Chapter Thirty-Five
Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
After their arrival in Urumqi, Harper and Kwon made their way through the airport terminal without incident. As instructed, they exited the sliding doors onto the sidewalk outside arrivals at terminal 3. T3, exclusive to China Southern Airlines, was known for its rooftop that protruded above the sidewalk in the shape of eagle’s wings.
The night air filled their lungs as they searched for a Chinese-made Volkswagen C-Trek. At two in the morning, the airport had very little activity. Within minutes of their stepping onto the sidewalk, the C-Trek station wagon driven by a CIA operative gathered them up. He escorted them to a safe house, turned over the keys to the vehicle, and then disappeared into the night.
The apartment building was walking distance to First Affiliated Hospital, where Dr. Zeng had been employed. In Beijing, the CIA had confirmed he’d been suspended. The safe house was centrally located and convenient to many possible hiding places. Meanwhile, Harper and Kwon had no idea what had transpired since their flight departed Beijing.
“Home sweet home,” quipped Harper as she and Kwon entered the modestly furnished flat. The two-bedroom, one-bath apartment was barely eight hundred square feet. It contained a small efficiency kitchen that was fully stocked with nonperishables and drinks. The living area was furnished with a sofa, two matching chairs, and a dinette table for four. Otherwise, it didn’t contain any type of décor.
Kwon excused himself and went to the restroom. When he returned, he showed Harper a key ring with three small plastic keycards attached. They resembled the customer loyalty cards a grocery store might provide its customers to track their purchases or obtain special deals.
“Where did you find those?” she asked.
“The embassy. I was told during my briefing there are a series of hidden compartments within the apartment. These emit electronic signals that trigger the locking mechanisms. I just need to find all of the safes.”
Harper put her hands on her hips and looked around. She pointed to the ceiling, where a two-foot-by-three-foot air duct return was located next to a smoke alarm.
“Too obvious,” said Kwon. “We’re looking for something with a seam. You might not notice it at first glance.”
Harper wandered around the living area and then found her way to the kitchen. A gray breaker box was installed flush with the wall separating the kitchen from the guest bathroom. She opened the door, viewed the breakers, and shrugged as she closed the door.
Exhausted, she wanted to consider giving up the hunt until morning. “Can it wait?”
Kwon shook his head. “No, not really. They have a laptop for us with secured wireless capability. We can access the CIA’s servers in Beijing as well as communicate directly with our team of handlers monitoring our activity. Remember?” He pointed at the top of his forearm where the microchip had been implanted.
Harper continued her search. She looked inside kitchen cabinets and appliances. She’d given up on the kitchen and had rounded the corner toward the bedrooms when she stopped in her tracks. She held the wall with her hands and looked back into the kitchen. Then, to get a different perspective, she stepped back away from the wall separating the two areas of the apartment.
“Hey, look at this. Does this wall seem a little wide to you?”
Kwon joined her side and eyeballed the wall separating the two rooms. He walked into the kitchen and held up the three keycards, swiping each one slowly around the edges of the breaker box. On the third try, a clicking sound could be heard, and the left side of the breaker box popped open. He carefully pulled the box open on its hinges and peered inside.
“Here we go. Good work, Harper.”
He reached in and handed her a hard-plastic case the size of a laptop computer. He also retrieved two Sig Sauer MPX gun cases and several rounds of 9 mm ammunition. Lastly, there were two boxes containing Sig Sauer SRD9 suppressors. He laid out all the weapons and accessories on the kitchen counter and handed Harper the computer.
“Would you mind powering this on? It might need to be charged. But don’t navigate anywhere just yet. I have passwords.”
“Okay,” she replied. “Did you write them down?”
Kwon looked at her and tapped the side of his head. “No paper trails.”
“Um, is one of those for me?” she asked, pointing at the fully automatic carbine.
“Maybe. We’ll talk about that in a moment.”
Kwon opened the cases, pulled out the two identical weapons, and set out six thirty-round magazines. After searching through the void behind the breaker box and finding it to be empty, he closed up the space and joined Harper.
She’d plugged in the power source and powered up the IBM laptop-style computer. It was thick and bulky, unlike her thin silver MacBook. “I haven’t seen one of these in a long time.”
“Like the Blackberrys we were assigned, it’s designed to appear antiquated,” began Kwon, who had used similar devices during other operations. “It’s not actually an IBM product. It’s made by Lenovo and is exactly what we need in an environment like this. We will have satellite internet and communications via secured message streams from anywhere. If it is taken from us, it will initially appear as junk to the Chinese. If they try to access it, after three incorrect password entries, an acid-like substance will be released, destroying its motherboard and hard drive.”
“You guys get all the fun toys,” quipped Harper. She nodded toward the guns. “I can shoot, you know.”
“I know,” said Kwon dryly. “You grew up in a rural community. Your family owned weapons, and your father frequently took you to the range to practice. That’s also been nearly thirty years ago.”
Harper angrily walked away from the table. “I know how long it’s been. You obviously know a helluva lot more about me than I know about you. So was it necessary to remind me when I saw my father last?”
Kwon raised his hands. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m not very … I’m not subtle, okay. Yes, I learned everything I could about you from your personnel file and during my conversations with Joe. I asked him to be completely honest and up front with me.”
“Why?”
“So we don’t get our asses killed in China. Harper, this isn’t a game. These people don’t give a damn about us, our lives, or what we’re here for. When I say our lives depend on our abilities to fly under the radar and then get the hell out, I mean it.”
Harper turned away toward the kitchen and wiped a few tears that streamed from her eyes. She tried to control her emotions and silently cursed herself for still being sensitive about her parents after all these years. She looked at the ceiling above the oven-range combination. Her eyes followed the wall along the hood vent. She took a deep breath and changed the subject.
“I think I found another secret hidey-hole.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
CIA Safe House
Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
They stayed up for another hour and took the time to get to know one another. Kwon opened up about his family and what had led him to follow the unusual career path. He’d never set out to be a doctor but was encouraged to do so by the military. As a Navy SEAL, he was ideally suited for becoming a covert operative in any branch of the military. However, his extreme intelligence and aptitude to learn resulted in his superiors pushing him toward the medical field. After Harvard, he was too valuable to lose as a doctor, and his SEAL training was too important to cast aside. The logical landing place for Kwon was DARPA.