RED Hotel Read online

  PRAISE FOR

  RED HOTEL

  “RED Hotel, a terrific, fast-paced, stylish, eye-opening spy thriller, with a knowing, insider’s look at the intersects of terrorism, the CIA, and world politics. Ripped right from the headlines, RED Hotel will forever change the way you look at hotels and use the phrase road warrior.”

  BRUCE FEIRSTEIN

  JAMES BOND SCREENWRITER, VANITY FAIR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  “Welcome to my world. RED Hotel is a thriller that dramatically covers a very real global threat that could redraw nation boundaries and lead the superpowers to the brink of war. Fuller and Grossman echo the warning, ‘If you see something, say something.’ They’re saying it loud and clear in RED Hotel.”

  STEVE TIDWELL

  FORMER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI, CRIMINAL, CYBER, RESPONSE, AND SERVICES BRANCH

  “Feverishly paced with surprising twists and turns, RED Hotel starts with a bang and the action gets faster and tenser from there. Get ready for one late night when you dive into this gem of a read!”

  DANIEL PALMER

  BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, MERCY AND FORGIVE ME

  “Laced with drama culled from recent events, RED Hotel places the reader directly into the role of intelligence analyst and operative as well as business and political strategist. Read RED Hotel and it’s doubtful you’ll ever travel again without conjuring up possible intrigue from observations that used to seem like normal occurrences. Be suspicious staying overnight. A smart book.”

  JOHN TIERNEY

  FORMER MEMBER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NATIONAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ARMS CONTROL AND NON-PROLIFERATION

  “WARNING: Read RED Hotel with your back to the wall and keep an eye on everyone entering your immediate space. It’s a must-read thriller that weaves boots-on-the-ground experience with comet-paced, down-to-the-marrow storytelling. Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman deliver page after page, and RED Hotel brings it, brings it, brings it on!”

  W. G. GRIFFITHS

  BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, METHUSELAH’S PILLAR AND DRIVEN

  “Grossman and Fuller deliver gritty insider detail in their thriller RED Hotel, bringing fact and fiction together in an explosive mix. With pacing that would leave Olympian Usain Bolt breathless, RED Hotel is a must-read for international travelers and anyone seeking to understand the new Russia.”

  K. J. HOWE

  BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, THE FREEDOM BROKER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THRILLERFEST

  “Baldacci, Brown, and Cussler: make room for Grossman and Fuller, and check into RED Hotel! It’s the year’s most eye-opening international thriller with a true wake-up call for everyone who travels anywhere. Page by page, the exciting plot delivers an inside-out view of the moving parts that make up the ever-changing geopolitical map. My advice—read RED Hotel now!”

  ROGER DOW

  PRESIDENT AND CEO, US TRAVEL ASSOCIATION

  “I got to know Ed Fuller in Iraq when I was Deputy Commanding General, US Forces–Iraq. RED Hotel takes me right back to our in-depth discussions, and it spells out tomorrow’s threats that we better pay attention to today. Take a deep breath, jump into this novel scenario from authors Fuller and Grossman. I dare you to try to go to sleep tonight once you begin.”

  FRANK HELMICK

  RETIRED LIEUTENANT GENERAL, US ARMY

  “RED Hotel is a cutting edge story about very real targets all around us. A real world drama that doesn’t just suggest what might happen, but is telling us what is beginning to happen right now! A must read!”

  PETER GREENBERG

  CBS NEWS TRAVEL EDITOR

  PRAISE FOR OTHER BOOKS BY THESE AUTHORS

  THE EXECUTIVE SERIES BY GARY GROSSMAN

  “Executive Actions—a masterpiece of suspense.”

  MICHAEL PALMER, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  “Executive Treason—a virtuoso tale.”

  DALE BROWN, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  “Executive Command—so real it’s scary!”

  LARRY BOND, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  “Executive Force—as harrowing as it is entertaining!”

  JOSEPH FINDER, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  OLD EARTH BY GARY GROSSMAN

  “The perfect thriller!”

  STEVE BERRY, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  “…The Da Vinci Code on steroids!”

  DWIGHT ZIMMERMAN, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

  YOU CAN’T LEAD WITH YOUR FEET ON THE DESK BY ED FULLER

  “Read Ed’s book before you take another plane on a foreign business trip. It will change the way you behave.”

  GEOFFREY KENT, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, ABERCROMBIE & KENT

  “Fuller brings experience, intelligence, and heart to building relationships.”

  MICHAEL V. DRAKE, CHANCELLOR, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

  “Ed’s book will give you a competitive edge whether it’s Denver, Dubai, or Düsseldorf.”

  JEAN-CLAUDE BAUMGARTEN, PRESIDENT, WORLD TRAVEL & TOURISM COUNCIL

  Copyright © 2019 by Gary H. Grossman and Edwin D. Fuller

  FIRST EDITION

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  RED Hotel is a work of fiction. Places, incidents portrayed, and names are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Grossman, Gary H., author. | Fuller, Edwin D., 1945-author.

