Graveyard Of The Atlantic E-Book

Helen Goltz

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Off the shores of Cape Hatteras, deep below the surface, lie the bodies of ships that never made it back to land... and with them, something silent and sinister.

Two sets of fingerprints on a pair of binoculars left on the beach are cause for concern for FBI special agent Mitchell Parker and his team. The prints belong to a criminal who is listed as being abroad, and a foreign diplomat who disappeared a year ago.

Meanwhile, several police officers from Beijing are visiting the US for a peculiar purpose. But are they linked to the events in Cape Hatteras? It will be a rough ride for Mitchell and his team, as they race against the ocean - and the clock - to solve the mystery.

Leseprobe

GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC

MITCHELL PARKER CRIME THRILLERS BOOK 2

HELEN GOLTZ

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

SEARCH CONTINUES FOR MISSING VICE PRESIDENT

NO SIGN OF MISSING VICE PRESIDENT AS CAPE HATTERAS SEA SEARCH ENDS

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

VISITING CHINESE POLICE OFFICERS DIE IN FIERY CRASH

Chapter 55

Acknowledgments

Next in the Series

About the Author

Copyright (C) 2020 Helen Goltz

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2022 by Next Chapter

Published 2022 by Next Chapter

Cover art by CoverMint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author’s permission.

For Atlas and Chris

1

Special Agent Mitchell Parker tried to keep his heart rate steady. He breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly and applied techniques that were second nature to him in stressful situations, except when he was on the water. His six-foot-two frame and diving gear took up one corner of the 42-foot Duffy boat in which he sat and waited.

“OK?” his teammate Ellen Beetson asked from port side.

He looked over at Ellen, petite and blonde, and a divemaster.

“Unlike you, I prefer my feet on land or in the air,” he said.

She laughed breaking the tension.

“You’ve got to agree this is beautiful,” their skipper called back as he navigated over the endless stretch of blue ocean.

Mitch turned his gaze to the water streaming by him. He looked over the edge and scoped the surface of the area they were approaching. He knew what to expect and beauty didn’t come into it on this fly-in, fly-out assignment; he’d be home late tonight like nothing happened.

“We’re almost at the coordinates,” the skipper called, “and there’s about an hour of light left.”

“Let’s get to it,” Ellen said. She zipped up her wetsuit and Mitch followed suit. Ellen checked their gear again before shrugging on the air tank that Mitch held up for her. He slipped his own tank over his shoulders.

The boat stopped and dropped anchor. A minute later the skipper joined them.

“Right above where you need to be,” he said.

Mitch and Ellen put on their masks and sitting on the edge of the boat, flipped back into the water with one easy push. Mitch was struck by the silence as he glided through the depths following Ellen. The only sound he could hear was his own breathing … in and out. He reeled as a large black-spotted eel zipped past his mask. He followed Ellen towards the wreck on the floor of Cape Hatteras. She pointed to a shark following a large school of fish.

Mitch didn’t notice. He was looking to a flat area on the bottom of the ocean not far from the wreck where a bundle lay.

He swam towards it; dreading what he knew to expect. Tangled with cable, their masks and tanks still on, two drowned men stared blankly at him.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

The middle-aged Asian man stood on the shoreline of Cape Hatteras lighthouse beach and looked out to sea. Remnants of sand castles were dotted around the water’s edge. Several families braved the cool weather to wade knee-deep into the water.

He knew this beach.

The Graveyard of the Atlantic; strong tides and rip currents, home to hundreds of ships lost at sea. The definition ran through his head.

And well located for navigation along the eastern seaboard of North America.

He raised the binoculars to his eyes. Water engulfed his shoes; he didn’t notice. He lowered the binoculars. Panic swept through him as he stared out to sea; he had been waiting for hours now. The sun was beginning to dip lower on the horizon.

Where are they? He clenched his teeth. They’re an hour late. No instruction to abort.

An elderly couple stopped near him.

“Give it a few more weeks … the herons are migrating now but soon the ducks and geese will be here for the winter.” The man tipped his hat.

The Asian man smiled and nodded. “Thank you, thank you,” he said.

As the couple passed, he glanced at his watch, turned and walked towards a sandy ledge. He climbed and stood atop.

Another glance through the binoculars; nothing.

He sank down, discarded the binoculars and rubbed his hands over his face.

What’s gone wrong this time?

William decided then that he would not report the extent of the failure up the line; this project had to work, there was no going back and he wouldn’t tolerate someone higher up getting cold feet and calling it off.

After a few moments, he rose, stumbled down from the dune and disappeared behind it.

2

NOW

Mitch followed the black line.

He winced from the strain in his shoulders and promised himself he could quit after four more laps. Mitch was a running man. He liked to put on his runners and head out the door, any day, any time. Swimming required organization—fitting around pool opening times, packing gear and carrying cash—planning he couldn’t be bothered with most days, not to mention sharing lanes with fellow swimmers who had to be competitive. He would have liked to have counted the dive yesterday as water time but he knew that was cheating. Besides he spent more time on the flight to and from Cape Hatteras than he did in the water… no exercise in that.

Once a week, he told himself as he followed the black line, lap after lap. Once a week to give the joints a break and keep up my swimming fitness.

