Lethal Force (21 page)

He saw a change in the light under the door crack and instinctively grabbed his gun from under the pillow next to his head. It could have just been someone walking by his room. But then he saw the crack of light turn to near darkness and he rolled out of the bed and crouched behind a chair, his gun aimed at the door.

With a sudden crash, the door gave way at the frame and two men rushed into the room heading right for his bed.

Jake shot four times. Twice at each target. The report from his 9mm Glock broke the silence. Both of the shooters dropped to the floor.

Rushing to the fallen men, Jake kicked away their silenced guns. One man was still alive and tried to reach for something inside his jacket. Jake shot him in the forehead, dropping him for good.

Clicking on a table lamp, Jake set his gun down on the desk and checked over both men for identification. They were both Koreans, but Jake had no idea if they were from the north or the south.

Suddenly another target appeared at the corner of the door. Jake grabbed his gun and aimed it.

“Jake, it's me,” yelled Kim Chin-Hwa, his gun at the side of his right leg.

“Join the party,” Jake said. “But check on Lori first.”

“I'm here with him, Jake,” Lori said.

Kim and Lori entered his room. Kim holstered his gun. Lori wore only a T-shirt and shorts.

Jake realized he was only wearing his underwear. “Watch the corridor,” Jake ordered Kim.

The Agency officer did as he was told as Jake put on his pants and a T-shirt.

“Who are they?” Lori asked.

“A couple of dead Koreans,” Jake deadpanned.

He strapped on his belt, keeping it loose enough to allow for the 9mm at his back, and then checked on both of his guns. He replaced the partially used magazine with a full one, and then added five bullets to replace those he had shot. Next he picked up the five spent brass and shoved them into his pocket.

Kim turned into the room and said, “Someone must have called in the shots, Jake. What do you want to do?”

He sure as hell didn't want to answer a shitload of questions about why he had killed two men in his room. The shooting was justified. But he had no diplomatic immunity, and the local cops would want to know why he was carrying two handguns.

Jake found his phone and turned it on. Unusually, he had a dozen missed calls and text messages. Some from the man he needed to call. He added the country code and waited for the call to click through.

Just as someone answered on the other end, Kim said, “We have company.”

“Friend or foe?” Jake asked.

“Looks like the congressional security detail. They have guns out.”

Jake put the phone to his ear. “You were looking for me?” he asked.

The man on the other end, CIA Director Kurt Jenkins, said solemnly, “Did the station chief talk with you?”

“Yes. Thanks for notifying me. But that's not why I called. Two men just broke into my hotel room. I shot and killed both of them with the guns Toni gave me.”

Suddenly there was shouting at the door, with Kim standing up to the security detail.

“What's that?” Kurt asked.

“The congressional security detail. They're going to want answers. I need you to give them the Company line. National security and all that crap.”

“All right. But it's not like you can just put them on the line with me. Let me make a quick phone call and get back with you.”

“Thanks, Kurt.”

“All right. We'll need to talk eventually. Since they didn't get what they wanted from Toni, I'm guessing they're coming for you.”

“My guess as well,” Jake agreed.

“Keep your damn phone on,” the CIA director ordered.

Jake clicked off and wondered how long it would take for Kurt to clear this through the chain. By now Lori had joined Kim in his discussions with the security detail.

Walking toward the door, Jake asked, “What's up.”

Lori said, “They don't believe I'm a congresswoman. I left my passport and credentials in my room.”

“Who are you?” asked the security man in charge.

“The Pope,” Jake said. “Who are you?”

The man showed them Secret Service identification.

“All right,” Jake said, “then why in the hell don't you recognize only one of two congresswomen on this committee? And the other woman is old enough to be your mother.”

The Secret Service agent put his finger to his ear and listened to his ear bud. His eyes looked at Jake. Then he said yes sir at least three times before damn near hanging his head to his chest like a little puppy.

