Rogue Asset (Book 3 of the Wade Hanna Series)

  Rogue

  Asset

  A Novel

  By

  Joseph D’Antoni

  Book 2 of the Wade Hanna Series

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. However, the backdrop and historical context of this novel is based in fact.

  All Rights Reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Copyright © 2015 Joseph D’Antoni

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9830816-5-4

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2015909521

  ROYAL OAK PRESS*, PASADENA, CA

  Chapter 1

  Greenstone, Alabama, 1978

  The early sun rose awakening Wade Hanna for his early morning workout. His mind was as clear as a bell as he focused on his upcoming trip to Washington and finally seeing for the first time his handler, confidante and love, Megan Winslow. His step had a unique bounce throughout his three-mile run. He ran like clouds were under his running shoes.

  Many of Wade’s trials were behind him. At the end of his last mission in Belize he felt Megan came through in the end with her research into a suspicious agency activity. She was also able to cut off that questionable Inter-Agency request for his personnel file. He got the information he needed from his interrogation of Mashburn about his role in the Lockhart murder. His information would be valuable to homicide detective Gabe Morrison when pursuing the case in Atlanta. With Wade’s help, Gabe would be able to narrow down possible suspects to two high-level ex-CIA Agency heads who had taken early retirement.

  Even with the constant interruption of his studies by intelligence training classes, Wade managed to complete his college coursework for graduation in the top third of his class. Intelligence assignments had not allowed him to attend graduation ceremonies, but that didn’t bother him. He didn’t know very many people in his graduating class anyway.

  Wade now had to focus on only two remaining intelligence-training sessions before graduating as an intelligence officer. He would complete those sessions during his long awaited trip to Washington, D.C. Aside from seeing Megan he would also attend the Agency reception in Washington D.C. where he would meet agents from all over the world that might provide assignment opportunities.

  After the strenuous workout and two hours at the firing range, Wade was home preparing a tuna sandwich when the phone rang. It was Megan.

  “Where would you like to go on our night out?”

  Showing his lack of planning, Wade tried to be diplomatic.

  “I was hoping you had a favorite restaurant. You’re always talking about how wonderful restaurants are in D.C. I was afraid I might pick a bad one.”

  “Give me your preference for food and I’ll pick the restaurant - Chinese, Italian or Greek?”

  “Italian.”

  “Great. There’s a wonderful Italian restaurant named Capitto’s. It’s not far from me.”

  “Perfect, what time do I finish my SCS class on Saturday?”

  “About 4:00 p.m. I thought you might like to come by the office first, and we can take my car to dinner. I’ll drop you off afterward. That way you don’t have to navigate D.C. traffic at night in the rental car.”

  “I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

  Megan was also excited but maintained her reserved telephone voice.

  “Me, too.”

  During the flight to D.C. Wade reflected on his life back in the swamp. He remembered the first meeting with the Agency waiting for Jenkins under the lighthouse beacon at Lake Pontchartrain.

  He remembered the rainy afternoon when Jenkins put him through hell at the Wave Restaurant before finally telling him he had been accepted by the Agency. Wade thought about how fast everything in his life moved from that point on over the last four years. Images flashed of the near-death encounters that seemed to follow him wherever he went. With his final Agency graduation just a few days away, there was no way to tell what his next years would be like. Going into Agency work full time meant his relationship with Megan would change. He would soon know if their relationship was real or just four years of flirtation over long distant telephone conversations.

  Soon Megan would no longer be his handler or his superior officer, just another, but special, co-worker. Wade still had troubling questions on his mind: Would the absence of a reporting relationship change their personal relationship? Has the Agency been using her to get information about the Lockhart murder case or my last mission in Belize? Have I already given her too much information? Who does she really report to?

  Wade had to find out answers. His life, as well as his career, depended on it. He put his head back, closed his eyes and imagined he was back in his Louisiana swamp lying back on his flat boat in Lost Lagoon looking up at the sky asking swamp spirits; please give me a sign. Where do I go from here?

  Because of his early Saturday morning SCS class Wade wouldn’t see Megan until that evening for dinner. His classroom was in an intelligence office building in Virginia not far from downtown Washington. His surveillance instructor for the SCS class briefed the students on the day’s activities.