He was a capable swimmer and with his athletic build, he made it look easy. He turned mechanically at the end of the lane, kicked out against the wall and propelled through the water for another round of freestyle. In the water his time was his own; he couldn’t carry a pager or be tracked down. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind—what happened to those men? Why were they there? Where did they come from? Where is their ship now?

Mitch hit something in the water. He stopped mid-lane to see a flipper floating in front of him. He looked up and through his goggles saw a tall, blond man standing pool side with hands on hips. It was one of his team, Nicholas Everett.

“Nick! What?” He threw the flipper back and pushed the goggles up on his forehead.

“We’re wanted.” Nick held up his pager.

“I’m not here,” Mitch said.

“I’ve seen you!”

“Can’t you see me in about half an hour?”

Nick frowned.

“Right.” Mitch sighed and sank back into the blue surroundings of the pool. He debated not coming up but his lungs demanded it. Nick was gone, and he finished the twenty yards to the end of the pool and hoisted himself out.

Mitch grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his shoulders to cover the scars running the length of his back. He glanced around; no one had noticed.

The adrenaline began to course through him. It was not uncommon to work twenty-four-seven when on a case, but after retrieving the bodies yesterday, it was normally just a waiting game.

Not anymore!

Mitch raced up from the parking lot to his office in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s field office in Washington D.C. Inside, he took the stairs two at a time to his department’s floor and glanced towards John Windsor’s office—the Executive Director for the Trans-national Crime Unit. John was on the phone and Mitch’s team gathered in the coffee station outside his office, waiting.

“Hey,” he announced his arrival.

“Mitch, thanks for coming,” Nick, the newest member of the team and Mitch’s oldest friend, ragged him.

“Wanted to make an entrance.” Mitch grinned at Nick, who except for being the same height was a perfect contrast to Mitch’s dark hair and blue eyes.

Ellen flicked through the newspaper as she sat on the desk next to Nick. Her blonde hair was tied back and the odd splatter of paint featured around her face and on her arms.

Mitch smiled at her. “Nice shade.”

Ellen looked at the patch of blue paint on her arm. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it already. What do you expect if you call me in on a Sunday? At this rate, it will never be finished. It’s taken me two weeks to do one wall of the bathroom.”

“I hear that is in now,” Nick offered. “It’s called a feature wall.”

Ellen shook her head. “It’s featured all right because the other walls now look drab.”

“Well I just got out of bed,” Samantha Moore boasted as she pushed the plunger down on a fresh pot of coffee.

“Yeah, we didn’t want to say anything but the pajama pants and messy hair gave it away,” Nick teased.

“Hmph.” She poured a hot mug of dark coffee, before handing it to Mitch. “You smell of chlorine. No prize for guessing where you were.”

“Thanks,” he took a few mouthfuls of coffee, feeling the warmth permeate through him. “I was swimming at the uni. By myself I might add.”

Nick cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry about that … I intended to come but, uh, I got caught up.”

“Where? In the sheets?” Mitch asked.

“No, actually. There was a housemate-wanted notice on the hallway corkboard on Friday and I grabbed it, called up the damsel wanting a housemate and moved in this morning.”

“Who is she?” Ellen asked.

“Amy Callaghan, know her?” Nick asked.

“No,” Ellen and Samantha answered in unison. Mitch avoided the question; he knew her, had even dated her once and was pretty sure she didn’t want to know him.

“I hate swimming,” Samantha continued.

“I know, but you’re going to have to get better at it.” Mitch turned to her.

“Why?” Samantha looked alarmed.

John Windsor hung up and beckoned them in.

“I’ll explain later,” Mitch told her.

“Mitch…” John diverted his attention from the computer screen to look at him. “Where were you?”

“At the pool.” Mitch’s voice was laced with exasperation. “For an hour.”

“Remind me to get you a waterproof, vibrating pager.” John made a note.

“And where do I wear that?” Mitch asked.

“You’ll find somewhere.”

Mitch observed that even on a Sunday, John was dressed in a navy suit, his tidily cropped gray hair groomed to perfection. He had compromised—wearing a T-shirt under his jacket instead of a business shirt.

Nick collapsed into a chair near the door. “I was hoping when we couldn’t reach you, Mitch, that you might have been getting some action.”

“I expect you to respond to the pager even if you are getting some … action,” John responded.

Mitch rolled his eyes and kick started the brief. “What have you got?”

John pressed a button on his desk that lowered a screen from the ceiling. He dimmed the lights. “Close the door please.”

Nick looked around; the outside offices were empty. He closed the door.

John tapped some keys on his keyboard to call up a photo; a head shot of an Asian man.

“Ying Shan, known to us as William Ying, Chinese ambassador to D.C.,” John began. “He applied for permanent residency for himself, his wife and child when he finished his tenure last year and it was granted. On his last day in office, at a function, he disappeared. His wife reported him missing. It’s been twelve months and still no sign of him.”

John clicked to the next photo; a grainy shot of a figure on a beach, standing at the water’s edge. Beside him, a family could be seen wading in the water.

