Lethal Force (19 page)

Jake and Kim got to Gyeongju, the ancient Korean city splattered with burial mounds of Kings, a little after noon. Kim rented a car and drove them to the resort hotel at the doorstep of Bulguksa Temple, the most important site in all of Korea.

Checking in to the hotel, Jake stared out his sixth-floor window at the plush trees and snow-covered hills that led up to the mountains to the east. He had to admit that this was a much better venue than any city in Korea. There weren't many distractions at this time of year. The tennis courts were useless, as was the huge outdoor pool. The area would need a major warming trend to melt the snow enough for the congressional delegation to hit the links.

When he heard the door close to the room next to his, Jake smiled and knew it was time for the grand reveal.

He left his room and stood at the next door down. Then he tapped his knuckles on the wooden door and waited, trying on his best smile as an image appeared in the peep.

The door swung open and Congresswoman Lori Freeman stood with her hand on her hips. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a plaid western shirt, her cowboy boots pointing right at Jake.

“Are you following me?” she asked. “What happened to your hair?”

Jake looked up and down the corridor. “The video happened. May I come in?”

“How do you know I'm alone?”

He shook his head. “Because my room is next door and I only heard you come in.”

She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into her room. Then she locked the door behind them and turned to Jake. “Quite the spy. Nothing gets by you. Now what are you doing here?”

He couldn't tell her the real reason. That he was trying to find a leak in the congressional delegation. Or that he was being followed by one of the most brutal intelligence officers from North Korea. No, he needed to make this more personal.

“Our government thought they could use another set of eyes on this junket,” Jake said. “I agreed to come along and keep folks honest.”

Lori sat onto her bed and pulled off her left cowboy boot. When she had a problem with the right boot, Jake helped her pull it off. Then he felt the leather on the side of the boot and saw that her initials were carved intricately into the upper section by the pull straps.

“Rattlesnake?”

“Western diamondback,” Lori corrected.

“Nice.”

“A guy in Helena made those for me. Are you going to tell me why you're really here?” she asked, leaning back onto her elbows.

He tried to keep his eyes off of her tight jeans and even tighter shirt, but he was failing miserably. Their eyes connected and he seemed to see something he hadn't noticed in her before. Her eyes were checking him out from top to bottom. Had he not noticed this in Montana? Or was she only now considering him?

Without saying another word, he settled onto the bed next to her and gently pulled loose hair away from her face. She grasped his biceps and he instinctively flexed for her. Then he clasped his hand behind her neck and kissed her passionately on the lips. Her chest heaved up against him and he could feel her breasts against his arm.

Breathing hard, she pulled away slightly. “I want you now,” she ordered.

That's one order he could take from his congresswoman.

A while later, laying together in her bed naked, Jake ran his hand over the smooth skin on her back. He had to admit he had considered this scenario ever since their encounter in Montana.

She rolled over and her eyes glanced up at Jake. “Are you all right?”

Jake said nothing. He wasn't sure how to answer her.

“I'm not looking for a relationship,” Lori said. “But I needed this.”

“I'm not a good prospect for your affection,” he said.

Lori rubbed the short hair at the base of his neck. “Why do you say that?”

“My track record,” he explained.

“Well, I haven't been exactly stellar in the relationship arena either.”

“You're a strong woman,” Jake reasoned. “Not a lot of men can handle that in their partners.”

“And you?”

“I don't know. I was close to having it all not too long ago. A wife. A child. I could have retired and gone fishing.”

“I'm sorry, Jake. I read about the loss of your girlfriend during my briefing for that Berlin affair.”

His mind flashed back to Anna's death and he tightened his jaw to fight off the pain. “Maybe I should have gone fishing instead of running down that man in Tunisia.”

“Didn't the state department find you fishing in Patagonia before they brought you to our committee to testify?” Lori asked.

“Yeah. It's the only pleasure I seem to find in life anymore.”

She slapped his shoulder. “Hey.”