“You spoke at the conference last evening,” the agent said. “It seems as though you have friends in high places. We've been ordered to take care of the situation.”

Jake and Kim let the man into the room. Two others remained in the corridor, but Jake guessed that more were on site covering every exit in the building. At least they better be.

Kim rolled each of the dead men onto their backs and took a photo of each with his phone camera, sending them to his office in Seoul.

“Any ID?” the Secret Service guy asked.

“No,” Jake said. “They're pros.”

“Probably North Korean,” Kim said as he checked over their mouths. “Poor dental care. Although they could be from the rural south.”

“Why'd they want to kill you?” the agent asked Jake.

“They didn't.”

The Secret Service guy looked confused.

Jake helped him out. “They came in with their guns drawn. But they didn't shoot. They wanted me alive.”

“Why?” Kim asked.

“I've got some information they want,” Jake explained. “They killed an Agency friend a couple days ago when she wouldn't give up the information. Now they're coming for me. Of course, I don't believe these two killed my friend. They're just some local talent. The killers aren't this ethnicity.”

Kim's phone buzzed with a text. He checked it and said, “We got a hit on one of the guys.” He pointed at the one closest to his foot. “This one is a former intelligence officer from the north.”

“What the hell is going on here?” the Secret Service agent asked. He pointed to Kim. “This guy was vetted by my office. But who are you?”

“I'm with the embassy in Seoul,” Kim said.

“Great. A spook.”

“Let's focus here,” Jake said. “There are no ‘former' intelligence officers from the north. Well, he's former now. But he was working for them up until I put two rounds in their chests. Same with this other douche bag.” He considered all that had happened in the past week and wasn't certain where this case was going. Sure the north could have used Slavic men to torture him, perhaps to throw them off the possibility of that crazy despot being behind this whole thing. The little guy would give his left nut to acquire Professor Tramil's technology. But did the bastard have the brains to pull off such an elaborate scheme? Only time would tell. He sure wished he had kept one of these men alive. In retrospect he imagined they were coming to try to extract information from him. Which meant they would have had to take him somewhere for interrogation. It also meant that a car and at least two other operatives would have been waiting outside. Probably scattered like rats from a ship now, though.

Jake left the security detail to sort out the details of what they would tell the host nation. He simply gathered up his clothes and bag and hauled off into Lori's room next door, with Kim in tow.

Leaning against the desk in Lori's room, Jake said, “I have to get out of here. Away from you.”

Lori considered this statement.

Kim took it head on. “Jake, they'll come for you wherever you go.”

He knew that. “But if I stay here the good congresswoman might get caught in the crossfire.”

Shaking her head, Lori said, “Maybe that's what they want you to think. I've been involved with this mess since before we went to Montana. I hired you, remember? I put this whole thing into motion. They wouldn't be coming for you if it wasn't for me. You'd be back in Patagonia fishing by now.”

Unfortunately she had a point, Jake knew. “You might be right, Lori. But I have a history of people getting shot when they get close to me.”

“You have a few scars of your own,” she reminded him.

“Wait,” Kim said. “How does she know that? Is she talking metaphorically? Never mind.”

Lori sat on her bed and crossed her legs.

Kim's phone buzzed and he checked to see who was calling. “It's my boss.” He went into the rest room to take the call.

Jake crossed the room and sat next to Lori on the bed, his hand settling on hers. “Are you all right?”

She shrugged. “I was thinking about making love with you earlier today. Then two men try to kidnap you. I'm not used to this world.”

“That's what I'm talking about, Lori,” Jake said. “I'm trying to get out of this business. After all these years, my time has about passed. Look what happened to my old friend in DC.”

“I know, Jake. Since we've been. . .hanging out, you've been kidnapped and tortured, and you've killed three men. Before this week I never knew anyone who had ever killed one man. How many people have you killed over the years?”