“This photo was sent in by Andrew Gunston, one of our agents. He returned yesterday from holidaying with his family at Cape Hatteras. Gunston worked for a short time on William’s case before it was marked unsolved and put on ice.” John began to pace around the room. “Gunston didn’t notice anything on the day this was photo was taken, but when he looked through his holiday photos last night, he found three successive photos of this man on the beach looking out to sea. In one shot, the man is using binoculars.” John returned to the computer and flicked through the shots that had been doctored to feature only the Asian man on the shoreline.

Mitch leaned in and squinted at the shot. “Is it William Ying?”

“Gunston seems to think so.” He continued through the photos.

“So when exactly on his holidays were these taken?” Mitch asked.

“On Thursday. Gunston’s wife took the shots.”

“Any shots out to sea?”

“No, and Gunston doesn’t recall seeing anything unusual—no boats, no other swimmers. But he said he can’t be certain … he wasn’t looking for anything unusual,” John concluded.

“Did this Asian guy, William Ying, take photos or just use binoculars?” Mitch continued.

“Gunston can’t recall.”

“Geez, when he goes on holidays, he really goes on holidays.” Mitch frowned. “So, what’s the hook?”

John smiled.

“The binoculars. When Gunston was packing up his family’s gear at the beach, one of his kids found the binoculars on a rock. Gunston said there was no sign of an owner so he let his son have them.”

Mitch’s eyes widened. “And?”

“After he saw the photos, Gunston brought the binoculars straight to the lab when he arrived back from holidays. The lab found William Ying’s fingerprints are all over them.”

“So why not hand it over to missing persons?” Samantha asked. “They can declare William Ying not-missing!”

“Because we’re thinking this is connected to the two drowned Asian divers we retrieved yesterday near the stretch of water where the binoculars were found?” Mitch asked

“Yes,” John said, and then played his trump card. “There was another set of fingerprints on the binoculars belonging to a Chinese dissident with a criminal record a mile long—Huang ‘Danny’ Ming. Note the Asian surname goes first.”

“Why do they take a western name?” Samantha asked.

“Probably because when they come here we can’t get their name right,” Mitch suggested.

John continued. “He goes by the western name of Danny Huang. And Danny Huang, according to our records, isn’t even in the country.”

Mitch took the fingerprint report from John, had a look, and passed it around.

“Are both prints fresh?” Mitch asked.

“Good question,” John said. “If Danny Huang is not in the country, they might be old prints. You can check that out.”

“What have we got on Danny then?” Mitch asked.

“Glad you asked.” John picked up a manila file the size of the phone book and dropped it into Mitch’s lap.

“Good!” Mitch sized it up with dismay. “Some light reading.”

“So, where do you want to begin?” John asked.

Mitch stood up. “We need the area under surveillance immediately. Nick, that’s your specialty… or it used to be,” he said, referring to their time in the Air Force when Nick specialized in reconnaissance, surveillance, search and rescue. “Sam, you look like more of a beachgoer than Ellie, best you go with Nick.” He turned to Ellen, noting her almost translucent white skin.

Ellen glanced at her white arms. “I guess it has been a while since I’ve seen the sun.”

“When do you want us to go?” Nick asked.

“On the next flight.”

“We could drive down,” Nick suggested.

“No, we need someone there now. If there are no flights then yeah, drive, but it’s just over a six hour road trip from memory,” Mitch said.

“Six-and-a-half hours, if you are doing the speed limit,” John said with a glance to Mitch. John turned to his computer and tapped into the company’s travel page.

Mitch continued. “Ellie and I will get started on some ground work here.”

“There’s a flight leaving in ninety minutes, I’ll get you both onto it,” John said. “It will get you to Norfolk International in an hour and then it’s only three hours drive.” He picked up the phone to call administration to book the flights.

Mitch continued, “Nick, Sam, follow in Gunston’s footsteps; rent a place, play the tourist couple, swim, photograph each other, fish, surf, whatever it takes. Go at sunrise, sunset, different times of the day and observe activity in the area. Get some shots out to sea … who knows what he’s looking for. Photograph everything. If William was there once, he may come back again.”

“And I’ll put in a courtesy call to the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, just in case he notices you two looking suspicious,” John added.

“Just stick to the budget,” Mitch warned.

“We’d better share a room if we’re a couple, just to keep the cover authentic,” Nick suggested.

Mitch shot Samantha a look.

“What?” she said defensively. “I sleep with one agent on an overseas job and now I’m branded for life!”

“Don’t worry, if we sleep together we won’t tell you, problem solved,” Nick said.

“Nick, you’re not helping.” Samantha hit his arm. “Shut up!”

“Nicholas, Samantha …” Mitch began.

Samantha began to laugh at his fatherly tone.

“You’re killing me,” Mitch sighed. “Go home and pack.”

Nick and Samantha moved to the door.

“Hey, before you go …” Mitch stopped them. “I’ve been thinking … we have got to address our skills shortage.”

“What skills shortage?” Samantha dropped back into a chair.

“You’re not addressing it if it means more manpower.” John shut down the laptop. “Sorry, can’t help you there.”

“No, not people, prowess,” Mitch emphasized. “You know, fill the skills we are short of in our team or need to refresh. That last assignment brought home to me the fact that we can’t cover each other.”

Mitch saw their blank stares.

