above.
“Now!” Zhong yelled.
The first two men jumped from the ledge and sailed down the temporary zip line. As soon as they were away, Zhong and Eddie followed.
Eddie sat into his harness, the straps digging into his thighs. His full weight was supported by the dual-bearing trolley that hung on the line like a miniature monorail.
Gripping the braking mechanism, he shoved off and accelerated down the line, quickly matching the train’s speed as he approached the top of the engine. The wind buffeted him, but the goggles kept his eyes from watering. When his feet were nearing contact, he hit the brake and came to rest on top of the train as if he were alighting from a street tram.
He detached the quick release and dropped to his knees as the other men came to rest on the roof within seconds of each other. When all eight of them were aboard, two men cut the lines, which snapped back toward the winch leaving nothing but the magnets still clinging to the metal. They all slipped out of their harnesses.
Zhong sent one man to take control of the engineer and the train, and he sent three men along the top toward the very back of the train to cut off any possible escape. For the rest of them, the next task was getting inside the first passenger car to begin the attack.
Eddie stole a look toward the ocean and saw the Oregon out there pacing the train. And in the jungle behind them, he barely glimpsed the flash of a black object brushing the treetops, something he would have thought was a bird if he didn’t know it was actually a quadcopter drone.
He hoped Juan was getting an update on where he was because it wouldn’t be long before the train was even more crowded.
• • •
FLANKED BY his most faithful bodyguards, Jimmy Su, the head of the Ghost Dragons triad, sat at a table in the train’s dining car and told his men to bring in the Americans. Six more triad soldiers lounged at the tables around them, relaxed but alert. Like him, they were all dressed in black suits and white shirts unbuttoned far enough to expose the tattoos on their chests.
Su had built up the organization to be one of the most powerful in Taipei. His most daring exploits had occurred in the last month. First, he had David Yao, his main rival in the triad, killed and thrown into the ocean. Then he orchestrated the theft of the USB drive carrying the names of the Chinese undercover agents operating in the U.S.
His real target had been a drive listing the Chinese moles on the island of Taiwan. If he had gotten hold of that information, he could have used it to his own advantage in infiltrating the Taiwanese security forces for his personal gain. But when the courier they’d kidnapped had revealed what the drive actually held, he’d had to change his plans. The data was worthless to Su but extremely valuable to the right buyer.
There was no way he would sell the drive back to the Chinese, no matter what price they were willing to offer. He wanted them to suffer the loss badly. Although he hated the communists, Su didn’t plan on simply handing over the drive to the Americans. They had to pay, and pay dearly, for the intelligence coup of the decade. The revelations would set Chinese intelligence gathering back years.
The thought brought a smile to his face as the two Americans were led in. One was tall and athletic, obviously the man in charge. He had to be the one who called himself Thomas Cates, although that certainly wouldn’t be his real name. The other was the thin, nerdy sort, and held a tablet in his hand.
“Mr. Cates,” Su said without standing or offering his hand, “please sit down.”
“Oh, good,” Cates said. “You speak English.”
“Six years at the American School in Taipei.”
Cates and the other man took a seat opposite him. The two men who had led them in stood behind them in the aisle.
“It’s much better than my Mandarin,” Cates said.
“Interesting. I thought they would have sent someone who knew my language to make the transaction.”
Cates shrugged and grinned, showing off bright white teeth. “I was the lucky guy available. So, can we take a look at the merchandise?”
“You know that attempting to open or copy the file will erase the whole drive?”
The other man, apparently the technical analyst, nodded. “But I need to verify that the flash drive actually originates from the MSS. I won’t be able to see the data, but I can check the code on top of it without triggering an erasure. MSS code has a very distinctive signature.”
“You understand that we can’t hand over fifty million dollars for an empty drive,” Cates said coolly. “We need confirmation.”
“Are you accusing me of trying to swindle you?” The triad soldiers and bodyguards tensed at Su’s sharp tone.
Cates smiled again and put his hands up to calm the situation. “Not at all. But I’m sure you understand that we have to inspect the drive.”
Su looked at his men, indicating they should ease up. He withdrew the USB drive from his jacket pocket, brushing the holstered machine pistol under his armpit.
Before handing it over, he said, “If you erase this, you will still owe us fifty million dollars.”
