Smoke and Shadow (18 page)

Chu shrugged his
shoulders and honked the horn.
“
So if they might be in there on any
given night, why would we want go in there too?
”

“
Are you saying
the client
’
s
giving us a green light to take down cops?
”
Trent sounded eager, as if he was
looking for a reason to attack authority.

“
Absolutely
not,
”
Baker
glanced out his window to scan for threats without being
obvious.
“
The
client does not have that kind of authorization and under no
circumstances are you cleared to engage any law enforcement
officers.
”

Chu leaned on the
horn again.
“
So
how are we supposed to clear out a nest of slave traders if the
cops might be in there protecting them?
”

“
We designated
this as a surgical strike, remember? Your targets are the Fuk
Ching, not the slaves, not the johns. I want to hit them with
precision tools, not blunt instruments.
”

“
And how are we
supposed to do that?
”

Baker
shrugged.
“
You
tell me. You did the analysis. You
’
re the precision instruments.
You
’
ll be the ones
pulling the trigger. If anyone is in a position to determine an
execution method, it
’
s you guys, not me.
”

Trent cracked his
knuckles behind Chu
’
s head.
“
Why
don
’
t we just cut
the power and go in with NVG goggles? They might have flashlights
or try to use their cell phones to compensate, but we can use the
sensory advantage to pick them off blind.
”

Baker rocked his
head back and forth in Chu
’
s rear view mirror as if
deliberating.
“
Maybe, but if the lights suddenly go out, then everyone knows
there
’
s a problem.
The snakeheads might go in and out of the building looking for the
problem, which takes the op into the street. The women could be
used as human shields. After Hurricane Sandy, they might even have
their own backup generator as part of the restaurant system. I
don
’
t think we
gain a tactical advantage by turning out the
lights.
”

Trent had other
ideas. Chu imagined him sitting up at night thinking of different
assault options.
“
Well, when I was in the rooftop bar next door, I could see
the windows were sealed shut, probably to keep the women from
escaping or calling for help. Why don
’
t we use it against
them?
”

“
How?
”

“
Air circulation
is limited to the ventilation system on the roof. Any chance you
could get your hands on something like Agent 15 or some other type
of sleeping gas? We can pump the building and then go in to do the
cleanup. If everyone is asleep, then it will be easier for us to
pick out the viable targets from the off limits ones
and
…”

“
And there will
be traces of the gas all over the place when the cops do show up
and do a forensics sweep.
”
Baker cut in with a raised hand.
“
Even if we could get
enough fentanyl to knockout the entire building, someone would be
able to trace the purchase back to us. Besides, you two
aren
’
t trained to
use that shit and we don
’
t know what kind of drugs the
snakeheads are giving the slaves. I don
’
t want this to turn into another
Dubrovka Theater crisis
”
.

Chu inched into
another lane to take him away from the Tunnel.
“
You were hanging out in a rooftop
bar while I was sitting next to a dumpster all
night?
”

“
Hey, I needed
to get a look at the outer structure and the roof. The bar offered
a good vantage point and they have excellent
ceviche.
”

“
Fuck you with a
brick.
”

“
Gentlemen, we
need to focus. So far I haven
’
t heard any good options for
insertion, execution and extraction.
”

Chu slammed down
on the brakes as a truck cut in front of him.
“
Maybe there are no good options.
Didn
’
t Sun Tzu say
not every castle should be assaulted?
”

“
Actually, he
advocated against the sieges of fortresses because the army lost
the element of surprise and were a waste of time and lives, but I
appreciate you trying to throw my shit back in my
face.
”
Baker
breathed a heavy sigh and shifted his gaze out the
window.

