Rising Tiger (13 page)

“The woman from Singapore?” Alexandra asked, leaning forward toward Jake.

“Yeah. I didn’t recognize the driver, though. Must be another of Remington’s men. The two other men are in the green Toyota.”

“They keep switching positions,” Liam said. “Decent tactics.”

That’s what Jake was thinking also. Remington had hired former or current intelligence assets.

“What do we do?” the driver asked.

“Nothing,” Jake said. “Just drive and make sure they don’t lose you. They no longer have the tracking device to follow us.”

The note from the tailor, the increased activity with the tail from multiple sources, all led Jake to believe one thing for certain. Bill Remington was in Bangkok.

As it turned out, the restaurant was on the first floor of a hotel on the Chao Phraya River, the main waterway that split Bangkok down the middle. Before lunch Jake and Alexandra decided to check in to the hotel and get a shower before heading down to eat. They had a nice balcony view of the river. Jake considered not letting the Agency man know where he was staying, but for some reason he liked the lanky redhead. The worst part was that Remington’s people also knew where he was staying. But Jake guessed the guy really wanted to talk with him or he would have sent his men to kill him on the train, or at the tailor. Sometimes it was better to know where the bad guys were. In this case, Jake was doing everything in his power to not let Remington’s people know that he knew they were there. And that was tough.

After a late lunch, the Agency officer, Liam, pulled Jake aside at the edge of the river, where long-tail boats cruised past on the choppy waves. A light rain started to fall.

“I think I should continue with you to Wat Arun,” Liam said. “I know the area. I know the language.”

Jake glanced over at Alexandra, who was still sitting under an umbrella at the restaurant where they had just ate. She had about half of her beer to finish, her eyes concentrating on her phone.

Considering Liam’s request, Jake said, “I don’t know. You guys have been looking for the man for a month. Someone in your office has been less than vigilant in that pursuit.”

“What are you saying?”

Now Jake looked directly into the eyes of the young man and said pointedly, “Someone is undermining your search. And I don’t want anyone there knowing about my meet with Remington.” Which might have been an even better reason to keep Liam close.

“I can’t believe that to be true,” Liam said, a sudden concern on his freckled face.

Jake thought for a long minute, his eyes again on Alexandra. Something was really interesting her. Finally, he said, “All right. What are your orders concerning Remington?”

He shrugged. “Simple. Bring the man in. Langley will interrogate.”

Right. There was no way the CIA wanted field officers to know the true nature of Remington’s indiscretion and crimes. Rumors were often better than reality and the truth. And the Agency was filled with officers who gossiped more than high school girls on social media.

“Okay,” Jake said. “But you sure as hell better not tell your office the location of the meeting.”

“You didn’t tell me the location until our lunch,” Liam reminded Jake.

“Right. Let’s keep it that way.” He glanced out at the river. “Hire us one of those fast boats.”

“The long-tail boats?” Liam asked.

“Yes.” Jake found some cash in his front pocket and handed it to Liam. “Make sure the boat pilot stays with us.”

Liam checked out the U.S. cash and said, “For that much money you could buy his boat.”

“Pay him what’s right and hang onto the rest,” Jake said.

The Agency officer nodded and headed toward the river dock in front of the hotel.

Jake wandered back to Alexandra. “What’s going on?”

Alexandra shook her head and put her phone into her front pocket. “They’re sending me texts and e-mails.”

Jake sat next to her. “Who?”

“First, the BND. Then a couple of my relatives. With all the blood I left behind, they must think I was either kidnapped or killed.”

“That was the plan, right?”

“Yes, of course. But I didn’t expect the service to contact any of my relatives. That’s not protocol.”

Jake shrugged. “Perhaps they thought you would go to relatives if you were injured.”

“I understand that,” she said, “but it seems like they told them I was injured. That’s not normal.”

No, that was definitely not standard procedure in any covert organization. “I hate to say this, Alexandra, but your service has some major issues.”

She let out a deep breath. “I know. Why do think I’m retiring?”