Cates nodded. “And
if we don’t get off this train with the flash drive, you won’t make it off, either.”
Su sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that a Predator drone is circling over us at fifteen thousand feet armed with a Hellfire missile. It will blow this train to splinters if we don’t get off at our rendezvous point.”
Cates’s poker face was good. Su couldn’t tell whether he was bluffing or not.
He stared at the American for a moment, expressionless, then turned to his men and smiled, speaking in Mandarin. “This guy has a set on him, doesn’t he?”
That brought a chorus of laughter from them.
“All right, Mr. Cates,” Su said. “We have mutually assured destruction on the table if this doesn’t work out. I hope you’re willing to die, because I am.”
“Willing,” Cates said, “but not eager.”
Su held out the flash drive. “Do what you need to do.”
Cates took it and gave it to his analyst, who removed the laptop from his satchel and plugged in the flash drive. He peered intently at the screen as he typed.
While he waited for his analyst to confirm that the USB drive was the real thing, Cates nonchalantly watched the passing scenery as the train wound along the curving mountain track. Su had no idea what the analyst was doing to verify its provenance, but he didn’t care as long as he got his fifty million.
Behind Su, the door to the passenger car banged open. He turned to see one of his men charge through, breathless and pointing back toward the way he came.
“They’re here!” he shouted in Mandarin. “The MSS found us!”
Su felt the blood drain from his face. He’d been so careful in his planning that he couldn’t believe they’d figured out where he was selling the drive. “What are you talking about?”
“While we were rounding the curve, I was looking out the window at the front of the train and saw them climbing into the first passenger car from on top. They’ll be here any second.”
The panicked face of his soldier made Su a believer, and his men drew their weapons. He swung around to get the flash drive from the Americans and ready his men to repel the attackers. But he hesitated when he saw the Americans’ bizarre reaction to the commotion.
Both of them were hunched over and had the heels of their palms against their eyes with their mouths hanging open.
In quick succession two of the dining car’s windows shattered as small objects broke through and bounced onto the floor at either end. The other men were as surprised as he was and whirled around in confusion.
In horror Su realized what the objects were. He yelled, “Get down!”
But none of the men had even begun to drop when the flashbang grenades went off.
The searing bright light and concussion of the dual blasts incapacitated Su instantly. He toppled over in his seat, disoriented and pawing at his eyes, his eardrums traumatized by the sudden change in pressure.
He couldn’t even hear his own screams.
7
Despite shielding his eyes and opening his mouth to equalize the overpressure in his ears, Juan was still partially dazed from the effects of the flashbang grenades. With the USB drive gripped firmly in his hand, he staggered to his feet, then collapsed back into the seat.
His vision cleared quickly enough to see Jimmy Su and his men crawling around as if they were drunks trying to stand up after a bender. Next to him, Eric looked as out of it as Juan felt.
Juan attempted to get up again, and this time he flew out of his seat as a huge hand grasped his arm and yanked him up. Franklin Lincoln’s grinning face met his.
“Let’s get you two out of here before they recover,” Linc said, picking up Eric, too. He virtually dragged Juan and Eric with him to the sixth car, where they had waited to enter the dining car.
Once Linc closed the door behind them, they both leaned against the wall and got their bearings.
“You guys okay?” Linc asked as he covered the door with his P90 submachine gun.
“I feel like someone smacked me in the head with a frying pan,” Juan said, although he was quickly regaining his senses.
“Let’s not ever do that again,” Eric said.
“Just be glad we had some warning. A few of those guys probably won’t be able to hear for weeks.”
“I brought you some presents,” Linc said, handing them a couple of ballistic vests. “Your guns are on the seats back there.”
Juan and Eric strapped on the vests and picked up their weapons.
MacD came jogging in with the grenade launcher hanging from his shoulder.
“Y’all don’t look too bad,” he said. “My aim must have been pretty good.”
“Right on target,” Juan said, yawning to clear his ears.
Using precise maps of the train’s route, this section of track had been selected for launching the stun grenades because of the extreme curve of the track. MacD could open a window three cars away, lean out, and have a perfect view of the dining car. Juan and Eric had used a peculiarly shaped rock outcropping that they passed to cue them when to cover their eyes.
