Free Sea of Lies: An Espionage Thriller by Bradley West Page A

locally as it was. He wasn’t Superman. In fact, he was in hiding. He probably had zero international networks, other than the people who had put him in Burma to begin with.
    Nolan broke the silence. “Teller was the local end of the MH370 hijacking. I don’t know who he works for, but it’s probably someone he’s known a long time and not a local general. I don’t know where the plane is, but it’s not in Burma. It landed and took off early Saturday morning. I’ll bet Teller offloaded a high-value person or cargo from that plane.
    “The reason Teller’s killing everyone in sight is to deflect attention to him from the precious cargo. This is a smokescreen, a diversion. The high-value target is still in-country. We’ve got to find it before he ships it out. It was almost certainly in those containers that passed by yesterday.”
    Now it was Hecker’s and Ryder’s turns to reflect while Nolan continued. “If Teller’s men found my passport before they burned the house down, he’ll have my Singapore address. Next Teller will try to kidnap or harm my family to keep me from piecing together the overall picture. If he has a source inside Rangoon station, we have even bigger problems.”
    Hecker had his doubts. “This is pretty thin, Bob. You’re saying MH370 was hijacked, flown undetected into Burma, landed on Airstrip One where Teller offloaded treasure of some description, and it took off again, also undetected. Meanwhile, Teller acts the part of a wild man while behind the scenes he smuggles the HVTs out of Burma?”
    Nolan countered, “I think you’re missing the most important part. Teller can’t be working alone. He has a customer, maybe some people he used to work with or a government. And as you said earlier, most likely someone from the local station has been helping him hide out. Maybe it’s Matthews; maybe it’s not.”
    “This is some crazy shit. But it’s a crazy world. You might be on to something.” Ryder, the anti-intellectual, was the one taking him seriously? Nolan didn’t know if that was a good or a bad omen.
    Hecker brought them back to the present. “Gentlemen, let’s focus on the next few hours. We are roughly thirty minutes from the safe house. We are meeting with Ambassador Martin at ten to explain how in the hell we lost an embassy driver and car in the last eighteen hours. Presumably we don’t want to share Bob’s hunch or our night’s findings with Matthews. And we need to protect Millie.”
    Ryder said, “What’s your plan, assuming we’re still employed once Martin’s done with us?”
    “First we need to find out what came off that plane and why. Second, I’m going to kill Teller,” said Nolan.
    “Three minutes ago you didn’t even want to hold a Glock. Now you’re going to gun him down at high noon on Main Street?” Ryder asked.
    “I won’t shoot him. I’ll find his weakness and get him that way—but that comes later. We need to find the plane, or the people and cargo that came off it. Once we find the high-value targets, Teller will have other things to worry about than us.”
    Hecker said, “So he’s emerged after thirty years under deep cover to handle a secret mission. He’s back and black.”
    “ Very black.” You could hear the excitement in Ryder’s voice.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
    THE FOURTH POLICY
    SATURDAY, MARCH 8, MOSCOW
     
    “Ecuador is still willing to take you despite pressure from the US. The Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Quito through Havana is best, because the US won’t dare to force it down.” Eric Watermen’s concern showed in his voice, ragged features and rumpled clothes. He’d driven straight from the airport to the Lubyanka Square head office of the FSB, the equally oppressive successor to the KGB’s First Chief Directorate, before heading to his son’s apartment.
    The fugitive was impatient. His father had flown eleven hours to read him the airline timetables? “Dad, I told you before, I’m stuck here. Technically, I