Chapter Twenty-one

 

 

Bali, Indonesia

May 5, 02:40 a.m.

 

Justin and Carrie slithered in near-complete silence through the tropic jungle-like vegetation surrounding Le Petit Jardin Villas. CIS agents had tracked Li Hua’s movements to this small luxurious oceanfront resort in Saminyak, one of Bali’s exclusive playgrounds. She had arrived two days ago, but Justin and Carrie had sat tight waiting for the right moment. After her guest arrived four hours ago, it was time.

They came to the edge of the complex surrounded by an eight-foot-high wall painted a faint yellow color. The wall was mostly covered by meticulously kept palms, banyan trees, rattan, bamboo, and all types of dense low shrubs and plants. Justin scaled the wall with the help of the curved trunk of a nearby palm, then leaned to give a hand to Carrie. In a matter of seconds, they were on the other side.

The complex had four armed guards, who patrolled the grounds on thirty-minute intervals. Their shack was about three hundred yards away, and they had just covered this area. Justin and Carrie had timed their insertion to avoid being seen or heard by the foot patrol. Li Hua’s guest had his own security detail, but Justin and Carrie had come well-prepared.

The two agents advanced with careful yet hasty steps toward their target. They walked on the narrow slate pathways cut through the forest. The night air was hot and humid, since May was the hottest month in Bali. Justin’s black polo shirt was stuck to his back and sweat drops had covered his forehead and his neck. Carrie was wearing an army green tank top, and she seemed to be faring better under the elements.

They came to a koi fish pond and turned right. Li Hua’s villa was in that direction, with a magnificent ocean view. The front desk clerk had been more than willing to give Carrie that information when she had inquired about renting that specific secluded villa.

The sharp squeal of a macaque monkey filled the night. It resembled the gut-wrenching sound of a fingernail scratching on a chalkboard. Justin and Carrie stopped and hid in the thick shrubbery.

A tall man appeared around the corner, his shoes clacking on the pathway. One of the guest’s bodyguards. He was about a foot taller than Justin and had almost forty pounds on him. But Justin had the advantage of surprise.

He waited until the man had passed by them and pounced on him, striking him with a fierce blow to the back of his head. Then he reached and caught the man before his body hit the ground. Justin and Carrie carried the man quietly deep into the grove and set him against a palm tree. He would wake up wondering how he had ended up there, but not before Justin and Carrie had completed their mission.

They returned to the pathway and neared the corner of the villa. It was nestled amid the lush vegetation, with a heart-shaped swimming pool to the left and a small fountain, lounge chairs, and two white mesh hammocks underneath a cluster of tall palms. A patio area with a wood dining table and four matching chairs was to the right, inside a round cabana wrapped in a sheer cream-colored veil.

The second bodyguard was standing at a discreet distance—seven or eight feet—from the door of the villa. He was smaller than the man Justin had knocked out and seemed relaxed, his sleepy eyes almost closed. But a shiny silver pistol was visible in his waistband holster.

Justin glanced at Carrie and nodded toward the guard. “You want to use your charms?”

“Why don’t we just shoot him?” Carrie raised her left hand, holding her pistol with a long sound suppressor.

“In case neighbors are listening.” Justin gestured toward the other villa, whose green roof was visible through palm trees and feebly reflecting the dim moonlight glow.

Carrie nodded. She hid her armed hand behind her back, then stepped around the corner.

“Hey, sexy man, you want to dance?” Justin heard her soft whisper.

She was out of his sight, and he moved as close as he could to the villa’s wall.

“Who . . . what are you doing here?” the man said in a low, angry growl.

Carrie did not answer, but a muffled shuffle came from that side. Then a muted groan, followed by a faint thump.

Justin jumped around the corner, his SIG P228 pistol ready to fire. He found Carrie removing the gun from the bodyguard’s holster. He was stretched on the ground, his head resting near the bottom of a palm tree.

“Smooth and clean,” Justin whispered.

Carrie nodded. “Got my hands dirty, but it was okay.” She wiped her palms on the bodyguard’s white shirt.

Justin stepped near the glass-paneled door. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

He pulled a lock-picking set out of his pocket and fiddled with the simple deadbolt for a few moments. Then he leaned on the door handle and opened the door a hair. He looked up at Carrie.

