“Fisk we have; Harris we don’t.”
“Do we go in and get him or negotiate his release?”
“Fuck negotiation. We go in and get him the same way we went in and got Saint and Benjamin.”
“Any idea where he’s being kept?”
“This idea that the Chinese can hide where prisoners are being detained is nothing but a big crock of fucking propaganda. Name one, give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll tell you where they’re being held.”
“Do you think they consider him a prisoner?”
“With everything he knows, they’re keeping him alive for the sole purpose of making a deal. Once Jinyan dies, or someone else they want bad enough to trade him for, Xander dies too.”
“That’s no secret to Xander, then.”
“Sure as shit isn’t.”
“Fisk knows it too.”
“You got that right, Irish. He wasn’t afraid of Kerr; it’s China that terrifies him.”
When I walked back inside, I saw Decker rub his hands together. “You aren’t going,” I said over my shoulder.
“I know,” he grumbled. “I’ll sure as hell be watching from home, though.”
I approached Money first, who by the time I got to him had already started packing up his computer. “About time. I thought I was going to be forced to suggest leaving myself. Better that I don’t know the details than if I have to run this up the chain of command.”
“I’m going to ask Dr. Charles, err, Edgemon to step out as well.”
“Understood.”
Money put his hand on my shoulder. “Godspeed, Irish.”
At the same time I walked Money and Emme out, Saint drove up.
“Where’s Dr. Benjamin?” I asked when he got out of the SUV.
“Making contact with Jinyan.”
“You should go with them,” I said, pointing to the vehicle Money had just unlocked.
“Why?”
“Because what’s about to happen in there is need-to-know.”
“You’re going in.”
I had no reaction.
“I need to go with you.”
Interesting word choice. “Need?”
“Yes, Irish. Need.”
“I can’t help you, Saint.” I turned to go inside.
“Wait.”
I sighed. “What?”
“I will agree to any role you choose.”
“What’s this all about, Saint?”
“I’ve left MI6.”
“And?”
“This is what I do, Irish. I am presently a man with no purpose.”
“Maybe you should take a moment to reflect on how you got in this situation.”
“I left MI6 of my own accord. I was not asked to leave.”
“Why?”
“For the same reason many of the men inside that room left the CIA or Lynx left MI6 as I did. I was tired of my hands being perpetually tied. Tired of the bureaucracy that came along with the job. Do you realize I have been Benjamin’s bloody caretaker for the past three years?”
“I don’t know…”
“There was a time in your life when people believed you were someone you’re not. I was there when the men and women in that room showed you their support. I saw the look on your face. Allow me this one chance to prove I am not the man you believe I am.”
“Fuck,” I said under my breath.
“What?”
“It isn’t hard to see how you were able to seduce those millions of women you’ve bedded.”
“As I said, you know how it feels to have people believe you’re someone you’re not.”
“Let me ask you something.”
“Go on.”
“At one point, Lynx said you were with Emme. Is that true?”
“To me, she was Charlie, and to her, I was Tommy. As far as being with her, tell me, Irish, didn’t you fall a little bit in love with her yourself?”
“Hard not to.”
“Precisely.” He looked out at the ranch and then at me. “As hard as this was for me to accept at one point in time, Lynx is the man she was always meant to be with. And before you ask, our dear, sweet Dr. Charles was as clueless of my affections as she is brilliant in so many other ways.”
When we went inside, it was evident Decker had made the announcement that we were going to extract Harris.
Like I saw Deck do earlier, Gunner was rubbing his hands together like a child waiting to open a Christmas present.
Doc motioned me over. “I’ll be honest, it isn’t easy for any of us not to take charge and plan this extraction. However, we’re following your lead. I will, however, offer the use of any of the K19 fleet of planes.”
“Fleet, what a crock of shit,” mumbled Decker, joining us.
“I’d appreciate it if we could walk through this before announcing it to the entire group.”
“Roger that,” said Doc, motioning for Razor and Gunner to take a hike.
He, Deck, and I sat down.
“I’m going to be equally honest. I’ve never run an extraction mission. Correction. I’ve never been on an extraction mission.”
“You trained for it; it’ll come back to you. Plus, you’ll have the best of the best by your side. We won’t let you fuck up too bad,” said Deck.
“I hope you’re including K19 in that group,” said Doc.
“You know I am, especially since I can’t come along. Mila—”
“Say no more,” said Doc. “Even if you said you wanted to go, no one in this room would allow it.”
I chuckled at the look on Decker’s face. As if he’d permit anyone to say no to him—except maybe Mila.
“He’s here,” he said, pointing to a map on his computer screen.
“Shanghai?” I asked.
Decker zoomed in. “Within Gongqing Forest Park, along the Huangpu River, there are at least three ‘cottages’ used as hei jianyu or black jails.”
I’d heard the term that referred to a network of detention centers established by Chinese security forces and private security companies where detainees were held without trial, often without knowing the reason for their incarceration. As seen on the screen, many of these facilities looked like cottages; some were even set up within hotels. Regardless of what they looked like on the outside, within, they were referred to as the “alleyways to hell.”
Since they were often manned by private security personnel, there was no oversight of treatment. According to many human rights activists, the majority of the guards were hired specifically for their sadistic personalities.
Someone like Harris would likely have believed he was being given a home in the forest where he would be protected twenty-four seven. Instead, it was plausible that he was beaten, deprived of food and sleep, and even of medical attention if it was required.
Decker outlined what he believed would be the quickest and safest way in and out.
Two teams would fly from Los Angeles to Taiwan. From there, seaplanes—the riskiest part of the mission other than the extraction itself—would transport us over the China Sea to the archipelago Zhoushan. Once there, we would travel by car to Gongqing.
Total travel time would be almost forty-eight hours there and back for an extraction planned to take less than fifteen minutes.