Rising Tiger (19 page)

It was closing in on midnight when Jake found his way into the church and sat in one of the back pews, the place dark and musty, lit only by candles along the edges and a few alcoves. The alter area was silent and only two parishioners sat toward the front of the large structure.

He hated meetings in church. They reminded him of the guilt he felt for not attending services for so many years. Maybe he was afraid to go now, since any confession on his part might take hours and his absolution and penance even longer.

When Jake caught movement along the right side, he reached for a gun that wasn’t there. He felt like a sitting duck here.

But it was just a nun moving like an apparition, as if her legs were not even moving under her dark brown habit that looked like it could have been designed after a traditional Vietnamese dress.

The nun turned and came down his pew, taking a seat next to him. Upon closer observation, Jake recognized the woman from the snapshot. But just barely.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” the nun whispered. She reached out her hand and Jake reluctantly took her cold, thin fingers into his own. She held onto him, as if she were trying to discern truth from his warm hand.

“Quite the cover,” Jake said softly.

“I was a nun for a couple of years before I had a problem with chastity,” she assured him.

“It’s a big leap from nun to the Agency.”

“My language skills came in handy,” she said. “And this cover lets me move freely among the rabble masses.”

“You look about twelve,” he said.

“I’m thirty two. But thank you.”

“And your chastity?”

She smiled. “About eight years old. But I’m working on getting it back.”

“Your choice?”

“You might say that. I’m not attracted to Asian men.” She hesitated to consider Jake more carefully. “Or any man.”

“I see. So, what do you have for me?”

From inside her habit, she removed a small satchel and handed it to Jake. “As requested, two Glock 17s with four additional magazines. I used critical defense rounds. Jacketed hollow points with less flash to protect your night vision.”

Wow. This nun knew her ammo. He took the satchel and slung the strap over his neck and shoulder. “Thanks. Nice job. Anything else for me?”

She got closer and whispered into his ear. “Jenkins said to help you with anything you need. I was able to find where the general is staying.” She told him the hotel, an international chain on the high end, and then she smiled and backed away.

“Thanks,” he said. “But this is all I need at this time.”

The nun nodded and got up. As she passed him, she stopped and said, “We’re watching him for you. You look like you could use some sleep.” Then she exited the pew, kneeled toward the alter, and crossed herself before disappearing through the side alcoves.

Jake wandered out of the church toward a park that went toward the Reunification Palace. Maybe he was a bit tired. After all, he had just encountered a hot Asian nun dressed in a Catholic habit. His carnal thoughts could send him right to hell.

He entered the park, which was nearly isolated, with the exception of a few homeless people and others looking for trouble or drugs or both. Lighting in the park consisted of a few lamps on the outer sidewalk and a couple more in a center fountain area.

Despite the warmth of the evening, a chill seemed to raise the hairs on the back of Jake’s neck. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it.

Jake was used to checking his six without anyone knowing he was doing so, but now, since leaving the church, he had been lax in his own security. When he stopped to pretend to tie his left shoe, he gazed back behind him.

A dark figure rushed him and knocked him to the ground. Jake rolled and grasped for a gun that wasn’t there.

The foot came down, striking him in the gut. But Jake had twisted at the last second, making it a glancing blow.

He swept his leg and caught the assailant behind the legs, flipping the attacker to his back.

With speed that surprise even Jake, he was on top of the attacker and chopping the person in the neck. Then he caught the person’s wrists and pinned the guy to the ground.

The attacker below him was gasping for air when Jake finally realized two things. First, the attacker was much smaller than he thought. And second, the person below him was a woman.

“Who the hell are you?” Jake asked through grit teeth.

She said nothing. But she was still struggling beneath him and trying to catch her breath.

He put both of her hands into one of his own, and then he began to feel her for weapons. Yep, she was a woman. He had crossed over both of her breasts and found no male parts between her legs. Then he found the gun attached to the woman’s right hip. He removed the gun and threw it into the grass out of reach.

