39

SCIF

Forward Operating Base, Liaoluo Bay

As Katie briefed Sexton on the dire situation with Qin and the Spider in Beijing, she silently prayed that the secure, encrypted line they were using was truly secure and encrypted. If the Chinese cyber moles had burrowed their way into the infrastructure of this ROC base, then everything discussed on this call would have the opposite effect of what was needed. Instead of providing clarity and options, it would seal the defector’s fate as well as that of TF 99.

When she finished talking, Sexton said, “That’s quite a pickle, now isn’t it?”

“It is,” she said, and was forced to wait for what felt like an eternity before he finally spoke again.

“It’s funny how life works. I’ve spent the past thirty years trying to distance myself from Léi. You’d think seven thousand miles would do the trick, but the heart…the heart doesn’t measure feelings in miles. I love my wife dearly, Commander Ryan. She’s been a devoted and selfless life partner, and I would never, ever betray the vows we took, but to say I never think about what my life would have been if I’d stayed in China—or if Léi had left with me—would be a lie. Maybe it’s the guilt of leaving her alone in the fight as much as anything, I don’t know.”

“Why are you telling me this, Larry?”

He exhaled into the receiver, and she could feel the emotional burden the man carried. “I don’t know. I guess because the prospect of a reunion with Léi has dredged up all kinds of complicated feelings that I’d worked very hard to bury,” he said. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, his tone changed from sentimental to all business. “But none of that is your concern. The priority is getting Defense Minister Qin and our people out of China, and to do that you’re going to need my help.”

It didn’t matter what community someone served—whether it be in one of the branches of the military or in the IC—in the course of doing the job, relationships were forged. Katie was of the strong opinion that caring about the job also meant caring about people. That didn’t mean that fraternization was something that should be encouraged or permitted, but on the flip side an every person for themselves mentality wasn’t the answer, either. The world had enough sociopaths and egoists. The bonds of friendship, loyalty, and commitment to a higher purpose was what powered the entire apparatus. Without that, it would all come crashing down like a house of cards.

“I understand how difficult this must be for you, Larry,” she said, acknowledging the delicate and heartfelt admission he’d made. “And I appreciate any help you can give us.”

“The answer to your first question, even though you haven’t asked it yet, is no,” he said, his surly persona back on full display. “I have not been in touch with Léi, nor do I have a secret way to contact her. When I left Beijing all those years ago, I turned everything over to my replacement. All communications between the CIA and Léi have been managed by the chain of case officers who have served as her handlers. Thirteen case officers have managed her in the years since, and never once did I intervene. Looks like Scott Kincaid was unlucky number thirteen.”

“Mm-hmm,” she murmured, but she couldn’t help but notice that Larry knew the exact number of handlers Léi had had. “Okay, so direct contact with her is off the table. Got it. My next question is, do you have any idea where she could be hiding with Defense Minister Qin?”

“The woman I knew back then was just a kid, Ryan. We both were. She wasn’t an experienced operative and the operating environment in Beijing was completely different. The Léi of the 1990s would have tried to hide Qin in her apartment. But she’s so much more sophisticated than that now—she would have to be or she would never have survived. She’s built a web of contacts in Beijing that are unrivaled in the espionage business. I would not even know where to begin to tell you to look. The only thing I can guarantee is that wherever she’s hiding, it’s either a property she owns herself or someplace controlled by one of her most trusted contacts.”

“I understand that, but maybe you could try to put together a short list of places she might consider—favorite shops or hotels or friends’ apartments you visited.”

He sighed. “Here’s the problem with that, Ryan. Beijing has probably changed more than any other city on earth over the past thirty years. The development and expansion of the city has been off the charts. I haven’t been back, but I would imagine that most of the places we used to frequent—like restaurants, shops, and favorite hotels—have changed dramatically over the years. Hell, most of them probably don’t even exist anymore. As far as mutual friends go, we didn’t have any.”

“I was afraid you might say that,” she said, deflating a little in her chair. She racked her brain for another option. “What about places that haven’t changed since you left. There are historical and cultural sites that are immutable—like the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Great Wall, for example. Maybe she’d pick somewhere like that to make contact.”

