“I appreciate the offer, General Graves. But I really don’t see myself living in Washington.”
The man raised both hands in protest. “No, no. You could live anywhere in the world. You would just be a consultant. We would just want to pick your brain on certain issues.”
Jake considered the offer. He was about to surprise himself. “All right. With two provision. First, you leave my name out of everything. I won’t be on your roster of personnel. I won’t physically lobby anyone. Especially politicians. Because my idea of lobbying is grabbing the dumbasses by the throat and shaking them until they come to their senses.”
“And the second provision?” the general asked.
“I won’t do company picnics or Christmas parties. I lied. Here’s a third thing. I’m not a political operative. I’m not a Democrat. Not a Republican. I’m about as independent as they come. I have no use for any politician. We need term limits on every one of the bastards.”
The general laughed. “I’m right there with you, Jake. You got it. But we must pay you.”
“Nothing directly to me,” Jake said. “I’ll provide you with a list of charities where you can send my salary. But you will never attach my name to any of this. Understand?”
The general reached out his hand and Jake shook on the deal. “Thank you, Jake. You’ll hear from me soon.”
Jake half smiled and walked out of the theater, his eyes scanning for Congresswoman Lori Freeman. He wasn’t sure if what he had just agreed to do was right. But if things with the think tank took up too much time away from his fly fishing, he could just tell them to take a hike.
He found Lori and Kim in the bar area, she with a glass of white wine and he with a bottle of water. Good to see the young Agency officer was taking his job seriously.
“Everything all right?” Lori asked Jake.
“Yeah.”
She smiled at him. “That was quite a speech you gave. I can only imagine how it would have sounded in German. Do you really think we’re heading for a conflict with North Korea?”
“Not if our current administration has anything to do with it,” Jake explained. “They’re acting just like Neville Chamberlain in the late thirties. They have their heads so far up their asses the Chinese are recruiting them for their contortionists skills. I wouldn’t be buying a condo in Seoul right now. No offense, Kim.”
“Hey, I’m right there with you, Jake,” Kim said, his eyes suddenly making a double take on the bar entrance.
“What’s the matter?” Jake asked Kim. He turned and saw Pam Suh, the Seoul CIA station chief, enter the bar and head right toward them. What was she doing in Gyeongju?
Pam tried to smile slightly, but her grave disposition gave way.
Jake introduced the congresswoman to Pam Suh, leaving out in this setting her position with the Agency. “Everything all right?” he asked.
“We need to speak privately,” Pam demanded.
He looked directly at Lori and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Then he shifted his eyes at Kim, saying keep an eye on her. Kim nodded understanding.
As Jake and Pam walked out of the bar, he couldn’t help but let his mind roam. Had someone somehow found the professor?
Out in the lobby area, away from others, Pam stopped and turned to him. Her eyes were red and puffy and a tear formed at the edge of each one now.
“What’s the matter?” Jake asked.
“It’s Toni Contardo,” she said solemnly. “She’s dead.”
Jake felt like somewhat had just kicked him in the gut. A wave of adrenalin coursed through his body. “How?”
Pam Suh sobbed and then pulled herself together. “She was tortured and then shot in the head. Her body was dropped outside of Langley.”
Jake wasn’t sure how to react. He and Toni had started off as CIA colleagues. Then they had become lovers. Most recently they had been friends. Toni had saved his ass more times than he could count. He always thought that if things could eventually change, if she could have just left the Agency, then maybe they could be together again. The hit to his gut was followed by a great feeling of dread. He would never hear her voice again. Never see her beautiful face again. How does one deal with such loss? He wasn’t sure if that was possible.
Finally, Jake said, “Someone was sending the Agency a message. They couldn’t make Toni break. Let me guess, the killers were looking for the professor or his work.”
“Kurt Jenkins thinks they were trying to get her to open the files you gave Toni.”
Jake shook his head. “Those were encrypted to five twelve. And Toni wouldn’t have opened the files for them.” He ran his hands through his hair. “They’ll be coming for me next.”
Pam nodded agreement.
“Good. Then I’ll get to kill the bastards.”
The two of them coordinated their efforts for the near future. Both knew they would eventually have to travel back to the States for Toni’s funeral, assuming they would be done with this current situation in time. But if there was one thing Jake knew from his past, something would always come up to deter him from doing what was necessary and appropriate. Maybe he should have been with Toni all these years. But just maybe she had been better off without him.
25
After explaining to Lori that he had lost an old friend and tucking her safely into her room next door, Jake flipped back and forth in his bed and tried his best to keep his head in the game. He just wished he could cry for Toni. But he hadn’t shed a tear since the loss of Anna. And before that? Well, he couldn’t remember that far back. What kind of monster had he become? At one time Toni had meant everything to him. Somehow they had transitioned from colleagues to lovers and back again. It was never easy to go from love to simple friendship, but the two of them had made it happen. One thing was certain in Jake’s mind. He would find those who had killed Toni and make them pay.
Under normal circumstances he would have been asleep by this time of night, considering he long days he knew he had ahead of him. But Toni’s death had sucker punched his ass.
He saw a change in the light under the door crack and instinctively grabbed his gun from under the pillow next to his head. It could have just been someone walking by his room. But then he saw the crack of light turn to near darkness and he rolled out of the bed and crouched behind a chair, his gun aimed at the door.
With a sudden crash, the door gave way at the frame and two men rushed into the room heading right for his bed.
Jake shot four times. Twice at each target. The report from his 9mm Glock broke the silence. Both of the shooters dropped to the floor.
Rushing to the fallen men, Jake kicked away their silenced guns. One man was still alive and tried to reach for something inside his jacket. Jake shot him in the forehead, dropping him for good.
Clicking on a table lamp, Jake set his gun down on the desk and checked over both men for identification. They were both Koreans, but Jake had no idea if they were from the north or the south.
Suddenly another target appeared at the corner of the door. Jake grabbed his gun and aimed it.
“Jake, it’s me,” yelled Kim Chin-Hwa, his gun at the side of his right leg.
“Join the party,” Jake said. “But check on Lori first.”
“I’m here with him, Jake,” Lori said.
Kim and Lori entered his room. Kim holstered his gun. Lori wore only a T-shirt and shorts.
Jake realized he was only wearing his underwear. “Watch the corridor,” Jake ordered Kim.
The Agency officer did as he was told as Jake put on his pants and a T-shirt.
“Who are they?” Lori asked.