The Defector, page 10
“I’ll bring it up to my superiors that you’re not satisfied.”
Kane waved him off. “No, no, no, no. That’s not what I said. I said, this is fine for now, so for the moment I’m satisfied. This beats the hell out of the prison cell I spent last night in.” He took Kwan’s hand again and turned to her. “You wouldn’t believe what they had me in. It was absolutely horrendous.”
She smiled. “I can imagine so. But you’re here now, and you’ve got me to take care of you.”
Kane kissed her hand. “You are far better looking than the prison guard I had last night.”
She giggled. “I should hope so.”
He turned to Pak. “When does the flight land?”
“In six hours.”
“And what will you be doing with him?”
“There’ll be a short debriefing where his new situation will be explained to him and the consequences of not cooperating. Then he’ll be introduced to his new coworkers.”
Kane glanced at Kwan. “Is it safe to speak in front of her?”
“You can speak freely.”
The confirmation affirmed what he suspected—Kwan was an intelligence asset. “Good. I prefer to know where I stand.” He continued to hold her hand. “One of the reasons I chose Dr. Burkett for this, shall we say, assignment, is his rather unique beliefs. He believes that the science must be advanced at all costs, so he doesn’t care who he’s working for. He believes that he’s ultimately working for mankind. He is so self-absorbed that he couldn’t care less that he’s now working for North Korea as opposed to the United States. I think you’ll find him very compliant.”
Pak agreed. “That does match with the initial reports I’ve received from the extraction team.”
“One more thing, though. He’s arrogant. Unbelievably arrogant, which makes him come off as an asshole. He likes to work alone. So, you might find him a bit incommunicative, especially with anybody he considers less intelligent than him. Understood?”
Pak smiled slightly. “But from what you’ve told me, we’re all less intelligent than him.”
Kane laughed. “Major, we’re all morons compared to him. But remember, even your top scientists are probably far less intelligent than him, and he’s going to let them know it. Just be prepared for him to be less than cooperative if you attempt to challenge his knowledge. Just let him do his work. I’d be willing to bet he’ll have your reactor up and running in well under a year, and Pyongyang will have seen its last blackout.
Kwan bounced on her toes. “That would be wonderful!”
Pak agreed, though not quite so boisterously. “Indeed. Then I’ll leave you two to get to know each other. I’ll be back in the morning to pick you up.”
“Sounds good.” Kane extended a hand and Pak shook it. “Goodnight, Major.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Kane.”
Pak left the apartment and Kwan locked the door behind him. She turned, her back pressed against the door as she stared at him seductively. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this assignment since I saw your photo.”
Kane approached her then pressed his body against hers. “Then I guess I shouldn’t make you wait.”
She reached up and grabbed his head, pulling him closer as her eyes closed. He kissed her gently at first then more fervently, and as his arousal grew, his heart ached with the enormous guilt he felt for betraying the only woman he had ever loved.
28 |
Temporary Staff Quarters, CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia
“Time to wake up, sleepyhead.”
Leroux flinched then stretched as he remembered where he was—one of the private sleeping quarters inside the CIA Headquarters complex. It was dark in the windowless room, though the door to the hallway was slightly ajar, the light silhouetting Sherrie standing by his bedside. He reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer, and she gasped as their lips met. He was quickly aroused and grabbed her other hand, bringing it toward Chris Jr. when she abruptly yanked away.
“Chris, it’s me!”
His heart nearly stopped at Tong’s voice. “Oh my God!” He reached over and flicked on the light, revealing a slightly disheveled Tong, her chest heaving, her eyes wide, her mouth agape. He smacked his forehead. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Sonya. I thought you were Sherrie.”
“I kind of wish I was,” she muttered.
“What was that?”
She blushed. “Nothing. Sorry, I should have said something sooner.”
He laughed. “Sherrie is going to find this hilarious.”
Tong’s eyes shot wide. “You’re not going to tell her, are you?”
He paused. “Yeah, you’re right. Dylan would find it hilarious, Sherrie might decide she has to kill you.”
Tong’s jaw dropped and he gave her a look.
“That was a joke.”
The jaw snapped shut. “Not a good one.”
He shrugged. “I’m usually the butt of the joke, not the one cracking it.”
Her expression softened. “I think you’re funny.”
He grinned. “You have to say that. I’m your boss.”
She clasped her hands in front of her, staring down at them. “I like to think we’re friends.”
He began to stand when something down below reminded him of what had just happened moments before. He immediately sat back down, grabbing his pillow and covering the evidence.
She giggled. “Must have been one hell of a kiss.”
It was his turn to flush. “I guess so. Maybe we’re not going to mention this to anyone.”
“I think that’s probably best. I’ll see you in ops?”
“Yes.”
She stepped toward the door when he stopped her.
