OUTCAST Ops: Red Ice

CHAPTER NINETEEN

OUTCAST assembled on the eighteenth floor of the Trans-Continental Marsh Hotel in Tanner and Dante’s suite. The view of the city was stunning, but their enthusiasm for it was tempered by the recent violence. The rain had stopped, but it was still overcast.

But the team wasn’t looking at the scenery. Instead, they were standing around a dining room table along with Sarah Vessler and Danny Choi. Maps were spread out on the table, along with printouts provided by Danielle. An air of purpose permeated the room.

The aftermath of the shooting was sending shock-waves throughout the city and they were moving out across the country, a political earthquake that would only get worse if the team failed in their assignment. In addition to the gunmen, ten people were dead — three reporters, a news cameraman, the mayor’s aide, four members of the mayor’s protection detail, and a woman who had come to the federal building to get a passport. Eight others were wounded, three critically, including Mayor Pagliei, and taken to area hospitals.

Board of Supervisors President Norman Kwan had assumed control of the city’s government. He immediately called for calm and sent out a plea for information about the incident.

The FBI was in charge of the investigation and had publicly called it an act of terror. Three of the gunmen, those who still had faces, had been identified as known criminals, but had been found not to be associated with the Black Dao Triad or any other Triad.

Tanner laid out the basics of the operation the team was planning. OUTCAST would strike several Black Dao holdings, shut them down, and leave a message for Hong: give up Rhee and his followers, or suffer even more losses.

Vessler listened, then shook her head. “Won’t work. Hong is old school. He won’t break the alliance without evidence that Rhee’s been screwing him and the Triad in some way. He’d lose too much face.”

“Rhee’s and his boys are on a rampage,” Liam said sourly. “Triads don’t like the attention or the heat, and it’s a sure thing Uncle Sam and the local law enforcement agencies are going to be bringing it in buckets.”

Tanner shook his head. “I think Rhee’s playing his own game, separate from the Red Ice operation, one that Hong isn’t involved in. The question is what game and what is his next move?”

“Chaos is his game,” Stephen said.

Dante nodded. “Yes, but for what purpose?”

“The North Koreans are still technically at war with both the U.S. and South Korea,” Choi said. “And they have the largest Special Forces in the world — two hundred thousand soldiers by some reports. They’ve been sending infiltrators into South Korea for decades. Imagine how much damage just a couple hundred of them could do to this country.”

Vessler frowned. “What I don’t understand are the gunmen today. They weren’t well-trained, but they didn’t go down easily.”

“I think Rhee’s recruiting locals,” Tanner said. “Using money from Red Ice sales to hire local thugs and finance his operations.”

Liam nodded. “Use the locals as cannon fodder, while keeping his own soldiers in reserve for important missions. Also makes it harder to pin down incidents involving him.”

“Rhee’s going to need bodies when he faces off against the Mexican cartels for control of the meth market, so it makes sense.”

Tanner’s cell phone trilled. He saw who the caller was he answered it. “Yeah?”

“I’m calling with an update,” Casey said. “I’m still here at the DEA office and I don’t plan to leave for a while. Preliminary tox screens came through — had to call in a few favors to get it done this fast — but there is definitely some sort of drug in the bloodstream of the people who tried to kill the mayor and the ones Liam and Stephen handled yesterday. And it’s the same substance in all of them. But it’s going to take days, if not weeks, to determine what drug it is. It’s definitely some form of amphetamine, but that’s all they can be sure about at the moment.”

“Has anyone asked the Mori family what she was working on?”

“No. Do you think it might have a bearing?”

“Won’t know unless we ask.”

“I’ll ask.”

“You hear anything on the mayor?”

“Nothing good. She’s still in critical condition, and if she does survive, doctors say she’ll never walk again.”

“I see.”

“I’ll keep you informed if anything else turns up. Good luck.”

After Casey broke the connection, Tanner pocketed the phone and filled the others in on Casey’s information.

Liam frowned. “Rhee and his boys could be anywhere.”

“Which is why we’re going to lean on Hong and his boys.” Tanner looked down the table at Danielle. “How is it going?”

Danielle looked up from her laptop. “Wombat and his people cracked the Triad’s database ten minutes ago. I’m waiting on the data now.”

Vessler’s eyes narrowed. “Wombat?”

“Danni knows people in the hacking community,” Naomi explained. “She’s a respected white-hat hacker. She sent out word that she needed help cracking a certain database, and a few of her people responded.”

“The Black Dao’s database?” Vessler asked.

Naomi nodded. “We’re not making arrests or opening cases. We’re looking to hit Hong in the pressure points so that he gives up Rhee.”

“And here we go.” Danielle tapped a few keys and the wireless printer on the sideboard began spitting out papers. “All the data we’ll ever need.”

Tanner nodded. “Let’s get started.”