She said something that Jake didn’t understand.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you done feeling me up?” she asked with a hoarse voice. Her English was nearly perfect.

“Who are you?” he repeated.

“We’re on the same side, Mister Adams,” she said.

“So, you think I’m this Adams fellow.”

She cleared her voice and continued, “Jake Adams. Former CIA officer. Tasked to find the former Deputy CIA Director, Bill Remington. You found him in Bangkok and then killed him.”

He pulled out his cell phone, turned it on, and shone the screen light on her face. She was the woman who had been on them since Singapore.

“You? Why are you following me?”

She tightened her jaw, obviously considering her options. “We’ve been on you since Taiwan.”

Jake thought back over the past week. It was possible, but not likely. “You weren’t on me in Taiwan.”

“Not personally,” she said. “But others were. We all look alike.” She finally smiled for the first time, raising her cheek bones.

“You’re with the Taiwan National Security Bureau?” he asked her, already knowing the answer.

“Afraid so.”

He knew that their Bureau stripped their officers of their real name upon graduation from their training. They were usually given simple single names. “Your name?”

“Lin.” She spelled it for him.

“What does that mean?”

“Beautiful jade. Can you let me up now?”

“Where did you learn English?” he asked.

“University of Washington.”

“You were a Bulldog?”

“No, I was a Husky. Fresno State is Bulldogs.”

He considered letting go, but he needed a little more information first. “Okay. Why did you attack me in Singapore? Why’d you try to kill me in Cambodia?”

“I was working undercover with Remington’s organization. Why did you kill him?”

“You were there in Bangkok. I was with the man on the temple. The shot that took out Remington came from a high-powered rifle. I was only authorized to bring the man in for interrogation. How do I know you didn’t kill him?”

She sighed and thrust her hips up into Jake. “Let me up.”

“First, answer my question. Did you kill Remington?”

“Obviously not. I was charged with following him and connecting ties with our enemies.”

“Such as?”

Before she could answer, two local men approached and said something to Jake.

“What did they say?” Jake asked her.

“You think because I’m Asian I speak every language over here?” she asked, shaking her head.

The two men got closer and Jake would have to decide soon if he could let her go and take care of these men.

Before Jake could respond, Lin said something to the men and they immediately turned around and briskly walked away.

“So, you speak Vietnamese,” Jake said.

She hesitated with a sigh of air through her nostrils. “Yes. Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and enough Thai to get by. You let me up now.” It wasn’t a question.

Jake considered his options, not sure if he could trust this woman. Finally, he slid to the side and sat in the grass.

She sat up. Without warning, she slapped him across his face.

“What the hell was that for?” he asked.

“Feeling me up.”

“I was searching for weapons.”

“I assure you I don’t carry my gun in my vagina.”

“Okay, you got me there.” Jake was a bit confused by her presence in Saigon. Something wasn’t working for him.

She crawled over and picked up her gun, wiped it down on her shirt, and then shoved it into the holster, covering it with her black sweater.

“There’s a problem with your story,” Jake said. “Once Remington was killed, why are you still following me? Why’d you try to kill me?”

“Where is your girlfriend?”

“Do you always answer a question with a totally unrelated question?”

“You just did the same thing.”

She had a point. “Still, why didn’t you head back to Taiwan once Remington was killed?”

They both stood up now and Jake could finally see that she had to be no more than five-four and a hundred pounds. She was a beauty, though.

She finally answered. “Remington was not my real mission. He was just one of the pawns.”

“He was a pretty big pawn. I would say more like a bishop or a knight.”

“Not to our real target.”

“General Wu Gang.”

Lin couldn’t hold back her surprise.

“How did you find me in Saigon?” he asked her.

“I didn’t. I found the nun.”

