Smoke and Shadow (15 page)

“
So does this
mean we should continue to monitor the house?
”
The prospect of keeping his job
made Privti
’
s face
light up like a kid at Christmas.

“
I
don
’
t know,
Ganesh. I was under the impression you were uncomfortable working
this assignment with Mr. Chu
…”

“
Mr. Baker, I
would appreciate a chance to show what I can do. Mr. Chu and I
understand each other. We are on the same team.
I
’
m sure we can
turn this situation into a positive result.
”

Baker kept
shaking his head.
“
What about you, Stanley? You willing to stay on the op and
switch targets?
”

“
Watching Mrs.
Maas get recruited is a lot better than watching her get beat up.
We
’
ll need more
people to cover all her potential contacts, but I think we should
stay on as the core team to help coordinate
things.
”

“
Right.
”
Baker turned back to Chu with a smile mixed with pride,
relief and a bit of fraternal mischief.
“
This is your plan, Smoke. Are you
willing to stay on and manage it on the ground?
”

Chu shrugged as
if it didn
’
t
matter to him either way.
“
I try to do the right thing. If you
need me, I
’
m
here.
”

Baker
didn
’
t bother to
hide his amusement.
“
Are you sure? I figured you
’
d want to take some time to visit
your mother.
”

Chu shrugged
again, downplaying the final hint of their shared secret.
“
I
’
m sure she
’
ll understand what
I
’
m doing, even if
I never tell her.
”

“
We all have our
secrets, Mr. Chu.
”
Baker gave his friend a good slap on his shoulder before he
left the room.
“
Some of us just have more secrets than
others.
”

Interlude: Team
Building

Summer 2014

“
Did Chinese
intelligence ever make contact with the wife?
”
Nikki watched Chu and Trent run a
brutal cardio circuit. One man would hoist the other over his
shoulder like a sack of dirty laundry and then sprint across the
beach parallel to the shore line. As he kicked up sand and
struggled to run with a full grown man on his back, the passenger
engaged in all sorts of torment. Orders barked in harsh military
tones followed brisk slaps to the kidneys or elbows to the back of
the head. When the runner reached the discarded t-shirt serving as
a marker, the men would switch, repeating the exercise. Just
watching the two men made Nikki
’
s thighs ache.

Rose watched with
her, without sharing Nikki
’
s respect for their exertion.
“
No. Maria Maas never had
any contact from foreign intelligence and the entire op was
scrubbed after eight more weeks of surveillance. The client
wasn
’
t happy at
all.
”

“
We
can
’
t manufacture
engagement with the opposition, Ms. Mendoza.
”
Baker took a seat next to Ria and
took her free hand in his own.
“
We get paid to look, but we
can
’
t find what
isn
’
t
there.
”

“
Something might
have been there if you didn
’
t have a loose cannon in the
operation.
”
Rose
turned away from the beach to face Baker.
“
If it was my op, I would have made
sure Chu never worked another day for the company or anyone else.
He let his personal feelings get in the way and ruined an entire
operation. I would have turned him over to the police and let him
take his chances with an attempted murder
charge.
”

“
I
’
d be
careful if I were you, sister.
”
Ria tipped the open neck of her third Corona
towards Rose as she spoke, rushing to Baker
’
s defense without any invitation or
warning.
“
You turn
on a guy like Chu and you might find yourself falling down a flight
of dark steps.

Rose sucked her
teeth and pulled away from the table in a pathetic attempt at
defiance.
“
I
’
m not
afraid of him.
”

Ria laughed and
took a sip.
“
That
’
s a big
part of your problem.
”

Before Rose and
Ria could escalate the argument, Nikki directed an unrelated
question to Baker.
“
I haven
’
t
met Privti or Kean. Do they still work for RSVP?
”

Rose cut in
before Baker could respond.
“
Sure. Those two headed up the
surveillance detail on Ria before her
recruitment.
”

“
I know all
about his little surveillance detail.
”
Ria pulled her hand away from Baker
with a brisk tug, as if she just remembered a past argument.
“
I still
don
’
t understand
why my business deserved so much attention.
”

“
A lot of
resources went into bringing you in, Ria. A lot of people had to
fall in line.
”

Something in
Rose
’
s barb made
the statement personal, but Baker started his damage control before
Nikki could figure out what she meant.
“
You
’
re unique, Ms.
Marlen.
Once I realized how well
you
’
d fit in the
team, I wanted to make sure we were in the right position to offer
each other a little mutual exploitation.
”

“
Is everything
you do part of your little plan? Is this just one big op for
you?
”

Nikki jumped in
before the lover
’
s
spat exploded into an argument or even violence.
“
Warren, how do Smoke and
Shadow fit into the team? They
’
re not really experts on collecting
intelligence or recruiting sources.
”

Ria flashed Nikki
a
‘
don
’
t try to
change the fucking subject
’
look, but Baker didn
’
t pounce on the opportunity. He sat
back, giving Rose a patient and dismissive glance. Only then did he
address Nikki
’
s question.