  Title: Red hotel / by Gary Grossman, Ed Fuller.

  Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Beaufort Books, [2019]

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018045182 | ISBN 9780825308901 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780825308017 (Ebook)

  Subjects: | GSAFD: Suspense fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3607.R667 R43 2019 | DDC 813/.6--dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018045182

  For inquiries about volume orders, please contact:

  Beaufort Books

  27 West 20th Street, Suite 1102

  New York, NY 10011

  [email protected]

  Published in the United States by Beaufort Books

  www.beaufortbooks.com

  Distributed by Midpoint Trade Books

  www.midpointtrade.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  Book designed by Mark Karis

  To Michela Fuller, my wonderful wife, Scott Dimond, Elizabeth, Alex, and our granddaughter Cameron Allphin.

  ED

  For Bruce Coons, Lifelong friend, superb advisor, dedicated patriot. Thank you, through all the years!

  GARY

  GLOBAL NEWS

  WAVE OF TERROR

  MUMBAI, INDIA

  2008

  Indian forces battled terrorist gunmen to free hostages at two luxury hotels that left dozens dead and potentially hundreds injured…

  BOLD ATTACK AT MAJOR HOTELS

  JAKARTA, INDONESIA

  2009

  Separate bombs tore through the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels, minutes apart. Authorities say they were placed by guests…

  BEACH RESORT HOTEL TARGETED

  SOUSSE, TUNISIA

  2015

  Gunman disguised as a vacationer attacked the Mediterranean Imperial Hotel killing at least 38…

  EXPLOSIVE-PACKED CAR AND A GUNMEN STORM HOTEL

  NORTHERN SINAI PE
NINSULA

  2015

  Militants attacked the Swiss Inn Resort in El Arish with explosives and gunfire killing at least seven including a judge…

  RUSSIA REHEARSES INVASION OF SCANDINAVIA

  2015

  33,000 Russian troops carried out a mock invasion of Norway and Sweden, rehearsing a takeover of territory in the Baltic Sea…

  PUTIN REBUILDING SOVIET-ERA RUSSIA

  2014

  Vladimir Putin believes it is his mission to restore the Soviet system, the country of his childhood where the Kremlin’s power is unchecked…

  RUSSIA CLAIMS IT COULD TAKE MAJOR EUROPEAN CAPITALS IN TWO DAYS

  2014

  Putin reportedly claimed it would take merely two days for Russian troops to sweep into Riga, Latvia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Warsaw, Poland; Bucharest, Romania; and Kiev, Ukraine…

  WHAT’S RUSSIA’S NEXT TARGET?

  2015

  In an ever-uneasy relationship with neighboring Baltic States, home to large ethnically Russian minorities and former Soviet satellite nations, the Kremlin has indicated there is potential for aggression against Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to defend Russians in those nations…

  US SUPPORT FOR NATO REMAINS IN QUESTION

  2018

  Ongoing provocative White House statements about the NATO alliance continue to shake the confidence of America’s European partners, increasing concerns that the US could abandon NATO’s central tenant of collective defense.

  PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

  WASHINGTON, DC

  Dan Reilly

  Senior Vice President, International Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation

  Brenda Sheldon

  Secretary

  Alexander Crowe

  President, United States

  Moakley Davidson

  US Senator

  Pierce Kimball

  National Security Advisor

  Carl Erwin

  Former CIA Director

  BD Coons

  US Army General

  Jay Reardon

  Former FBI Operative

  Donald Klugo

  Private Security Consultant

  Robert Heath

  CIA Officer

  Gerald Watts

  CIA Director

  Veronica Severi

  CIA Psychologist

  General Jeffrey Jones

  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

  CHICAGO, IL

  Edward Jefferson Shaw

  President/Founder Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation

  BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

  Liam Schorel

  General Manager, Kensington Diplomat Hotel

  Johanna Ketz

  Florist Shop Owner

  Lou Tiano

  Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation COO

  June Wilson

  Public Relations Executive

  Spike Boyce

  IT Executive

  Alan Cannon

  VP Global, Safety and Security

  Chris Collins

  Senior Vice President, Legal Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation

  Pat Brodowski

  Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation CFO

  TOKYO, JAPAN

  Genji Takahiro

  Japanese Agent

  MOSCOW, RUSSIA

  Nikolai Gorshkov

  President, Russian Federation

  Andre Miklos

  An Operative

  Victor Markovich

  Mayor

  Yakov Lukin

  Minister of Defense

  Nicolai Federov

  Director, FBS, Russian Intelligence

  Major General Valery Borodin

  Chief of the General Staff

  General Gennady Titov

  Deputy Minister of Defense

  LONDON, ENGLAND

  Marnie Babbitt

  Barclays Bank Vice President, Finance

  CAMBRIDGE, MA

  Colonel William E. Harrison

  History Professor

  PROLOGUE

  SHIBUYA, TOKYO, JAPAN

  PRESENT DAY

  The man held court in an abandoned warehouse. He paced the cement floor while gauging the resolve of his associates, all personally chosen for the job, all veterans of other assignments. He saw no fear, no hesitation.

