Smoke and Shadow (13 page)

His second choice
had the darkness and lacked the cameras, but he
couldn
’
t count on
the lighting. The streetlight didn
’
t pose a problem. Its position
across the street deepened the shadows in his prospective kill
zone. But he had to take the moon into account. It peeked in and
out of the clouds now, but on a clear night it would shine down on
this spot like a beacon. Chu went looking for another ambush
spot.

His third choice
had the cover of broad leafed trees to block out overhead light.
There were no cameras close by and a set of stairs. But the
stairwell seemed to shallow and loose dirt from an ongoing
construction project covered the stairs. Chu
couldn
’
t afford to
create footprints and destroy his illusion. He moved on, wondering
if he could execute his plan in such a limited geographic
space.

He found a spot a
block away from Maas
’
s home. The stairwell didn
’
t sit right next to the sidewalk. A
few feet of cobblestone path snaked from the side of the house over
to the stairs and then up to the street. Chu preferred a shorter
distance but he didn
’
t have many other options. This spot had the isolation, the
lack of cameras and the quality of steps he needed to make his plan
work.

Chu walked in a
convoluted SDR as he made his way back to the dive bar, assessing
the other variables of his plan. He determined the distance and
estimated the time it would take him to cover the ground between
the bar and his ambush spot. He tried to recall how many dog
walkers or other foot traffic he saw along Maas
’
s route during his past three weeks
of surveillance. He couldn
’
t carry out his plan if someone
happened to be walking down the street, and he
couldn
’
t predict a
random passerby or a delivery bike from Seamless Web, but he
remembered the walk having few other pedestrians when Maas tended
to be on the street.

He checked the weather to see if
conditions would be helpful or problematic. According to his app,
mostly cloudy skies with a chance of rain and falling temperatures
would prevail for the rest of the week. The forecast gave Chu more
justification to hide his face with a scarf and made it less likely
anyone would decide to take a night stroll through the
neighborhood. Conditions seemed favorable for action.

Then Chu checked
the duty logs to see who would be following Maas at what time
periods over the next few days. Chu wouldn
’
t be close to Maas today.
He
’
d spent time in
the bar last night and Baker wanted to be sure none of them got too
close too often. Kean and Privti had shadow duty today. Chu and
Privti were scheduled to work together on the day following night.
The plan Chu had in mind would be easier to accomplish with Kean,
but Privti would have to do. Maria might not have many more days
left. Chu couldn
’
t
wait for perfect conditions.

During the SDR on
his way home, Chu considered what he would do if things went wrong.
He could abort if he saw someone walking on the street with Maas,
but what if someone saw what he planned to do? Maybe he could
pretend to be drunk himself; a guy who just happened to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time. If Maas fought back, Chu would have
to run to make sure the cops didn
’
t get involved. If he did get
arrested, he
’
d
just pretend to be a mugger who tried to rob Maas on the way home.
He
’
d still go to
prison, but the operation wouldn
’
t be exposed and Baker
wouldn
’
t be
compromised.

Would Baker understand what Chu did
and why he did it? Would Baker help get him out of jail or would he
cut him off for disobeying a direct order and sabotaging a high
profile op? Either way, Baker was the kind of man who would be
there to support his mother. The small consolation reminded him of
her.

The thought of
Sunny Chu crying in her wheelchair made him hesitate. He couldn't
embarrass her, or hurt her, and he didn
’
t want to leave her alone to face
Wei. But she wasn
’
t proud of him because he allowed people to suffer. She
wanted him to protect people and Maria Maas needed his help. Sunny
Chu knew her son. Maybe somehow she knew the things she said would
lead him to his next attack.

Chu stood by the bar, watching for
any sign of Chinese operatives trying to make contact with Erich
Maas or anyone who might interfere with his plan.

The rain started
the night before and continued to pound Brooklyn with a steady
downpour. The bad weather kept most of the bar patrons home, so
there were fewer people Chu could use to hide from Maas, but it
didn
’
t matter.
The bulky hooded trench coat he wore, combined with the river of
doppelbock Maas drank provided enough concealment to maintain his
anonymity.

Maas lurched
towards the bar to pay his tab. Chu used the ritual to cover his
exit. He could feel energy building up in his limbs and hatred
tensing the muscles in his face. He imagined the scene again,
rehearsing the position and the movements in his mind as he had
many times over the past two days. Memories of Wei Chu clouded his
vision, but he shook them away, focusing on Maria instead. He made
an extra effort to put on a friendly face as he weaved through the
hipsters smoking under the awning and walked in the direction of
Maas
’
s
brownstone.

Chu passed
Privti
’
s position
under the awning of the artisanal bakery. The short bulbous man
spoke Hindi into his Bluetooth at a volume loud enough to annoy
anyone who might come too close. Chu didn
’
t acknowledge Privti. Privti looked
at Chu a heartbeat too long with an angry fear in his eyes. Chu
crossed the street. Maas left the bar and trudged along his usual
path. Privti didn
’
t look at Maas.
Maas passed
Privti without noticing his existence. Privti continued to talk for
twenty seconds and then began walking in the rain about a half a
block from Maas. When Chu couldn
’
t see Privti
’
s back anymore, he ran down a
different street, hoping his hostile partner
hadn
’
t detected
his intentions.