He didn’t think his spy craft was that bad. This Taiwanese officer had simply staked out the American consulate and picked up the nun coming out with the weapons. That was one of the oldest tricks for any intelligence agency. “Okay, now what do you want from me?”

She was obviously considering her options, based on her delay and facial expression. “The general has brought us to the brink of war with the Communists across the strait.”

“For what purpose?”

“We don’t know for sure. But conflict is good for sales. His companies will make billions.”

“He’s already a billionaire,” Jake informed her.

“Yes, but he wants more. With the money comes power.”

Jake knew that to be a universal fact. Very few in power didn’t want more. Very few with money didn’t want more. The two seemed to be inextricably linked. “So, what’s your mission?”

“That’s classified.”

Jake turned to walk away.

“Wait.”

He stopped and glared at her. “What?”

“You help me. I help you.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“Right. You have that big girlfriend.”

Jake laughed. “She’s only big compared to you. And she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Okay. What did they call that in college? Friends with benefits.”

She had this endearing smirk that was starting to piss off Jake. But he had two choices. He could work with an American ally, or he could continue to look over his shoulder as this Taiwanese intelligence officer continued to shadow him.

“What do you propose?” Jake asked.

She smiled and moved closer to him. Then she told him what her government wanted, perhaps providing more classified information than her bosses in Taipei would have allowed.

“You’ve been trying to kill me for the past week,” Jake said, “and now you want me to work with you?”

“I did not try to kill you,” she said. “I tried to make it look like I tried to kill you.”

“You came pretty damn close when you killed that tuk tuk driver in Cambodia.”

She lowered her head. “That was an accident. I hit a bump in the road just as I shot. Can we start over?”

“Again, why were you even shooting at me?” he demanded to know.

“I thought you were working for General Wu Gang,” she said with great deference. “I had no intelligence on you. I am sorry.” Lin bowed her head to him.

Jake had a number of choices, but he had no good reason not to at least try her plan. After all, this was her turf. She had more to lose than Jake. And she was sorry.

●

In the penthouse suite of the finest hotel in Saigon, General Wu Gang lay back on the bed, propped up by multiple pillows, while a beautiful young naked Vietnamese woman sucked on his unremarkable penis like a little girl on a hot day trying to keep a popsicle from dripping. Another naked woman lay on the bed next to them playing with herself, waiting her turn.

The general puffed on a large cigar, a Cuban, and tried to make himself hold off from exploding in the young woman’s mouth. Delayed gratification was far superior to instant relief.

Suddenly, his bedroom door opened and his chief of security, Shangwei, rushed in. His man looked rather haggard, but he wasn’t at all surprised by the scene, since he had acquired the two woman from the high-end agency in Saigon.

“Sir,” Shangwei said, trying his best to keep his eyes averted from the display of fellatio.

The general put one finger in the air as he puffed on the cigar and then blew a stream of smoke into the air just as he exploded into the woman’s mouth. She took down every drop and then pulled away as the general dismissed both women to the attached bathroom.

“What?” the general finally said.

“I just heard from our men in Cambodia,” Shangwei said slowly, deliberately.

“And?”

“The shoot out in our hotel there resulted in a complication.”

The general twirled his hand for his man to hurry up. There was still a lot of sex to have this evening.

“We lost a couple of men, as I mentioned before. But one man was shot in the knee and taken to the hospital. He was questioned by the local police, but once they realized he worked for you, they stopped their inquiry. By the time our people got to him, he was in surgery and then sedated for the pain. He finally woke up and had an interesting story.”

The general put his underwear on. He had a feeling this story would require at least one drink. He found the wet bar and mixed himself a rum and coke. Then he turned back to Shangwei and told him to continue.

“The man was shot by Jake Adams.”

The general thought for a moment and took a long drink of his rum and coke. “This man is becoming a problem. Maybe it was a problem letting Remington’s men take Adams out.” Deep down he really wanted this American operative to kill Bill Remington, leaving himself isolated from the action. “Continue.”