Chu felt the need
to lighten the mood fast.
“
Hey I was just trying
to
…”

“
Why
don
’
t you just try
to change your focus from negativity to creativity and come up with
a suggestion we can use for a change?
”

Baker
’
s
sudden frustration took Chu
’
s voice away for a moment. He
struggled to recover and spoke before he could think.
“
Maybe we could set a
fire alarm or maybe start a small fire in the front
to
…”

“
To do what,
drag EMS into the firefight or guarantee every slave gets killed to
keep them quiet?
”
Baker
’
s cane
pounded the floor of the car to emphasize his anger.
“
We
can
’
t have public
distractions. We can
’
t move the operation out of the building and we
can
’
t walk away
with a building full of dead women. Are we
clear?
”

“
Yeah, but
Ghost
…”

“
Are we fucking
clear?
”

Part of Chu
wondered what about this op made Baker so hostile. Part of him
wanted to reach into the back seat and beat Baker with his own
cane. But Chu suppressed the urge to violence and it came out as a
brisk nod in the rear view mirror.
“
Yeah
”

“
Outstanding,
then let me out here. I
’
ll take care of my SDR on foot.
”

“
Are you sure
you don
’
t want me
to
…
?
”

“
Here
’
s fine.
You two meet me tomorrow at the hotel with some viable options. I
got some shit to take care of.
”
And for the first time Chu could remember, Warren
Baker stormed away without a smile or snide
comeback.

The remaining two
men sat in silence until the light changed and they pulled away
from the curb. Chu
’
s voice came back then, louder than he intended.
“
What the fuck was
that?
”

“
I
don
’
t know, but it
sounds like this op is going to happen even if Ghost has to hobble
in there and do it himself.
”

Baker wiped his
mouth with a coarse napkin and sat back in his low chair.
“
So tell me all the
amazing ideas you bright boys came up with.
”

The request changed the mood in the
room without warning. One minute the room had the comfortable air
of a three friends shooting the shit over lunch. The next moment
felt like a high stakes hostage negotiation.

Chu compared the
three of them sitting around the retro Formica table to King Arthur
and his knights. The only differences between the two groups lay in
the details. Baker, Chu and Trent hid in a suite at the Nu Hotel in
Brooklyn, not the halls of Camelot. The remains of the meal around
them consisted of empty Thai take out and not the grand feast fit
for a king. And their discussion didn
’
t revolve around quests of gallantry
and heroism. They came together to plan cold blooded murder. The
details destroyed Chu
’
s comparison, so he tried to focus on the matter at hand
instead.

“
My idea is a
straightforward insertion, execution and extraction. We know the
restaurant takes out the garbage through the back entrance several
times a day. The last dump is around one AM after the restaurant
closes. We can wait in the alley and use the dump to get inside
without being seen from the front door. ..
”

“
It
’
s not the
worst plan I
’
ve
heard so far.
”

Chu took the
tepid praise as a signal to continue.
“
We go in hard, fast and quiet. We
take out the Fuk Ching as we find them and bind any johns we
encounter in plasticuffs to keep them out of our way. We clear the
place out room by room, floor by floor until we reach the top. Then
we just hustle downstairs and leave the same way we
came.
”

“
What do you
plan to do with the women?
”

Chu
shrugged.
“
My idea
is to lock them all in an empty room and let the cops find them
after we
’
re gone.
”

Baker rummaged
through the delivery bag and fished out a tiny container of spring
rolls. He didn
’
t
respond to Chu until he
’
d recovered his discarded package of duck sauce on the
table.
“
It
’
s a good
start, but from an insertion standpoint, it
doesn
’
t make sense
to base your entry on a variable event like taking out the garbage.
If the event doesn
’
t have a precise time, who knows how long you two could be
standing in that alley? The guns and the equipment
you
’
ll have will
be hard to explain to anyone who might wander back
there.
”

“
Dump times over
the past two days are consistent within a thirty minute
window.
”
Trent
reviewed the notes from his laptop as he spoke.
“
It
’
s not the best time frame, but
it
’
s not the worst
one either.
”

“
True, but I
don
’
t think
I
’
m comfortable
conceding higher ground to the opposition. Also, I
don
’
t want you
guys coming out the same way you got in. There
’
s too much chance of things going
sideways if you have to retrace your steps.
”

“
So you like my
whole plan except for the beginning, the middle and the
end?
”

Baker
’
s
smile had a cynical edge.
“
I like the effort and the attitude.
Only the details need work.
”

Trent spun his
laptop around to face them with the authority of a corporate CEO.
His screen showed an overhead map of Chinatown, with a tight zoom
on the Red Crane building.
“
My plan
doesn
’
t involve
relying on the bus boys to take out the garbage, it gives us
control over higher ground and it doesn
’
t retrace steps.
”