Chu ran as if he were being
chased. With his scarf pulled over his face and his hood up over
his head, he looked like a criminal fleeing the scene of a crime.
But no one stopped him. Few people walked along the sloppy tree
lined streets and the few pedestrians he did pass were more worried
about getting out of the rain than challenging a mysterious
runner.

Chu
didn
’
t stop for
red lights and he didn
’
t look back to see who might be following him. It
didn
’
t matter
now. He had to cover twice as much ground as Maas in the same
amount of time for his plan to work. Any counter surveillance team
would see the break in his pattern and react accordingly. The only
chance he had was to act so fast no one had time to react, not
Maas, not his possible backup and not Ganesh
Privti.

His lungs burned
from the sprint and his sneakers squished with rain water, but Chu
reached the corner in time to cut off Maas. He saw his
target
’
s shadow,
meandering in an off balanced and broken rhythm down the street
towards him. In the rainy dark, Chu couldn
’
t see Privti, but tradecraft
dictated at least a half a block distance between the target and
the shadow. Chu took a deep breath to try and calm his ragged
breathing and then started walking towards Maas.

He tried to time
his steps to the movement of his target, but Maas teetered every
few feet, making it hard to gauge his cadence. Chu had to slow down
to create the right positioning. He fought the urge to rush things
before Privti turned the corner. His feet created ripples in the
puddles with each step. Chu felt the ripples of violence pass from
Wei to Sunny and from Erich to Maria. The rain hit the sidewalk
with a fierce, relentless beat. He remembered the fierce,
relentless beatings he watched during his childhood and his
mission. Chu
’
s
world shifted into a slow motion reality when the men got within
ten feet of each other. His heart pounded louder than the rain.
With one final glance around to check for witnesses, Chu stepped
into the shadows with Maas.

Chu positioned
himself to put Maas between him and the stairwell. He
didn
’
t look at
Maas or take his hands out of his pockets. This time, Maas froze.
Maybe he heard a footstep too close in the puddle next to him.
Maybe Chu
’
s
hostility and purpose sent enough negative energy between them to
cut through Maas
’
s drunken self-destructive fog and warn him of
Chu
’
s unspoken
intention. Whatever Maas felt made him step away from Chu in
fear.

At the same
moment, Privti took a step around the corner. He
didn
’
t turn
towards the men right away. Chu could still see his profile in the
illuminated rain under the street light. He walked with his
umbrella up and his head down, pretending to be just another
commuter trying to get home. Chu knew his partner was a hundred
feet away, but he
’
d reach their position in seconds.

Chu moved without
a sound or a break in his motion. He took one step towards Maas and
rammed his shoulder, elbow and hip into the other
man
’
s center
line. Maas let out a rush of air as the wind left his lungs, but he
didn
’
t scream. He
didn
’
t have the
time. Chu took a second step and launched his victim back, into the
black hole of the wet concrete stairwell. Maas flailed for balance,
but the speed of the attack, the slippery concrete and his drunken
reflexes made his resistance futile. He tumbled down the stairs
like a sack of garbage. Chu
’
s third step took him down into the
stairwell, right behind Maas. He crouched low, holding one hand
over his victim
’
s
mouth and using his leg to keep Maas
’
s limbs from
flailing.

Privti
’
s
umbrella passed over the stairwell without stopping or slowing his
pace. Chu let the shadow pass over him, imagining his partner
walking along as if everything still conformed to standard behavior
patterns. A new darkness bubbled up in Chu
’
s chest. He saw himself rising out
of the shadows behind Privti. He could wrap his arms around his fat
neck and strangle those homophobic cultural perspectives right out
of his head. He could leave the body in a dumpster, so everyone
could see what a misogynistic piece of garbage he was. Chu could
take his fragile manhood and his sexual harassment claims
and
…

Maas
’
s
mouth fought to scream under Chu
’
s hand. He lay face down with his
back heaving in pain and his limbs struggling for freedom. The
movements brought Chu back from his homicidal ideation. He waited a
few more seconds to get Privti away from the scene, then he forced
his knee into Maas
’
s back and pulled up on his victim
’
s chin. Maas gasped and groaned and
whimpered something like a plea, but he offered no real resistance.
When his limbs stopped struggling and the lungs continued to spasm,
Chu knew it was done.

Maas let out a wail more terrible
than anything Sunny Chu or Maria Maas ever made. Chu ignored him,
peering out of the stairwell left and right to make sure no one
walked towards his position. Without another look back at Maas, Chu
slipped out of the stairwell and between a pair of cars parked in
the street.

Another death scream cut through
the rain, prompting curious residents to turn on lights in their
homes and open curtains. Chu jogged across the street under the
cover of the trees putting more distance between himself and his
victim.

It took two more broken and
anguished cries for anyone to open their doors or venture out of
their homes into the rain, but by then Chu had turned the corner
and headed for the safe house, knowing tonight would be different
for Erich and Maria Maas.