“Did you get the Chinese agents, too?” Juan asked.
“Harder shot because they were farther away,” MacD said proudly, “but I planted two in the third car where they were.”
“Good, that should give us some extra time. Eric, set up the trip mines while they cover you. I’ve got a delivery to make.”
Eric, who seemed to be back to normal, nodded and took a bag from Linc. He opened it and removed the first of a dozen laser-activated flashbang grenades. They’d place them at random intervals to cover their retreat. When either the MSS or the Ghost Dragons tried to come through, they’d trip the invisible sensors, setting off the grenades.
Juan got on his phone and called the Oregon. Hali Kasim, the ship’s communications officer, answered.
“Are you all right, Chairman?” he asked. “We saw the explosions but couldn’t see much inside the train.”
“No casualties,” Juan replied. “The first phase is complete. I’m heading to the window now. Have Gomez get the drone over here for pickup.”
Gomez Adams, the Oregon’s helicopter pilot, was also the resident expert in flying its complement of drones.
“He says it’ll be there in a few seconds.”
Juan opened the window and watched the quadcopter, no more than a foot across, coming in to match the train’s speed. Gomez’s placement of the drone was perfect, lining it up with the opening. It darted inside, corrected instantly for the sudden change in wind speed, and came to rest on the floor. The propellers shut down and went silent.
Juan picked up the drone and clicked open a tiny compartment on its underside. He stuck the flash drive into the padded slot and locked it shut, then put the drone back down.
“It’s all yours, Hali,” Juan said.
“Roger that,” Hali said. The drone’s propellers whirred to life. It lifted up and buzzed toward the window like an angry hornet. Gomez guided it back out through the window, and once it was outside, it shot up as if yanked by a string. The drone was out of sight in the blink of an eye.
“What’s our position?”
“You’re ten minutes from the river.”
Juan checked his watch. “We’ll hold them off for that long. Let me know when the package is secured.”
“Roger that. By the way, three of the Chinese agents were walking along the roof of the train when MacD fired the grenades. They just climbed down inside the rear car.”
“Did they see the drone?”
“No chance.”
“Good.”
A barrage of gunfire broke out in the forward cars. Juan rejoined Linc, MacD, and Eric.
“Sounds like our two groups of friends have met each other,” he said. “We’ve got another group flanking us from the rear
. They’re probably there to make sure no one gets off the train.”
“Should we hole up here?” Linc asked.
Shots continued to ring out from up ahead. “No, let’s go back to car seven. I don’t think the Ghost Dragons will be much of a match for the MSS agents. When they’re done with the triad, they’ll be coming after us next.”
“Ah hope Eddie is keeping his head down,” MacD said.
“Let me ask him.” Juan inserted a tiny earpiece that was wirelessly connected to his phone’s transmitter. The Wi-Fi signal was linked directly to Eddie’s phone. As long as his phone was within thirty feet of him, Eddie would be able to hear the communication and reply through his bone conduction microphone subvocally, which would be masked by the surrounding gunfire.
“Eddie, do you read me?”
“Here,” came a guttural whisper in response.
“We’re going to passenger car seven. ETA to river is nine minutes thirty seconds.”
“Agents are in the fourth car and heading your way,” Eddie replied. “And they’re not happy.”
8
There was one more Ghost Dragon gang member at the end of the fourth car making a valiant effort to stall the MSS agents from entering the dining car, but he soon went down in a hail of bullets. Zhong hadn’t lost any men to this point, and the numbers on the other side were dwindling fast. The Ghost Dragons were putting up a good resistance, but the MSS agents were better trained and had more effective firepower. Eddie, who was still unarmed next to Zhong, could see that it was just a matter of time before the triad soldiers were wiped out.
Zhong had assumed the triad launched the flashbang grenades that had temporarily stunned his assault team and he took pleasure in exacting revenge for it. The doors between cars created a bottleneck that made it easier for the defenders than the assault team. Progress slowed down at each of these junctures, which is exactly what Eddie was hoping for.
The Ghost Dragons were apparently making their last stand in the dining car, which was the fifth passenger car on the train. Zhong ordered his two operatives to move forward until they were on either side of the door leading to the dining car. Unlike Juan, the agents were equipped with fragmentation grenades, two of which they tossed through the opening.