“A couple of dead Koreans,” Jake deadpanned.
He strapped on his belt, keeping it loose enough to allow for the 9mm at his back, and then checked on both of his guns. He replaced the partially used magazine with a full one, and then added five bullets to replace those he had shot. Next he picked up the five spent brass and shoved them into his pocket.
Kim turned into the room and said, “Someone must have called in the shots, Jake. What do you want to do?”
He sure as hell didn’t want to answer a shitload of questions about why he had killed two men in his room. The shooting was justified. But he had no diplomatic immunity, and the local cops would want to know why he was carrying two handguns.
Jake found his phone and turned it on. Unusually, he had a dozen missed calls and text messages. Some from the man he needed to call. He added the country code and waited for the call to click through.
Just as someone answered on the other end, Kim said, “We have company.”
“Friend or foe?” Jake asked.
“Looks like the congressional security detail. They have guns out.”
Jake put the phone to his ear. “You were looking for me?” he asked.
The man on the other end, CIA Director Kurt Jenkins, said solemnly, “Did the station chief talk with you?”
“Yes. Thanks for notifying me. But that’s not why I called. Two men just broke into my hotel room. I shot and killed both of them with the guns Toni gave me.”
Suddenly there was shouting at the door, with Kim standing up to the security detail.
“What’s that?” Kurt asked.
“The congressional security detail. They’re going to want answers. I need you to give them the Company line. National security and all that crap.”
“All right. But it’s not like you can just put them on the line with me. Let me make a quick phone call and get back with you.”
“Thanks, Kurt.”
“All right. We’ll need to talk eventually. Since they didn’t get what they wanted from Toni, I’m guessing they’re coming for you.”
“My guess as well,” Jake agreed.
“Keep your damn phone on,” the CIA director ordered.
Jake clicked off and wondered how long it would take for Kurt to clear this through the chain. By now Lori had joined Kim in his discussions with the security detail.
Walking toward the door, Jake asked, “What’s up.”
Lori said, “They don’t believe I’m a congresswoman. I left my passport and credentials in my room.”
“Who are you?” asked the security man in charge.
“The Pope,” Jake said. “Who are you?”
The man showed them Secret Service identification.
“All right,” Jake said, “then why in the hell don’t you recognize only one of two congresswomen on this committee? And the other woman is old enough to be your mother.”
The Secret Service agent put his finger to his ear and listened to his ear bud. His eyes looked at Jake. Then he said yes sir at least three times before damn near hanging his head to his chest like a little puppy.
“You spoke at the conference last evening,” the agent said. “It seems as though you have friends in high places. We’ve been ordered to take care of the situation.”
Jake and Kim let the man into the room. Two others remained in the corridor, but Jake guessed that more were on site covering every exit in the building. At least they better be.
Kim rolled each of the dead men onto their backs and took a photo of each with his phone camera, sending them to his office in Seoul.
“Any ID?” the Secret Service guy asked.
“No,” Jake said. “They’re pros.”
“Probably North Korean,” Kim said as he checked over their mouths. “Poor dental care. Although they could be from the rural south.”
“Why’d they want to kill you?” the agent asked Jake.
“They didn’t.”
The Secret Service guy looked confused.
Jake helped him out. “They came in with their guns drawn. But they didn’t shoot. They wanted me alive.”
“Why?” Kim asked.
“I’ve got some information they want,” Jake explained. “They killed an Agency friend a couple days ago when she wouldn’t give up the information. Now they’re coming for me. Of course, I don’t believe these two killed my friend. They’re just some local talent. The killers aren’t this ethnicity.”
Kim’s phone buzzed with a text. He checked it and said, “We got a hit on one of the guys.” He pointed at the one closest to his foot. “This one is a former intelligence officer from the north.”
“What the hell is going on here?” the Secret Service agent asked. He pointed to Kim. “This guy was vetted by my office. But who are you?”
“I’m with the embassy in Seoul,” Kim said.
“Great. A spook.”
“Let’s focus here,” Jake said. “There are no ‘former’ intelligence officers from the north. Well, he’s former now. But he was working for them up until I put two rounds in their chests. Same with this other douche bag.” He considered all that had happened in the past week and wasn’t certain where this case was going. Sure the north could have used Slavic men to torture him, perhaps to throw them off the possibility of that crazy despot being behind this whole thing. The little guy would give his left nut to acquire Professor Tramil’s technology. But did the bastard have the brains to pull off such an elaborate scheme? Only time would tell. He sure wished he had kept one of these men alive. In retrospect he imagined they were coming to try to extract information from him. Which meant they would have had to take him somewhere for interrogation. It also meant that a car and at least two other operatives would have been waiting outside. Probably scattered like rats from a ship now, though.
Jake left the security detail to sort out the details of what they would tell the host nation. He simply gathered up his clothes and bag and hauled off into Lori’s room next door, with Kim in tow.
Leaning against the desk in Lori’s room, Jake said, “I have to get out of here. Away from you.”
Lori considered this statement.
Kim took it head on. “Jake, they’ll come for you wherever you go.”
He knew that. “But if I stay here the good congresswoman might get caught in the crossfire.”
Shaking her head, Lori said, “Maybe that’s what they want you to think. I’ve been involved with this mess since before we went to Montana. I hired you, remember? I put this whole thing into motion. They wouldn’t be coming for you if it wasn’t for me. You’d be back in Patagonia fishing by now.”
Unfortunately she had a point, Jake knew. “You might be right, Lori. But I have a history of people getting shot when they get close to me.”
“You have a few scars of your own,” she reminded him.
“Wait,” Kim said. “How does she know that? Is she talking metaphorically? Never mind.”
Lori sat on her bed and crossed her legs.
Kim’s phone buzzed and he checked to see who was calling. “It’s my boss.” He went into the rest room to take the call.
Jake crossed the room and sat next to Lori on the bed, his hand settling on hers. “Are you all right?”
She shrugged. “I was thinking about making love with you earlier today. Then two men try to kidnap you. I’m not used to this world.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Lori,” Jake said. “I’m trying to get out of this business. After all these years, my time has about passed. Look what happened to my old friend in DC.”
“I know, Jake. Since we’ve been…hanging out, you’ve been kidnapped and tortured, and you’ve killed three men. Before this week I never knew anyone who had ever killed one man. How many people have you killed over the years?”
Jake had a running total in his head, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let that out for scrutiny. Lori would either be disgusted with that number or strangely turned on. Ambivalence would never be a response to such a high number. And the only person who might have come close to guessing the figure had just been tortured and killed a couple days ago.