The Riddle (A James Acton Thriller, Book #11) (36 page)

Stewart
looked at Niner. “So you’re the assassin.”

“Apparently.”

Stewart
chuckled. “Well, you’ll be happy to know that the
real
assassin is on
his way here.”

“What?!”
cried both Acton and Laura, Mai almost fainting, grabbing the back of a chair
to steady herself.

“Yeah,
this Phong character called the embassy just as we were about to leave. He
confessed to everything, said it was in revenge for what Petrov did during the
war, exactly like you guys said, and he wanted to turn himself in, but not to
the Vietnamese. We suggested—”

“—I
suggested,” interjected Murphy.

“Mr.
‘Takes All The Credit’ suggested—”

“That’s
rich coming from you.”

“—that
he meet us here so we could get him on tape along with you guys.”

“And to
correct my esteemed colleague’s previous statement, we
think
the real
assassin is on his way here.”

“What do
you mean?” asked Acton.

“The
phone call was interrupted when a Russian arrived on the scene. We think though
that the Phong guy ran away in time. We’re just not sure,” replied Stewart.

“He has
the address?”

“It was
given to him, and we assume he wrote it down.”

Niner clasped
his hands behind his neck. “A lot of assumptions.”

Stewart
nodded. “Agreed. But let’s try to look at the bright side. That data is about
to be transmitted—”

“Already
happening.”

“—and
you’re all about to get on the air with your stories.”

“Should
we do it live?” asked Acton. “We don’t want to risk them finding us and
confiscating the tape.”

Stewart
patted him on the cheek. “You’re so cute!”

Laura
snickered.

“Yeah,
yeah, I know there’s no tape,” said Acton, placing a quick kiss on Stewart’s
palm causing the man to jerk his hand away.

“I’m not
that kind of girl,” Stewart said in a feigned huff. “We’re definitely going
live. I’ve already talked to the studio and they’re waiting.”

“Thank
God,” sighed Laura. “Hopefully once the truth gets out things will settle
down.”

Stewart
shook his head. “Hopefully, but there’s a full-fledged invasion of the Ukraine
going on, troop buildups on both sides in the Baltic States, a few shells
exchanged between ships in both the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and there’s that
F-22 that was intentionally hit. Apparently a couple of American tourists were
attacked and beaten in Moscow and Marines from the embassy had to rescue them.
The Russians are expressing outrage and demanding they be handed over and that
the UN Security Council condemn the violation of international law.”

“That’s
pretty rich coming from them,” said Acton.

Murphy
grunted. “That’s what I said.” He pulled the memory stick from the camera,
handing it back to Mai. “Sent.”

“Good.
Do they know what to do with it?” asked Laura.

“Yeah,
we already gave them your theory and they used file photos to determine the
make and model of the metal detector they were using so they know the exact
height for comparison,” said Stewart as Murphy set the camera up for the
interviews.

Laura shook
her head. “I can’t believe they let him in with a gun when there’s a metal
detector.”

“Probably
because they thought he was a part of the American security team,” replied
Stewart. “But this is good. It means that even the Vietnamese were fooled or
just didn’t care enough to carefully check the ID. I’m assuming our friend
here”—he nodded toward Niner—“looks nothing like our shooter.”

“I’m
much more handsome,” said Niner, straight-man style.

“Oh
much,” winked Laura.

“Oooh,
Professor, not while your husband’s in the room.”

Acton
shook his head, smiling as Stewart laughed, Mai still not sure what to make of
them.

“Who’s
first?” asked Stewart.

“As soon
as Phong gets here, we’ll put him on. But for now I think hearing from the eye
witnesses rather than Mr. Green is the way to go. If they hear from him they’ll
just say he’s lying.”

“Good
thinking,” said Niner. He looked at Laura. “Shall we go entertain ourselves
while your husband is interviewed?” He grinned ear-to-ear suggestively raising
his eyebrows up and down.

Laura
pointed to the door leading to a side room. “How about you go get started
yourself.”

Niner’s
shoulders slumped. “You’re not going to show up, are you?”

“No
thanks, I’m a one man girl.” Laura goosed her husband. He jumped.

Acton,
his ass cheeks still clenched, looked at Laura. “Careful, hon, you’re liable to
lose a finger up there.”

“Eww!”
she cried, yanking her hand away as Niner bent over laughing.

“I never
knew you two were so kinky!” he said, still chuckling as he walked away to
check the front.

“We’re
ready,” said Murphy, Stewart standing straight, microphone in his hand, the
light from the camera shining brightly.

“We’ll
have all three of you on camera,” said Stewart, but I’ll primarily ask Laura
the questions since the public will find a woman more sympathetic and
believable. I’m a newsman but we need to sell the truth today not just tell it,
so I’m not beyond manipulating people’s perceptions if you’re not.”

“Sounds
fine to me.”

“Okay,
good.” He touched an earpiece apparently connected with the studio. “Can you
hear me?” He nodded then gave a thumbs up to Murphy who began a countdown from
five, the last two with fingers, Laura stepping up beside Stewart, Acton then
Mai beside her. “Thank you, Terry. I’m here with Professors Laura Palmer and
James Acton, and Vietnam National Museum of History grad student Mai Lien
Trinh, all witnesses to today’s assassination of Russian Prime Minister Anatoly
Petrov. They have a much different story to tell than that being provided by
the Vietnamese and Russian authorities. As well, they have managed to retrieve
footage from the Museum security cameras that appear to substantiate their
version of events, footage I might add that the Vietnamese authorities
previously said did not exist.” He turned toward Laura. “Professor Palmer,
please tell us what happened from your perspective.”

