Jake laughed. “You haven’t been around me much, Lin.” He shifted his eyes from one woman to the other. “Are you both sure you want to do this? The man has considerable power and influence.”
“That’s the point,” Lin said. “The general is trying to profit from the conflict between both of our countries.”
“America and Taiwan?” Jake wanted to know.
Lin lowered her head slightly and then glanced at her computer. “My organization has been investigating the man for years. There is much more than you know about General Wu Gang. Also, Chan Le was ruined by the general.”
“That’s who screwed over the man?” Jake asked.
“Yes.”
“Then why did Chan Le take a position in the same building?” Alexandra asked.
“I don’t know,” Lin said. “I think he wanted to continue his investigation.”
“The Godfather,” Jake reasoned. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
The three of them sat in silence for a moment. Jake wasn’t sure if what they were about to do was the right thing. Especially with a Taiwanese officer not sanctioned by her own government. Jake considered calling Kurt Jenkins to get his take on the idea, but dismissed that possibility. It was better if Jenkins stayed in the dark. Just in case the mission went south.
“Are we sure the general is in his penthouse right now?” Alexandra asked. “We’ve already been burned by the man.”
Lin checked her watch. “My contact said he was there and he would contact me if the general left.”
“And you trust Chan Le?” Jake wanted to confirm.
“Absolutely,” Lin said emphatically.
Jake checked his watch. It was nearly ten p.m. “All right. We better get going.”
They gathered everything they needed, with Jake and Alexandra leaving behind the backpack and clothes they had purchased in their travels. They got to Lin’s car and she took it much slower this time as they traveled the streets of Taipei from her grandfather’s old home to the tallest building in the city. The way it was lit up, Jake guessed they would have no problem finding the massive structure.
The roads were relatively isolated of traffic at this time of night.
Soon they came to the building and Lin parked across the street from the main entrance to Taipei 101. Getting out, they all adjusted their guns under their clothing. They had already divided the extra magazines, and Lin switched the remaining grenades from the big black duffel bag to an oversized purse slung over her shoulders.
Since Jake had already been to the building, he knew that there was no real security to enter the main structure. Security simply controlled access to the elevators.
As they walked in, Lin led the way at least ten steps ahead, while Jake and Alexandra strolled arm in arm like a couple. An escalator went down and up from the main entrance. If they went down they would be in the mall area with dozens of food venues. Jake guessed they would all be closed at this hour, with the possible exception of Starbucks. The up escalator would bring them to a broad foyer with multiple banks of elevators. They went up.
Traveling up the escalator, Alexandra leaned her head against Jake’s shoulder.
“Are you all right?” he whispered.
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have taken the nap. I could use some coffee.”
When they got up to the elevator level, Lin took a seat on a chair near the center with a view of the east bank of elevators and pulled out her phone. Jake and Alexandra sat with their backs to Lin.
Jake noticed a lot more activity than he would have expected at this hour. And it was almost all men in dark suits with brief cases. They all could have been part of a clone army, Jake thought.
“What’s with the men in suits?” Jake asked over his shoulder to Lin.
“Those are the general’s men,” she answered. “At this hour they are the second shift going into his hacking center on the same floor as his penthouse. Here we go.”
Jake looked to his right and saw the man he had talked with last week, Chan Le, the head of security. Lin got up and met the man a short distance away. While she asked him for directions, Chan Le slipped something into her pocket. Very smooth. Then she walked off toward the west elevators. Jake and Alexandra sat while the security officer passed them. It was as if he didn’t recognize Jake. A true professional.
Now Jake got up and Alexandra took his hand to do the same, as if a reluctant girlfriend being dragged into a car show.
Jake and Alexandra got to the elevator and streamed in right behind Lin.
Once the door closed, Lin used the card she had gotten from the security officer and then punched in the six-digit code. The lights went from red to green and they were on their way.
“What about the camera?” Jake asked.
“Our friend disabled that one,” Lin responded. “The men you saw going up to work are all software hackers. They work in twelve-hour shifts seven days a week from twelve to twelve. Once they get upstairs, they are required to strip down naked, walk through a security system where they are scanned, and then they put on clean jump suits before sitting down at their stations.
“What do they hack?” Alexandra asked.
“We haven’t been able to pin anything on them,” Lin said. “But we think it’s everything from the world military computers, especially America, but also business rivals.”
“Industrial espionage,” Jake provided.
The door dinged and Jake reached for his gun.
“Not yet, Jake,” Lin said. “This is just the outer corridor.”
Jake’s mind clicked back at the diagram and he knew Lin was right. But he still kept his hand on his gun as the doors opened.
Men in suits streamed from other elevators and funneled into a single door down the corridor. Jake went one way and Alexandra the other. Lin stayed behind to lock both elevators on the 88th floor. She would then hold her position, keeping track of the hackers and their security force.
Jake took a left and wound around through a darker section that looked like it could lead to a steam boiler instead of what had been described as the most lavish penthouse in Taipei. But Lin had gotten that information from two young prostitutes who had been with the general recently. So the intel could be sketchy, he knew.
Taipei 101 was built in a square that stacked up like a child would with blocks. From floors 87 to 92, a 728 ton mass dampen sphere hung in the center like a pendulum keeping the building from swaying during earthquakes and typhoons. Jake passed a door that led to the sphere, and he continued on to the corner. General Wu Gang’s penthouse ran along two sides of the building, the south and west sides. The other two sides contained his hackers and other business offices, which would be empty at this hour.
At the corner, Jake hesitated and checked his watch. It was ten minutes until midnight. He would have to wait here, since he knew the next corridor not only housed the penthouse door, but also had a security camera that would not be disabled for ten minutes.
31
Alexandra stepped quietly along her route toward the opposite side of the penthouse corridor. She knew that this passageway had security cameras that the building security officer should have cut by now. She hoped so.
Now she passed the entrance to an office that was supposed to be the headquarters of the general’s legitimate empire. Of course the man also had offices in Shanghai and Beijing, but even he must not have trusted the communist Chinese government, since he had moved his money and headquarters to Taiwan.
She got to the corner and checked her watch. It was eight minutes before midnight. She removed her gun from her right hip, leaned against the wall, and took in a deep breath. Jake sure made things interesting in her life. But at this time, her heart racing out of control, maybe she could consider taking a step back from the ledge. Just a little. Get through this, Alexandra. The general tried to kill you, she thought.