The 22nd Secret Read online

  Jim walked over and sat down on the edge of the couch next to Paula. It was clear she was becoming hysterical again. “You can’t mean that.” He gently rubbed her leg. Paula turned over and pushed herself up to recline on the arm of the couch. She brushed her hair back from her face. Pam flashed her tear-filled eyes at Jim, who didn’t look away.

  Everything was working so far. She spoke with anger in her voice. It was the false anger she knew would lead Jim to empathize with her.

  “It’s not just the goddamned government that I’m worried about. Let me explain my facts of life. I was Tino’s girlfriend. Lots of men like Tino have girlfriends. It wasn’t so bad. The pay was really good. I saved a lot of money. You have to, because in a few years he would meet someone else and if you were smart enough to not know anything and had a reputation for keeping your mouth shut they might let you go or they might not. I knew girls that just disappeared.”

  “You mean they got killed?”

  “I’ve been with Tino four years. I knew it was time he found someone new. You think Tino would let me walk away knowing he sold the Chinese some kind of military secret? When he told me I was going to Alaska with him and what he was going to do there, I figured he was going to give me to the Chinese as some kind of a goodwill gesture or just leave me out in the middle of nowhere to freeze to death.”

  “Jesus, Paula. Are you serious?”

  Her voice softened. “So you see, I kind of figured on the ride here I’d been given a second chance at life. I guess that was silly, but I never thought I’d meet someone like you. Tino was dead and I thought maybe the rest of his friends would forget about me. Jim, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what else I can do. I have no life to go back to. You see now why it would have been better if I had just died today. I know you can’t do this, but please don’t tell them about me,” Paula pleaded.

  As they sat there silently gazing into each other’s eyes, Jim and Pam had very different thoughts. Jim knew as long as this hung between them, Paula would never feel like romance. He also knew that she was one mixed-up young lady. She was too young and beautiful to give up on life. Pam wondered what it was about this handsome rugged man that was so irresistible. What was it about him that made her feel almost submissive, ready to let him take over her mind and body? She’d never felt this way toward another man.

  Jim knew the solution to her problems would be telling the authorities the truth.

  “Paula, you have a life worth living. I don’t want you to feel like you have nowhere to go. You’re welcome here until you feel you can make your own choices about what to do with your life.” Jim rubbed Paula’s leg as a gesture of sincerity, sending thoughts of passion through both of them. He fought off the sexual desires that were overtaking him. Pam felt it too. The physical attraction between them was so strong that both had to struggle to keep focused.

  “You’re not going to tell them about me?” Pam was relieved. She sat up and threw her arms around Jim. Her tongue softly licked his ear lobe.

  “Don’t tell them about me,” she whispered. “I’ll do anything you want if you just don’t tell them about me.” Then, as if to offer further explanation, she kissed him passionately.

  Jim sensed the change in her demeanor when she stopped. She sat facing him on the couch. She was so beautiful. Her eyes sparkled and her breasts invited his caress. Jim could sense her desire to please him, to reward him for saving her life at the crash scene and from the mob.

  “Let me think about this.” Jim stood and walked to the fire to add some wood. Pam suddenly felt exhausted. She lay down on the couch and closed her eyes. She wished she had met Jim under different circumstances.

  Jim sat down in the leather chair next to the couch and thought to himself. I’m not much different than her gangster boyfriend. He used her and was going to just throw her away or give her up like a slave to the Chinese. Now it was my turn to use her and give her to the authorities. Maybe they would put her in a witness protection program. Probably not. They’ll get what they want from her and let the mob deal with her.

  Jim looked at Paula and noticed she was dozing off. He thought about her extraordinary beauty. He knew that if things were different he would make a play for her. And why shouldn’t he? She said she had nothing to go back to. He knew he could hide her from the authorities for a few days. That would give her a chance to relax and make everything easier. Maybe she could make a new life for herself.

  “Paula, I have an idea.”

  Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled. Jim was transfixed by her. It was like she knew he was about to deceive her and she accepted it. As quickly as his mind and body had been frozen it was released again.

