Private Beijing

Chapter 80

Tate Johnson had been very interested in the new evidence Justine had presented. Normally the State Department would have begun proceedings to secure Angel from the Chinese authorities so he could face prosecution, but with the information Sci and Mo-bot had obtained about Angel’s imminent departure, Tate said he wouldn’t involve State, but would instead take a discreet, more direct approach to get Angel in front of a judge.

Justine was unclear of Tate’s exact role as a contractor with the Department of Defense, but he seemed to have a great deal of authority. Within a couple of hours he had established an ad-hoc command center on the third floor of the FBI building in Federal Plaza in the south of Manhattan. Justine, Mo-bot, and Sci had been invited to attend as observers, but they were more than that — at least Mo-bot was. She gave Tate’s technical team access to the feeds she was picking up from the embassy staffers’ phones. There was no talk of warrants or illegality, and Justine couldn’t figure out whether that was because Tate’s team were independent contractors or if they had already taken care of the necessary legal procedures.

The FBI building was located on the corner of Worth Street and Broadway, towering above the neighboring structures. It was set behind concrete barriers to prevent vehicle assault and security was tight. They were scanned and searched on entry, and each floor and every room was assigned a security rating from sensitive to top secret. Only people with the relevant clearance were allowed in those areas. The large windowless conference room that was Tate’s base of operations was rated secret.

There were thirty-four people in the room. Justine knew because she had counted them all once she had managed to get hold of Erin Sebold to tell her Jack was on his way to Moscow. There wasn’t much else for Justine to do, so she watched Tate and his team preparing for the task that lay ahead.

There were fifteen field operators, distinguishable by their body armor and weapons: six women and nine men. Fifteen analysts and support personnel staffed computer and communications terminals, and then there was Tate plus the three observers from Private.

The plane had filed a flight plan to Beijing with a 5 p.m. departure time, and it was a fifty-minute journey from the embassy, so Angel had to be leaving at any moment. The room was quiet in anticipation, as though thirty-four people were simultaneously holding their breath.

“I’ve got him,” someone said, and Justine turned to see one of the analysts pointing at her screen. “Micro-drone camera in the underground garage.”

Tate’s people had bolstered Mo-bot’s surveillance with some gadgets of their own. Justine saw the hitman walking through a garage with a couple of handlers. He was taken to a large SUV.

“He’s getting into a silver Escalade, license DCM0089,” the analyst announced.

“Okay, people,” Tate said. “We’ve got our target. Move.”

The field operators hurried from the room, Tate following.

“We’ll let you know when we have him,” he said to Justine before he left.

The room fell quiet again as the analysts turned their attention to the surveillance and pursuit operation that was now underway.

Justine noticed Mo-bot and Sci get to their feet.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“We’ve never been good spectators,” Mo-bot replied.

Sci nodded. “After what this guy did to us, to Jessie and to Lewis, I want to see the whites of his eyes when they put him in irons.”