“Oh, and Sonya?”
“Yeah?”
“You better fix your lipstick.”
She stepped over to the mirror and snorted. “Yep, if anybody saw me coming out of here like this, we’d both be in front of HR.” She fixed her lipstick then pointed at his own lips. “You better wash that face, mister, or you’ll have some splainin’ to do.”
He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and laughed. “Thanks. Now, you better get out of here before HR does show up with their clipboard.”
Tong grinned at him then left, closing the door behind her. Leroux locked it and struggled with his pants, battling the wagger, surprised at how turned on he still was and how his mind kept picturing what could have happened if they hadn’t stopped. He loved Sherrie, was completely loyal to her, and would never cheat on her, but what had just happened was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened outside of his love life with Sherrie.
He checked himself in the mirror, wiping the last bit of lipstick from the corner of his mouth, then checked to make sure he could walk normally.
And sighed.
There’s no way you’re telling Sherrie about this.
He closed his eyes.
I just hope that one day I get to tell Dylan.
He checked his watch. The flight was due to enter Chinese airspace in an hour. If they changed their route, which he was certain they would, it meant a message was probably going to be sent soon thereafter, so he would have to be ready. He opened the door and stepped into the corridor, several of his team emerging from their own rooms.
“Hey, boss,” said Child as he walked up to him. “Get any sleep?”
“A few hours. You?”
“Slept like a baby. I don’t know what it is about the beds here, but I always sleep better here than at my apartment.”
“Talk to building maintenance. Maybe they can tell you who their mattress supplier is and you can get the make.”
Child eyeballed him for a moment. “That’s not a bad idea, but I can’t afford government prices. You just know we pay five times what they’re worth.”
“I didn’t say buy it from us, I said find out who we’re buying from so they can tell you what type it is. You might get lucky.”
“I’m doing that the minute this op is over.” Child stepped on the elevator but Leroux hung back. “You’re not coming?”
“I have a meeting. I’ll join you guys in about fifteen minutes.”
“Quick meeting.”
“Yep.” The doors closed and Leroux took the next elevator, pressing the button that would take him to the quartermaster.
There was equipment he needed to sign out.
29 |
CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia
Sonya Tong stepped into the bathroom stall and locked the door. She was giddy, her entire body shaking from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. When Leroux had pulled her in, she wasn’t certain what was going on, but when their lips met, her heart had gone into overdrive and she nearly passed out from the shock and excitement. She would have let it continue, but when he took her other hand, it was about to escalate into something that went beyond innocent mistake. It could have destroyed the friendship they had, but God, she would have loved to have kept going, to go all the way.
But that wasn’t in the cards, and she wasn’t that kind of girl.
She still had feelings for him, and at the moment, she was utterly infatuated with him yet again, but that would fade with the memory. Well, that was the theory. She had a feeling there was no way this memory would fade any time soon, and she’d be using it to fire up her imagination the first chance she got to be alone.
She was alone.
She groaned as her hand slid down her body, then almost yelped as a door opened. She inhaled sharply, straightening her clothes before flushing the toilet. She counted to ten then unlocked the stall. Avril Casey, one of the analyst supervisors who managed an op center crew like Leroux, smiled at her in the mirror.
“You look a little out of sorts.”
Tong’s cheeks burned and she forced herself toward the sink. “It’s just the op we’re on.”
“Oh yeah? What have they got you working on?”
Tong shook her head. “Sorry. Classified.”
Casey grunted. “Aren’t they all? Did you spend the night?”
“Yeah, we all did. We’re sequestered.”
Casey’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Wow. Must be one hell of an op.”
“You have no idea.”
Casey dried her hands. “Well, good luck with it. I hope it turns out well.”
“You and me both.”
Casey left the bathroom and Tong washed her face and hands then took a moment to straighten her hair and reapply her lipstick. She wondered just how she would face Leroux without the entire room knowing they had been lip-locked only minutes ago, and she almost had his little guy in her hand.
She giggled.
Thank God I stopped him.
She headed for the door, the she-devil on the other shoulder scolding her for not having taken advantage of the opportunity. She growled at herself.
I have to get a boyfriend.
“Or at least get laid,” whispered the devil in her ear.
30 |
Pothong Riverside Terraced Residential District Pyongyang, North Korea
There was no denying the sex was good. In fact, the sex was incredible. But sex was just sex without love. Kane would trade a thousand nights with Kwan for just one more night with Fang. He had always known this would be the hardest part, hurting the ones he loved, especially her, but he had no choice.
Today was the big day.
The extraction team would be arriving shortly with their prize, then his entire future depended upon what came next. He was counting on the supreme arrogance of the man to carry the day and win him the confidence of his new masters, but something else would be happening today as well. He had no doubt a hit squad had been sent to take him out and that they would be in position to do so today. He would have to be on the lookout and take all the necessary precautions. The best would be sent and the best was Bravo Team. The question was, what were their orders? There was only one possible set that likely would have been approved by the president himself.