He chuckled. “Sure, but those would be terrible places for her to go. She might as well wear a sign on her back that says: ‘Here I am, come get me.’ ”

A surge of frustration blossomed in her chest. “You’re not making this easy on me, Larry,” she snapped. “What about a secret protocol in the event of an emergency? Did you guys have something like that in place when you were together? You know, like, if bad thing ABC happens, then we’ll meet at location XYZ at such and such time?”

“No,” he said, and then with a defensive tone added, “I never set out to recruit her. That was never my goal. What we had just…happened. And then I left.”

Static-filled silence hung on the line.

“Larry, are you still there?” she said after a long beat, wondering if he’d hung up on her.

“I’m still here,” he said, his voice coarse gravel. “I’m just trying to put myself in her shoes…trying to remember if there was anything I said or did that she could fall back on. Damn, my old brain. It was so long ago, I’m having trouble remembering specifics.”

“I know it was. Take your time…”

The static silence returned and seemed to vacuum up the space between them like a black hole. She was so friggin’ tired that she let her mind go completely blank while she waited.

She felt her eyelids droop.

Her head bobbed with microsleep—

“It’s just been too long, Ryan,” Sexton said, snapping her awake. “I just don’t know her anymore. Too much time has passed for me to guess where she might go.”

Katie pursed her lips and clenched her jaw in frustration. Qin had risked a lot to prevent war with the United States over Taiwan, and he and the Spider had both given up their lives in China over this. They had to get them out somehow.

“Maybe we’re thinking about this all wrong, Larry,” she said after a moment. “Instead of guessing where she’ll go, maybe you can help us guide her to where she should go.”

“I thought you didn’t have contact with her.”

“We don’t,” she said. “But Kincaid believes she’ll continue to monitor her network of blind drops, looking for a message from us. In my mind, the risk of leaving something is that it could be intercepted. What we need is something, a code of some sort, that only she would understand that tells her where to go. It needs to be someplace outside her network because they’ll be scouring Beijing. Is that something you can help us with?”

“I got it,” he said, the excitement in his voice unmistakable.

“What? What did you remember?”

“On our second-to-last weekend together, we took a trip to the Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site.”

“The what Peking Man site?” she asked, completely confused.

He slowly repeated the name and said, “It’s an archaeological heritage site located in the countryside outside Beijing. Some archaeologist—I can’t remember the guy’s name—found a Homo erectus skeleton there and they built a museum for it. They call it the ‘Peking Man.’ As far as museums go it’s fine—you know, if you like that sort of thing. We looked at the Peking Man and other fossils and walked around the cave. But we spent most of the weekend trying to make sure we wouldn’t forget each other.”

“And you think we could leave a message that will guide her there in a way only she would understand?”

“Yes. Because we shared a moment that I still remember, and I’d reckon she does, too,” he said, his voice cracking a little bit. “We were looking at the exhibits, wandering around the museum, and they have this little display of a caveman family—all naked and hairy and sitting around a fire—and she asked me, ‘Do you think they were capable of loving each other like we do?’ I remember thinking about that, and pulling her in for a hug, and saying, ‘I don’t know, but it sure would be a shame to live a life without knowing love.’ And then she said, ‘Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?’ And I remember a tear running down my face when I answered her.”

When he didn’t finish the story, she said, “What did you say?”

He let out a little snort. “I told her, ‘I have a feeling that’s up to fate.’ ”

She felt a sudden and unexpected upswell of emotion, and in her heart she knew with certainty that if Léi was still alive, that caveman exhibit was a place they could send her. “Thank you, Larry. That’s the information we needed. I’m going to feed it to the team, and we’ll give it a shot.”

“Keep me posted, please,” he said. “I need to know if she makes it out alive.”

“I will,” she said. “And, Larry, if you remember anything else that might be important or helpful, you know where to find me.”

“I do indeed. Thank you, Commander.”

“For what?”

“For caring,” he said, then the line went dead.

She returned the handset to the cradle and pressed to her feet. The stiff muscles in her lower back and legs needed the stretch. Bladder full to bursting, she headed for the SCIF door, ready for a bathroom break.

And after, I’m getting something with protein from the vending machine.

But those plans were cut abruptly short, because as she reached for the door handle, the base-wide air-raid sirens began to wail.