Rising Tiger (23 page)

Jake left her and went to the kitchen. He found some rice, which he started cooking in the microwave. Then he gathered a bunch of spices, selecting them from smell, since he couldn’t read the labels. While he prepared to make the fried rice, he thought about what he had to do here in Taiwan. In theory, he didn’t have to continue at all. He knew this deep in his bones. Yet, he also knew that the general was used to getting his way through political influence primed by his large bank account. Why did it always come to this, he wondered. If he had a billion dollars, he would simply be content in a villa overlooking the Med. Maybe an infinity pool. He would keep it simple. Of course life might only be complete with the right woman at his side. And he was starting to think that Alexandra could be that woman. At one time he thought it could be Toni Contardo. And then he was sure it could have been Anna. But maybe those two, and their deaths, had made Jake a bit gun shy. Perhaps that was his best reason to simply let this go. He wasn’t sure if he could live with himself if anything happened to Alexandra.

After the rice finished cooking in the microwave, Jake put a little oil and soy sauce into a huge wok and fired up the gas stove. Then he added the rice and started including spices. Unfortunately he had no meat or fresh vegetables to add, so this would be a poor-man’s fried rice.

Alexandra showed up and held Jake at the hips from behind. “Something smells great. Now who would make a good putz frau?”

“You’re funny.” He turned his head and kissed her quickly on the lips. “I wish I had some fresh chicken and veggies.”

“I’m sure it will be fantastic,” she said. “If not a little hot. Are those red peppers?”

“Yeah, they’re good for you.” He almost slipped and mentioned his old Chinese girlfriend, who had taught him how to cook Asian food.

“I like spicy food,” she assured him.

He turned off the burner and swiveled around to her. “Why didn’t I know that about you?”

She kissed him on the lips and then pulled away. “You never asked.” Alexandra looked through a number of cupboards before finding two plates. She seemed to be looking for something else.

Jake found a couple sets of chop sticks and he handed her a pair.

“I’m not great at these,” she said.

“I’ll teach you.”

They sat down at a small kitchen table and started eating the rice. He showed her how he had been taught to use chop sticks and they quickly finished the entire serving of rice.

Alexandra set her chop sticks across her plate. “Wonderful. Now, I will take care of the final C, but first I need a little nap.”

Jake smiled. “Agreed.”

The Taipei 101 tower was like nearly every other high rise building constructed worldwide in an attempt to gain the pinnacle of height and fame as the tallest building on the planet. The difference, however, was that whereas all of the other towers of power contained primarily corporate offices of some of the most prestigious companies in the world, this one had one residence. The building didn’t start that way, but over a two-year period, General Wu Gang had bought and paid for the 88
^th
floor, just below the observation and security levels, turning the top level into a lavish penthouse apartment with views in all directions. The other half of that floor just contained the headquarters to his business empire. Of course, anyone visiting the building would never know this. There were no signs on any level that let visitors know of his properties on the 88
^th
floor. Elevators could only access this floor with a special card and by punching in a six-digit access code. And only a couple of the general’s most trusted men had cards and the code.

Now, the general stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the sun setting to the west. He imagined it was still somewhat light in Beijing, assuming the dust and pollution still allowed the light through.

His head of security, Shangwei, entered quietly and stood behind the general, who caught the man’s reflection in the window.

“Well? What do you have to report?” General Wu Gang asked.

“The police were not able to stop them at the airport,” Shangwei said.

The general turned. “I assumed that much. What about the American and his girlfriend?”

“The police had no reason to detain them. I believe that officer from the National Security Bureau has more influence than we first thought.”

There was no way that a captain in the Taiwanese intelligence agency had more power and influence than a former general in the People’s Liberation Army and the richest man in either China. No, he would crush that woman. Chinese women, all women, were only good for two things—sex and motherhood.

“Where is this woman, Lin?” the general asked.

Shangwei shrugged. “We are not sure, general. According to my contacts at her organization, she is not officially working this week.”

