Rising Tiger (22 page)

“What? Why?” Lin also put on her seat belt.

“Just do it.”

Lin relayed what Jake told her to the pilot. Whatever she said or how she said it, the pilot did what she said. The Gulfstream went into a steep dive toward the ocean.

Jake looked nervously toward Lin. “He knows not to actually crash, right?”

She nodded and hung onto the sides of her chair.

Alexandra woke up suddenly, looking around for what was going on. “What the hell,” she yelled at Jake.

He quickly told her the situation.

“Great,” Alexandra said. “And it was your idea to crash us?”

“Not exactly.”

Now all kinds of buzzers and alarms were going off in the cockpit. Oxygen masks popped out from the overhead. Jake looked out the window and knew they wouldn’t need oxygen if the pilot didn’t pull up soon.

Lin continued to speak into the headset mic. Then, unexpectedly, she took off the headset and handed it to Jake.

He was confused.

“Put it on,” she said, just as the Gulfstream went from a full dive into damn near a full climb.

Jake put on the headset and listened.

“Is this Mister Adams?” a man asked in the headset. It sounded like a southern accent.

“Yeah. Who’s this?”

“Lieutenant Commander.” Pause. “Just call me Warhawk Two. From VFA-97.”

Jake thought about his knowledge of the Navy and realized this was an F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot out of Lemoore, California. He had heard that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) had been deployed off the coast of Taiwan following the escalation by the Chinese.

“Warhawk Two,” Jake said into the mic. “Any way you can get this Chinese Flanker off our ass?”

“Roger that.”

By now they had gained altitude and were heading toward normal cruising. Jake looked out the window and saw the Chinese aircraft off to the left side. Then, suddenly, a salvo of tracer rounds flew past them.

The Flanker shook and banked hard left. Warhawk Two zipped by them like a bat out of hell and then also banked hard left and picked up the Flanker.

“What’s going on?” Alexandra said, getting out of her chair and rushing to peer out the window behind Jake.

“We’re getting to watch one of our Navy Super Hornets take on a Chinese fighter jet,” Jake said. “It’s fucking amazing.”

The two aircraft were in a steep dive, the Hornet right on the tail of the Chinese aircraft. Then they banked hard left and went out of view. Jake took off the headset and hurried to the right side of the Gulfstream. Then, without warning, he saw a second Super Hornet on their right side cruise up slowly. Jake went back to get the headset and then sat back into his original chair and plugged into the console.

This time the voice was a woman’s. “Adams?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jake answered.

“This is Wrangler,” she said. “I’ll be escorting you toward Taiwan, along with Warhawk Two, once he gets done draining the Flanker of fuel.” She had a moment of unprofessionalism as a slight giggle escaped.

“Thank you, Wrangler,” Jake said.

“Just like the Navy bailing out the Air Force,” the pilot added.

Someone, probably Jenkins, had given the Navy pilots one small item of a personal nature on Jake. Every military member was much more likely to come to the aid of a fellow brother or sister in arms.

“Ha, ha. Thanks for the help, though.”

“No problem.”

Alexandra came back and sat across from Jake. She glanced out the window at the Navy jet. The pilot waved at her. “Is that a woman?”

“Yeah, our military is an equal opportunity employer,” Jake said. “She’ll escort us to Taiwan.”

In just ten minutes the second Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet pulled up on the wing of Wrangler.

Jake got back on the headset. “Thanks for the help Warhawk Two and Wrangler.”

Both jets rocked their wings slightly.

“Did our friends in Washington send you here?” Jake asked.

“We were already on our way,” Warhawk Two said. “The Chinese have been looking for a fight, but they didn’t expect our Navy to take it to ‘em.”

“Thanks again,” Jake said.

“You’re free all the way to Taipei,” the Navy pilot said. With that, the two Super Hornets banked hard right and swung out of view.

Jake took off the headset and leaned back into his chair.

As they got closer to Taiwanese airspace, Jake had time to think about their recent encounter. It wasn’t just a coincidence that their Gulfstream had been attacked. General Wu Gang had made that happen. He relayed his theory to both Lin and Alexandra.