  “What idea?” Paula asked.

  “I’ll radio Bill and tell him about the plane and the two dead guys. Tell him the luggage had been gone through and there were footprints leading away from the crash. Tell him I followed the footprints as long as I could but the storm and darkness made me head home. I hide you out. I got a place. The CIA or whoever comes up here. I show them the plane. They find what they want. They don’t really care about you so they leave. This thing they’re looking for, do you know what it is? Is it still on the plane?”

  “I have no idea what it is, but I guess it’s still on the plane. All I know is the Chinese want whatever it is real bad. They were supposed to meet somewhere up here, somewhere called Otter Bay.” Paula sat up excited to think Jim may actually help her.

  “You think it will work?”

  Jim was lost in thought.

  “Oh, Jim. I don’t what to go to prison. I didn’t do anything.”

  “Whatever it is, it better still be on that plane, because if these guys don’t find it, they aren’t just going to go away and let us live happily ever after.”

  Jim got up and went to the laundry room behind the kitchen next to the dining room and returned with a couple of blankets and pillows. He took one blanket and gently spread it out over her. When he lifted her head to slide a pillow under, she rose up just enough to give Jim a kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you, Jim. I’ll make it worth it for you, I promise. It’s just I’m so tired and weak right now.”

  Jim kissed Paula softly on the forehead.

  “Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She rolled into the back of the couch and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. Jim put some logs on the fire and sat in one of the leather chairs next to the couch. He stuffed a pillow behind his head and pulled the blanket over him. He was tired too but had to wait until he was sure Paula was asleep before he could radio Bill. He was going to report the crash and tell him that the sole survivor was here with him.

  Pam closed her eyes and pretended to sleep for the fifteen minutes until Jim got up and walked to the radio. He didn’t know how he’d explain all this to his friends. He knew Kim would be hurt and humiliated when it got out. It definitely would. Bear Breath was a small community. Everyone knew everyone’s business.

  He sat down at the radio. He never thought anything like this could happen It was like he was living out a romantic fantasy. He didn’t care who they were or what Tino was to her or what they were going to sell to the Chinese. He wanted Paula and he knew he was going to get her. That was all that mattered now.

  As Pamela Koller lay there listening to Jim report the crash, she knew within hours the CIA would know Patty Lawrence had mysteriously walked away from the crash. She hoped Tom would figure out where she was and manage with Hank’s help to get her to Otter Bay before the entire plan fell apart. But the thoughts that she fell asleep to were not of her mission to China, they were of Jim Mitchell. She wondered if this could all be true. Could she be falling in love so quickly with the irresistible man who had rescued her from the plane crash and was now telling his friend, Bill, about the footprints that led away from the crash?

  The Anchorage airport was closed due to weather but the FAA tower was still manned by a skeleton crew. Alice Hudson was watching the storm in the a
irport lights when the phone rang.

  “FAA tower Anchorage, Alice Hudson speaking.”

  “Yeah, this is Bill Keller. Sheriff down at Bear Breath. Jim Mitchell at the White Bear Lodge just reported a downed plane to me.”

  “Hold on. Let me get a report started.” A moment later she was back on the phone. “Let’s see. Date, Tuesday November 15th. Time, 8:38pm. What’s your name again?”

  Chapter Two

  Deception

  November 15th, 2 pm Berkeley, California

  When Kent Bradley finally tried to call his superior at Los Alamos, Henry Lo, he found he had not been to work for over a week. It was apparent that what he suspected might just be true. Kent disobeyed Lo’s direct orders and picked up the phone, dialing the George H. W. Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia. His first assignment and he was already in trouble up to his neck. The Chinese penetration of Los Alamos was underway. Kent’s voice quavered as he explained who he was and asked to speak to someone about the possible defection of a Los Alamos nuclear scientist to China.