  One more review. A final assurance that they had everything down.

  Satisfied, he released them. Alone, he removed the visuals he’d tacked to the wall: the maps, the photographs, and the timeline. Holding the last enlargement, a photo of a downtown hotel, he let his mind wander to the exquisite details investigators would soon find and bag there. They were the things that never made newspaper or TV news accounts, the minutia cut from the page in editing for space and time. Watches stopped at the same minute. Scattered strands of pearls. High-heeled shoes, none to be worn again. Cell phones fused into plastic and metal blobs. Melted glasses frames. Teddy bears separated forever from their young owners’ grasps. Grotesque, ashen shadows on the pavement that marked where the dead had fallen.

  Then he pictured the brooms and shovels, the street cleaners and tractors that would eventually return the gruesome kill zone to respectability. Life would go on. But before that, to the man—the leader, the assassin—it would be his work of art.

  WASHINGTON, DC

  CAPITOL HILL

  KENNEDY CAUCUS ROOM

  FOURTEEN HOURS BEHIND TOKYO TIME

  “No, Senator.” Dan Reilly had practiced his tone in front of his hotel bathroom mirror before testifying. He wanted to strike a confident tone, neither friendly nor combative. Strictly professional. But this was the eighth time he had answered “no” to Montana Senator Moakley Davidson in less than five minutes.

  So far, Reilly’s appearance before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs was going as well as could be expected. Ultimately, he didn’t want to create negative headlines for himself or the company. He had a message, and he wanted to deliver it with the right tone and leave quickly.

  The Senate committee shared jurisdiction over appropriations with a subcommittee on the House side. An appropriation was exactly what Dan Reilly sought. He represented an American business with global interests—the Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation, with 1,100 owned or managed properties in 98 countries, and another 855 franchises.

  Clearly, the Montana senator was trying to push Reilly’s buttons, hoping to provoke an outburst. But Davidson didn’t know Dan Reilly. He would have been well served to do some research on the witness.

  TOKYO

  The uniformed driver and two members of his team, all Japanese nationals, huddled in a garage near Harajuku Station on the outskirts of Tokyo. One man, also uniformed, would ride in the truck and serve as the driver’s backup. The other would drive a block ahead of the rental car, relaying any traffic issues. Their delivery was that important.

  Three other team members had already completed their assignments and left the area.

  The driver ended his phone call. He checked his watch. It was time.

  WASHINGTON, DC

  Though out of the army for seven years, Daniel Reilly maintained a regular exercise routine. He consistently weighed in at 183 and could still pass for someone in his early 30s. But Reilly was actually 42, six-foot tall, with wavy black hair and bright white teeth. Anyone watching him on C-SPAN would see a handsome and confident man who didn’t wear a wedding ring. Reilly was single again. Gratefully single.

  Reilly, Senior Vice President of International for Kensington Royal, dressed for the cameras in a slim blue suit, a white shirt, and a conservative Countess Mara blue and gold tie. The tie especially popped and emphasized his commanding physical presence. Most of all, Reilly understood the rules of engagement perfectly: when to listen, and equally important, what to say and how to say it.

  Corporate savvy came from an undergraduate degree at Boston University and a master’s degree in business at Harvard. He credited greater life expe
rience to his two tours of duty in Afghanistan, where he earned his captain’s bars and learned to distinguish friends from adversaries. His tact and skill at negotiation came from a Foreign Service stint in the State Department after the army. Each served him well today.

  “Mr. Reilly,” Senator Moakley Davidson continued, “If you’re looking for a blank check courtesy of American taxpayers to—”

  Reilly interrupted with another “no.” This one more curt than his previous.

  As the chairman ranted on without really getting to a direct question, Reilly took in the historic Capitol Hill environs. Corinthian pillars framed the hearing room, which looked virtually the same today as it did in 1910 when it was called the Harkness Caucus Room. Today it was the Kennedy Caucus Room, in honor of brothers John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy.

  The walls didn’t have to talk, Reilly thought, considering the archived history. The records from the caucus room were dynamic and momentous, including Attorney Joseph Welch’s critical rebuttal to Senator Joseph McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” during the Army–McCarthy hearings and Senator Howard Baker repeatedly pressing the Watergate conspirators in his disarming Southern drawl, “What did the president know and when did he know it?”

  Green felt covered the senators’ table just as it did during the hearings that brought Richard Nixon down. This was also the caucus room where Oliver North testified in the Iran-Contra hearings; testimony that resulted in charges and convictions.

  Dan Reilly sensed the touchpoints with American history in this austere and almost humbling setting.

  “Mr. Reilly, let me tell you something …”

  Moakley Davidson was chair of the subcommittee and was damned if he wasn’t going to score something from what he considered a senseless session. He looked up from his notes, now certain he had a gotcha question that would earn airtime beyond the live streaming C-SPAN cameras.