“I agree,” Lin said. “Our pilot kept trying to get through to Chinese air traffic control, but for some reason he was not able to get through.”

“They were jamming our signal,” Alexandra said.

“This was another escalation by the general,” Jake posited. “He’s gone too far.” He checked his phone, but now he had no reception. Jake thought about his current case, knowing he had no real authority to do anything about General Wu Gang and the empire he had built. Perhaps that was the most frustrating thing for Jake. Now he had no choice but to hang tight with the Taiwanese intel officer, Lin. She could give him cover in Taiwan.

Taipei, Taiwan

As the Gulfstream made its approach along the west coast of Taiwan, Jake was able to make a quick call to Kurt Jenkins thanking him for the help. But Jenkins said the Navy had already known about the incident and had the two jets in the air to intercept. Jenkins had only relayed the fact that Jake, a former Air Force officer, was aboard the plane, and told them to hit the afterburners. Of course the Navy pilots weren’t idiots. They had to know that Jake was more than just a former military officer, or he wouldn’t be getting such a response from the former director of central intelligence.

But as the Gulfstream rolled up the tarmac at the private area of the international airport, police cars suddenly appeared, surrounded them, and officers jumped out and pulled their guns.

“What the hell is going on?” Jake asked Lin.

She looked concerned as she shook her head. She hurried to the cockpit and said something to the crew. Then she returned and got onto her phone. As she listened to the person she had called, she simply nodded agreement before closing out the call and shoving the phone into her front pocket.

“Well?” Jake asked.

“The local police were tipped off that we were smuggling heroin into the country,” Lin said.

“That bastard,” Alexandra said. “The general has that kind of power?”

Lin took the question. “He has enough power to send a Chinese jet after us. This is nothing compared to that. He has friends throughout our government. That’s why. . .”

Jake was up and checking out the police, but he turned to Lin when she didn’t finish her thought. “Why what?”

Putting her hand in front of her mouth, Lin tried not to make eye contact with Jake or Alexandra.

But the German officer wanted answers. She went to Lin and pointed at the smaller woman. “What the hell is going on?”

Lin’s head lowered to her chest, the universal non-verbal for shame, but far more prevalent in the Asian community. “I was told to stand down a week ago. Not to make waves with General Wu Gang and his organization.”

Jake started laughing as he paced around the Gulfstream cabin. “This is amazing. You just gained my total respect, Lin.”

The Taiwanese woman looked genuinely confused.

Alexandra helped out Lin. “You don’t know Jake very well. When he finds someone who stands up for principle and bucks his own government, that’s like sex to him. He’d do you right here if I wasn’t present.”

“Seriously, Alexandra,” Jake said. “I think you’re overstating my character.” She wasn’t, but he had to protest.

“It’s the truth,” Alexandra declared. “So, tell us more our young Taiwanese friend.”

Jake still shook his head in protest as Lin explained how her boss had told her to only concentrate on the American, Bill Remington. The general was not important. When Lin was done, Jake did have to agree, at least to himself, that he was a little turned on by the woman’s admission.

“All right,” Jake said. “Where do we go from here? The villagers have more than torches and pitchforks out there. And we’re going after a rising tiger.”

Lin said, “Since I already told my boss that Remington was killed, he will take care of the police. It might just take a few minutes.”

Jake considered their current plight and their recent encounter in the air. “Who knew that we were flying from Saigon to Taipei?”

The Asian woman’s mind seemed to be clicking, as if a movie was forming in her mind. Finally, she said, “I got approval for this plane from my boss.”

“And the flight plan?” Alexandra wanted to know.

Lin thought about that. “Under the cover of business.”

“Did anyone know that we would be aboard?” Jake asked.

“No,” Lin said. “I used my business cover as a cell company executive.”

“So, the general must have had some knowledge that we were aboard. How did he know? What about the crew?”

“They were nearly killed as well,” Lin reasoned.

True. But they still could have mentioned to someone that Jake and Alexandra were aboard, not knowing the consequences of their action. It mattered not, Jake guessed. When he saw flashes of movement outside, Jake looked out the window and saw the police cars taking off.

