Springboard

34

Kent was going over his checklist, being methodical, but not dragging his feet. He had a lot of things to get done and not much time to do them.

His virgil bleeped. He answered it without looking at the caller ID.

“Kent.”

“Abe. John Howard.”

“General. What can I do you for?”

“I, uh, heard about your mission. I’m sending over a little something I thought you might find useful. Ought to be there any minute.”

“I appreciate that, John. I can use all the help I can get.”

“Break a leg, Abe. Preferably not your own.”

He discommed, and Kent did the same. He looked up to see a man in Net Force blues striding between the stacks of ammo boxes three meters high on either side of the row.

“Julio?”

“Colonel.”

“You have something for me from John Howard?”

“Yes, sir. That would be me, sir. If you want to reactivate me from reserve status, I have a leave of absence from General Howard to tag along.”

Kent grinned. “Consider yourself reinstated to active duty, Captain.”

“Yes, sir. Where shall I start?”

Kent handed him the list. “Here. Finish this, there’s plenty more to do. Welcome back, son.”

“Glad to be here, sir. Being a consultant was getting a little slow.”

“I hope you haven’t lost too many steps.”

“Me, too. But when it comes to shooting, I can still beat you, sir.”

“Now and then, son. Only now and then.”

Kent grinned again and hurried off to make sure his team was on schedule.

Locke made a number of phone calls. These conversations were very nearly the same, save for the names of the casino managers:

“Honorable Chan?”

“Yes?”

“This is Colonel Han, in charge of the local antiterrorist unit of the People’s Army. I have been instructed by Comrade General Wu, who, as I am sure you know, is honored to command the division of the People’s Army that protects Macao, to call you.”

“Wu, yes.”

“We have received intelligence, Honorable Chan, that indicates a terrorist plot to attack certain casinos.”

“What? When? How?”

“Unfortunately, sir, the specifics have yet to be determined. However, General Wu desires that a general warning be given to those who might be involved. Our information indicates that the terrorists, who are members of a secret and well-armed cabal, could launch an attack within weeks, perhaps even days.”

“We will increase our security immediately!”

“Sir, Comrade General Wu directs me to tell you that such a measure might be unwise. The terrorists are particularly violent and likely suicidal, and they will have weapons far superior to casino security officers or even those of the local police. Resistance by your security personnel could result in a bloodbath. None of us want to see dead tourists piled on the floor; that would be bad for international relations, and bad for business. Rather, in the event of such an attack — which we, of course, hope to thwart — your wisest course of action would be to call the Army. We have special antiterrorist teams standing by for instant deployment, stationed in hiding near the casinos. I have here the phone number, which is manned around the clock.”

“I see.”

Locke knew at this point the casino manager to whom he was speaking would perhaps be raising an eyebrow in skepticism. Anybody could call him on the telephone and make such a claim — terrorists might attack, and if they do, don’t resist them — and how stupid would you feel if you did that and it was some kind of trick?

One did not get to run a multimillion-dollar endeavor by being slow of wit.

So Locke set the hook: “Please feel free to call Comrade General Wu’s office if you have any further questions about this matter, sir. The general would, of course, be more than happy to speak personally with a man of your standing. I have here his private number… ”

Nearly all of the casino managers made that call, which was indeed to a private number established for Wu, and any telephone checks would show it thus. The general hastened to assure the casino managers that yes, Colonel Han of the antiterrorist squad was acting under his direction. The situation was being addressed.

Later, Locke went to the casinos in his official uniform, and spoke in person to the managers. Word, of course, quickly filtered back to the police, but that had been the first call he had made — to tell the local authorities the same thing he’d told the casino managers. So if some forgetful security guard called the police? Well, they would know that this was a military operation and to stay away. The Army always ranked above the police force; no one questioned such things.

Locke was just a bit worried. Since he was certain that Leigh was in somebody’s custody, there was a chance that the man might reveal something of the plan. True, Leigh did not know all of it. He did not know how, neither did he know when it would happen, since the date had been moved up, so even if he spilled what he knew to a questioner, they would be late to the party. Still, it was vexsome, since he had told Wu that Leigh knew nothing of their scheme. It was better that way — no need to add to Wu’s worries. Nor to have him angry at Locke for letting Leigh know anything.

Of course, Wu himself had babbled the entire plan to his spy and mistress, and while she could be trusted to go along, hoping for a big payoff, if something went crooked, Locke didn’t trust her as far as he could spit. That she would give them up to save herself was a given.

Well. One had to play the cards one was given.

Ah, but here was an unexpected trump card, one that demonstrated where the beauty of having the local military commander in on the plan came forth. Mere hours after Locke visited this worry about Leigh again, his fake antiterrorist line had rung. The call was from a local senior police official. They had received a communication from the Chinese computer authority, and as a result, had arrested a British national here in Macao. Questioning had revealed nothing of use so far, but it might be possible that this man, a foreigner; was involved in the terrorist plot, yes?

Locke had almost laughed aloud. Yes, he had told the policeman, it was possible. The Army would like to question this prisoner. They would send men to collect him and transport him back to the base for interrogation. It was not a request.

The police were only too happy to comply.

Locke pulled in a couple members of his personal team, already outfitted as soldiers, wrote transfer papers on Wu’s official stationery, and sent them to collect Leigh. How perfect was that?

The police were going to turn the only man who could blow the whistle on Locke’s operation over to him!

Leigh, unfortunately, would have an accident shortly after he came into Locke’s custody. He was a loose end Locke had planned to wrap up anyway, and this just made it easier.

That done, there was nothing else to stop them, nothing.