Forged in Honor (1995) (47 page)

Cummings rolled back his shoulders, took a deep breath, and faced his family. Raising his head, he whispered, "Goodbye, kittens. Daddy is going to miss you. Good-bye, Linda.

You made it worth living. Take care of them. I love you all."

Kelly watched as his detectives walked to their cars. He turned and put his hand out toward Stephen. "Good-bye, Stephen. I pray things work out for you in your country.

You've made a difference here. Thank you."

Stephen's eyes became distant. "Like you told your friend, I have to try. Good-bye, Terrance."

Kelly's gaze shifted to Josh. "Come by my mother-in-law's after you hand Stephen off to the Agency. Mary wants to thank you again with a dinner."

Josh smiled grimly. "I'm going with Stephen. Keep an eye on Stefne for me until I get back."

"Wait a damn minute! What do ya mean, you're goin'?"

Josh shrugged. "It's just somethin' I gotta do."

He turned to walk up the hill but Kelly grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "What the fuck are you talkin' about, 'gotta do'? You don't have to do shit!"

"Drop it, Kelly. This is personal. Like Dorba was personal for you. Okay?"

Seeing Josh's look, Kelly realized there was nothing he could say to make him stay. "Take care, huh? I ..." He threw his arms around Josh and hugged him. "Take good care of yourself. Mary would be real pissed off if somethin' happened to ya."

CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia Jennings entered the office having come from funerals for two of his department chiefs who had been killed at the conference. He lit a cigar, then shifted his gaze to the two men seated before him. "You finish up your business?" he asked, obviously already knowing the answer.

Neither of the men spoke. Jennings blew out a blue cloud of smoke and focused his eyes on Stephen. "I have a debriefing team ready to hear and record what you told me at the boathouse. Afterward I've scheduled some briefings for you to bring you up to date on the last month's events in your country. One particular upcoming event is also very important. General Swei has sent invitations to the world media inviting them to a press conference in Rangoon on July 19, Martyrs' Day. He will then announce the opening of the country and probably the loan guarantees you told me about.

I'm telling you this because once he makes those announcements, our best guess is that most countries will formally recognize his new government."

"After what he's done to the people?" Stephen snapped, not believing what he was hearing.

"Stephen, the simple fact is that nobody knows what happened. No outside press has been in Burma to report what went on over the years, and Swei has killed or imprisoned anyone who could speak out against him. The people who watch CNN on July 19 will think they see a man trying to help change his country for the better. He will be a hero to many of them."

"When do I leave?" Stephen asked impatiently.

"In two days," Jennings replied. "We've got to get you a passport and paperwork made and-"

"Count me in too," Josh said matter-of-factly.

Jennings's eyes widened. "I didn't think you wanted to go back."

"I'm in."

Stephen put his hand over Josh's. "You've done enough for me, Joshua. You should stay. Go back to Stefne and your boat. You've found happiness, brother."

Josh shook his head. "I'm going."

Jennings said, "Hawkins, under the circumstances I have to agree with Mr. Kang. His father intends to strike Swei too soon. We believe such an undertaking is doomed to fail. We hope that when Stephen returns he can reason with Xu Kang and convince him to take the time to recruit and train a proper force."

Josh's jaw muscles twitched as he stood up and walked to the window. "No, Xu Kang is right-he has to attack soon."

He turned toward Jennings with an icy, accusing stare. "The U. S. will be one of the countries to recognize Swei's government, won't it, Mr. Director? You know they killed our people at the embassy, and you know what they've done to the Burmese people, but we will recognize his government, won't we?"

Jennings lowered his eyes. "Probably. An open Burma means new markets. There are those in our government who believe we have to live with Swei to help American companies get into the country before the Japanese . Or the Germans.

I've argued against it for the reasons you've stated, but they won't listen without solid proof. Industrial competition for markets is another kind of war, and America's businessmen don't like to lose."

