Christine Feehan - Street Game

Jaimie’s teeth bit into her lip again. There had been one recruit from North Korea, and she should have recognized the name. Kim-son Song. He had spoken of his younger sister often. She’d been born many years after him-an unexpected gift, he called her.

It was Mack who actually voiced the question, Mack the field commander, Mack who felt totally responsible for his men. “Does he know?”

“Yes. He’s been briefed. He blames himself of course, but we’re fairly certain she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Jaimie let out her breath and glanced at Mack’s face. He’d gone utterly still, even his black eyes appeared lifeless. Kim-son Song had been in his command, an invaluable asset in Europe and the Eastern Bloc nations. Most important, he was a friend. Jaimie instinctively held out her hand. For a moment, Mack didn’t move, and then his eyes touched her face. Empty. Cold. Jaimie shivered under his gaze, a sudden tremor of fear rising. There was something very dangerous buried deep in Mack. Jaimie didn’t like the rare occasions she caught glimpses of that lurking monster. Mack fought back the demons clawing at his gut. Innocent children this time. Who would use children as pawns? Someone had hired Doomsday to do their dirty work, to carry out their idea. Doomsday had no personal agenda other than to make money.

Everything in him rose up to do battle with the abductors, a berserker’s cold, deadly rage. He detested terrorists-murderers. There was no excuse to kill the innocent. There was no excuse for using political agendas to murder untrained civilians.

His gaze focused on Jaimie’s transparent face. He could easily read the jumble of confused emotions. Fear was among them. Instantly he made himself take a deep, calming breath and relax. He softened the hard angles and planes of his face with a smile as he laced his fingers through hers.

“It’s okay, baby; we’ll get them back.” He sat down, cradled her in his lap, his arms strong and comforting. His Jaimie. She had such a gentle heart, thinking only of the children and their families with compassion. The truth was, he wanted swift, brutal retaliation against the perpetrators. His fingers tangled in the blue black silk of her hair. God, but she overwhelmed him with intense emotion. Love. Whatever one called it.

“Do we know who’s behind this? Does General Chun have any ideas?”

“A few. There are a couple of powerful people who believe that if the United States was caught resorting to the kidnapping and murdering of children, the world would make concessions on their nuclear program.”

“So he wants prisoners.”

Jaimie stiffened. “If we turn those men over to the general, you know what he’ll do to them. We can’t do that.”

“They took his son, Jaimie,” Griffen pointed out. “He has a right to question them. We can’t do it. We can’t let anyone know we were even there.”

Her breath hissed out between her teeth. She looked around the room and knew immediately none of the men had the least bit of sympathy for the terrorists.

“What do you want us to do with them, Jaimie?” Javier asked.

“That’s enough,” Mack intervened.

“No, he has the right to ask,” Jaimie said. “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, especially if we’re all going in, risking our lives. I’d rather see them dead than tortured, Javier. And imprisoned rather than dead.”

“I can arrange their deaths,” Javier agreed and turned to Sergeant Major, one eyebrow raised in inquiry.

Griffen shook his head. “As much as we’d like to settle things that way, we can’t. We have to pull those kids out of there without a shot fired. No one can know. We’ll get them out of China and back into General Chun’s hands immediately. You tranquilize whoever you find and walk away. I mean it. Leave them where they lie and get those kids out of there. That’s your part of the mission.”

“Is that all? You’re sending us in without bullets?” Mack asked.

“It has to be this way,” Griffen said. “You’re ghosts. Get in and get out. We don’t have much time. We can’t take the chance that they’ll move those kids again. It’s one of their favorite tactics with hostages, moving them every few days to a new location.”

“They won’t move them, Sergeant Major,” Mack said with a small sigh. “And I think you know that. They’re going to kill them and leave the bodies near the gates inside the embassy. God only knows what they’ll do to the kids first. You can bet they’ll have pictures and arrange for reporters. They’re looking for a big splash. The video will be a YouTube hit on the Internet. You know they’ve got someone ready to record the deaths.”

“We have military transport standing by,” Griffen said. “You can sleep on the plane. You’ll leave in two hours. You’ll be infiltrating the U.S. embassy in Beijing. We don’t want anyone in the embassy informed at this time other than the captain.”

There was a long, shocked silence. “You’re not letting the embassy know?” Mack echoed softly. “I don’t think so. What the hell are you trying to pull?”

“I told you it was a hot one. What better way to start an international incident? If the children are found there, the United States would be publicly blamed,” Griffen snapped. “Who do we trust? You know there would be a leak.”

“The Marines guard all of our embassies,” Jaimie pointed out. “Security is ultra tight.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve planned for that.”

“The Marines, rather a Marine, spotted them. A very smart young man. Instead of shooting it out, he quietly reported to his captain. He was able to find the traitor working with them and to uncover the cell underground,” Griffen said. “They took the information directly to the secretary general.”

“They entered the embassy through a tunnel?” Jaimie found that unbelievable.

“The tunnel had been sealed years earlier. Someone spent a great deal of time and energy reopening it. We knew about the tunnel and also the seven seals that were cleverly worked into the building structure that amplified sounds so we could be monitored.”

“Someone on the inside helped,” Mack said.

“Three people. One, a young man who will be very quietly court-martialed,”

Griffen continued. “Another works on the grounds. Both contributed a great deal. The work was done on the guard’s shift and the groundskeeper kept everyone away from the area with various ingenious ploys. He did it right out in the open in front of embassy officials, guards, personnel, everyone. We also suspect a low-level paper pusher who is a friend of the Marine guard. No one has moved on any of those involved.”

“Who knows about this?” Mack asked.

“The secretary general was apprised of the situation immediately by the commanding officer, and of course the young Marine. The secretary general asked specifically for this team and I told him you’d do it.”

“He doesn’t want the terrorists dealt with?” Mack asked.

“Not by your team. He wants them tranquilized quietly. Once you’re out with the kids, the Marines will go in and sweep the tunnel. They’ll be turned over to Chun’s men.”

Jaimie stirred but she didn’t say anything.

“You won’t object to our defending ourselves if it comes to that, right, sir?” Javier demanded.

“Defend yourself with tranqs,” Griffen said. “We’ve got one chance to do this right. If we don’t get those children back, the United States will be very embarrassed and North Korea will be put in an impossible position.”

“They could be dead,” Mack said.

“If that’s the case, we get them out, kill everyone involved, and lose the bodies. We’ll have to deny all knowledge.”