Which is exactly what I was thinking. I relayed to the team to continue on Unsub One, and she gave me her little impish grin, then said, “That’s not going to protect you from an ass-kicking, though.”
I smiled back. “Plenty of time for that later. When we’re alone.”
The elevator dropped like a rock thrown into a well, so fast it made my stomach flip, the floors whipping by on the LED screen.
Knuckles said, “Unsub One is on the escalators down to ground level. Unsub Two is behind him. The wolf pack are following.”
I said, “Unsub One is the target. I say again, Unsub One is the target.”
Knuckles said, “What about Unsub Two and the wolf pack?”
I said, “Just track Unsub One. We’re still coming down.”
The elevators in the building were supposedly the fastest in the world, but when you had to go a hundred floors, it still seemed like forever.
We finally hit the lobby level on the fourth floor and began racing down the escalators. I said, “We’re coming out. Give me a lock-on.”
“On the north-south street, but Pike, I think this is going to get nasty. The wolf pack are tracking both of them, and they look like they came to play.”
Chapter 75
Paul saw Ryan exit the elevator, the appearance sending adrenaline through his body like an electric current. He jolted upright, then glanced around to see if anyone had noticed the reaction. He saw two twenty-somethings stare at him, but nothing else.
He paid them no mind. He’d seen their type before in places like this. Young men with no ability to afford the stores, but still wanting to show the elite class that they could explore the mall like any of the wealthy who came to shop.
He remained seated next to the public elevator bank, waiting on Ryan to pass. When he did, Paul began to follow, fixated on his crew-cut hair in the crowd, not noticing that the interest of the two men earlier hadn’t waned.
Ryan went down the first set of escalators, rounding the corner for the next one, and Paul followed. On the turn, he glanced behind, and for the first time, he noticed the two men from earlier. He swiveled his head forward, his face showing no reaction, but he began to believe he was being tracked even as he was following Ryan.
Ryan rounded the escalator to the next floor and Paul stayed behind him. Using the natural choke point of the escalator, he identified two more men. He realized they were not average young malcontents wandering a mall with stores they couldn’t afford.
They were Triad.
One more escalator switch later, and he was sure. By the time he reached the ground floor he knew the men above were tracking him, and it left him with a choice: Continue on with Ryan, or break free.
He decided that tracking Ryan might now be a risk—especially if the man himself was in contact with the Triad members following. It very well could be a setup designed to take him out.
He had no idea how the Bamboo Triad had identified him as a threat. Maybe they were just security for Ryan, or maybe it was his actions in Jiufen, but either way, he had no illusions about their capabilities. He had a dead asset for proof of that.
He decided the best course of action was to leave Ryan and get to a populated area. If they were working together, and they were simply security, that alone would cause them to break off.
He followed Ryan onto the street, and when he went right, toward the metro station, Paul went left, heading to a popular plaza known as the Xinyi shopping district. With three square blocks of the latest restaurants, stores, and nightlife interspersed among green spaces and pedestrian walkways, it would give him the protection he needed. Called the “Manhattan of Taipei,” it was a natural deterrent for the men following. But he was sure when he broke away from Ryan, they would leave him alone.
He reached the lights of the shopping district two blocks away, seeing the crowds milling about, pretending that the chaos happening just down the road wasn’t in fact ripping his country apart. He wondered if they realized that Taiwan was at a breaking point. If they thought that shopping and partying in this district would somehow protect them from the anarchy that was coming, but he knew they did not. Nobody his age in Taiwan did. China taking over the country by force was just a myth that the old people feared.
The human condition never wanted to believe that the worst has come. Whether Jews in Europe or Taiwan itself, it was easier just to believe the bad man wasn’t coming.
Waiting to cross the street, Paul glanced behind him and saw the four Triad members. Unlike the people shopping, he knew who the bad man was, and he was here.
We reached the bottom floor, having a choice of going out the front door or leaving through the parking garage, and I got a call from Knuckles saying, “We’re on them. This is a mess. We’re following a team who are following a guy who is following a guy. Pike, we can’t keep this up. There’s no way to do this clean.”
I said, “Okay, okay, I get it. Just stay on them for a minute. We’ll make a call shortly. Where are you?”
“On the north-south street right out of the exit. I’ve got the eye. Blood and Veep are on Unsub One.”
I said, “Front exit? Or the parking garage?”
“Front exit. Unsub One is headed to the metro.”
I looked at Jennifer and said, “I’ll be there shortly.”
She started moving at a sprint and I followed close behind.
Knuckles said, “All elements, all elements, I have five-five. Unsub Two has broken free from Unsub One. He’s headed my way. Who’s got the eye on Unsub One?”
Brett said, “This is Blood. I have Unsub One headed south on Songzhi Road, toward the metro.”
Jennifer and I broke out onto the street and I said, “Give me a status.”
Knuckles said, “Unsub Two still headed north. The wolf pack is following.”
Brett said, “Unsub One closing on the metro station, same road.”
“Where are the bumpers? Veep, where are you?”
“I’m at the metro, waiting on pickup.”
We started moving in the direction Brett gave and I said, “Knuckles, Knuckles, what’s the wolf pack doing?”
“They’re tracking him. Still on him.”
What the hell? The fact that another man outside of our target was being tracked was disconcerting, and gave me pause. I said, “Are all of the wolf pack on him right now?”
Knuckles said, “He just entered a large shopping area, and yeah, he’s got the assholes behind him.”
I stopped walking, saying, “Meaning Unsub One is now alone?”
Brett said, “This is Blood. Unsub One is by himself.”
Perfect. I tapped Jennifer’s arm and started racing to the metro, saying, “Okay, Koko and I are headed to the station and Unsub One. Knuckles, break off of Unsub Two and follow. We’ll give you a lock-on once we make contact. Blood, Veep, give me a track.”
I heard, “Pike, Pike, this is Knuckles. These guys are looking like they want to take down Unsub Two. They’re hunting him.”
I slowed, hearing the tone of his voice over the radio. It wasn’t just a situation report. He felt something. I said, “What’s that mean? How do you know?”
“I can’t give you an answer. I just know.”
Jennifer looked at me, waiting on a decision, and I was torn. Something bigger was in play here. Why was someone trying to attack a man who was following our own target? Was he on our side?