“Ellie, if you and Nick had to abort from that plane last assignment, you wouldn’t have known how to.”

“I could have done a tandem parachute jump,” Nick said.

“You could have. But what if you are not around, Nick? How does Ellie get out of the plane? Ever parachuted?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Sam, you’ve said yourself a thousand times you’re a hopeless swimmer; what if you had to swim to save yourself or tow one of us in to shore?”

“I passed the fifty yard freestyle test at high school,” Samantha declared. “Besides, there was no swimming requirement when I joined the FBI.”

“Sam, you’re not in the Information Technology department anymore. You will get water-based assignments. Besides, fifty yards is the length of the bathtub!” Mitch exaggerated.

Nick laughed out loud and attracted Mitch’s attention.

“And Nick…”

“Ah, here we go…” Nick frowned.

“Given you’ve just finished your course at Quantico, your skills should be the most up-to-date, even though we’ve been carrying the load while you’ve been off playing.”

“Poor you!” Nick sympathized.

“So, we’ve got to skill-up. Samantha, the Lifeguard Association offers a certification program—lifeguard with first aid. I want you to complete it.”

“Can’t practice that in the bathtub,” Nick smiled.

Samantha scowled at him.

Mitch continued. “Ellie, there’s a parachuting course for the military at Fairchild Air Force Base. It goes for about five weeks, but I can’t spare you for that long, so do the basics. John can you pull a few favors and get Ellie in sooner rather than later? There’s a hefty waiting list.”

“Should be doable.” John nodded.

Ellen looked at Mitch as though the sky had fallen on her. “You know I don’t like heights.”

Mitch didn’t wait for her to finish the protest. “We need to work out the dates. Don’t all go in the same week and leave me and Nick to hold the fort. Having said that, I want all certificates by the end of the year if possible, any questions?”

“That’s only three months away!” Samantha looked alarmed.

Mitch thought for a moment. “That’s right.”

“But,” Samantha protested, “it is way too cold to do swimming training now.”

“They heat the pool, Sam.”

“And what course, pray tell, will you do?” Nick asked.

“Finance skills for managers,” John piped in. He moved to his in-tray and withdrew a wad of paper and handed it to Mitch. “How anyone can ace the mathematics and physics required to become a pilot, but not be able to manage a balance sheet is beyond me.”

Mitch glanced at the paperwork with the column in red indicating his budget for the year had long ago been depleted.

“If you increase my budget, then it will balance.”

John continued. “Nice try. One of the college’s has a six-week external Financial Skills for Managers course that starts next month. I’m prepared to spend a grand from my budget to put you through it.”

Mitch looked up at him. “You’re not serious?”

He noticed his team doing their best to suppress their smiles.

“Signed you up for two subjects; your textbook is in the mail.” John rose. “All right, I’ll go see to these flights and accommodation. I’ll email them to you Nick and Sam if you want to grab your gear and head straight to the airport.” He walked out of his office.

Mitch followed John. “John, wait up.”

3

Danny Huang waited in line at the Washington-Dulles International Airport to officially enter onto American soil. Behind him three of his male colleagues, aged between nineteen and thirty-five, stood motionless, accustomed to the discipline of standing at attention for long periods.

Their visas indicated they were from the Beijing Armed Police Force; trainers and guests of the United States for three weeks to take part in a training course with the former G20 security command team and to complete the Diploma in Professional English offered by the International College of English in D.C. in preparation for the G20 to be staged in Beijing next year.

Danny Huang glanced at his passport and when the time came, stepped up to the yellow line and handed it over the counter to the ageing, overweight customs officer. He did not anticipate any trouble passing through customs; after all, he was a police officer and invited guest. The customs officer looked at the photo of police officer Ip Shi and back at Danny Huang. Stamping the book, he nodded for him to pass through.

Danny Huang suppressed a smile.

Not even my photo or my name. Yes, we all look alike to you westerners.

He waited as each of his colleagues were stamped and cleared.

Too easy. The hardest part of the operation is over, he mused.

On the way to their hotel, Danny Huang looked out the window at the city passing by him. His mission had been many years in the planning and now the time to act was drawing near. The excitement coursed through him. He was tired of the wait; like being a solider never sent to war. The world would be surprised, shocked and critical, but he would be proud.

He looked around at his team of three; each man trustworthy and hand-picked to get the American VIP out of the country. Danny squinted as he looked at Kiang Hai; he was the best at his game but the man had leadership aspirations. Better not try to flex his muscles on this mission. As he stared, Kiang Hai looked up and made eye contact. Danny nodded and looked away.

Fan Wen was different; a foot soldier … keen to please and impress, good at what he did and a very capable frogman. Give me two more of him and I’d be happy, Danny thought, watching the young man. Behind the driver sat young Pan Ru. Wet behind the ears but a whiz at communications, he could wiretap or shut down any technology known to man.

The bus pulled up. Alighting, the men nodded their thanks to the driver. An Asian representative from the university waited to greet them. Danny looked around at the campus where he and his colleagues would spend the next three weeks while undertaking their studies. A pleasant enough place, he thought. He turned his attention back to the university guide who was working with the bus driver to unload the luggage. Danny recognized his bag and grabbed it. Nodding their thanks again to the driver, Danny and his men followed the guide up the stairs of the university and through the entrance hall.

