“How did she escape the lock?” Rene asked.
“I have no idea. I guess she’ll tell us in the hotel. We all set here?”
The driver swung the van toward the emergency room entrance, braking just shy of the busy doors.
Rene turned so he was looking at Maria. “You see what happened back there when you warned Liu’s men. If you try a stunt like that again, I will kill you myself.”
“I won’t.” Maria was still in shock from what she’d witnessed. Or maybe her numbness stemmed from understanding that had she not double-crossed her husband she’d be far wealthier than what Liu had promised.
Foch spoke with the driver and returned his crisp salute before whispering to the injured soldier. He kissed the man on both cheeks and followed Mercer and Maria out the side door of the van. The driver proceeded to the ER and what would no doubt be a long police interrogation. There were a number of cabs waiting at the hospital and a minute later the group was en route to the French embassy so Bruneseau could use their secure communications equipment to alert his people back home.
Mercer kept a close eye on Foch to make sure he didn’t strangle Maria Barber. Not that he wouldn’t blame him if he tried.
El Mirador
The confusion following Lauren’s escape had abated. The fury had not.
After learning what had happened, and the failure of a pursuit team to bring her back, Liu Yousheng locked himself in his office for twenty minutes. When Mr. Sun and Captain Chen were finally ushered into the room, they found the executive barely in control of himself. Liu’s face was red with suppressed rage and he had to turn his back on the two men before he could muster the discipline to speak clearly.
“I will deal with your pathetic excuses later,” he seethed when he faced them. “For now I need to concentrate on reducing the damage this can cause.”
He blew on his fingertips as if they’d been dipped in acid.
Captain Chen couldn’t meet Liu’s eye.
“Killing you two won’t make up for Ruiz’s stupidity, but don’t think the decision was an easy one to make. Ruiz has already paid for his idiocy. Your time will come.” Liu’s hot gaze fell on Sun. “What does she know and how can it hurt us?”
Sun had already considered his answer. “She knows the name Gemini—”
“Practically meaningless,” Liu snapped. That wasn’t exactly true, but he doubted anyone would link the code name to anything tangible.
“And,” Sun continued as if Liu hadn’t spoken, “she knows that our action is planned for tomorrow.” No matter what happened in Panama, Sun’s position within the Chinese military was too secure for him to worry about the anger of a man of Liu’s stature. That authority allowed him to remain tranquil in the face of his towering rage. “Telling her was part of my breaking her,” Sun stated, although there was no real need to explain himself.
Liu’s expression had narrowed and he regarded the torturer with utter contempt. Yet he was well aware of Sun’s influence in Beijing and maintained his silence. No doubt General Yu and Sun had spoken, probably this morning before the general’s flight back to China, which explained why Sun hadn’t arrived at the house until late morning. The sadistic torturer enjoyed Yu’s full protection.
For a frantic moment Liu wondered if the powers back home weren’t setting him up. Perhaps diplomatic lines had already been opened with the American authorities to explain how a rogue agent, without any support from Beijing, was planning on blowing up the canal. They might justify Yu’s unprecedented trip to the isthmus as an attempt to rein in an out-of-control COSTIND executive. If that were true, did they consider the forty million dollars in gold a small price to pay to untangle themselves from Red Island?
That concept alone dissolved Liu’s concern. If nothing more, Beijing was tight with their purse strings. If there was even a remote chance of Red Island’s success, they would protect their investment. However, Liu was wary. Factions back home would likely want his removal from COSTIND whether he succeeded or failed. That was one of communism’s many sins; triumph was met with as much condemnation as praise.
“Very well,” he said at last. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the Hatcherly headquarters in Balboa. A quick conversation with one of the executives confirmed the refrigerator ship Korvald, carrying the eight DF-31 ballistic missiles, was approaching Panamanian waters and would be ready to enter the dry dock tonight. More proof that Beijing is still behind me. He turned his attention back to Sun and Chen. “The rockets are almost here. We’ll make the assumption that Panama’s infernal rainy season will maintain its steady pace and tomorrow morning will enjoy its daily typical storm. I’ll call Felix Silvera-Arias to have Gemini’s scheduled transit moved to eight A.M. I told him last night that we’d send Gemini through in the afternoon.”
He added sourly, “It’s time he pays us back for the bribes he’s taken. Other than turning interest away from the Pedro Miguel Lock when we positioned the diving chamber and explaining away the incident on the car carrier, the canal director has done little for our cause.” He paused and changed the subject. “Chen, anything further on establishing the identity of the commandos?”
“The dive equipment recovered from Captain Vanik and the body we found last night came from a shop in Panama City. I have two men watching it this morning, but no one has shown up. I suspect they might have been warned to stay away.”
“What about the corpse?”
“Other than it being Caucasian and in excellent shape, nothing.”
“H’m. So we have a female American army officer, a mine engineer and one of the bodies we recovered near the volcanic lake had the tattoo of a European motorcycle gang. What is the connection?” Liu’s question was met by silence. He looked pointedly at Sun. “More disturbing, we have no way of knowing if she reported her findings to her superiors.”
“If she had,” Sun croaked, “we would already see a greater interest out of Washington.”
“It’s a risk to make that assumption.”
“Young captain”—Sun’s cold eyes seemed to shrivel Chen in his seat—“everything in life is risk. The Vanik woman has had a week since the trespassing at the warehouse to inform her chain of command. We’ve seen and heard nothing to indicate that she’s done so. There’s been no diplomatic pressure, no increase in American military preparedness. Nothing.”
“Are our espionage efforts in the United States so effective that we know exactly what they’re doing?” Chen asked, surprising himself at his boldness in the face of Sun.
The interrogator smirked. “Yes. Gentlemen, we are forgetting that unless the Americans land a sizable force in the next eighteen hours, it doesn’t matter. Even if Lauren Vanik has contacted her superiors, it’s clear to me that her reports haven’t generated much interest. Don’t forget, she’s only a captain in their army. How much clout can she have?”
“Once we eliminate her, that thread is cut,” Liu said.
Chen straightened. “She will be dead before the canal is ruined, sir.”
“A boast,” Sun mocked.
“A promise! Men are already on their way to her apartment to see if she left behind any indication about the identity of those helping her. I will also post men near the American embassy to stop her if she tries to enter it.”
“Who?”
“For obvious reasons I can’t use any of ours. They will have to be some of the soldiers President Quintero has seconded to us, former Dignity Brigade killers.”
“Make sure they are the very best,” Liu cautioned.
“Yes, sir.”