“Can I help you, sir?” she asked. Fair complexion. Nice smile. Lovely accent. She’d probably love to escort a mature American gentleman at the bar tonight.
“How ya doing? I was hoping to get a ground-floor room. One that looks out at Peel Street.”
“Of course. But I’m sure we can do better than that for you, sir. You see, we’re underbooked right now and—”
Henry waved for her to stop. “Nope. I just want one on the ground floor. Looking at Peel Street, if possible. Do you have a vacancy that meets those criteria? Ground floor facing Peel Street?”
She looked confused and said, “I’m sure we do. We have a special on our Economy Queen on that floor for one hundred and thirty-nine dollars. I’ll just need your ID and credit card.”
Henry fidgeted. Here comes the hard part. He looked around to make sure no one else was watching. “Actually, I was hoping to keep my stay here rather confidential, if it’s all the same to you. I’m… a private detective, you see. You can put my name down as Merriweather. Dr. Alphonso Merriweather. Just one night’s stay, please. And if we can avoid any use of IDs or whatnot, I’d like to provide you a nice tip for your exceptional service.” Henry looked at her as he slid over three hundred dollars.
She hesitated, and then looked around the room. “Of course, Mr. Maryweather. I think we can make that work.” She blushed and began typing.
When they were finished, Henry took his room key and walked outside and around the corner until he found the right door. He ran the card through the slot and entered. He took out two cell phones, powered them up, and placed them on the coffee table. He sat down on a chair and ran through the phones’ respective setup screens for a few minutes until they were ready to be used. He then downloaded the app that he needed on both phones and made sure that it worked.
When he was finished in the hotel room, Henry walked out the door and across the street to the Mantra on the Esplanade, another touristy hotel. David met him in the lobby.
Henry said, “Any problems with the lack of ID?”
“Surprisingly, no. These Australians are pretty good about discretion as long as they have the right financial incentive.”
Henry said, “The pawn shops are kind of stingy. I did get us some extra protection, though.” He held open the bag so that David could see the pistol.
“Nice. I got us on the fifth floor. Let’s get up there and stay out of sight.”
CHAPTER 13
Half the lies they tell me about aren’t true.
They waited until it was 9 p.m. in Darwin before calling. That worked out to 8 a.m. Eastern Time. David expected that Lundy would be in the office by then. The wait was excruciating. Henry set up their cell phone and placed it on the room’s lone desk.
David looked at Henry and said, “You ready?”
Henry said, “I’m ready, but I’m not doing the talking. Are you ready?”
He took a breath and said, “Yeah, I think so. Here goes nothing.”
David dialed the number he had found online. It took a moment before a female voice answered, “In-Q-Tel, how may I direct your call?”
“Yes, I was hoping to speak with Mr. Chuck Lundy. Could you connect me, please?”
“Who may I say is calling?”
“Tell him it’s…” He hesitated. “Tell him it’s David Manning. I’m an In-Q-Tel employee.”
David listened for any reaction from the receptionist. If she recognized the name, she gave no hint of it in her voice. “Sure thing, Mr. Manning. One moment while I connect you.”
There was nearly a full minute of silence before anyone came on the line.
“This is Chuck—David, is this really you?”
David’s voice was a mix of gladness and stress. “Chuck, it’s good to hear your voice. But please listen very carefully. I may be in danger. I need to tell you some things and I don’t have much time. I am going to talk for about two minutes and then I’ll be calling back in about an hour. When I call back, I’ll need to speak with representatives high up in the following agencies: the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the State Department. Can you make that happen?”
“David, where are you? Your family is worried sick. Does Lindsay know where you are?”
David looked down and sighed. Henry had urged him to move the conversation along as quickly as possible. If the Chinese were listening, the longer they talked, the more likely the call would get traced or shut down. “Chuck. This is life or death here. I need to brief people, but I need members from all of those organizations on the line. Please, help me out — can you do that?”
“Sure, David, whatever you need…” He sounded dumbstruck.
David said, “I’m going to tell you something and I need you to write it down. You got a pen?”
“Hold on… Yeah, I’m ready. Go.”
“Okay, don’t stop me for questions, just write what I’m saying so you can refer to it later in case we get cut off. Chuck, about three weeks ago I was taken captive by Tom Connolly. He was a Chinese spy. I believe that he helped them obtain ARES, the cyberweapon that you and I were evaluating for In-Q-Tel…”
David spoke for two minutes straight. He poured out as much information as he thought Lundy would need. He named as many people still captive on the island as Henry and he could remember. He told Chuck about the planning of a Chinese attack on the US, the decoy attack in Iran, ARES, and about possible spies already inserted in the US government. He told Lundy about Bill, the Chinese troops, the helicopters, and about Lena Chou.
When David was finished, Chuck said, “David, my God… did this really happen?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it did. Chuck, you are the first person we’ve called. Now we need your help.”
Henry held up two fingers and whispered so only David heard, “Technically he’s the second person we’ve called, but my ex-wife is probably a communist.”
David ignored Henry and said, “Chuck, we need you to move as fast as possible. Contact the CIA so that we can brief them. I know that you have contacts there from work. Make sure they are people you trust. We need to rescue the other Americans on that island if they are still there, and we need to put a stop to any plans that are already in motion.”
There was a delay due to the distance, and Chuck spoke over David. “David, I hear you loud and clear. I’ll get to work on this right away. Hey, where are you guys? We’ll send a team out to pick you up ASAP.”
David and Henry looked at each other. Henry nodded. David said, “We’re in Darwin, Australia.”
“Australia? How did you get there? Okay, sit tight. What’s your number? I’ll call you back—”
David said, “Chuck, I’ll call you back at this number in one hour. Sorry, but I need to get off the phone now. Please have someone from all of those government organizations on the line when I call back. Get whoever else you need on the line too. Talk to you then.”
“Will do, David. I’ll talk to you then.”
David said, “Wait!”
“What?”
“One more thing… have you spoken to Lindsay? Is she’s okay?”
“She’s fine, David. I spoke to her yesterday. She is worried sick, but she’s alright.”
David closed his eyes and said, “Thanks, Chuck.”
David hung up the phone and handed it to Henry.
Henry said, “Okay. So far so good.”
Philippe rode in the backseat of the black sedan. The sailors on the trawler had been of little help other than to confirm that the two men in question had been dropped off in the city of Darwin around noon.