“We’ve
got company!” shouted Niner from the door, Cadeo’s men all leaping from their
assorted perches, grabbing their weapons.

“Sorry,
Terry, we’ve got a situation here. Please keep us live. Apparently the
authorities may have found our location.”

Niner
jogged over, readying his Glock. “A car with diplomatic plates just pulled up and
there’s a couple of police checking out the news van.” He pointed to Stewart.
“Get their story on the air, fast. We might not have much time.”

“What
about Phong?” asked Acton, his chest tightening as he realized their entire
plan was quickly unravelling.

“Something
tells me it’s too late for him,” replied Niner. He pointed at Acton. “Could use
a good man on the door.”

Acton
nodded. “Call me if you need me,” he said to Stewart, pulling his own Cadeo
provided Beretta from his belt. He could hear the interview resume behind him
with Laura and Mai as he readied the weapon. He looked out the small, dirty
window, a clear area in the center made with someone’s fist rubbing the dirt
away.

And
frowned.

Time’s
up.

Daewoo Hanoi Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

Dawson held the door to the service elevator, Spock on the opposite
side, Jimmy in the main hallway organizing the elevators there. Plans had
changed. Since they were still blocking almost all of the elevators, they were
going to evacuate everyone in one shot. He motioned to Spock to hold the door
as he stepped back into the hallway to confirm everyone was loaded.

A thumbs
up from Jimmy gave him the all clear.

Dawson
activated his comm. “Proceed to ground floor on my mark. Don’t let anyone board
should you stop at another floor. Do not engage unless fired upon, you’re fish
in a barrel. When you arrive in the lobby, immediately proceed to the right,
then right again, straight through to the rear entrance and get in your
designated vehicles. Each agent will report any stops on any floors, your
arrival in the Lobby, and the successful loading in the vehicles as per your
briefing.” Dawson climbed aboard the elevator, nodding to Spock. “Proceed.”

The
doors closed, the elevator cramped with Atwater and her senior advisors, half a
dozen DSS agents along with several pieces of highly classified communications
gear. Laptops had already been wiped, hard drives destroyed just in case, and
the classified gear could be made inoperable with a touch of a button on the
outside of their cases.

As the
floors ticked down, Dawson readied himself for anything. He had been assured by
Yashkin that the Vietnamese had agreed to cooperate, but he frankly didn’t
believe any of them. Right now he wouldn’t breathe easy until the landing gear
smoked on American soil.

“Okay,
get ready people. Our directions are simpler. We walk out in an orderly
fashion, calmly, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear. We turn to
the left and just walk straight out the door at the far end of the hallway and
we’ll see the motorcade waiting for us. There’s no reason to die here today, so
if you hear gunfire, just hit the floor, raise your hands and surrender.” He
nodded toward one of the aides with a video camera. “And don’t forget, we’re on
TV.” The elevator chimed their arrival. “Okay, calmly to the left then straight
until we’re outside.”

The
doors opened and they found an empty service room. He stepped out and checked
the hallway. Empty. All of the other elevators were reporting unplanned stops,
the Vietnamese having obviously pressed the buttons on other floors either to
delay them, or had done it earlier during the crisis. Either way it didn’t
matter.

It meant
delays.

He
headed toward the door at the far end, Spock covering the one that led to the
lobby while the others followed him in near silence, a few of the civilians
audibly trembling in fear.

He
didn’t blame them.

These
people were never meant for situations like this. In fact he was always
impressed with how often civilians were able to rise to the occasion, some able
to compartmentalize their emotions until the crisis was over.

That was
when the breakdowns usually happened.

He
reached the door, it solid with no window.

No way
to see what was on the other side.

He
waited for everyone to catch up, Spock still covering the far door by the
elevator. “Okay, people. You’re all doing great. We’re going to go through this
door. The vehicles are already in place, not even thirty yards from here.
Remember, just walk calmly toward your assigned vehicle. Don’t run, that just
causes you and them to panic. No matter what you see, you just walk. If they
fire at you, hit the ground, surrender.”

Several
of the elevators continued to report repeated delays, none yet arriving at the
lobby.

He
couldn’t wait.

He
opened the door only to be blinded by large spotlights trained on the exit, and
as his eyes adjusted he cursed.

Dozens
of soldiers pointing a mix of AKs at them stood between them and the idling
vehicles.

Jimmy cursed again as the doors opened on the fourth floor, two men
staring at them, guns pointed at them, clearly part of the Russian delegation.
He didn’t react, instead reaching over and pressing the
Close
button. It
had been the story the entire way down, the doors opening on every floor except
the seventh. Over the comm he could hear the same was true for the others
except for Dawson’s group, the service elevator apparently cleared.

It had
him wondering if it were an attempt to split the security detail into two
batches.

The
doors closed and they passed the third floor. It chimed on the second.

“Oh for
Christ’s sake!” cried someone in the back of the elevator, the tension getting
to them all. The doors opened and two Vietnamese Police officers pointed guns
at them and Jimmy again ignored them, the key to getting out of this alive to
avoid any type of provocation.

He hit
the
Close
button again.

“Okay
people, get ready. Remember, we exit calmly, turn to the right, walk past all
the elevators, take our first right then go straight through the rear exit of
the hotel where our motorcade is waiting. Get into your assigned vehicles and
then we’re home free. Just stay calm no matter what you see, and whatever you
do, don’t run. That just causes itchy trigger fingers to twitch.”

The
tension level rose as they descended once again. The doors opened and Jimmy
resisted the urge to curse, dozens of soldiers, weapons raised, ringed the
elevator doors as they all began to open.