  Tom Walker had been waiting for a signal and a telephone call. He was The Deputy Director of Chinese Counter Intelligence, in his late fifties greying, and nearing retirement. Over thirty years in the CIA had hardened him into one of the agencies top operatives. He knew the signal from Alaska would come tomorrow. He and Betty Morgan, his administrative assistant, would not leave their offices until they received that signal. He could only hope he would receive the call from Berkeley. That call depended on the young man who had been assigned to shadow Patty. How long would it take for him to figure it out? How long until he had the nerve to go over Hank’s head? Tom’s thoughts were interrupted when Betty buzzed the intercom and announced “There’s a young man on the phone says he works for Henry Lo. Said he thinks there’s been a defection. He wants to know if and how he should report it.”

  Tom sat up straight in his chair, certain the game was about to begin. “It’s Bradley, isn’t it?”

  “He sounds real nervous. Be easy on him boss.”

  Tom picked up the phone. “Tom Walker.”

  The voice on the other end of the line was shaking. “Mr. Walker, my name is Kent Bradley. I work for Henry Lo at Los Alamos and well–”

  “One minute, Kent. I’d like to record this conversation. Do you mind?”

  Kent’s heart sank and he felt beads of sweat on his forehead. He had no choice but to come forward with what he knew. The sooner he did the better it would be for him.

  “I guess not. I guess I can’t get in any more trouble.”

  Walker pushed a button on the cassette recorder next to his phone. “Okay, Kent. Start over with your name. Just relax. You’re doing the right thing. You’re doing your job.”

  Walker listened while the cassette recorded what Kent witnessed over the last few months – the story of Chen Wen Bin and Patty Lawrence’s romance, and Henry Lo’s disappearance. When Kent finished Walker turned off the recorder.

  “Don’t blame yourself, son. Reporting it to me was the right thing to do. It sounds like when we catch up to Lo he’s going to have some explaining to do. I want you to keep an eye out for Lo, the girl, and this Chinese national you mentioned. Let’s hope all this can be explained in some way other than a defection. What number can I reach you at?”

  Tom looked up to see Betty standing in the door connecting their offices and smiling as he pretended to write down the number. “I’ll keep in touch,” he said as he hung up the phone. “What?” He asked Betty, smiling.

  “That was nice, the way you handled that. Poor kid must be scared to death.” Betty walked over to a large safe and pulled an attaché case out. “I guess we got some work to do,” she said walking back to her office.

  Tom picked up the phone and dialed an extension.

  “This is Tom Walker. I need to speak with Director Johnson.” There was a brief pause while Tom listened, “Yes, interrupt him. It’s very important.” Tom tapped his desk with a pen while he waited to be connected. “Director Johnson. This is Tom Walker. I have just become aware of a possible defection of a Los Alamos scientist to the Chinese.”

  “Oh really, I can’t talk now,” Johnson said, masking his concern from the office full of Congressmen in the room. “You got a name?”

  Walker absently shuffled some papers. “An intern at Los Alamos, a young girl named–” he smiled as he shuffled some more papers, knowing he was building the suspense. “Here it is. Name’s Patty Lawrence.”

  Director Johnson shot up in his chair. “Come again? What was that name?” A few of the Congressmen near him turned to look at him.

  “Patty Lawrence. But the real problem is Henry Lo may also be involved.”

  Johnson slowly recoiled in his chair. He barely kept his composure. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “I want a complete report on this by tomorrow morning,” he said. “Be in my office at 8am sharp.”

  “Yes, sir I’ll work all night if necessary. I’ll get everything I can on this.”

  “Thank you. Goodbye.” Both men hung up.

  “You got that report on the Lawrence defection ready yet?” Tom asked tongue-in-cheek as he sat down in the chair just to the left of Betty’s desk. He spent as much time in this chair as in the one in his own office, going over the piles of research she did for him. The foundation of espionage was digging up the detailed facts and Betty was the best operational assistant in the CIA. He hand-picked her fifteen years ago to handle the endless bureaucratic paperwork and research part of his job. She could dig up something on anyone or anything. She was the best at what she did, bar-none although she looked like she should be hosting her own cooking show, greying, slightly plump and almost always smiling.

