Long Road to Mercy

Chapter 34

Pine’s decision to follow by car paid off, because Russell had gone only about two blocks when a black SUV pulled up to the curb and he climbed in. They quickly left the Capitol Hill area and proceeded north through the city.

Pine knew DC well because of her time there. They headed west, passing through the business district, and then arced farther north into some of the most affluent areas of the city.

When they entered Cleveland Park in Upper Northwest the SUV slowed. Pine followed suit. Even at this late hour the traffic was brisk, for which Pine was appreciative, because it allowed her to blend in. But she also knew how to tail a suspect, and she was confident no one in the SUV was aware of her surveillance.

When they turned onto International Place, Pine stiffened.

She thought she knew where they were going.

When the SUV slowed and then stopped at a checkpoint, her hunch was confirmed.

Though the famed architect I. M. Pei had consulted on the facility’s design, Pine had always thought it looked like a fortress.

But then again, what did you expect from the embassy for the People’s Republic of China?

The SUV pulled through the entrance and disappeared from sight.

Pine couldn’t follow, so she drove down the street, hit a U-turn, and found a spot on the street to park. She cut her lights, hunkered down, and waited.

The Chinese. Could the guy who had beaten her up have been Chinese?

And what did Simon Russell, and presumably Ben Priest, have to do with the Chinese?

Pine had no jurisdiction to enter the embassy, even if she had been officially working as an FBI agent. That building might as well be in Beijing. It was Chinese land underneath it, as far as international protocols were concerned.

And if the Chinese were involved, how did that tie into the two Russians she had knocked out at Priest’s home?

Despite the late hour, she called Blum and told her what had happened.

Blum said, “Why do you think this Simon Russell is there?”

“It can’t be a coincidence that he came here right after talking with me. So that means that whatever Ben Priest was involved in, it had to do, at least partly, with the Chinese.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Wait until Russell comes out and follow him.”

Pine clicked off and slouched down further in her seat as a car came down the road and its lights cut across her.

Her car clock hit two a.m. when the same black SUV pulled out.

Pine knew it was the same SUV because of the plates. The only problem was she had no way of knowing if Russell was inside.

She had no choice but to follow.

There was hardly any traffic now, so Pine took a chance, shot ahead of the SUV, glancing toward it as she passed. But the windows were tinted and she couldn’t see inside.

She drove back to Russell’s place, parked, and waited.

Sure enough, he came walking up to his house a few minutes later, the SUV obviously having dropped him off some distance away.

She was deciding whether to approach him again when a quartet of men converged on Russell as he opened his door. They pushed him inside and shut the door behind them.

For an instant Pine sat frozen in her car. Then she burst into action.

She hit a U-turn, turned right, and then right again as she drove into the alley she had visited before.

She stopped at Russell’s rear yard and scrambled over the wall, landing softly in the grass on the other side. Keeping low, she glided up to the house and glanced through a window.

She couldn’t see anything, but she heard noises. She had no idea who these men were or what they wanted with Russell.

She was certain they weren’t cops. If they were cops they would have shown their badges and taken him into custody on the front porch. They would not have forced him inside his house.

If this had been a normal situation, Pine would have immediately called 911. This was not a normal situation.

She checked the lock on the back window and then took out her knife and pried back the bolt. The window opened quietly and she was inside. Keeping low, Pine saw that she was in the home’s kitchen.

She slipped out her gun as she moved out of the kitchen and into the hall. She had the advantage of having been in the home before, so she knew some of the layout.

She froze when she heard the raised voices.

“I don’t know what you want.”

That was clearly Simon Russell.

Pine took out her burner phone and dialed 911.

She gave the address and what was happening.

“Hurry,” was her last word before she put the phone away.

She pulled her Beretta from her ankle holster and moved into the hallway with a gun in each hand. Whatever she did or didn’t do, she had a feeling this was not going to end well for any of them.

But reverse was not a gear with which she was familiar.

She reached the intersection of the hall and the living room to her right, across from Russell’s home office.

The house was dark because no one had bothered to turn on any lights. Not that Pine had expected the home invaders to want to risk illuminating their litany of felonies.

She edged around the corner enough so that she could see what was happening.

In the ambient light coming in from the street she could make out the four men, all standing in a semicircle around Russell, who sat in a chair.

Russell said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I know no one at the Chinese embassy.”

“Funny, since you were just there,” said one of the men.

“You have me mistaken for someone else.”

“What did Ben Priest tell you?”

Russell slowly sat up. “What will that information buy me?”

“What do you propose?” said the same man.

“A free ride out of here.”

“I’m not seeing that. You’re in too deep.”

“I’m not in anything.”

The sirens outside made them all turn to look at the window.

“Shit,” said one of the men.

“You think?” said another.

“Deal with it,” said the first man. “Take the guys with you. You know the drill.”

The three men headed to the front. Pine saw them take something out of their pockets.

This left the first man alone with Russell.

Pine took a closer look at him. He was in his fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair and longish sideburns. He had on a suit and tie. His face was weathered, and his nose had been broken at least once. He looked tough and probably was.

Pine flitted to one of the front windows and watched as a squad car pulled up to the curb.

Two DCPD officers climbed out. They were met in the front yard by the three men.

“Shit,” breathed Pine.

They were holding up shields and ID cards, just like she had done thousands of times.

They were Feds of some sort.

The two officers checked out the creds and started talking to the men.

She stole back over to her original surveillance post and watched the man and Russell.

“You can’t do this,” said Russell. “It’s against the law.”

“Nothing’s against the law if you are the law.”

“I want an attorney. Right now.”

“We have no arresting authority, Russell. It’s not how we do things. So don’t expect a Miranda warning. It won’t be coming.”

“You can’t force me to do anything.”

“Now there you just went off the rails. National security trumps all.”

“Even my damn constitutional rights?”

“The Constitution means protecting all Americans. If we sacrifice a few to do that, so be it. Simple math in my book.”

“I want you out of my house.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We’re going to be leaving. But you’re coming with us.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Wrong again. As soon as my men finish with the local yokels, we’re going to be taking a trip. We have a plane waiting.”

“Where are we going?”

“Classified.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a hint. We’re taking you to a place outside this country that will be more conducive to having a frank discussion with you.” He paused and added, “By any means necessary.”

“What, you’re going to torture me? Give me a break. You can’t do that anymore.”

“Funny, I didn’t get that memo.”

“You’ll lose your ass if you try that.”

“You think you’re the only guy we’ve had to persuade of late? And I’ve still got my whole ass right where it’s always been.”

Now Russell paled. “Look, this is ridiculous. I’m an American citizen.”

“So am I. Where does that get us? You know things that can get a lot of Americans hurt. If we have to do things to you to prevent that, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

“This is crazy. I’m going out there to talk to the cops.”

The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at Russell’s head.

“Not going to happen.”

“What, you’re just going to shoot me? Here?”

The man tapped the gun’s muzzle. “Suppressor. They’ll never hear it out there. Your choice. I’m good either way.”

“Look, you don’t have to go down that path.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid I do.”

The man suddenly collapsed to the floor.

Russell looked down at him, incredulous. When he looked up there was Pine holding her pistol, muzzle first. She’d used the butt of the weapon to clock the guy.

She beckoned to Russell. “Move your ass. Now!”