The Riddle (A James Acton Thriller, Book #11) (31 page)

“Why
aren’t those covered?”

“Sorry,
sir. We just relocated here sixty seconds ago when one of the guys said there
was a support beam here. We figured they won’t risk taking the entire floor
down.” Two agents closed the curtains over as the explanation was given.

“Good
thinking,” said Dawson as he turned to brief Atwater. “The Vietnamese have
pulled back. We’ve retaken the eighth floor and with the lights back on, I’m
thinking we’ve got a reprieve, at least temporarily. We should take the
opportunity to relocate our equipment to this floor, recharge our batteries and
pool all the resources we can including food and water.”

“The
water’s back on,” said one of the staff.

“Good.
Refill every water bottle we’ve got and everyone, I mean everyone, use the
bathroom now while we’ve got toilets that can flush. Search every room on the
floor and evacuate any civilians if there’s any left. Empty their bar fridges
and distribute food. I want everyone fed and hydrated. Police all weapons and
ammo from the bodies of the fallen, ours and theirs.” He looked about. “Where’s
the wounded?”

“Next
room. We’ve got two serious that need immediate medical attention, five walking
wounded that will need attention and half a dozen with minor scrapes and
bruises.”

“Dead?”

“Two
caught in the initial blast. We got lucky.”

“Lucky?”

When
Atwater finally spoke she sounded beaten. Dawson took a knee and lowered his
voice. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

Atwater
shook her head. “They tried to kill me.”

“Yes,
ma’am. It appears that way. But your team did its job and you’re uninjured. If
need be, we’ll do our job again and protect you.”

She
raised her head and looked at him, her eyes red. Someone handed him a bottle of
water. “You do this every day?”

He
chuckled. “No, not
every
day.” He leaned in a little closer. “Listen,
ma’am, it’s okay to be scared. We all are. That’s human nature. The immediate
danger is over. Your people need you. Now I’m going to teach you a trick. In situations
like this control has been taken away from you and given to your security
staff. That’s procedure. While you don’t have to make decisions, use the time to
get control of your adrenaline. It’s your adrenaline that’s got you shaking and
it feeds your fear. Think of fear as a chemically induced artificial state
rather than some personal failure. If you can get control of the adrenaline
flowing into your bloodstream then you’ll be able to calm down. You know when
you’re really angry sometimes you shake?”

She
nodded, looking up at him.

“Well
that’s adrenaline, not fear. So if anger can be fueled by adrenaline, it’s time
to turn the fear you now have into anger at what’s happened to you. You should
be indignant, mad. Frankly, it’s time to get pissed off. So here’s the trick.
While you’re in a situation where you’re not talking and running around, use
tactical breathing.”

“What’s
that?”

“It’s a
trick us soldiers do to keep us calm and it’s very easy. Just breathe in
through your nose for four seconds, hold it for four, breathe out through your
lips for four, then hold for four, and repeat. Just keep doing that and
eventually you’ll calm down. If you remember to do it enough, it just becomes
habit.” He smiled as she began doing it. “It also works at the negotiation
table. Do it while the other guy is talking, then when it’s your turn, you
appear calm, no matter how idiotic the other guy’s demands are.”

She
nodded, smiling slightly, as she continued the breathing technique.

Dawson
heard a phone ring down the hallway, the doors of the rooms obviously now
opened by the staff. It went unanswered then another rang. “I think they’re
attempting to make contact,” he said, looking at Atwater. “Do you want me to
deal with it?”

She
shook her head. “No, I’ll do it.” She pushed herself to her feet, taking a
breath, the color returning to her cheeks. She smiled slightly at Dawson and
placed a hand on his arm. “You’re a good man, Mr.
White
.”

“Thank
you, ma’am.”

The
phone rang and she nodded toward one of her staff who picked it up. She covered
the receiver. “It’s Mr. Yashkin for you, Madame Secretary.”

“Put it
on speaker and someone record this.”

Several
cellphones quickly appeared.

“This is
Secretary Atwater.”

“Thank
goodness you are okay, Madame Secretary. As soon as I heard what was happening
I requested the attack be stopped at once.”

Atwater
rolled her eyes, seeming back to her normal self. “I’m happy to hear that the
Russian government was not responsible.”

“Of
course we weren’t, Madame Secretary. We are a peaceful people”—the entire room
rolled their eyes—“and only want justice to be served. Clearly that does not
involve further violence.”

“I am
happy to hear that, Mr. Yashkin. Now there is a matter of the wounded. We have
two people who need emergency access to a hospital and several others who will
need medical attention. Can I trust that you will see to it?”

“At
once, Madame Secretary, at once. In fact we have medical personnel already here
just waiting for your approval.”

“Sent
them up at once. Make sure they are unarmed.”

“Of
course.”

“And we
have four dead. We will require body bags for them and transportation of the
bodies to the Embassy.”

“I am
indeed sorry to hear that. It will be arranged.”

Atwater took
a deep breath, almost glaring at Yashkin through the speaker. “Now there is the
matter of our departure. Since you seem to have significant influence with the
Vietnamese authorities, I expect you will be able to
convince
them to
allow us to leave at once.”

“I have
already spoken to them and they have agreed that you may leave in one hour,
provided all of your personnel lay down their weapons and submit themselves for
a visual inspection to confirm Agent Green is not among them.”

Dawson
shook his head slightly.

“I’m
afraid we can’t agree to disarming, Mr. Yashkin. I’m sure you’ll understand
that after what has just happened we simply cannot put our lives at risk.”

