Viper Nine Read online

  ‘Can I do it again?’ Driver asked the Serb, an exhilarated smile on her face.

  ‘Part of me says continue,’ he replied, ‘Another part of me wonders how serious you are.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Driver asked.

  Kovac held out his pistol for her to take. ‘You still want to join us?’

  ‘More than ever,’ Driver replied, lip curling at the sight of Wells.

  ‘Then prove it,’ Kovac continued, spinning his Beretta round in his hand.

  Driver grabbed the butt of the gun. She checked the clip and the chamber.

  The interrogation room was stifling. The stench of body odour and breath like fly-infested meat. Two of Kovac’s assorted muscle flanked her their P12s pointing her way. One to the left, the other to her right.

  If she didn’t execute Wells, they would unload on them both for sure. If not in the room, then out in the solitude of the desert. A shallow, sandy grave would be theirs. Or a perhaps they’d be left for the vultures to fight over.

  Driver knew it. And so, it appeared, did Wells.

  Looking up from a bleeding brow, he met her eye and offered her the slightest of nods. ‘Do it,’ he said, voice weak from the boot to his ribs.

  ‘Look, he must have feelings for you,’ Kovac said. ‘Show him who you really are.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll show him,’ Driver said, lining up the shot.

  Juárez, Mexico

  The balaclava mask was sodden with his own sweat, creating a steady drip that hung off the end of Pope’s nose. If there was a hell, as his Sunday School teacher had said, he had to be bound for it. And this was surely what it would he could expect.

  With the handcuffs pinching tight against his wrists, the pain of an old shoulder injury flared as the Australian felt every pothole in the road. Rios wasn’t far away. He couldn’t see her, thanks to the impromptu blindfold made by the balaclava pulled down over his eyes. But he could sense her, sitting on the other side of the back of the police pickup.

  The heat was ridiculous now, even for a guy used to oven-baked summers in the scorched-earth outback. But it was the suspense that was killing him.

  ‘What the bloody hell’s going on?’ he whispered to Rios. ‘What have the pork rinds got against you?’

  ‘I have history with these guys,’ Rios replied, across from him.

  ‘Yeah, I figured that.’

  ‘I’ve got dirt on them,’ she explained. ‘That scum-sucking shit-flake you met earlier—’

  ‘Alvarez?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Rios said. ‘One day he decided it was too much dirt. The motherfucker sold me out to the US Department of Justice.’

  ‘What for?’ Pope asked.

  ‘Killing a DEA agent,’ Rios said.

  ‘Not exactly petty misdemeanours,’ Pope ventured.

  ‘It was on Alvarez’s orders,’ Rios explained. ‘And he was supposed to be a cartel man. They told me he was a rival of Montero’s.’

  ‘So, you were carrying out hits for the cops?’

  ‘I was a cop,’ Rios said. ‘A federali.’

  ‘And the federal police are on Montero’s payroll.’

  ‘When it suits them,’ Rios replied.

  ‘You threaten to rat or something?’

  ‘I don’t rat,’ Rios hissed. ‘And I don’t kill fucking DEA… Not on purpose, anyway.’

  ‘Hey, I’m not judging,’ Pope said. ‘But if this is the way Alvarez operates, why wait ’til now to slap on the blindfold?’

  ‘Because they tried killing me before,’ Rios explained. ‘It proved expensive.’

  ‘Ah, so they shopped you to the DEA and threw away the key… You should have made a trade, reduced your sentence. An eye for a bloody eye.’

  ‘They would have killed me inside,’ Rios said. ‘Now they’ve finally got their chance.’

  ‘Bummer,’ Pope said, taking a hard jolt in the base of his spine from a hole in the road. He leaned in closer. ‘So what do you reckon? I take seven of ’em, you take the other five?’

  Rios laughed, before catching herself. ‘Sorry I dragged you into this.’

  ‘I dragged myself into this shit a long time ago,’ Pope replied. ‘Besides, with the mouth I’ve got, I’m amazed someone didn’t pop me earlier.’

  ‘Well, I was tempted,’ Rios replied, as the pickups rumbled on.

  As Pope leaned back on the rear bench, his focus returned to the sweat on the end of his nose. He was pretty sure they were driving the pair of them deeper into the Juárez jungle. Somewhere they could dump their bodies in the long grass, easier than making a hole in the dirt.