“
There are times
when intelligence collecting is a down and dirty job that requires
an operator
’
s
skill set. You and Ria are perfect for collecting information in an
urban environment, but sometimes I need boots on the ground in a
place where your skill set isn
’
t optimized.
”

“
Like the little
favor you offered when you tried to recruit me?
”
Ria poked Baker
’
s arm with the mouth of her
bottle.
“
I
’
ve been
waiting to hear this story.
”

“
There
isn
’
t much to
tell. You needed something. I was in a position to provide
results.
”

“
You weren
’
t in a position to do shit. But your boys were. Did you send
them after the snakeheads?
”

“
What happened
with the snakeheads?
”
Nikki preferred another story to more
fighting.

Baker took
another sip of whiskey and offered a sly smile as he spoke.
“
A situation came to my
attention and I felt it was my duty as a citizen to take
action
…”

Book Four: A Small
Favor

Spring
2013

Baker
’
s
pitch felt wrong before Chu even heard it.

The first nervous
quiver in his stomach came from the neighborhood Baker selected for
the meeting. Chu took the 7 train to the last stop and roamed in a
random appearing pattern before making his way to the non-descript
apartment building on Downing Street. He blended in with the
teeming crowds of Chinese and Koreans of
Flushing
’
s
bustling midday streets. He even stopped to buy some fruit from one
of the hundreds of open air stalls packed onto the
sidewalks.

The purchase gave him a chance to
stop and check for surveillance behind him. The red plastic grocery
bag gave him an extra piece of camouflage, since most shoppers in
Chinatown had at least one of the little bags in their hand.
Besides, Chu loved the idea of going back home with his
pomegranates and enjoying the meticulous task of extracting the
juicy red seeds.

Maybe the
inherent promise of pleasure created a warning in
Chu
’
s mind. Baker
knew how much Chu enjoyed Chinatown. He probably anticipated the
positive mood this SDR could create. The choice of a beneficial
meeting location could have been a coincidence, but Warren Baker
didn
’
t deal in
coincidences. Was he trying to lower Chu
’
s guard or was professional
awareness turning into paranoia?

Chu found more
clues at the meeting location. He avoided the front door as Baker
instructed, and walked to the service entrance around the corner
instead. The heavy steel door sat open. Baker had wedged a small
piece of wood in the door frame to prevent it from locking. Shadows
draped the inner hallway, but Chu didn
’
t see any threats beyond the
threshold. Chu knew who propped open the door when he looked at the
piece of wood.

The door stop
itself was ordinary enough, but the markings on the side stood out
like a beacon. A few years ago, Baker, Chu, Carpenter and Trent
worked for Trident Security in Iraq under the team designation
Nightwatch. They used a special symbol to mark their dead drops in
the field, four dots arranged in a diamond formation. Baker
hadn
’
t used the
symbol since he lost his leg in Karbala and Nightwatch fell apart.
Chu walked into the basement feeling more uncertainty than
nostalgia.

The last warning
came when Chu got closer to the laundry room where the meeting was
supposed to take place. He kept his head low as he passed under the
security camera, counting on his all too common Giants sweatshirt,
jeans, sneakers and Yankees cap to discourage any attempts to
identify him later. A crude sign taped to the wall said
“
Laundry Closed for
Maintenance
”
. Chu
ignored the sign and focused on the laughter echoing off the thick
concrete walls.

He recognized the
voices of the two men in the room ahead. Chu hunted and killed
terrorists with them. They shared blood, sweat and large quantities
of alcohol in dark alleys and dusty battlefields. The chaos of
combat, kidnappings and war taught them things about each other no
one else could understand. So why did this meeting feel so wrong?
Chu didn
’
t have an
answer to his question, so he entered the laundry room with his
arms open and a smile on his face.