Chapter Eleven
Canadian Embassy, Trafalgar Square
London, England
Justin was back at the embassy and buried neck-deep in the files. These were a new batch, freshly printed, which he had received from Ying. He had spent the first thirty minutes going through Lim’s personnel file and recent operations. Most of the information was redacted, but there was enough for Justin to form an opinion about Lim’s training, talents, and skills. He had recently participated in a hostage rescue mission in northern Iraq. Three Chinese journalists were kidnapped at gunpoint and held for ransom for twenty-one days, until the rescue mission. The captives were freed and the team—led by Lim—had suffered no casualties. The team had battled its way in and out of a village held by IS, or Islamic State, the worst terrorist group still operating in small swaths of Iraq. That mission alone was sufficient to convince Justin he was up against a formidable opponent.
He thought about calling Carrie to share the new intelligence with her. She probably has her hands full with Mary. She’ll call me when she’s done. He found the phone, which was buried under the mountain of documents littering the desk. No missed calls or emails. That’s good. No emergencies.
Justin returned to the reports. One of them traced Lim’s travels from Tunis, capital of Tunisia, and all the way to when he disappeared in Paris. Details were sketchy about the Spanish leg of the trip, especially the two days Lim had spent in Bilbao, in northern Spain. Justin noted the names of a few people, either Lim’s associates or his suspected contacts. Justin wanted to ask Ying about more information on them. We’ll also run some searches, see if we can find something that was left out or missed.
He reached for his coffee mug but found it empty. So he stood up and walked to the kitchen. There was less than an inch of coffee left in the pot, not even enough for a small cup. Really? C’mon, people. How hard is it to make coffee? He shook his head and filled the pot from the nearby sink.
While he waited for the fresh coffee, he thought about working together with the Chinese security service. Both Ying and Hai had come across as genuine in their plans and efforts to work together. They had provided the promised intelligence. Justin ran the conversation through his mind, analyzing everything he could remember, and he could remember almost everything. Having a strong conversational memory had always been one of his talents, which had been sharpened and enhanced during his extensive training at The Plant. The more he thought about what the MSS agents had said, the more he was convinced they truly wanted to stop Lim and his devious plot, while being completely discreet.
Still, there was an uneasy feeling slowly eating at him. It was the same as when Mandy had extended her offer of cooperation. Suddenly, everybody wants to be our friend and play nice. But what is Hai’s angle ... if he has an angle? Am I being paranoid? Biased just because they’re Chinese and not exactly a friend, but neither an enemy?
He shrugged and glanced at an announcement tacked on the corkboard. The embassy was looking for a trade liaison. Justin smiled. Could I do that? He stepped closer and read the requirements. I don’t have an MBA. Even if I did, would I want to push papers all day? He shook his head. No, I’d be bored to death the first day.
Justin glanced at the coffeemaker. He interrupted the cycle and half-filled his mug. He nursed it slowly and waited a few more seconds until the pot filled the rest of the way. He poured more coffee into his mug and returned to his office.
He had been working for maybe fifteen minutes when his phone rang. Justin dug it from under the heaps of papers. “Yes, boss.”
“Justin, how is it going?” Flavio’s tone had a slight hint of irritation.
“Can’t complain, boss. But what’s wrong in Vienna?”
“Nothing’s wrong here, but I don’t have good news.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing’s happening on the northern front, and that’s the problem. Neither my MI5 nor my SAS contacts have anything useful. And the mention of Chinese simply falls on deaf ears.”
“Do you suspect they’re not willing to cooperate?”
“I do have my doubts. Initially, they asked for our assistance, but now they’re reluctant to come forward with additional intel.”
“Are they hiding something?”
“I wouldn’t say that. But there seems to be some kind of hardly noticeable desire to bury this matter. It feels as if SAS would be almost pleased if Thames was never found.”
Justin frowned. “The damage and the embarrassment he could cause to SAS if he knows something they want buried...”
“Yes, a deserting soldier is the lesser of two evils.”
“But they wanted our help in finding him.”
“At first, yes, when this Chinese angle hadn’t been exposed.”
“Right. The revelation was a true game-changer.”
“You can say that, yes.”
“On game-changing events, I’ve made contact with MSS—”
“The Chinese Ministry of State Security?”
“Correct. Well, they contacted me, offering to help us in our Chinese investigation.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Justin told Flavio about the meeting with Ying and Hai and the file on Lim, the runaway Chinese assassin. Flavio asked some sharp questions about the Chinese motivation. “This is never their M.O. What do they really want?”
“Besides stopping their ticking bomb?”
“Yes.”
Justin shrugged and sipped his now-cold coffee. “I’ve looked through the file, sir, but I don’t see another objective.”
“Maybe you haven’t looked deep enough. The Chinese work in layers, like those Russian dolls: there’s always something on the inside of something else, all the way to the bottom.”
Justin nodded. Flavio had been posted in China, Japan, and Thailand for three years of his twenty-one-year-long career with the CIS and other Canadian intelligence services. Justin’s limited experience with Chinese security operatives, along with his gut feeling, were telling him that there was something deeper, something greater than Lim’s assassination plot. They just had not seen it yet. “So, I can go ahead with tonight’s meeting with Ying?”
“Yes, by all means. Treat Ying as hostile, until we’re certain they’re partners. This isn’t a joint op yet.”
“I understand, sir. Of course, they’ll want intel in exchange for their cooperation.”
“Of course, and you’re authorized to share whatever is necessary to keep the lines of communications open.” Flavio’s voice turned firm. “Use your judgment and give them only what they need to know.”
“What about having Ying join the team?”
Flavio did not reply right away. “I’ve given it some thought, Justin. That’s your call. You’ve met the agent. Review her file, and make a decision.”
Justin smiled. It was the answer he wanted to hear. “I’ll do that for sure, sir.”
“Great. Do you need anything else from me?”
Justin thought about his answer for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. I’m going to follow up with Coole as well, and see if she has any updates.”
“Yes, she’ll be crucial in this op, if she’s actually helping.”
Justin nodded. “All right, sir. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Good—stay safe, Justin.”
“Will do, sir.”
He hung up and thought about calling Carrie. She has been out for a while. I hope she didn’t run into any problems. He glanced at the phone, then put it away. If she doesn’t call in another hour or so, I’ll get in touch with her.
Justin drew in a deep breath and returned to reviewing the Chinese assassin’s file.