  Digging graves in the sun was hard yakka, whatever time of day. He could vouch for it personally. And Pope was damn sure that whatever pay he’d gotten up to this point, it wasn’t nearly enough.

  Kowloon, Hong Kong

  ‘You’re the mighty Attack Dog?’ Mo asked.

  ‘That’s right, bitches,’ the young guy replied in heavily-accented English.

  Lim shook her head. Coercing a young nerd would be easier than an entire cell. But somehow, it felt like a let-down in the light of all the killing and sawing. She picked up the severed hand from the carpet. She slapped it on the kitchen counter, the blood having clotted at the base of the wrist.

  ‘I mean, not bitch,’ Attack Dog said. ‘Nice lady… It’s being around these gang members. You end up talking like them. I’m Chad… Chad Wong.’

  ‘Chad?’ Mo asked.

  ‘It’s a Hong Kong thing,’ Lim explained, feeling the pain in her back.

  ‘More important, who are you guys?’ Chad asked, looking at the severed hand. ‘And how did you get up here?’

  ‘How do you think?’ Lim asked, stealing her jacket back from Mo.

  ‘But there are so many guards,’ Chad continued.

  ‘Hey, we’re tough,’ Mo replied, folding his arms like the world’s biggest badass.

  ‘So what do you want with me?’ Chad asked.

  ‘What do you think?’ Lim replied. ‘You’re part of the cyberattacks.’

  ‘Hey, that’s not me,’ Chad argued.

  ‘Don’t bullshit us,’ Mo said. ‘You’re a legend, but there are limits.’

  ‘You think I wanted to take part? The triads, they keep me prisoner.’

  ‘I wish my prison cell had been like this,’ Mo said, admiring the hotel suite.

  ‘Trust me, I’d rather be at home with my mum,’ Chad replied. ‘They kidnapped me from my bed after I hacked the Chinese army.’

  ‘Because that’s always a good idea,’ Lim replied.

  Chad shrugged. ‘There was nothing on TV.’

  Lim shook her head, unconvinced. ‘Since when were the Kowloon Dragons involved in terror plots?’

  ‘They made some kind of deal. I don’t know how much cash, but it must be a lot, because they pulled me off the usual projects.’

  ‘Such as?’ Lim asked.

  ‘Such as blackmail, fraud, holding billionaires to ransom, stealing money from the Hong Kong banks… They only make it comfortable so I work better. Men with guns take me for walks around the block. Otherwise, I’ve been locked in here for six months.’

  ‘Well not any more,’ Lim said, taking a drink of Chad’s Coke and quenching the arid thirst in her throat.

  Relief washed over Chad’s face. ‘You mean… I can go?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lim said, putting down the Coke. ‘But on one condition – you undo all your work.’

  ‘The hacks? But they’ll kill me. There are more Dragons besides this hotel.’

  ‘You’ll receive protection,’ Lim continued. ‘Immunity and relocation, for you and your family.’

  ‘You can guarantee that?’ Chad asked.

  ‘No,’ Lim replied. ‘But thanks to you, the world’s been plunged into chaos. And there’s a terrorist running around with a nuclear weapon.’

  ‘You’re the one who disabled the militaries, right?’ Mo asked the young hacker.

  Chad couldn’t hide his swelling pride. ‘And the
intelligence agencies.’

  To Lim’s despair, Mo stepped forward and threw him a fist-bump. ‘I knew it, incredible work.’

  ‘You code?’ Chad asked him.

  Mo nodded. ‘I’m Super-Fly.’

  ‘No way,’ Chad said. ‘I’m a huge fan.’

  The pair leaned into each other in some kind of man-bump that didn’t at all suit them. As they burst into animated chatter in their own special language, Lim looked across the counter and saw the M&M sandwich. She picked it up and shrugged to herself. ‘What the hell.’

  The fatigued operative took a big bite and crunched her way through the sugary-sweet concoction.

  ‘Seriously?’ Mo said in disgust.

  ‘I need the sugar,’ she replied through a mouthful. ‘And we need to leave.’ She took a second bite and handed the remains of the sandwich to Mo. ‘Eat and drink something. I don’t want you passing out again.’

  ‘But you’ve had your mouth on it,’ Mo said, pulling his face.