“Just for the record,” said Samantha, turning to Nick in the cab on the way to the airport, “I don’t sleep around … usually. What happened in London was just one of those things.”

Nick saw the taxi driver’s eyes flicker to Samantha in the mirror and momentarily back to him as if to say ‘bad luck, buddy’.

“That’s OK,” he assured her. “Just for the record, I’m not asking you to and I need this job, so I’d rather we stayed work friends.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that you wanted to sleep with me, I mean for all I know I might be nothing like your type, but I didn’t want you to think I … you know what I mean.” Samantha sat back in the seat.

Nick smiled at her. “I get it. How long is the flight?”

“Just under an hour. Do you think that’s long enough for them to serve lunch?”

“Nuh, a bag of nuts and a can of Coke if you’re lucky,” Nick opened his camera bag for the second time since they had departed from headquarters. He checked the equipment.

“Everything OK?” Samantha asked him.

“Fine.” He zipped the bag up and sat back.

“You know you do that a lot.” Samantha watched him.

“What?”

“Check and recheck gear. I saw you do it on the last assignment too.”

Nick shrugged. “Old habits.” He glanced impatiently at his watch.

“Rather be flying the plane than a passenger?” Samantha asked.

“Any day.”

The VIP looked out his office window to the manicured lawns outside. He wished it was over; the waiting and the tension from waiting was doing his head in.

He turned back to his desk, pulled a cigarette from a gold case in the top drawer, and retreated to the balcony before lighting it. He leaned on the balcony rails and thought about where his next office would be located. He had always had a thing for Asia: those beautiful Chinese princesses, the energy of the city, the untapped opportunities and all that cheap labor. He liked their work ethic, that the country, not the individual, came first. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about a government with abundant labor at its disposal and a desire for the common good. He was going to lead an unimaginable life. And at last, he thought, my experience and skills will be appreciated.

He finished his cigarette, stubbed it out and reached into his pocket for a mint. Stepping back inside, he pulled a comb from his coat jacket and groomed his salt and pepper hair and moustache.

Not too much longer and the plan begins; the sooner, the better.

4

Danny Huang called his team into his dorm room. He spoke in rapid Chinese.

“We have three weeks to put our plan in action and in that time, you must remember that at all times you are masquerading as members of the Armed Police Force, in training to guarantee the successful fulfillment of the G20 security mission. You have limited or no English, hence we are here to learn. One slip and you will jeopardize the mission.”

They nodded their understanding.

“That includes accidentally using our real names and not those of the officers we are meant to be. From now onwards, we will use our given names, not family names.”

“But they won’t match the given names of the officers we are replacing.” Kiang Hai stated the obvious.

“No,” Danny Huang agreed, “but we can say they are nicknames if they ask. Westerners love their nicknames and there’s less chance we’ll slip up. Besides, our names mean something. Your name, Kiang Hai—Hai means sea.”

“That fits,” Fan Wen said, “being a naval man.”

“I get it, named as such because of my love of the sea,” Hai agreed. “Good thinking—at least we are not learning new names.”

Danny Huang nodded and continued. “Fan Wen shall be Wen, a nickname meaning?”

“Cultured,” Fan Wen replied. “Yes, that’s me, a cultured frogman.” The small, compact man laughed at the prospect of being cultured given his poor upbringing.

“We could call you Froggy… because you take to the water like a frog and have a love of diving,” Hai suggested.

The men laughed. Danny Huang nodded. “I like that. Froggy you will be.”

Fan Wen grinned. “My mother would be so proud.”

Danny looked at the two navy men. “Right, Hai and Froggy, it is.”

He turned to the young communication whiz, Pan Ru.

“Ru means scholar, does it not?” Danny asked.

Pan Ru nodded.

“Then as you are here as a scholar to learn, Ru it is. The Americans will ‘rue’ the day you came to their shores.” Danny smirked. “And you can call me Danny or Sir depending on where we are. Danny can’t be traced to either my name or the police officer I’m supposed to be. We’ll say I selected it after a Western pen friend from my childhood. Understood?”

The men nodded.

Danny went to the fridge in the dorm room and opened it. It was stocked with water and Coke. He offered drinks to the men, then sat down with a bottle of water. He continued. “We have three days of classes from eight in the morning to midday Monday to Wednesday in English. Afternoons are for training with the US squad, Thursday, Friday and the weekend are ours to assimilate and practice, in theory. In this time block, we will follow a strict routine to get our work finished. You are to keep no written evidence of your work or findings; nothing that can be connected to us. Understood?”

Again, there was a general murmur of assent. Danny looked around the room.

“Hai and Froggy, you are responsible for the lifting of the VIP. With the help of young Ru on communications, you are to work closely with our Beijing team, know their every move, check and double-check when is the easiest time to perform the lift, remembering we need a clear window of ten hours to move the VIP before taking him offshore.” Danny moved to stand right in front of the two naval agents as they sat on the furniture around his dorm room. “Be prepared in case this should change. On Thursday morning, I want you to get down to Cape Hatteras and case the area. Check our tidal readings are correct and that the area our Beijing crew expects to access is workable and has the visibility we need. I want you to also prepare the VIP house.”