She nodded at him and raised her pistol.

Justin pushed open the door, which swung inward without as much as a creak. The large room was half-dark, but three floor-to-ceiling windows with slightly open curtains drew in sufficient slivers of light from outside. A small table with a couple of glasses and two empty whisky and vodka bottles stood near the window, along with two foldable chairs. He made out two people lying in the king-sized bed. Li Hua and her guest, Colonel Atmaja Adianto of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The blue sheets were near the end of the bed, covering only the lower part of their bodies. Li Hua was wearing a pink see-through camisole and was lying on her side, facing away from Justin. Colonel Adianto was on his back, showcasing his hairy chest and extended belly.

Justin exchanged a glance with Carrie and motioned for her to move to Li Hua’s side. He tiptoed close to the colonel and slowly placed his pistol near the man’s left temple. Then he rapped gently against the man’s head.

The colonel groaned and opened his eyes slowly and lazily. It took him half a second to realize the severity of his situation, as Justin shoved the muzzle into his cheek. “What—”

Justin hushed the colonel with a hard push of his pistol. “I want you to listen. Get up and get dressed. Be quiet and you’ll live.”

The colonel’s eyes found Carrie. Her pistol was hovering near Li Hua’s face, who was still sound asleep. Then he looked toward the window.

“Your men can’t help you. But you can help yourself,” Justin whispered.

Li Hua let out a low mumble as she rolled over. Her long black hair covered most of her face.

The colonel nodded.

Justin took a step back and gestured for the colonel to get up. Then Justin ushered him toward a pile of clothes thrown on the tiled floor near the foot of the bed. The man pulled out a pair of khaki pants and put them on over his black boxer shorts.

“Bathroom.” Justin motioned toward the left.

Li Hua moaned and stretched on the large bed as she tried to get more comfortable. Then she opened her eyes and raised her head. “Atmaja, what are you . . .” She blinked as she tried to clear away her sleep. “And who are—”

Carrie cupped her hand in front of Li Hua’s mouth and muffled her words. “Shhhh, not a sound and you’ll be okay.”

Li Hua fought back and tried to bite Carrie’s hand.

Carrie held her grip. Her long fingers dug deep into Li Hua’s neck. “Stop or die choking,” Carrie said in a hushed but firm voice.

The colonel took a step forward toward Li Hua, but Justin cut him off. “To the bathroom.”

Colonel Adianto sighed and shuffled his feet down the hall. Justin handcuffed him to the heavy wooden double vanity of the bathroom and stuck a facecloth into his mouth. Then he plugged the man’s ears with balls made of Kleenex. Justin did not want the colonel eavesdropping on his conversation with Li Hua.

The colonel put up a small struggle, then resigned himself to his fate.

“Keep your mouth shut. We’re not here for you,” Justin said.

The colonel nodded but his eyes revealed his true intentions. He was plotting revenge.

“You might even thank us, once you’ve calmed down,” Justin said.

The colonel’s face flashed a look of surprise, then disbelief. He muttered something, but the gag was too tight over his mouth.

Justin returned to the room. Carrie had turned on a lamp on the nightstand on Li Hua’s side of the bed. Li Hua had put on a yellow floral dress and was sitting on the bed, her hands handcuffed behind her back. Her eyes were puffy, her hair was disheveled, and she looked hung over. Carrie was standing two feet away from her.

“You know who we are?” Justin dragged up a chair and sat in front of Li Hua.

“No idea.” Her voice was low, but sharp and angry.

“Let me jog your memory.” Justin pulled Park’s photo from his shirt pocket and held it up for Li Hua. “This was a good friend. You had him killed.”

Li Hua glanced at the photo. A shiver raced through her body. “I killed no one. Park agreed to his—”

Justin stopped her. “No, you forced him, blackmailed him. In the same way that you’re blackmailing Colonel Adianto.” He dropped his voice to barely a whisper. “We know how you operate: you lure men who can’t keep their pants on, record their sex escapades, and extort intelligence from them. Trapped, they have no choice.”

Li Hua cranked her head to the left toward the door. “If you leave right now, I’ll convince the colonel not to come after the two of you.”

Justin smiled. “If you don’t give us intel on Jaw-long, we’ll tell the colonel about his sex tape. He would do everything to keep his wife and his children from seeing it, and in order to avoid a scandal, he’ll make sure you vanish without a trace. You know he’s fully capable of doing that, right?”