  ‘Eat,’ Lim insisted, as Mo nibbled on the untouched end of the sandwich. Keen to hasten their exit, she turned to Chad. ‘Can you work on the road?’

  ‘All I need is my laptop,’ he replied.

  ‘Good, then grab whatever you need to reverse these hacks.’

  ‘With pleasure,’ Chad said, hurrying to his office space, ‘so long as you can get me out of here.’

  Lim followed behind him. ‘Is there a place you can work no one else knows about?’

  ‘Yeah, I know a place.’

  ‘Contact your mum and tell her to meet you there. I’ll make a call and arrange some security… Chiang still owes me.’

  ‘But I’m part of a wider network,’ Chad argued. ‘There are other cells. One in Mexico. Another in the Persian Gulf.’

  ‘That’s why I’m leaving Mo behind,’ Lim explained.

  ‘You are?’ Mo asked, entering with Coke and sandwich in hand.

  ‘You’re both cyberlegends, aren’t you?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course,’ the pair replied.

  ‘Then let’s get to work,’ Lim said as Chad unhooked his laptop.

  ‘And what about you?’ Mo asked, through a mouthful of bread and chocolate.

  ‘My job was to get you up here and introduce you to Attack Dog,’ Lim motioned towards Chad. ‘I’m officially done.’

  ‘But where are you gonna go?’ Mo asked, as if Lim was a mother leaving her child at home.

  Lim felt a tender bruise on her jaw. ‘Far away from here.’

  Chapter 40

  Saudi Arabia

  Driver lined the barrel of Kovac’s pistol with the crown of Wells’ skull. He turned his head away, dropping his eyes to the floor.

  She wrapped her finger around the smooth, curved steel of the trigger and prepared to fire.

  Yet she turned as she squeezed. Bang to her left. Bang-bang to her right. The two guards dropping and the barrel turned on Kovac, point-blank.

  But the Serbian had read her intentions from the get-go. He had a concealed weapon, already drawn.

  ‘Ah-ah,’ Kovac said, aiming between her eyes, and backed up by the German, Graf, brandishing a handgun of his own. ‘I’ll take that back now, if you don’t mind.’

  ‘Why are the scumbags of this world the most polite?’ Driver asked, tossing the pistol away.

  ‘Looks like we get two for the price of one, Otto,’ Kovac said, as his number two joined him by his side.

  ‘What about the account code?’ Graf asked.

  Kovac stared cold into Driver’s eyes. ‘Either the account number itself is bogus, or she gave us the wrong one on purpose. Whatever the case, she won’t tell us.’

  ‘Give me five minutes with her,’ Graf said. ‘I can get her talking.’

  ‘Trust me, she’s not the type,’ Kovac replied. ‘And now she’s out of the equation, we can have them email over a valid account number.’ The Serbian’s eyes dark eyes lit up as if he’d had an idea. ‘Besides, I’ve got a much better use for these two.’ Kovac turned to Jana, standing in the doorway with her laptop under an arm. ‘Move up the timetable on the attack.’

  Jana nodded and slipped out of sight.

  ‘What attack?’ Driver asked.

  Kovac laughed to himself. ‘All will become clear.’

  More armed security hurried into the interrogation room, doubtless drawn by the sound of gunfire. Kovac lowered his weapon and motioned for them to take over. ‘Put them in the cells and lock them down.’

  Kowloon, Hong Kong

  In the cramped kitchen at the rear of a small games arcade, a pot bubbled with a broth of chicken and vegetables.

  The arcade belonged to Chad’s uncle. The kitchen part of a discreet, basic apartment tucked away at the rear of the premises.

  Having set up across from the Chinese hacker on a wonky, pale-blue kitchen table, Mo worked fast on his laptop. He took his lead from the one and only Attack Dog while the feared hacker’s mum stirred a wooden spoon in a large, steaming pan of noodles.

  The tears were still fresh in her eyes, the relief of seeing her son alive far outweighing the danger he might still be in.

  She spoke good English, expressing her horror that her only son had been living off sugar-rush sandwiches for the past few months. She’d resolved to get some nutritious food into him as soon as possible and had wasted no time in throwing together a Chinese hot pot for the pair.

  Chad’s mum had insisted they couldn’t save the world on an empty stomach. And with the smell of sesame and spice coming from the kitchen, Mo wasn’t about to argue.

  Besides, taking down a building full of triads was hungry work.