“What shall we say if we are asked why we chose to go there?” Froggy asked.

“We will say that a friend of Hai’s family once visited there and spoke highly of its history. Being keen divers, you wanted to dive around the wrecks. While in Cape Hatteras, monitor everything going on but stay below the radar. When we come down with the VIP, he needs to remain invisible while we wait for the connection. If you know the lay of the land, there should be no reason for anything to go wrong.”

Froggy and Hai nodded.

“And you will be practicing your English with the locals,” Danny said. “Remember it is broken English; you are here to learn, so don’t speak well. I doubt anyone will care too much about us moving around the tourist areas, we are cops after all.”

The group smiled at the irony of their new status.

“Ru,” Danny began, “I want everything the VIP says recorded and anything of note reported to me. It might be best to bug his phone as he’ll always have that with him. I will be meeting with him Wednesday night so give me whatever you need planted and instructions. I want summarized daily dialogue.”

“Yes, sir,” Ru nodded.

“I need to be sure the VIP does not get cold feet at the last moment,” Danny said.

5

Nick stared out the window of the plane as the flight attendants went through the safety drill. He was pretty sure if the plane went down whether he was in the brace position or not wouldn’t matter. Minutes later, he closed his eyes as the plane took off skywards.

“Don’t tell me you hate take-offs? You’re a pilot!” Samantha exclaimed.

He opened his eyes to find Samantha watching him. “No, I was just going through the process; pays to keep up the practice.”

“Really? I’ve never noticed Mitch doing that.”

“It’s just something I do. Besides, Wonder Boy probably never forgets a thing.”

Samantha smiled. “You’re on his case a lot.”

“I’m his best friend, it’s my job,” Nick said. “Someone’s got to keep him grounded. But I’ve got his back too.”

“Mm. You’ve known Mitch a long time, so what is the deal with his scars? Especially the ones on his back; he’s pretty cloak-and-dagger about it.”

Nick shrugged and looked away. “It’s not a big deal. He’s just not into talking about it.”

“But, how did he get them?” Samantha persisted.

Nick hesitated. “You know, best to ask him. Or maybe he will spill it one day.”

Samantha smirked at him. “Mm, loyalty will get you a long way, with Mitch anyway.”

Nick tried to hide his smile. He changed the subject. “So what do you think we’ll find at Cape Hatteras?”

Samantha flicked open the newspaper. “Some kelp,” she snapped.

Mitch led the way down the stairs to the parking lot.

“At least working on a Sunday there’s plenty of parking, unless you’ve got an allocated park seven days a week,” Ellen gave Mitch a glance and grinned.

“True. We should work more Sundays just for you then,” he teased her. “I’ll drop you back for your car later.”

Mitch unlocked his black Audi and slid into the cream leather interior. Ellen opened the back passenger door and threw her folder and bag on the backseat. Mitch’s phone rang and the car’s Bluetooth speakerphone projected John’s voice.

“Are you still in the office?” John asked.

“No, we’re off to follow up the few witnesses to William Ying’s disappearance a year ago. Want to come?” Mitch joked. “I can swing by and pick you up at home.”

“Mm, love to but I’ve got to do that … thing. Heard from Sam and Nick?”

“Yep, they’ve landed and got the car hire and accommodation details.”

“OK, keep me in the loop,” John said, and hung up.

Mitch started the car. “First address?”

Ellen read out the address of the first witness on her list. “Want me to put it in the TomTom?”

“No, I’ve got a rough idea of where that is.” Mitch turned the car out of the car park and headed right.

“What did you find on William or the witnesses?” he asked.

“From what I could gather in the few hours you gave me, there was surveillance footage at the function that William Ying disappeared at a year ago; it’s in our library and I’m yet to see it. But according to the file notes at the time, it had nothing incriminating in it.”

“Mm, I guess that depends on what the cops were looking for and what we’re looking for now,” Mitch interrupted. “Let’s try and finish the witnesses this afternoon and then we’ll visit William Ying’s wife or widow tomorrow.”

Ellen nodded. “The witnesses’ accounts were vague then, and we’re asking them a year later to recall the night of his disappearance.”

“I know but anything might help—like who did William Ying speak to that night at the art exhibition, how did he look—happy, stressed, scared? Which direction did he leave in? Did he use his phone during the night or take any calls? Tomorrow we’ll try the buildings surrounding the gallery; I’m not holding out hope that they’ll have kept their surveillance tapes or remember anything from a year ago, but you never know, someone might be anal about security.”

They drove in silence as Ellen looked up the addresses for the other witnesses and Mitch frowned in concentration.

“They all live nearby,” Ellen said. “I guess they wanted to be close to work or study.”

Mitch swung the car into the street of the first witness. It was a sterile street, neat with small brick houses.

“Keep an eye out for the house number, Ellie.”

Ellen ruffled back through her paperwork to check the number. She looked to the nearest house to her left. “It should be on your side about half way up the street.”

Mitch spotted it first and pulled up out front of a barren home. The house next door had a well-tended garden, but number fifteen simply had a mown lawn and a concrete path to the door. The curtains were closed.