  “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Washington. Today’s class is the third and final class of this series on surveillance and counter-surveillance techniques. For some, it is the last SCS class you will take before graduating. Like other SCS classes, we will have some lectures but most of our activities will take place in the field.”

  The instructor walked over to a large board with a city map and diagram.

  “There will be two designated surveillance teams, each operating independently to cover surveillance targets in two nearby Virginia towns. For this exercise, each team will use a ‘diamond surveillance pattern’. As you may recall from prior classes, the diamond pattern requires a front spot, two wingmen, and a tail. The position of the diamond pattern should always remain intact but when the target shifts positions the diamond also shifts in response, rotating in the direction the target moves.”

  The instructor paused to see if the class members were following.

  “If the target moves right, the person on the right wing shifts to the front position and everyone rotates one position to their left. The object is to keep the target in the center of the diamond while the diamond team members shift around the central point as the target moves.”

  The instructor’s words hit home to Wade. He remembered the diamond pattern from earlier training classes. It was always more difficult in practice than it sounded on paper. The instructor’s next words reminded Wade of that fact.

  “Unless you’re experienced in this technique you’ll find it a challenge to maintain the diamond pattern. It is easy to get out of position, especially when you’re following an experienced target.”

  Class members already started sizing up persons in the class who might be possible members on their team.

  “We are fortunate today to have one of our most experienced surveillance specialists who happens to be in Washington for briefings. She is a covert agent stationed in one of the Soviet Bloc countries who goes by the name of Emily. She is one of a few Agency specialists we use for tracking experienced Russian spies. I am certain she will give everyone a run for their money.”

  After being assigned to a four-member team, Wade and the team were transported 15 miles away to their surveillance site in Bridgeport, Virginia. They were dropped off in a small public park just opposite the middle of the town squ
are. The only thing they were told was that Emily would be arriving by bus, wearing a gray colored skirt and matching jacket, tan raincoat, and a bright yellow scarf.

  The team members tested their radio communications equipment that consisted of earpiece receivers and hidden lapel microphones. They positioned themselves loosely around the only bus stop in the square. Two members blended into the surroundings by reading newspapers while the other two appeared to be window-shopping. A crowd of office commuters started gathering around the only bus stop waiting for the next bus arrival to take them to work.

  It wasn’t long before the blue bus pulled up to the stop. A long stream of passengers got off heading in different directions. Most were going to other bus stops to transfer to other lines and were preoccupied with what awaited them at their office destinations. Towards the end of that departing passenger line was the woman in a gray outfit covered by a tan raincoat and yellow scarf that precisely fit the description of the target.

  Team members all picked out Emily and followed her as she moved through the crowd maintaining roughly a diamond pattern. In the first formation, Wade’s position fell to the tail.

  Shortly after the bus pulled away, the nice looking well-dressed lady in a tan coat and yellow scarf stepped on to the sidewalk and briskly walked east on Main Street. The team maintained their rough diamond shape, keeping Emily in the center. One of the surveillance team members radioed, “This is going to be a no-brainer.” No one replied.

  The target suddenly made a right turn onto Main Street and picked up her pace. She was now briskly walking down Main Street. The diamond pattern started to flatten out and expand as members tried to keep the pace. Emily’s turn required the pattern to shift as the front and left wing positions changed. The shift was not graceful, and one member had to jog to maintain position and keep up with the moving pattern.

  The target suddenly stopped in front of a window of a ladies’ boutique dress shop. Emily stopped at an angle of the shop window glass that reflected her followers. When she suddenly stopped at the window everyone following came to a sudden stop. She had a clear reflection of her followers. Wade knew the entire team had been spotted.

  Protocol teaches that the team should have continued walking past the target after she stopped even if it meant temporarily losing the diamond pattern. No one was in charge of the surveillance team, and it became evident that Emily would have a field day with this uncoordinated surveillance team with no direction from each other.

  Wade radioed his concern that the team was no longer in cover. He suggested they break formation and reassemble after she moved. No one answered. No one else seemed to want to take charge of the surveillance team. Without leadership, the team was unraveling. No one on the team anticipated there might be a problem without someone in charge.

  Wade tried to assume a leadership role. His meager efforts were met with a vacuum of no real authority. He was left with only making suggestions trying to maintain some semblance of order. Signs of disaster had already set into the surveillance team.