  His stomach rumbled hollow as he breathed in the hot, moist air, steamier than a Munich sauna. It didn’t help the laptop, or the sticky clothes clinging to his body from the Hong Kong humidity.

  Yet Mo didn’t care. This was the most fun he’d had in ages. And all in tandem with the man behind some of the hacks of the century…

  Yes, alone they were each a formidable force. But together, they were a freaking super-weapon.

  Chad punched a key on his laptop. ‘That’s it. All my work undone.’

  Mo rose from his seat and gave Chad a high-five. ‘Now for the other cells. Looks like Mexico is already toast.’

  ‘That leaves the Saudi operation,’ Chad said, his fingers flying over the keys of his laptop. ‘You ready to go to war?’

  ‘Cocked, locked and ready to rock,’ Mo announced, as a bowl of hotpot landed on the table.

  Washington D.C.

  The text came through from Anna. In spite of all Gilmore’s doubts, the missions in Mexico and Hong Kong were a success. Rios and Pope had infiltrated the Juárez cell, while Mo, rather puzzlingly, had informed her he was working in tandem with Attack Dog. Gilmore didn’t bother to ask how. He was too busy punching the air. Ross, the President’s Chief of Staff, gave him a look as the ex-Langley chief stood in the underground corridor outside the situation room. But who cared what Ross thought. Viper Nine’s masterplan was unravelling even faster than it had taken hold.

  Gilmore hurried back into the room to share the good news, except General Budge was seconds ahead of him.

  A white telephone receiver to his ear, Budge announced the good news. ‘We’re back up, Mr President.’

  ‘What’s back up?’ Williams asked.

  ‘Everything,’ said Danbridge.

  ‘That goes for us, too,’ President Utkin confirmed, the other leaders on the video conference following suit.

  ‘Then we’re ready to respond,’ President Williams said as the conference call came to order.

  ‘I agree,’ Utkin replied. ‘The ransom hasn’t been taken, but they could extract it any moment.’

  ‘Kovac is still in possession of the warhead,’ Ambassador Hill remarked.

  ‘We don’t know that,’ said Danbridge.

  ‘And if he is, how long before he sells it to one of our enemies?’ the French President added.

  ‘We need to act
now,’ General Budge said.

  Schneider was quick to back him up. ‘I concur, Mr President.’

  ‘Do we have our teams in place?’ Williams asked.

  ‘Ready to go, Mr President,’ Danbridge replied.

  Before he could check his own reaction, Gilmore found himself standing up out of his chair. ‘But what about my agents?’

  ‘What about them?’ Budge asked.

  ‘They’re still on the ground, in the line of fire.’

  ‘And dead for all we know,’ Ambassador Hill said.

  As President Williams waved him back into his chair, Gilmore locked eyes with Hill. He shook his head in disgust. She shrugged in return. Gilmore flopped down into his chair.

  ‘There’s more at stake here than the lives of two agents, Mr Gilmore,’ President Williams said.

  ‘The Saudi cell is still active,’ Gilmore fired back, no longer concerned with his place in the pecking order. ‘What if we act too early?

  ‘What if we act too late?’ the Chinese President said over the video call.

  General Budge turned to President Williams. ‘We have a window of opportunity, sir. We might not get another.’

  The President shifted forward in his chair in a moment’s contemplation. ‘Then let’s put it to a vote. All in favour?’

  Chapter 41

  Juárez, Mexico

  The pickup lurched to a sudden stop. This was it. The end of the road. Rios tensed at the prospect, her breath shortening and heart galloping. Her short life was speeding to an abrupt conclusion, every precious second slipping away.

  But something didn’t stack up. The pickup sat with its engine running. There were shouts back and forth. Too far away to make out the cause of the debate.

  Fear was replaced by confusion with her balaclava blindfold whipped from her eyes. Rios looked to the steel floor of the pickup as her eyes adjusted. She squinted into the sunlight and made out Pope across from her, also struggling to see.

  After a few seconds more, everything came into focus. Rios peered around the side of the pickup and saw the convoy stopped at a weathered iron bridge. On the other side, a roadblock of two off-roaders – one a white Chevy SUV and the other a gold-plated Range Rover. In front of the vehicles, stood a handful of men with guns, and Montero at the front of the line in a baggy white linen suit and Wayfarers.