The Agency officer came back and said, “Are you ready? It will take us some time to go up river.”

As they got to the long-tail boat, Jake checked his watch. The sun had almost set already, but the clouds swirling overhead brought darkness much sooner than normal.

The long-tail boat was like a longer, wider Venice gondola with a big engine on a pivot, with the drive shaft angling down into the water and acting as the rudder. With the tuk tuk and the long-tail boat, Jake thought the Thais had an interesting way of modifying the normal into the strange. The three of them piled in and the warm rain started to fall harder almost immediately.

The boat pulled away and the pilot shoved the throttle, launching the boat out into the busy river. Soon they were cutting through waves that seemed more appropriate for an ocean bay than a Southeast Asian river.

As they got closer to the major temples of Bangkok that dotted this region of the river, the lights shone up onto pyramid-like structures, giving them an ethereal appearance.

Jake nudged Liam. “Does the pilot speak English?”

“Some. Why?”

“Tell him to drop us off at Wat Arun and wait for us to return.”

Liam turned to the pilot and spoke to him in Thai. When he was done, the Agency man said to Jake, “He can do that, but they won’t let him hold at the dock. There’s too much traffic there with the ferries bringing tourists across the river to the other temples. But he said he’d hang out in the river and we can just wave for him to pick us up.”

Jake shook his head. “You stay with the boat.”

“No, sir. I’m the active officer here. I need to bring Remington in.”

“Have you ever been shot at?” Jake asked.

Liam shook his head.

Alexandra laughed. “How could he have, Jake? He’s only been with you for less than a day.”

The pilot pulled the boat toward the dock. Jake and Alexandra jumped off and then the bow of the boat turned out into the heavy stream and the long-tail powered out into the wide river in a plume of smoke.

Jake walked past a number of food kiosks with Alexandra at his side, the smells of barbequed meat sending pangs to his rumbling gut. Before they left the crowd of tourists, he stopped and said, “I’m going in alone.”

She smiled at him. “I’m not some red-headed step child you can dismiss.”

“I’m not doing that,” he assured her. “I need you to cover my ass from that other side of the main structure.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yes.” He nodded his head toward the high, white structure. “Most people go up this side and come down the other. He’ll have some security types with him.”

She gave him a concerned, confused look. “I don’t understand why he’s doing this.”

“Because he’s an arrogant bastard. He knows I won’t give up until I bring him in.”

“And that’s the plan?” she wanted to know.

He shrugged. “What else could it be?”

“I don’t know, Jake. Maybe you’re really here to kill the man.”

“This is a public sacred shrine, Alexandra.”

“That’s not exactly a no.”

“You know me. I’m not an assassin.”

“True. But people do end up dead around you.”

My God, is that what she really thought about him? Maybe she was right, though. All too often ops had gone south. He would be hard-pressed to count all those who had died at his hand or because of their association with him. How does a man forget the number of bad guys he’s killed? He didn’t forget, but he did block them from his normal cognition.

“Let’s go,” Jake said.

They split up. Jake took the direct approach on Wat Arun, while Alexandra wandered off through a group of kiosks selling everything from hats and T-shirts to statuettes of elephants and Buddha.

Rain pelted down on him as he walked toward the tall structure. He could feel the Glock against the small of his back and he realized it wasn’t in the ideal location for a quick draw. But he had no other choice.

Most of the tourists remained at the bottom of the massive structure. With steps that rose up almost like a ladder, he guessed the stones would be very slippery with the rain. He remembered them being quite slick just from the humidity the last time he was here.

He grabbed onto the rail on the left side and started climbing. About halfway up his left knee, the synthetic one, nearly gave out on him and he almost fell.

Water dripped down his face and into his eyes. He wished he had worn his hat. But at least his hair was short now and would dry in seconds. His clothes were another matter, with his shirt sticking to his skin and his pants tight against his thighs as he climbed higher.

As Jake reached the top of the first level, some fifty feet high, he stopped and looked up to the next level. He didn’t think Remington would go any higher. No, he would meet on this level. Just as that thought came to him, a dark figure appeared from around the outside edge. The temple had been designed so folks could circumnavigate the entire structure and get views of the surrounding area from any direction.