They exited the car and Mitch followed Ellen up the path. She knocked on the door. Adjusting his tie, Mitch flipped through the brief information on the first witness on the list: a Chinese student who was at the photographic exhibition that evening and was one of the last to be seen talking with William Ying.

Ellen stood beside Mitch in her jeans and jacket, trying to keep warm. Mitch eyed the paperwork again, noticing the witness was a second-year student at the time, so would now be in her third and final year of her degree. He hoped she was still in the country.

He glanced to Ellen as she watched the door impatiently. She knocked again.

Mitch was just about to leave when the door opened a few inches. A tiny, elderly Asian lady peered out through the slit in the door.

“Sorry to disturb you,” Mitch began, “but we were hoping to speak with Jessica Wu.” He read her nominated English name from a list.

“She not here.”

Mitch showed his identification. “We’re with the Federal Police and we need to speak with Jessica about a statement she gave last year about the disappearance of William Ying.”

“She gone.”

“Will she be back?”

“No, she gone,” she answered bluntly.

Mitch glanced at Ellen.

Like extracting teeth.

“Are you related to Jessica, uh, Ms. Wu?” he persisted.

“Yes,” she answered in a staccato fashion.

Mitch frowned, as the elderly lady was giving nothing away. “Do you have a contact number where we could reach her please?”

“She dead.” The old lady closed the door abruptly leaving Mitch staring at it with a surprised look.

Mitch turned to Ellen. “Well, that can’t be good,” he whispered.

Ellen nodded, equally surprised. “I didn’t think to search death records.”

“Well you wouldn’t,” Mitch agreed.

They headed to the car. Once inside, Mitch made a note to check on the date and means of Jessica Wu’s death.

Ellen typed the next witness’ address into the navigation system. Mitch started the car and followed the directions voiced by the articulate navigator to the next location. He pulled the car to the curb and double checked the address. A vacant block of land was all that existed at that street number.

“That was the address of Rodney Lam.” He looked at Ellen. “Starting to see a trend here?”

“I think so,” she agreed. “Let’s try the next name; he’s a lecturer at the university, lives at Harcourt Street.” She typed the address in the navigator and Mitch followed the directions as voiced.

Ten minutes later he drove down Harcourt Street.

“It is on your side again,” Ellen said.

Mitch scanned the house numbers until he found it and pulled over to the curb.

“Third time lucky.” He exited the car. They walked to the front of the two-story dark brick home with a ‘For Sale’ sign out the front.

“I hope they haven’t moved yet,” Ellen said under her breath, doing up her jacket against the cold.

Mitch tried the doorbell. He heard it echo.

“Sounds empty.” He tried again.

“They’ve gone, dear,” a voice called.

Mitch and Ellen turned to find an elderly woman standing on the stairs of the house next door.

“Hello, we were looking for Joseph Kinaird.” Ellen walked towards the neighbor, who remained on the stairs in her pink sweater and blue-gray pants.

Mitch noticed her hair was a similar color. He let Ellen approach and listened from afar.

“No dear, Mrs. Kinaird and her daughter have moved. She’s in the eleventh grade now. I’ve known her since she was a baby. They came here when Mr. Kinaird got a job at the university. It was nice and close.”

“And Mr. Kinaird didn’t move with them?” Ellen asked.

“Oh no dear, Mr. Kinaird died last year. Terrible thing. On his way home from work one night, he lost control of the car, the police said. It was a wet night. The family was devastated of course. He was only fifty-three.”

“Terrible,” Ellen agreed. “Thank you Mrs. …?”

“Stapelton, Pamela Stapelton.”

“Thank you Mrs. Stapelton. I don’t suppose you know where Mrs. Kinaird and her daughter moved to? We’re from the police.” Ellen stopped to show her badge. “We’re looking for a university friend of Mr. Kinaird’s who has gone missing. His family is very worried, as you can imagine. Mrs. Kinaird might remember some small detail about him which could help. You never know.”

“Of course. I have a forwarding address, so just give me a moment and I’ll write it out for you.” She turned and shuffled inside.

Ellen waited on the lawn, while Mitch returned to the car and updated his notes… he now needed details on the death of Joseph Kinaird.

Our first lead, he thought. Something odd happened to the last three people to see William Ying before he disappeared.

6

Danny Huang signaled for silence. He checked no one was outside their dormitory, closed the door and returned to the group.

“We will be working undercover, and closely with our expert on the ground, William Ying.”

The men’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Yes, William has been missing for twelve months, but we know exactly where he is and what he is doing.”

Murmurs of laughter bubbled around the room.

Danny Huang continued, “William has been working between Washington and Cape Hatteras now for the past few months. He will be second-in-charge for this mission. In my absence, everything is to go through him. Understood?”

The men agreed. Danny moved to the window to make a call.

“Hello old friend,” he said. “I am putting you on speaker phone.”

Danny put the phone on the table and pressed the speaker.

“Present are our extraction divers Hai and Froggy and Ru on communications.”

William welcomed the men to the United States.

“How did the first trial go off shore on Thursday?” Danny asked.

“Not good,” William replied. “I waited on the shore for two hours longer than the planned liaison time …”

“A mistake, William,” Danny broke in. “You might have been seen by someone or looked suspicious.”