  Betty closed the lid of the attaché case, having added the Bradley transcript she had just typed. Other than the transcript, the reports and files had been methodically gathered over the last few months in preparation for this meeting. It was a slam dunk.

  “There you go,” she said with the same tongue-in-cheek tone. It’s all ready. How’s that for fast?”

  “Not bad. How about some dinner? Order us up something from the commissary. I’m buying.”

  Betty stood, walked over to the coat rack, and put on her coat. “I feel like Chinese.” She held out her hand and Tom reached in his pocket and gave her a twenty. “You want the usual?”

  Empty to-go containers and Styrofoam boxes were scattered on Tom’s desk and the coffee table in front of the couch. Betty was asleep on the couch and Tom had fallen asleep in his high-backed leather chair with his feet on his desk. You can sleep in a chair with your feet on a desk just so long until you’re awakened by your own body trying to change positions. At 5am Tom’s body jerked and he awoke. He sat up, shook the sleep from his head, and looked at his watch. He rose quickly when he saw the jewel by the number five illuminated.

  “Betty, get up,” he said. “Hank’s signaled.”

  “What?” Betty looked up, eyes barely open.

  “I’m going to the payphone by the One-Stop. You want to come?”

  “No, I’ll wait here. What about Bobby?” Betty sat up blinking the sleep from her eyes.

  “I don’t know the signals from Hank.”

  “I don’t like this.”

  “I don’t either,” Tom said, rushing out of the office.

  The convenience store parking lot was nearly empty. Early risers were getting coffee and cigarettes on their way to work. Tom waited in his car for a man wearing a hard hat to finish his call. He got out and approached one of the three payphones next to the ice freezers. He dialed a long distance number and entered the credit card number of a Ron Mack, heavy equipment salesman.

  “Anchorage Holiday Inn Airport, how can I direct your call?”

  “Tommy Chan’s room please” Tom scanned the pre-dawn parking lot while he waited.

  “Hello?”

  “Hank?”

  “Yeah, Walker that you?”

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sp; “Yeah, I got your signal.”

  “We got problems. The plane didn’t arrive.”

  “What? What the hell do you mean the plane didn’t arrive?” Tom again scanned the parking lot. He turned to face the phone.

  “Just goddamn what I said, the plane never showed up. We got a major blizzard up here. Chen didn’t tell me this. He pretended to be in his room waiting for word but I know it took him six hours to get back to Anchorage from Otter Bay. He just left my room. Said the Chinese are real pissed. They think we’re dicking them around.”

  “You don’t think Tino is fucking with us, do you?”

  “I doubt it. Tom, the local news says this is the worst storm in years. Shut down all the airports. There’s a chance Patty’s plane was forced down. I don’t know, maybe it crashed.”

  “Okay, I have to think. Tell Chen we’re not screwing with them. Tell him to tell his people we don’t know what’s happened either.”

  “I’ve already done that.”

  “Call Bobby, tell him to sit tight.”

  “I’ve done that too.”

  “Good, let me think this through, I’ll get back to you as soon as I have anything. Stay put. Don’t leave your room in case I need to talk to you.” Tom rubbed his forehead.

  “Where the hell do you think I’m going? I’ll signal you if I need to talk.” The connection went silent.

  Tom stood in shock for a moment and slammed the phone down. “Fuck,” he yelled, and ran to his car. He burst into Betty’s office startling her.

  “We’re in trouble,” he said. “Patty’s in trouble.”

  “What?”

  “The plane didn’t make it.”

  Betty gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Tom looked at his watch. “Okay, we got an hour to figure out what the hell happened. Get on your computer. Check the FAA and AP.” Betty picked up her pad and began taking notes. “Get me something on the storm in Alaska. I’ll make the coffee.”

  By 7am, Betty had enough information to figure out that yesterday had turned out to be a disaster. The Associated Press release was too late to make it into the east coast papers but the west coast papers would have it.