Kill him at the earliest opportunity.
Kwan stirred beside him and smiled. “I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun,” she cooed.
“Neither can I,” he lied. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”
“How much time do we have?” she asked.
He checked his watch. “We have to be ready to leave in an hour.”
She grinned at him mischievously. “I think that’s plenty of time for a little stress reliever, and then I’ll make you breakfast while you shower.”
“I don’t think…”
She disappeared under the sheets and changed his mind, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he groaned. Today might very well be his last day on earth, so he might as well enjoy it. Yet as she worked her magic, he closed his eyes and imagined he was back home in his apartment with the woman he loved, and not here in this hellhole of a dictatorship with a woman who meant nothing to him and would never mean anything to him, and always would be someone he was merely playing a part with.
And for the first time since he’d been here, he broke, and a single tear rolled free, down the side of his face and past his ear.
31 |
Operations Center 2, CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia
Leroux entered the operations center, racked with guilt. He smiled weakly at Tong, who made brief eye contact, her cheeks flushed.
Yup, it’s going to be awkward.
But kissing her wasn’t the cause of his guilt, it was what was in his bag. They had a mole in the Agency working for Kane, and they had to find out who it was. Thousands upon thousands of people worked in this building, but very few of them were privy to what was going on. Outside of his team, there were only a handful. The mole could be anyone, but that mole would need access to the same intel his team had to know when certain key events occurred, and when the messages should be triggered. It should mean that the mole was either a member of his team, which he prayed it wasn’t, or one of the handful of upper management aware of what was going on. Yet those assumptions were based upon the handful not sharing the information they were privy to with others.
He placed his bag on his workstation and took a seat, his mind growing more desperate as he realized that the handful had the potential to be much bigger. If he just thought of the Chief, what information was his aide privy to? Did he share information with other senior analysts or analyst supervisors? Leroux was privy to information that he shouldn’t be because the Chief trusted him and valued his opinion, but he was certain that domain wasn’t exclusively his. There could be any number of people aware of what was going on, but for now, his immediate concern was whether he could trust everyone in the room he now sat in.
“How far is that plane from North Korean airspace?”
“It depends,” replied Tong. “If they make the course change, they can be there in as little as five minutes. I suspect they’ll wait until the last moment before they do it, though.”
“If they do it at all,” muttered Child.
Leroux ignored it. His heart was racing, his palms sweaty. Within minutes, he could know whether one of his own team was the mole. He couldn’t believe it was possible, but then again, he never would have believed his best friend could be a traitor, or that someone like Tommy Granger could have been recruited to help. If it was a member of his team, they had to be willing participants. Tommy had the excuse of not knowing what he was doing—whoever was sending the messages to trigger his efforts knew full well what was going on.
There was no way this person could plead ignorance.
He had signed out a signal scanner from the quartermaster and it was now running, scanning for any signal in the room. If the triggering message was sent and it was from within these four walls, he would know, then security would be called in and everyone searched. And while he would love to know who was sending the messages, he prayed that the seventh message due to be sent wasn’t picked up by the scanner.
“They’re changing course,” announced Tong.
Leroux looked up to see the red line tracing the route now showing a sharp turn directly for North Korean airspace.
“ETA two minutes.”
Child spun. “Does this tell us anything?”
Leroux shook his head. “No, not anymore. As soon as we intercepted them, they knew we knew. There’s no point in trying to hide it now. They just want to get him safely on the ground as quickly as possible. Any projection as to where they’re going to land?”
“There are several possibilities along that route,” replied Tong. “But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say Sunchon. It’s military, just outside of Pyongyang, and close to their nuclear reactor. It minimizes his exposure to any hit team we might send in.” She pointed at the screen. “They’re in North Korean airspace.”
Leroux watched as the flashing indicator passed across the dotted line, indicating the territorial airspace of North Korea. Shooting them down now would be an act of war. Kane’s first arranged kidnapping was now a success, but what that meant was anybody’s guess. If the North Koreans managed to hang on to Burkett, it could change the country’s prospects dramatically and quickly. Stable nuclear power could improve the lives of millions living within the world’s most repressive regime, and just that one accomplishment could be enough to solidify Kane’s standing in his new homeland. This one success could mean his friend would disappear permanently within hours, either dead because he was of no more use, or enjoying whatever benefits he had negotiated.
He growled. It just made no sense. What could the North Koreans possibly offer him that he couldn’t get here?
“You okay, boss?” asked Child from behind him.
Leroux batted a hand. “Just frustrated with the situation.” His phone beeped, indicating a secure message. He brought up the messenger and read the update from Sherrie.
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