Josh knew Jennings was not the enemy, so he simply shrugged. "I'm going, Mr. Director."

Jennings nodded slowly in resignation. "We'll help you in any way we can, until the nineteenth. I'm sorry, Hawkins.

I'm truly sorry."

"... so do just like last time. Keep an eye on Stef and keep the business running."

Bob's eyes were fixed on his boss. "And you can't tell me why or where you're going?"

"Like I told ya on the phone, it's all legit. I asked Glenn to bring you over here so I could take care of things before I go. Take this. It's a letter of instructions if-"

"Christ; Hawk, don't do this to me. You're worlds' for the CIA, aren't you?"

Josh handed him the letter. "You're a smart guy, Bob. You know better than to ask me that. But no, I'm not working for the Agency. It's just something I have to do. Trust me. Don't tell a soul about my leaving except for Stef. She's not going to like it, but she'll understand. Tell everyone else I'm still recovering from my wounds and the location is being kept secret for security reasons."

Bob lowered his head. "I still don't like it, Hawk. I don't like bodies on the pier and those four agents getting killed in the motel. I don't like it that Meg is in the hospital and that Stefne is worried sick about you. This is out of control and it has to stop. This isn't life-this is hell."

"I know. But you have to trust me," Josh said. He stood and stuck out his hand. "Take care of her, Bob. It makes it easier for me. Do me one more favor, huh? Look in on Meg for me, and have one of the guys throw popcorn out for the sparrows now and then."

"And the hunt?"

"That's up to you. Just-"

"I know. Leave him for when you get back," Bob said, trying to smile.

Josh walked him back to the car where Grant was waiting.

She looked into his eyes and said, "I don't like this, Josh. A few nights ago, I said you couldn't always stay in your little world, but I was wrong. Please don't leave. I don't want you to go."

Josh leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks for bringing Bob. Go on. I'll see ya when it's over."

She didn't move. "Josh, please listen to me. It's gotten too political. There's no guarantee the promises Jennings gave you will be fulfilled. It's out of his hands now. It's not worth it anymore."

Josh said firmly, "It is to me." He broke into a jaded smile.

"You're learning, Colonel. To them it's never as simple as right or wrong-it's what's good for the country. The problem is, none of us get to vote on what we think is good. The Burmese people know, and so do I." Josh gave her a last, lingering look, then turned and walked away into the darkness.

Josh walked past the guard into the bedroom, where Stephen was sitting on the bed staring vacantly at the far wall with tear-filled eyes. He spoke in a whisper. "As I watched the detective's wife being buried this afternoon, I thought of Mya. There was no funeral for her, Joshua. She deserved ... she ..."

Josh sat down and put his arm around Stephen's shoulder.

"You have Jacob. Mya will always be with you through him like Jill is for me in Stefne."

"Joshua, please don't come with me. You might never see Stefne again. I couldn't bear that."

Josh closed his eyes and could hear the Shaduzup mission bell. Clang! Clang! Clang! He heard the people screaming as machine-gun bullets ripped through the air. The single gunshots and then the terrible silence, broken only by the last peal of the bell. No one was left to hear it-except him.

Josh's jaw muscles rippled as he squeezed Stephen's shoulder. "I'm not going because of you. I'm going for me."

PART II

Chapter 24.

Northwest Airlines Flight 434 landed in Bangkok at 16:55 P. M. Minutes later Josh and Stephen walked past the baggage area and headed directly toward the Customs and passport-control booth. Both men had no checked luggage, only carry-on bags. After showing their Agency-made American passports, they were headed for the terminal when a man stepped up behind Josh and said with a grin, "About time you got your ass here."

Josh recognized the voice and turned around to face his previous operation commander, Buck McCoy. "You again, huh?" Josh said with a grin of his own.

"The director thought you'd like to see a familiar face."

McCoy turned to Stephen. "Speaking of faces, how's yours, Mr. Kang?"

