Chapter 29
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Suratan
The turboprop had carried them off the island of Suratan a little after first light, lifting from the airstrip near Locke’s compound and setting down again on a coastal field an hour away.
The jet waited with its engines already warm. Two aircraft, two crews, and no line on any map that joined the place Locke came from to his destination. He had traveled this way for years. It was the safest option.
Now the jet held its altitude, and far below the Gulf of Thailand ran flat and metal-bright to the curve of the earth, the hammered shine of the water reaching north toward the low coast and the city waiting at the head of it.
Locke reached up and drew the shade down over the glass.
He preferred the cabin to the view. The office at the rear of the aircraft was a narrow room, paneled in pale wood, a desk built into the bulkhead and two low chairs, with the one oval window now shuttered against the glare.
The air was cool and filtered. The engines held a single low note that never changed.
It was a sealed and ordered space, and Locke had crossed most of the world inside rooms like it.
The door from the forward cabin opened and Ming came in. She crossed to the desk, set a tablet device down, and turned it so he could read the screen.
“I’ve gone over how we get into The Phraya,” she said. “There are some things I need to confirm in person before we meet with Sear. I want to go through them now.”
Locke looked at the hotel displayed on the screen. They had used it before. Ming had no reason to describe it.
“This is the service lane on the south side,” Ming said. “The gate is covered with bougainvillea. Here’s the side door and the hallway to the private elevator. We’ve used all of it before, but we can’t assume it’s still the same, so I’ll confirm.”
“What about the suite?”
“The suite isn’t the problem. It’s on the top floor, with a terrace over the river. Nan will check it the day of the meeting, the way she always does.” Ming moved her finger on the tablet and the plan shifted. “The problem is everything between the suite and the car. That’s where we’re exposed.”
“Yes. Sear presents many problems,” Locke replied. “That’s why we charged him the fortune he’s paying.”
“True. Sear also needs more attention, for the same reasons,” Ming said.
“Confirming logistics is your department,” Locke said. “Before Sear gets anywhere near Bangkok, we need perfect intel.”
“Understood,” Ming said. She picked up the tablet and went forward to the cabin, closing the door behind her.
Locke worked a bit longer and then checked his watch. He woke the screen set into the bulkhead above the desk and placed the call.
“Bolivar is ready,” Chu answered from the operations room. The long wall of monitors displayed images in the background. “Shall I connect him now?”
“Yes.”
Chu changed the display to a split screen and added Bolivar to the call. He sat in a room lit by a single lamp, a hard shadow thrown up the wall. A bandage was taped along one forearm. His hands rested flat on the table.
“Tell me what happened,” Locke said.
Bolivar gave a concise report. “The safe house was sealed against all signals. There was only one door. Four trained operatives were inside, all armed. After what happened at the airstrip, I knew they were competent. Within the first hour of surveillance, I knew there was no quiet way to do the job.”
“So you changed your orders,” Locke said flatly.
“No. My orders were to find another approach if a conflict with the team erupted,” Bolivar replied. “So I found another approach.”
“You destroyed the house.”
“It worked. I did it from outside.” Bolivar reported it plainly.
“I had a tracker on the SIM the whole time I watched the place. When Patterson carried it inside, the tracker showed it was on him. I expected him to take the SIM into the SUV when he evacuated. He did. The armored vehicle would survive, and the SIM would survive with it. I could recover it afterward.”
“And you read it wrong.”
“I read it right at the time.” Bolivar didn’t soften it and he didn’t reach for an excuse. “Patterson moved the SIM after he went into the house. It never came back out. The operatives reached the SUV as expected. All four of them came out alive.”
Locke said, “Tell me about the SIM.”
“It’s destroyed. It’s somewhere in the rubble, and I didn’t recover it. It’s not likely anyone will ever find it.”
“Whatever Kyle Patterson stored on that chip, I copied it weeks ago. The first time Cody Patterson powered the SIM up to read it, everything on it came across to me. We have all of it already,” Chu said.
“The card itself is gone, which also means Cody Patterson doesn’t have it anymore.
We hold the only copy of its contents that exists.
The SIM is no longer a factor, which was the point of the mission. ”
“To be clear, you stay out of sight. They never learn you exist. They never learn anyone is still watching them,” Locke said slowly and clearly. “You wait and you report back to Chu. Got it?”
“I understand,” Bolivar said.
“They will split up. We want to know when that happens and how they pair up. We’d like to know where they’re going. You may need backup. Confirm with Chu the moment they move.”
“I will,” Bolivar said just before Chu turned Bolivar’s side of the screen off and returned to a single view.
Locke reached over and brought up the private channel they kept secret. “I want Bolivar removed.”
“Bolivar is experienced and reliable.” Chu’s expression didn’t change. “All four of the operatives are alive and the SIM is destroyed. That’s what we told him to do.”
“The group is better than we expected. We should have sent Ming.” Locke replied shaking his head. “Bolivar put a spotlight on our operation. It will be more difficult to handle them now that they know we’re watching. He’s a loose end.”
Chu paused a moment before he answered. “Bolivar didn’t fail. He normally works in more hostile environments for us where bold measures are necessary. He read the situation correctly on scene. He’s the most capable man Ming has ever trained. At this time, he’s not replaceable.”
Chu’s points were well taken. But Locke didn’t like the situation. He’d lived on instinct and expertise too long to ignore his gut now.
“He’s a liability,” Locke said. “Remove him.”
“As always, it’s your call,” Chu said, setting aside his objections as if he’d never made them. “I’ll take care of it. Shall we postpone Sear?”
“No. Cleaning up the Quinn mess is old business. Sear is ready. We’ll proceed as planned,” Locke replied. “Ming will complete the recon. We don’t expect to encounter any issues.”
Chu offered another warning. “Sear will pay more than anyone else. He’ll present trouble in exact proportion to his fee.”
“We’ve been over this. The decision stands.” Locke looked at the window shade, at the thin hard line of light burning along its lower edge. “Sear is the last big piece of business this year. Maybe for a long time. We need perfection.”
“It will be.” Chu signed off.
Locke closed the channel when the screen went black, reflecting the lamp behind him in the narrow office. He raised the shade. Far below, the sea lay hammered and bright all the way to the curve of the earth, and he looked down at it for a while as he finalized Bangkok.