Justin’s eyes fixed Li Hua with a stern glare.

She looked away out the window, but the right corner of her lips twitched almost involuntarily. Her left leg tapped nervously on the floor.

Justin allowed for a few moments of silence, then said, “All right, Carrie. Let’s search the room. The camera should be set up for a good wide angle to clearly record their frolicking.”

He looked around the room. “One of the picture frames. Or inside the top cabinet drawers. Or it could be in that lamp there in the corner. It will take us some time, but we’ll find it.”

Carrie turned over two framed beach landscape scenes, then moved on to the third one, a large painting of a series of temples, which had given Bali the name “island of a thousand temples.” Finding nothing, she opened all the cabinet drawers, rummaged through, then shook her head.

“There are no cameras, you’re mistaken,” Li Hua said with much irritation in her voice.

“I don’t think so,” Justin said.

He pointed to a tall wooden lamp near the window across from the bed. He looked Li Hua in the eye and said, “I would put the camera right there. The angle is perfect to tape everything in one frame.”

Li Hua blinked fast but showed no other sign of panic.

Carrie searched inside the lamp’s round reddish shade. Finding nothing, she slid her hand along the lamp’s curved wooden body. She felt around it for a few moments, then gave Justin a toothy smile. “Found it.” She produced a small pinhole camera about the size of a dime. “Wireless, covert surveillance grade.”

Li Hua tried to wriggle out of the handcuffs.

“It’s of no use,” Justin said to her. “Give us the intel we want and save yourself the embarrassment.”

Li Hua shook her head. Her blue eyes had turned black with rage.

“All right, as you wish.” Justin stood up and walked toward the wardrobe cabinet on the other side of the bed near the bathroom. “The camera is transmitting the video—and I’m assuming the audio as well—to an electronic recording device, most likely a laptop. What better place to hide it?” He tapped on the cabinet’s door. “Your last chance, Li Hua.”

She remained silent, her eyes whipping him with their dark glare.

Justin opened the wardrobe and searched through Li Hua’s clothes. He found a vault at the back, but it was too small to store a laptop, even a netbook. Perhaps she’s using an iPhone or BlackBerry. We’ll have to search her purse.

He looked down near a row of flip-flops, pumps, and stilettos. Then his gaze fell on Li Hua’s pink luggage bag on spinner wheels. He crouched and began to unzip the bag’s compartments. Justin found bathing suits, shorts, tank tops, and, at the bottom, a small netbook. The last place the colonel would search even if he had suspicions.

He flipped it open and found that the netbook was still on. There was no password, so he stroked the touchpad. The netbook woke up from its hibernation and a video recording software window appeared on the screen, along with a folder in the background. Justin tapped a few keys and began to play the most recent video file. He was glad the netbook speakers were muted. The X-rated video needed no explanation.

“Would you like to have a look?” Justin asked Li Hua as he turned around. The closed netbook was in his hand.

Li Hua’s face was red with embarrassment. She sighed. The discovery of the netbook had torn down her defenses. “No,” she muttered in a very low, shy voice.

“Jaw-long. Tell me all you know about the man.” Justin returned to his chair and handed the netbook over to Carrie.

She held it close without taking as much as a peek.

“I give you the intel, you give me back my netbook and forget everything about me.” Li Hua’s voice was weak and wavering, but she did her best to regain her composure.

“You’re in no position to negotiate terms,” Justin said with a firm headshake. “We get the intel, you get to live. But we’ll keep the netbook. Our insurance policy that you’ll not use any of the intel you extorted from Park. And you’ll owe us one.”

Li Hua grinned and shook her head. “No, after this exchange, we’re even. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Justin said, “We’re not even. After what you did to Park, you deserve to die. But you’re more useful to us as a source of intel. You’ll owe us a favor and we’ll come to collect one day. Or I give the netbook to the colonel. Make your choice in the next ten seconds.”

Li Hua sighed, then swallowed hard. “Fine, fine,” she said before three seconds had passed. “You win, you son of a—”

“The intel.” Justin cut her off. “We’re mostly interested in the operation where Jaw-long involved Park and the entire nuclear affair. But don’t leave anything out.”

Li Hua nodded and began to talk.