“Until now, of course.”

“You seemed to be finding pleasure,” she said. “I found it twice.” She reached between his legs and found him hard again. “Hmm. Quite the Energizer Bunny.”

She rolled on top of him, rose up, and took him inside her in one stroke, like they had been together for years.

●

Back in Seoul, Pam Suh sat in her office with no windows and reviewed the security protocol for the six-party DMZ meeting set for just a few days. This would be the first time such a high-level meeting took place in her area of responsibility. As the CIA station chief for South Korea, she couldn't let anything go wrong. Sure her counterparts from China and Japan would be there, but they would only be accompanying the U.S. ambassadors from those countries. And the Secret Service would control security of the American contingent, along with the U.S. Army. But if anything went wrong, the buck would stop at her desk.

Suddenly her phone rang, startling her. She looked and saw that the caller was Curtis Spa and Salon. Smiling at the humor of the Director of Central Intelligence, she pressed the green button and said, “I could use a massage about now. How are you, Sir?”

Hesitation on the other end. Kurt Jenkins finally said, “I take it you've met with Jake Adams.”

“Yes, Sir. We've met.”

“Is he in Gyeongju?”

“Yes. He got there hours ago with my officer, Kim Chin-Hwa. Why do you ask, Sir?” She nearly kicked herself for asking that.

“I've been trying to get in touch with him,” Kurt said. “His phone must be off.”

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“Well, I wanted to talk with him in person. But I know that you and Toni Contardo. . .were friends.”

“Were?” She sat up in her chair, the hair on the back of her neck rising.

Kurt let out a deep breath. “Her body was found on one of the baseball fields at Langley Fork Park.”

Her heart seemed to stop. “Toni is dead?”

“Afraid so.”

“How?”

Kurt explained how Toni had been tortured and dumped so someone would easily find her.

“Who did this?” Pam asked.

“We're not sure,” Kurt said. “But someone is trying to send us a message. If you remember, that park is just outside out main gate. Our softball teams play there.”

She remembered. She had been there many times and could visualize her old friend and mentor lying on the field. Her shock was quickly turning into anger. “Does her death have something to do with what Jake is working on?”

“This isn't Jake's fault,” Kurt assured her.

“I didn't mean that, Sir. I just want to understand.”

Kurt briefed her on the technology transfer that Jake had handed off to Toni before departing for Korea. “She never got a chance to turn that in to us.”

“You think Jake still has a copy?” she asked.

“We hope so. Even better, Toni told me before her meeting with Jake that Adams had stashed the scientist somewhere.”

“So it's all up to Jake now,” she surmised.

“Yes. But my intention right now was to simply notify Jake about Toni's death.”

“You think that's a good idea?”

“It's the only idea,” Kurt said. “Sure, he could go all rogue on us like he did after the death of Anna, chasing down anyone who had anything to do with his girlfriend's death. But if we don't tell him, and he finds out we knew and didn't tell him, he's likely to. . .well, I don't want to think about that. But let's just say he'll be pissed at me forever.”

“I understand. So, what do you want me to do?”

“If I can't call him directly, I would like you to do so.”

“I could call Kim and have him run down Jake. Maybe have Jake call you.”

Kurt Jenkins thought about that for a minute. “No. I want you to go there to be with him. Both of you knew Toni. It will come better directly from you.”

“But Sir, I didn't know Toni like you and Jake knew her.”

“I know, Pam. I'm going to personally head up the investigation into her death. We will catch the bastards.”

Pam considered what had happened to Toni and said, “Sir, they were obviously torturing her for information. Do you think she gave it up?”

He laughed ever so slightly. “No, Pam. She didn't give them shit. The data Jake gave to Toni was encrypted to five-twelve, and Jake wouldn't have told Toni where he was stashing the professor. Which is why I want you to keep an eye on Jake. Those who killed Toni know they can get the encryption code from Jake. Or force him to tell them where he put the professor. He's in danger.”