General Wu Gang smiled with that revelation. “That’s good to know. It means she had enough influence to make the police go away, but she was still not sanctioned by her superiors.” Which also meant that his money had gone to a good cause. “Anything else?”

Shangwei hesitated.

“Go ahead,” the general implored.

“I have learned more about the American. He will not stop coming, sir.”

The general smiled. “I was hoping you would say that. Prepare your men.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, the security officer left the general alone. He turned again and stared at his adopted city. And then his mind drifted to his workers in their offices across from the huge dampening ball in the center of the upper tower, where his legitimate interests plodded just a couple of doors removed from his clandestine minions. Computers never slept, so his workers never did either.

●

At that very moment, Lin stood in her modest living room glancing out from her sliding deck door on the tenth floor of her apartment. The sun was now just a memory and the city lights shone brightly across the Wenshan District of the city. Her apartment building was nestled against the mountains near the city zoo. From her location, she could see the upper half of the massive Taipei 101 building, lit up now with cool shades of blue and purple lights.

It had taken Lin weeks to dig into General Wu Gang’s finances and the location of his headquarters. What kind of billionaire didn’t let anyone know the true nature of his business or even the location of his legitimate enterprises? She knew the answer to her own question. General Wu Gang was still as secretive as he had been while running one of the largest intelligence gathering organizations in the world. This secrecy meant just one thing to Lin. The man was corrupt. The general was trying to bring irrevocable damage to her country, and that was something she could not allow. No matter what her superiors told her to do. The man could not get away with this, she thought.

Then she turned and went to her bedroom. She opened her closet, spread her clothes in both directions, and released a hidden latch, which popped open two doors. Inside, she assessed her options. When she told Jake and Alexandra she would get them more firepower, Jake probably didn’t guess she would get them from her own closet. Yeah, she knew a guy. She was the guy. And these were all weapons that she had accumulated over the years, taken from criminals and not reported to her superiors. She pulled out a number of familiar Glocks, along with a number of fully-loaded extra 17-round magazines.

She started loading up a black duffle bag with the guns. Then she smiled and added a number of extra toys, including flash bangs and full fragmentation grenades. That might equalize the numbers a little, she guessed. Then she zipped up the bag, closed her special stash doors and considered her wardrobe. All black and sensible shoes. Cover that with a long leather coat. Now she was ready to go pick up her new friends.

Jake woke in the dark room, sensing something was not quite right. He grasped his gun from under his pillow and quietly stalked through the bedroom in just his boxer briefs and a T-shirt, and out into the main living area of the house, his gun aimed at any possible target. When he heard the key in the front door, he guessed it would be Lin, but he crouched behind the sofa and waited for the light to click on.

Lin startled when she saw the gun pointed at her. Then she simply locked the door behind her and set her large black duffle bag on the floor.

“I should have called before coming in,” Lin said.

Jake wandered around the sofa, set his gun on the table and sat down. “That’s all right. We’re all on edge.”

She took a seat on the other end of the sofa. “Where is Alexandra?”

“Still sleeping.” Jake shifted his head toward the bedroom.

Her eyes seemed to scan Jake’s body and he realized he was only wearing his underwear.

“Sorry,” Jake said. “I’ll get some pants on and wake Alexandra.”

“Let her sleep,” Lin said. She went to her bag and pulled out her laptop and then set it up on the coffee table.

The two of them spent the next hour going over the plan, from the physical security to the potential response of the general’s forces.

Finally, Alexandra wandered out of the bedroom wearing just her bra and panties, her hair looking like she just came out of gale-force winds.

Alexandra yawned and said to Lin, “How long have you been back?”

“About an hour,” Lin answered. “We’ve been reviewing the plan.”

“You should have woken me.”

“You’ll be glad you got your sleep,” Jake said. “Why don’t you get dressed in something dark and we’ll run over the plan with you and get your input.”

Alexandra glanced at Jake’s underwear. “All right. I’ll bring your pants.”

Once Alexandra was gone, Lin said, “She has a very beautiful body. Very strong.”