Stephen didn't speak but looked to Josh for an explanation.

Josh motioned to the Agency man. "Stephen, meet Buck McCoy, our contact."

"A pleasure, U McCoy. Thank you for helping us. Have you any recent news?" Stephen asked as he offered his hand.

"Yeah, but not here. We need to move it." McCoy turned and gave a short nod to two other Caucasians wearing sunglasses and flowered shirts. One raised a small radio to his mouth, and the other walked through the door used by employees and scanned the sidewalk for possible threats.

"Let's go," McCoy said. Josh and Stephen followed him outside to a new Mazda van parked by the curb. A mile from the airport McCoy finally turned around in the front passenger seat and looked at his passengers. "Sorry about the escort, but we're taking no chances. The DDSI has people in town. I'm taking you to a safe house where you can rest until tomorrow afternoon. We're gonna fly you within forty miles of the border, then Jeep you into Xu Kang's camp."

"You said there were changes," Stephen said.

McCoy lowered his eyes, indicating it was bad news.

"Stephen, your father collapsed from exhaustion two days ago. He'd been working day and night for weeks and finally just keeled over."

Stephen showed no emotion other than nodding his head once. Then he asked, "And my son?"

"He's fine. I saw him when I visited the camp four days ago. The old man has been taking good care of him. Look, Stephen, I know I'm just in a supporting role here, but I gotta tell you this. Your father has tried, but there's no way he can organize an army without our help. He just doesn't have enough trainers or the right equipment. You've got to talk him into letting us support him."

Stephen exchanged glances with Josh before looking back into McCoy's questioning eyes. He smiled and said, "You obviously don't know my father."

Still feeling the effects of the long flight, Stephen and Josh both went to their rooms right after dinner. Josh opened the door to his room and turned on the light.

"I thought you'd crash early."

Josh sighed and faced McCoy, who sat in a chair by 'a small table. The Agency man motioned to the chair across from him. "Sit. We have to talk."

Josh flopped down. "Can't this wait till tomorrow?"

"Look, Hawk, you've gotten involved in something that could get you killed. Some folks don't give a shit-they think you've got a death wish. I know better, and so does the director. Jennings is taking a big chance by keeping this from most of his people, but he says you get anything you want.

We have an arrangement that I'll be the fall guy if it all turns to shit. I don't give a damn 'cause I'm only two years away from retirement, but between you and me, this op sucks. I've visited Xu Kang's camp, and as far as I can see they don't have a plan. True, they have people helping them in Rangoon and some high-level informants, but the old man is in over his head. Any kind of direct assault on Swei is suicide."

"What do you want me to do?" Josh asked, knowing McCoy was leading up to something.

"The only way to take care of the problem is to take Swei and his buddies out with small, direct-action teams. I gotta tell you, though, even that's very iffy. According to -my sources, Swei is no dummy and he's taking no chances. The news conference he's got planned for the nineteenth is going to be inside the Ministry of Defense compound. The man knows he's a target, and he's keeping himself behind a wall.

Hell, he's got tighter security than our president."

"You still haven't told me what you want me to do," Josh said.

"Fuck, Hawk. Old man Kang and Stephen respect you.

Talk some sense into them. I'm on your side on this, but wasting hundreds of lives trying to assault the Ministry of Defense compound is not the way to do it. They'll just get themselves killed and Swei will be untouchable."

"You've got a plan, haven't you?" Josh said, seeing McCoy's impatient eyes twinkling.

"No, but I have an idea. I haven't told a soul 'cause it's out of right field and old man Kang would never buy it. All he cares about is his revenge. My idea might bring down the government without anybody pulling a trigger."

Josh leaned closer. "Why haven't you told anybody else about this idea of yours?"

McCoy's lips crawled back in a smile. " 'Cause the Company would definitely not approve. Shit, they'd can me if I even brought it up! It requires someone willing to expose a lot of shit that the intelligence community doesn't want aired to the public."