“So you
do not trust our Vietnamese hosts?”

His mock
shock was almost comical. “Would you?”

Yashkin
laughed heartily, the man clearly a well-trained diplomat. “No, I suppose I
would not. I will speak to our hosts on your behalf. Perhaps they will allow
your staff to at least keep their sidearms.”

Dawson
nodded slightly.

“That
would be acceptable. And please inform our hosts that I will be resuming my
interview with CNN and conveying our expectations and our thanks to the Russian
government for their assistance. Good evening, Mr. Yashkin.”

She
signaled with a hand in front of her throat to end the call then dropped back
into her seat, sucking a breath in through her nose, her head bobbing almost
imperceptibly as she counted.

Dawson
pointed to one of the staffers. “Get the equipment set up immediately, I want
the Secretary on with CNN in five minutes.” He pointed to one of the DSS
agents. “Coordinate the medical evac and let’s get the bodies ready to go to
the Embassy.”

Atwater
motioned for him to come closer. He knelt beside her.

“Any
word from Agent Green?”

Dawson
shook his head. “No, but if they had him I’m sure we’d have heard.”

“Can you
reach him?”

“Not
without possibly compromising his location.”

“They’ll
be controlling the phones into here, but he might reach out to the embassy.
Make sure they know the plan. He needs to get himself to the airplane if he
can.”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

“And
what about those two professors they’re accusing of being involved?”

“If I
know Agent Green he’s probably already made contact with them.”

“They
know each other?”

“Some
things you’re better off not knowing.”

Atwater
chuckled as she shook her head. “It’s the secrecy of the job that I hate the most.”

“Funny,
I thought it was the gunfire.” Dawson grinned and Atwater swatted at him,
finally laughing genuinely.

“Let’s
just hope your friends are able to get to the airplane in time. I don’t know
when there will be another opportunity.”

Dawson
nodded, his face grim as he pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll call the embassy
right away.”

He
stepped away to make the phone call as the first paramedics arrived in an
elevator down the hall, Spock and Jimmy checking them and their equipment over.

As he
activated the secure phone, part of him wanted to reach out to Niner right then
and there, to let him know, but he couldn’t risk that their conversation might
be monitored and his friend’s location traced, especially with the Russians and
their eavesdropping equipment most likely in play.

You’re
on your own for now, buddy.

Tay Ho District, Hanoi, Vietnam

Phong was in a good mood. The best he could remember in a long time.
A weight had been lifted off his shoulders that he had forgotten was there, an
albatross that had tied him to an impossible promise made by a grieving, angry
teenager forty years ago.

And
karma had brought justice and balance back to the world.

A grave
injustice had been done, and the man responsible had been punished.

And now
Phong could rest in peace along with his ancestors.

A rest
he expected to soon find, he having no doubt he would be arrested tomorrow when
he went to work. They would surely know by now that the American agent’s pass
had been used, they would check the hotel footage for the agent’s room and see
it had been him that had stolen it, and he would be immediately arrested. In
fact he was kind of shocked they hadn’t arrived at his apartment to arrest him
while he slept. It had been over eight hours since he had killed Petrov, plenty
of time for them to have discovered the truth.

Maybe
I’ll get away with it?

He had
to admit the thought of continuing his job into his old age like he had planned
just yesterday morning appealed to him.

The
cameras were turned off!

The
sudden recollection had him pause, the parade he was marching in surging around
him like a stone in a river. He resumed walking, gaping in wonder at the
thought. If he had managed to avoid the cameras at the museum, and there was no
footage of him stealing the pass, then it could be anyone who killed Petrov.

They
might have no clue who I am!

It made
sense. In fact, it was the only reasonable explanation. They hadn’t arrested
him yet because they had no idea who he was, and if they didn’t know yet, there
was almost no way they’d ever know.

His step
felt a little lighter as the last of the day’s pressures began to lift. His
nemesis was dead, and as if the divine Buddha himself had wished it, he had
been the instrument of karmic retribution, and so as not to further imbalance
the life forces surrounding them, he would not be punished for being the
deliverer.

He
spotted Duy sitting in a lawn chair in front of his apartment building, a
bottle of liquor being handed around among him and several others he knew from
the hotel, their wives and girlfriends sitting in their own row behind them.

He
waved.

Duy
leapt to his feet, a smile on his face as he greeted his friend. “Phong! I was
beginning to wonder if you were going to make it. I guess you’re feeling
better?”

Phong
had to think for a quick moment when he remembered he had left work faking
stomach issues. He nodded, taking an empty seat. “Yeah, just one of those
things that a couple of good visits to the toilet cured.”

“I hope
you lit a candle!” laughed Duy, the others joining in as the bottle was handed
to Phong. He took a long swig of the vodka.

Russian.
How appropriate.

He
passed the bottle down the line of chairs and looked at the parade, the
colorful garb accentuated by the dancing of the young people.

To be
young again!

His youth
had few pleasant memories, and as he watched the happy couples pass he found
himself thinking of a life lost, a life wasted. He took another swig as the
bottle passed, nobody saying anything except to point out a particularly
beautiful woman.

There had
been plenty of women in his life, plenty of women who had wanted to be with
him. But he had denied them all. He didn’t want to bring a child into this
world, a world where such hate and evil could exist. He wouldn’t contribute to
the misery that was life. His lineage would die with him.

And at
this moment that brought him a profound sadness.

The
great Asita, who had never given up for decades, had founded their village in
this land over two thousand years ago.