“I agree, Sir. I'll get to Gyeongju ASAP.”

“Thank you. And if you don't want to give him the news, have him call me on your cell.”

She agreed and her line went blank. Then, for the first time in years, she sat back in her chair and cried like a baby.

Gyeongju, South Korea

Jake and Lori had some food delivered to her room, the two of them ate an early dinner, and now they sipped on hot tea. It was just after five p.m.

“Are you ready for the evening meetings?” Jake asked her.

“Not really. Those this morning were not only boring, but they were less than meaningful.” She scanned a single piece of paper with the agenda for the evening. “Looks like we have some policy wonk from the state department speaking about the upcoming six-party talks at the DMZ. That's followed by a speech by some security consultant on the importance of the Pacific Rim region. Great, that will probably be some CIA wannabe looking to make a name for himself.” She flipped the page over and then back to the front. “Strange. They don't mention the name of the speaker.”

Jake turned off his phone again after texting someone. He ignored several texts and voice mails. They would have to wait. Then he stood up and headed toward the door. “I'm sure the guy. . .or gal will be a genius, Lori.”

Looking out the peep hole, Jake opened the door and let in CIA officer Kim Chin-Hwa. He closed the door and introduced Kim to Congresswoman Lori Freeman.

“He's staying in the room to the left,” Jake said. “I'm just to your right. When I'm occupied, Kim will be at your side. Understand?”

Lori looked confused. “Where will you be going?”

“Well, I have to make a name for myself tonight,” Jake said with a smile.

“You're the speaker tonight,” she nearly laughed out.

“Don't be so surprised. I've been speaking at conferences like this for years, although mostly in Europe. You should hear me do it in German. I can sound like a dictator.”

“Oh, I believe you.” She shook her head. “I just want to know why all the secrecy.”

Jake shrugged. “It adds to my mystique.”

“You know that congressman from California you encountered during our hearing? He'll be in attendance tonight.”

“Vaguely.”

Kim chimed in. “You mean the one he bitch-slapped and has over a million hits on U-Tube?”

“Only a million?” Jake asked.

“Until we scrubbed it from the internet,” Kim said.

“You can never scrub it entirely,” Jake assured him. “These things tend to take on a life of their own.”

“Usually,” Kim said, “but we attached a nasty virus to a bunch of them, and the word seems to have gotten out to not open the file.”

“What about the media?” Lori asked.

Kim said, “Other than FOX, none of the other outlets picked up on it. Seems they don't like to see one of their own taken down with such. . .”

“Alacrity?” Jake provided.

“Dexterity,” Kim corrected.

Looking at his watch, Jake said, “I'm up in ten minutes.” He put on his coat and pulled out both of his guns. He put one of the Glocks in his right jacket pocket, and the other one he clipped inside the waistband of his pants down his butt crack, covering that with his leather coat. He wasn't used to using such light firepower. But it wasn't like he could have brought his full-size .40 cal handguns with him to Korea.

Pointing to Kim, Jake said, “You stick with the congresswoman.”

“Yes, Sir,” Kim said.

Jake swished his head for the Agency man to head out. “Give us a minute.”

Kim did as he was told, heading out the door to wait in the corridor.

“Do you trust him?” Lori asked.

“Yeah. He's a little green, but I think he will be all right.”

Lori gave him a confused look. “Who are you working for, Jake?”

He thought about what she needed to know verses what he wanted to tell her. The two were not always the same. “I'm a free agent.” When she put her hands on her hips, Jake knew she wanted more. “That's partially true. An Agency friend asked me to come to Korea to help.”

“But they're not paying you,” she stated.

“No.”

“And that's the way you like it.”

“You could say so,” he said. “Money has a tendency to lead to dependency. I'm not beholding to anyone anymore.”

“Again. You like it that way.”

“It comes in handy sometimes, but can be a pain in the ass when you find yourself locked in a Tunisian prison for murder.”