“I was bird watching; that’s my cover,” William explained. “Fooled a few including an elderly couple,” he continued. “But the sub did not give the required signal. I understand the coordinates were wrong, but we have fixed that situation.”

“Not good,” Danny said.

“It is worse than that. The two men got trapped; I don’t know what happened but there was an accident,” William said.

“And?” Danny pushed.

“Two dead,” William withheld that the bodies were left behind.

“This is bad,” Danny paced. “How did they die?”

“Problems with the air tanks and line extraction. Let’s hope the next drill goes better.”

“Were they seen?” Danny persisted.

“To the best of our knowledge the sub wasn’t, but the men’s bodies … they might have been seen by divers in the area, it’s unclear,” William said.

“We may have to move the mission forward,” Danny said.

There was a delayed silence. Eventually William spoke.

“Your men are coming here?” William asked.

“Yes, Hai and Froggy will be there. And the premises?” Danny asked.

“The premises are secured for the overnight storage of the VIP on the last day of the month,” William continued, “and the pickup will be at 0400 hours.”

“I want to visit the premises later this week,” Danny advised.

“We’ll be expecting you,” William agreed. “But I will see you before then, with the VIP on Wednesday?”

“Of course. Until then…” Danny cut off the call. He looked around at the group. “Questions?”

No one spoke.

“Let’s formulate an extraction plan in case we need to move faster,” Danny Huang ordered.

“It’s really nice here … about sixty-eight degrees. The sun is out, and Norfolk is such a pretty place,” Samantha informed Mitch.

“Lovely; what a shame you haven’t got time to stop and enjoy it,” he said, speaking with his two agents through their car’s speakerphone.

“We’re almost at Cape Hatteras,” Nick said.

“So what’s your plan?” Mitch asked.

“When we get there, we are going to swing by the Visitors’ Centre if it is still open and see if they have tidal charts, and then we’ll go straight to the beach and check it out,” Nick said.

“A sunset walk on the beach,” Mitch sighed, “how nice. Ellie and I are still door-knocking in suburbia. Stay in touch.”

Mitch disconnected as Ellen rejoined him in the warmth of the car.

“You disappeared quickly.” She shivered.

“I figured an elderly lady would feel safer talking to another woman.”

“Mm, rather than a tall, dark, handsome man? You might have made her day.”

“Think we might have got a cup of tea and a cookie?” Mitch teased.

“Who would knock that back? Or apple tea cake, don’t old ladies always make that? Instead, all I got was a forwarding address in Boston,” Ellen said.

“Boston! Great.” Mitch sighed. “Why couldn’t they move across town? Any phone number?”

“No, just an address, but I’ll hunt a phone number down.”

Mitch started the engine and turned the car back to headquarters.

“OK, let’s call it a day while we can. You might get some painting done.”

“Ha, I don’t like to paint unless I have at least three guaranteed, uninterrupted hours … the clean-up is such a pain in the butt.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever done it.”

“Really? Haven’t you ever wanted to buy and renovate?” asked Ellen.

“I’ve thought about it and once I actually did a calculation of the number of days I spent at home in my own bed. It worked out to about three months in a year. So I bought an investment property instead, rented that out and now I just rent a room somewhere.”

“Why didn’t you move into your own property and rent out its rooms?” Ellen asked.

“Because the last thing I need if I’m away on a job is a housemate calling because the plumbing has packed it in and I’m supposed to do something about it. Nah, this way, the realtor manages it and I’m just a tenant.”

“Way too sensible,” Ellen said. “You’ll never be able to own a cat if you think like that.”

Mitch laughed. “Yeah, feeling that loss. Tomorrow, I’ll leave you to follow up on the surveillance footage. I’m going to make a start on the fingerprints and their history, and we’ll pay a visit to Mrs. Ying.”

“So what are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?” Samantha asked as she entered the room of their B&B and closed the door.

Nick sat in a white cane chair near the door and pulled off his boots. “I’m going to put my head on a pillow and sleep. What do you mean?”

“I am not sure if you have noticed, but there is only one bed.” Samantha stared at the large four poster bed.

“No couch either,” Nick noted. He dumped his bag on a small timber table under the window and fished for a pair of sport socks in his black-issued knapsack.

“Why don’t we take it in turns?” she suggested. “I’ll take the bed tonight, and then tomorrow night, I’ll take the floor.”

“It’s no big deal; why don’t we both share the bed. I’ll wear clothes. It is work after all.”

Samantha shrugged. “Suit yourself, but if you snore or sleep with your mouth open, I’m telling your next girlfriend that and all other secrets that I gather.”

“I don’t date, so that’s just fine.”

“Come on, everyone dates eventually.” She opened her bag and began to stuff her socks and underwear into the chest of three drawers on one side of the bed.

“Not me. I’m on the wagon, practicing abstinence, so not interested … ”

“Why?” Samantha looked at him.

Nick shrugged. “I just want to focus on work and fitness for a while.”

“You know, Nick, no matter how bad your last break up was, you’re going to have to get back on the horse eventually.” She watched him as he pulled on his runners.

Nick rose. “We didn’t break up, she died. I’m going for a run to check out the lay of the land. I’ll be back in an hour. Then we can find something to eat if you like.”

He closed the door behind him.