“Looks like your boss is forgiving,” Jake said. He adjusted the Glock on his right hip and felt the two extra magazines in his pockets. Alexandra had been forced to drop her extra empty mags in Saigon during the chase, so they would need a little help with firepower. “Any way to get some more magazines and nine mil rounds?”

“Not through my Bureau,” Lin said, a resounding smile on her face. “But through other sources.”

“All right,” Jake said. “Let’s go.”

Alexandra stopped him with her hand. “Whoa, cowboy. Let’s try to pin down a strategy first. With Lin having no support from her own government, doesn’t that leave us all swinging in the breeze when the shit hits the fan?”

Jake shrugged as he glanced at Lin.

“I learned a valuable saying in America,” Lin said. “Don’t ask for permission. Ask for forgiveness.”

Alexandra laughed. “Jake has been living that way since I’ve known him.”

“Hey,” Jake said, with mock indignation.

“That’s right,” Alexandra said. “Jake doesn’t even ask for forgiveness.”

“It’s implied,” he said. “Can we go now?”

The three of them exited the plane and found Lin’s car waiting in the parking lot. It was a large, black Hyundai sedan with tinted windows. The two women were in the front and Jake took the entire back seat. He thought now about what needed to be done. While it was true that General Wu Gang was running a hugely corrupt organization, which included murder and the possible incitement of war between two Chinese countries that would invariably lead to a massive regional conflict, at least the communist billionaire was employing a bunch of people. Silver lining, Jake guessed.

Lin wound through the streets of Taipei, her driving skills reminding Jake of Nascar without the crashes.

“Where we going?” Jake asked.

Lin looked at him in the rearview mirror. “You said you need some more bullets. More guns. The general will not go away without a fight.”

“How many men does he have?” Alexandra asked.

The Taiwanese officer said, “A few less since the two of you have been in Asia.”

Jake had to laugh. That was the first sign of levity from the Taiwanese officer since they had met.

A half hour later and they pulled into a residential area, through a remote-controlled gate, and Lin parked next to an older, two-story structure.

“Is this a safe house?” Jake asked.

Lin leaned back toward Jake. “Not officially. It was owned by my grandfather on my mother’s side. I inherited it a couple years ago, but only come here once in a while to escape.”

“It looks very serene,” Alexandra said.

“I played here as a child,” Lin admitted. “But I like my apartment downtown.”

Lin showed Jake and Alexandra around the modest house. It had everything they needed, but the food supply was nearly non-existent. So, Lin left the two of them alone while she went out for food and ammo.

Alone now, Jake sat in an old leather chair in the main living room. His eyes scanned the walls, observing the Chinese paintings on the wall depicting scenes from Asia, with the ever-present cranes and the misty mountains of the Guilin area.

Alexandra had her Glock apart on a towel on the glass coffee table across from Jake. She was doing her best to clean the parts.

“No solvent,” Jake said to her.

“No, but I found this oil in the kitchen,” she said, raising a small glass bottle.

“Peanut oil?”

She smelled the top. “Sesame. It’ll work.” She rubbed a little oil on the slide and then put the gun back together again, cycling the movement a few times to make sure the oil worked.

Jake smiled and removed his gun from his hip. He set it onto the table in front of Alexandra. “As long as your fingers are covered in sesame.”

Alexandra rolled her eyes, but then accepted the task of cleaning Jake’s gun. She had his gun apart within a couple of seconds. “You can wash your own underwear.”

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be. I thought you were a good putz frau.”

Now her eyes seemed to burn through Jake. “If that were the case, I would have had a good German man years ago.”

“German men want the three Cs,” he said. “Clean, cook and copulate.”

“You just made that up. In German, two of the three start with a K.” She stopped working on Jake’s gun. “Do you want me to clean your gun or not?”

He nodded. “But I was hoping for at least two of the three Cs.”

“So you want to copulate?” she wondered.

“Actually, I could eat.”

She threw her dirty, oily rag at him.

“All right. You take care of the gun and I’ll find us something to eat.” He got up and started toward the kitchen. But he stopped and turned. “You don’t suppose I could call out for Chinese take out here?”

She didn’t answer. She just shook her head.