“Yeah she is. Are you into that?”

Lin smiled. “No, I like men. But I can appreciate a nice body.” Her eyes scanned Jake like TSA equipment.

Alexandra came back and threw Jake his black slacks. She looked pissed off at him. He put his pants on and sat back down. Alexandra took a seat between Jake and Lin on the sofa.

Lin pulled up the diagram of the Taipei 101 tower and quickly briefed Alexandra on the plan.

Jake said, “I went to the tower about a week ago to speak with the head of security there.”

“Why?” Alexandra asked.

Shifting his eyes slightly toward Lin, Jake said, “I got a lead to talk with a guy named Chan Le. He was a former officer with the Taiwan National Security Bureau.”

Alexandra cast her gaze upon Lin now. “Do you know the guy?”

Nodding her head, Lin said, “Yes. He was a very good officer.”

“Do you think he’s on General Wu Gang’s payroll?”

Lin said, “I hope not. He’s our only way into the building.”

Jake thought about his conversation with Chan Le on his visit to the man’s office last week, which seemed like a month ago. “Chan Le mentioned to me that he had confirmed with his former organization that Bill Remington was not in Taiwan. He also sent me to Singapore, although that country was already on my list of possible hiding places. Was Chan Le talking with you?”

Lin hesitated. “Perhaps. But he has many contacts.”

That’s what Jake thought. He wasn’t sure if he really trusted the man, but Lin was right. They had no other way to get onto the 88
^th
floor without the man’s help. That building was built like a fortress.

“Do you have any problems with the plan?” Lin asked Alexandra.

“Well,” Alexandra said. “I would like about three or four more people, along with some extra firepower.”

Lin smiled. “I have some of that covered.” She reached over and slid her duffle bag toward the coffee table. Then she pulled each gun and magazine out, saving the grenades for last.

“You know we don’t want to bring down the tower,” Alexandra said.

“That building is very strong,” Lin said. “And we will only use these if we get in trouble.”

Jake laughed. “You haven’t been around me much, Lin.” He shifted his eyes from one woman to the other. “Are you both sure you want to do this? The man has considerable power and influence.”

“That’s the point,” Lin said. “The general is trying to profit from the conflict between both of our countries.”

“America and Taiwan?” Jake wanted to know.

Lin lowered her head slightly and then glanced at her computer. “My organization has been investigating the man for years. There is much more than you know about General Wu Gang. Also, Chan Le was ruined by the general.”

“That’s who screwed over the man?” Jake asked.

“Yes.”

“Then why did Chan Le take a position in the same building?” Alexandra asked.

“I don’t know,” Lin said. “I think he wanted to continue his investigation.”

“
The Godfather
,” Jake reasoned. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

The three of them sat in silence for a moment. Jake wasn’t sure if what they were about to do was the right thing. Especially with a Taiwanese officer not sanctioned by her own government. Jake considered calling Kurt Jenkins to get his take on the idea, but dismissed that possibility. It was better if Jenkins stayed in the dark. Just in case the mission went south.

“Are we sure the general is in his penthouse right now?” Alexandra asked. “We’ve already been burned by the man.”

Lin checked her watch. “My contact said he was there and he would contact me if the general left.”

“And you trust Chan Le?” Jake wanted to confirm.

“Absolutely,” Lin said emphatically.

Jake checked his watch. It was nearly ten p.m. “All right. We better get going.”

They gathered everything they needed, with Jake and Alexandra leaving behind the backpack and clothes they had purchased in their travels. They got to Lin’s car and she took it much slower this time as they traveled the streets of Taipei from her grandfather’s old home to the tallest building in the city. The way it was lit up, Jake guessed they would have no problem finding the massive structure.

The roads were relatively isolated of traffic at this time of night.

Soon they came to the building and Lin parked across the street from the main entrance to Taipei 101. Getting out, they all adjusted their guns under their clothing. They had already divided the extra magazines, and Lin switched the remaining grenades from the big black duffel bag to an oversized purse slung over her shoulders.