The dark figure came closer, and Jake could finally see that it was Bill Remington. He was wearing suit pants, probably custom made from the tailor, and a white silk shirt that was also stuck to his skin revealing his hairy chest beneath.

“Jake Adams. It’s been a while.”

Yes, it had. Jake had actually been hired by the CIA two years before Remington. Their paths had crossed only rarely over the years, since Jake had worked mostly Europe and Russia, and Remington’s area of expertise had always been the Pacific Rim. Whereas Jake had gotten out of the Agency early, Remington had worked his way up the chain until he was only one rung below the director.

They were now just a few feet away, the distance reserved for friends and lovers.

“You really didn’t think you could run away from the Agency,” Jake said.

Remington laughed. “So far I have. But then they sent you.”

“And?”

“And you are one relentless son of a bitch.”

“Is that why you just decided to let me come to you?”

“Partly. I knew you would eventually catch up to me. I would lose a number of my people and we might get lucky and kill you.” He shook his head. “That’s way too much blood.”

Jake kept his eyes open for danger. With his peripheral vision he could see if anyone approached from his right, and he could look past Remington for anyone coming from the other direction.

“Why did you do it?” Jake asked.

“Do what? Get rich?”

“Betray your country.”

Remington shook his head side to side. “I didn’t.”

They stared at each other, Jake checking Remington’s face for some angle to get out of this. Maybe Alexandra was right. Jake couldn’t help thinking that if he just pulled the gun from his back and shot this man in the face the world would be a far better place. But that wasn’t his mandate. He had agreed to bring Remington in for interrogation.

“What if I told you this was a grand scheme to ingratiate myself with the Chinese?”

“I’d say you were full of shit.”

The wind and rain picked up even more, making it seem like they were on the bow of a ship.

“It’s true, Jake. I’ll come with you, but I have some unfinished business in Cambodia. I have to go to Siem Reap in the morning.”

“Right. Cambodia has no extradition agreement with America.”

Remington moved even closer to Jake. His tone was reserved now, almost like a kid trying to explain his indiscretions to a parent. “You’ve got to believe me, Jake. I’m working with a man named Wu Gang. He’s a former Chinese general in their intelligence directorate.”

Jake had never heard of the guy, but that wasn’t unusual considering his own area of expertise. “Former?”

“Just like you’re former, Jake. The man is now a billionaire. One of that country’s new elite.”

Thinking for a moment about the Chinese connection Alexandra had made in Munich, he wondered anew if this was all connected. He knew that China was making big moves in the military and economically. When the Russians were still considered a superpower, their economy had never been a huge success. So America had simply outspent the Russians to win the Cold War. But the Chinese could actually pay for their new and improved military. Still, Jake was having a hard time wrapping his mind around Remington’s case.

“So, the Chinese paid you for our secrets,” Jake said. “What can you do for them now?”

Remington simply cocked his head to one side, speechless.

“You’ve got nothing more to give them.”

“Knowledge is power in this business,” Remington assured Jake.

“True. But your knowledge will quickly dry up as the Agency changes its operations.”

“As you probably know, I still have a lot of friends in the business.”

“Oh, we know that. I’ve crossed paths with a number of them already.” Jake knew Remington was feeding him a line of crap, but for some reason he felt sorry for the guy. He was a man without a country. Yet, this was all Remington’s fault. The man had sold out his own Agency, his own country. He would get what he deserved.

With the wind howling and the rain pelting Jake relentlessly, it took him a moment to understand what had happened when Bill Remington dropped to the stone surface of the Wat Arun temple. When Jake suddenly realized that the echo was from a high powered rifle, he sank to his good right knee and drew his gun.

The second bullet struck the metal railing and ricocheted somewhere.

Jake checked for a pulse on Remington. Nothing. Damn it!

After the third bullet whizzed by Jake’s head, he reacted like any normal human being. He got the hell out of there.