“Ha, ha. Thanks for the help, though.”
“No problem.”
Alexandra came back and sat across from Jake. She glanced out the window at the Navy jet. The pilot waved at her. “Is that a woman?”
“Yeah, our military is an equal opportunity employer,” Jake said. “She’ll escort us to Taiwan.”
In just ten minutes the second Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet pulled up on the wing of Wrangler.
Jake got back on the headset. “Thanks for the help Warhawk Two and Wrangler.”
Both jets rocked their wings slightly.
“Did our friends in Washington send you here?” Jake asked.
“We were already on our way,” Warhawk Two said. “The Chinese have been looking for a fight, but they didn’t expect our Navy to take it to ‘em.”
“Thanks again,” Jake said.
“You’re free all the way to Taipei,” the Navy pilot said. With that, the two Super Hornets banked hard right and swung out of view.
Jake took off the headset and leaned back into his chair.
As they got closer to Taiwanese airspace, Jake had time to think about their recent encounter. It wasn’t just a coincidence that their Gulfstream had been attacked. General Wu Gang had made that happen. He relayed his theory to both Lin and Alexandra.
“I agree,” Lin said. “Our pilot kept trying to get through to Chinese air traffic control, but for some reason he was not able to get through.”
“They were jamming our signal,” Alexandra said.
“This was another escalation by the general,” Jake posited. “He’s gone too far.” He checked his phone, but now he had no reception. Jake thought about his current case, knowing he had no real authority to do anything about General Wu Gang and the empire he had built. Perhaps that was the most frustrating thing for Jake. Now he had no choice but to hang tight with the Taiwanese intel officer, Lin. She could give him cover in Taiwan.
28
As the Gulfstream made its approach along the west coast of Taiwan, Jake was able to make a quick call to Kurt Jenkins thanking him for the help. But Jenkins said the Navy had already known about the incident and had the two jets in the air to intercept. Jenkins had only relayed the fact that Jake, a former Air Force officer, was aboard the plane, and told them to hit the afterburners. Of course the Navy pilots weren’t idiots. They had to know that Jake was more than just a former military officer, or he wouldn’t be getting such a response from the former director of central intelligence.
But as the Gulfstream rolled up the tarmac at the private area of the international airport, police cars suddenly appeared, surrounded them, and officers jumped out and pulled their guns.
“What the hell is going on?” Jake asked Lin.
She looked concerned as she shook her head. She hurried to the cockpit and said something to the crew. Then she returned and got onto her phone. As she listened to the person she had called, she simply nodded agreement before closing out the call and shoving the phone into her front pocket.
“Well?” Jake asked.
“The local police were tipped off that we were smuggling heroin into the country,” Lin said.
“That bastard,” Alexandra said. “The general has that kind of power?”
Lin took the question. “He has enough power to send a Chinese jet after us. This is nothing compared to that. He has friends throughout our government. That’s why…”
Jake was up and checking out the police, but he turned to Lin when she didn’t finish her thought. “Why what?”
Putting her hand in front of her mouth, Lin tried not to make eye contact with Jake or Alexandra.
But the German officer wanted answers. She went to Lin and pointed at the smaller woman. “What the hell is going on?”
Lin’s head lowered to her chest, the universal non-verbal for shame, but far more prevalent in the Asian community. “I was told to stand down a week ago. Not to make waves with General Wu Gang and his organization.”
Jake started laughing as he paced around the Gulfstream cabin. “This is amazing. You just gained my total respect, Lin.”
The Taiwanese woman looked genuinely confused.
Alexandra helped out Lin. “You don’t know Jake very well. When he finds someone who stands up for principle and bucks his own government, that’s like sex to him. He’d do you right here if I wasn’t present.”
“Seriously, Alexandra,” Jake said. “I think you’re overstating my character.” She wasn’t, but he had to protest.
“It’s the truth,” Alexandra declared. “So, tell us more our young Taiwanese friend.”
Jake still shook his head in protest as Lin explained how her boss had told her to only concentrate on the American, Bill Remington. The general was not important. When Lin was done, Jake did have to agree, at least to himself, that he was a little turned on by the woman’s admission.
“All right,” Jake said. “Where do we go from here? The villagers have more than torches and pitchforks out there. And we’re going after a rising tiger.”
Lin said, “Since I already told my boss that Remington was killed, he will take care of the police. It might just take a few minutes.”
Jake considered their current plight and their recent encounter in the air. “Who knew that we were flying from Saigon to Taipei?”
The Asian woman’s mind seemed to be clicking, as if a movie was forming in her mind. Finally, she said, “I got approval for this plane from my boss.”
“And the flight plan?” Alexandra wanted to know.
Lin thought about that. “Under the cover of business.”
“Did anyone know that we would be aboard?” Jake asked.
“No,” Lin said. “I used my business cover as a cell company executive.”
“So, the general must have had some knowledge that we were aboard. How did he know? What about the crew?”
“They were nearly killed as well,” Lin reasoned.
True. But they still could have mentioned to someone that Jake and Alexandra were aboard, not knowing the consequences of their action. It mattered not, Jake guessed. When he saw flashes of movement outside, Jake looked out the window and saw the police cars taking off.
“Looks like your boss is forgiving,” Jake said. He adjusted the Glock on his right hip and felt the two extra magazines in his pockets. Alexandra had been forced to drop her extra empty mags in Saigon during the chase, so they would need a little help with firepower. “Any way to get some more magazines and nine mil rounds?”
“Not through my Bureau,” Lin said, a resounding smile on her face. “But through other sources.”
“All right,” Jake said. “Let’s go.”
Alexandra stopped him with her hand. “Whoa, cowboy. Let’s try to pin down a strategy first. With Lin having no support from her own government, doesn’t that leave us all swinging in the breeze when the shit hits the fan?”
Jake shrugged as he glanced at Lin.
“I learned a valuable saying in America,” Lin said. “Don’t ask for permission. Ask for forgiveness.”
Alexandra laughed. “Jake has been living that way since I’ve known him.”
“Hey,” Jake said, with mock indignation.
“That’s right,” Alexandra said. “Jake doesn’t even ask for forgiveness.”
“It’s implied,” he said. “Can we go now?”
The three of them exited the plane and found Lin’s car waiting in the parking lot. It was a large, black Hyundai sedan with tinted windows. The two women were in the front and Jake took the entire back seat. He thought now about what needed to be done. While it was true that General Wu Gang was running a hugely corrupt organization, which included murder and the possible incitement of war between two Chinese countries that would invariably lead to a massive regional conflict, at least the communist billionaire was employing a bunch of people. Silver lining, Jake guessed.