Jake had a running total in his head, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let that out for scrutiny. Lori would either be disgusted with that number or strangely turned on. Ambivalence would never be a response to such a high number. And the only person who might have come close to guessing the figure had just been tortured and killed a couple days ago.

Kim saved Jake by coming out with news from Seoul. “Pam had just gotten back to the office when I sent her the photos of the two dead men. She wants to know if you would consider drawing out those who are after you.”

“That's my plan,” Jake assured the young officer. “Normally, I'd like to do that here in a remote location, where I can see them coming. But that puts this whole junket in jeopardy.”

“What about me?” Lori asked. “I have to be at the DMZ in two days for the six-party talks.”

Jake stood up and thought for a moment. “Well, it's not a good idea for you to stay here. The head of your security detail didn't even recognize you. That's just incompetent. Plus, their security let those two men past their perimeter downstairs. Of course there will probably be congressional hearings to get to the bottom of their failure.”

“Hey,” Lori said. “We have a vital job to do. We're the watchdogs of our government.” She sounded serious.

Jake said, “Settle down. I didn't mean you. You were the only one who asked me reasonable questions.”

Kim raised his hands, as if a school kid trying to get his teacher's attention. “What's the plan? I've been ordered to stay with Jake wherever he goes.”

“Do you have a safe house, or two, in the Seoul area?” Jake asked.

“Of course.”

Jake looked at Lori and then to Kim. “Put the congresswoman up in one for a couple days. Then I'll open myself up for those trying to find me.”

“Can you at least keep one alive next time?” Kim asked with a smirk.

“Roger that. But I get to gather the intel.”

“I'm here to learn from the master,” Kim said. “As I said, we respect our elders in Korea.”

“Smart ass,” Jake muttered. He was beginning to like this young officer.

“All right.” Kim was about to text his office.

“Hold off on that,” Jake said.

“Why?”

“How tired are you?” Jake asked.

Kim laughed. “Are you kidding? I haven't had this much excitement since joining the Agency. I'm wired.”

“Well, you haven't been hanging around me that long,” Jake assured him. “Keep your head on a swivel. You ready to drive that rental car to Seoul?”

“Yes, sir.”

Lori got up. “Let's check out.”

Jake smiled. “No. How attached are you to your clothes?”

She shrugged and said, “There's nothing I can't replace.”

“Good.” Jake went to her suitcase and started throwing Lori's clothes around the room. Taking the cue, Kim and Lori helped out by making the room look like it had been trashed by someone looking for something.

Satisfied, Jake considered the security folks out in the corridor. Somehow he and Kim would have to get Lori past them. As it turned out, most of the attention was on the two dead men in Jake's room. The three of them simply walked down the hall to the stairs in the opposite direction. Moments later they were outside and piled into the rental KIA, Kim behind the wheel, Jake in the front passenger seat, and Lori lying on the back seat as they drove away from the hotel.

●

The dark Hyundai sedan cruised down the secluded highway along the southwest outskirts of Gyeongju. The driver was a stocky Korean, with limited English skills, his black hair with white highlights spiked up into a faux hawk. His boyish face was speckled with wisps of hair in an attempt at a beard, but he would never grow enough to cover his chubby face.

Alex Yaroslav, in the front passenger seat, combed his fingers through his long hair as he listened to the man on the other end of the phone. The Lobbyist was pissed that they had not captured Jake Adams. Alex turned to look at his friend Danko in the back seat. They both shook their heads. Then he glanced back at the car following them. He knew it was only his Asian comrades—the two unlikely intel officers from North Korea, the intense man in his forties and the hot woman in her mid-thirties. Those two had provided the men to go after Adams, but had obviously failed miserably. Alex listened carefully once the Lobbyist mentioned what Milena had discovered for them. He told his boss not to worry and disconnected.

Danko scratched his bald head and then leaned forward and said, “What's the plan?”

Looking at the driver for a moment, Alex switched from English to Russian. “He said we should not entirely depend on our friends here.”