  Breaking formation, Wade approached another shop at the same angle so he could see what the target was looking at in the shop window glass. He could easily see two of the surveillance team members to her right.

  Having identified the tail and right wing positions gave Emily options. Before anyone on the team responded Emily processed her options and took off in a westerly direction at a brisk pace. Not waiting until she reached the corner she double-backed across the street. If members followed, they would certainly reveal themselves.

  Emily’s next moves were technically jaywalking but this was a covert exercise, and no one was handing out tickets. Wade radioed that the left wing and tail should not follow her so closely. Only one of two men listened. Emily had two of the four team members pegged and for all he knew she had made all four of them. The race was on, and their team had already been exposed after following for only one block.

  Emily crossed the street again, this time turning to her right causing the diamond pattern to shift again in an obvious manner. She crossed the street in the middle of the block, turning her head slightly to notice her followers. Her move triggered the movement of the diamond pattern again which looked like a high school drill team trying to maintain cadence. Emily’s expression didn’t change, but Wade thought she must have been enjoying the fact that she would cause the diamond to shift in any direction whenever she wanted. The men seemed oblivious to her whimsical joy.

  By now Wade was certain Emily had figured out all four members of the team. He was frustrated. The team looked more like they were rehearsing for a musical rather than coordinating a covert surveillance effort.

  The last shift put Wade on the right wing. The target crossed Main Street turning left as she increased her already brisk pace. Emily was now headed toward a bus stop two blocks away where a growing line of commuter passengers was already forming. Wade saw her disappear in the center of the crowd surrounded by passengers.

  Her short stature kept her below a mass of moving heads, hats, and overcoats. Wade saw her disappearance as a problem and radioed the other men who were closer to the target but still a block away. No longer feeling the other men had accepted him or any other person as a team leader he offered suggestions rather than direction.

  “She’s in the middle of the waiting bus crowd but not visible. Do not be fooled by her tactics. She’s probably not getting on that bus when it approaches. If you can’t find her through the crowd try looking for her red shoes. Over.”

  No one replied to his suggestions. For whatever good it was, Wade was back in tail position and the farthest from Emily. The target was consumed by the crowd that now numbered 14 and growing as several more commuters joined them. Soon there would be two-dozen people, and Emily would be buried somewhere in the middle of that sea of humanity. Emily was last seen entering the crowd from the right side of the line but quickly became indistinguishable among the other overcoats.

  The front lead and right wingman closest to Emily entered the crowd. Wade radioed again, “Report if you get a positive ID on the target.”

  A reply from one of the men came back, “Negative. I don’t see her anywhere in this crowd.”

  Wade approached the edge of the crowd and used a technique he learned in another training class. He looked down instead of at eye level into clothing, faces, and hats. He looked only for shoes and quickly spotted red shoes in the middle and off to one side of the crowd. The shoes stood out among pant legs, and dresses in assorted shades of browns and black. He followed the shoes like a beagle on scent.

  It was good he wasn’t looking for her coat or scarf because somehow Emily’s attire had changed. The yellow scarf, which made Emily easy to identify, was no longer yellow. She had reversed the scarf to a blue and red pattern. The tan raincoat she wore had been reversed and was now black. The only thing she hadn’t changed was her shoes.

  He reported what he found over the radio but failed to get a response. The two other team members flanking the outside of the crowd were bobbing up and down like kids on a pogo stick trying to see where Emily had gone.

  The approaching bus to pick up the crowded line of passengers was now only two blocks away. Anticipation caused the crowd to gather closer. Emily’s red shoes had made their way to the edge of one side of the crowd. Each of the surveillance team members took positions on the outside of the bus crowd like wranglers trying to herd sheep. Wade felt his team wasn’t in any coordinated formation much less a diamond pattern. As the bus approached, his earpiece rang with the wingman’s voice, “She’s getting on the bus. I’m following.”

  A second member chimed in the conversation, “Copy. I’ll follow her onboard as well.”

  The agent pushed ahead surging until he got to the first step past the bus door. Wade thought getting on the bus was a mistake. Their team would be reduced to two members, and Emily would be much harder to track with only two following.

  Wade leaned over to the speaker
under his coat collar, “Negative on the bus. I don’t think she’s getting on the bus. She has already moved to the side of the crowd and is now wearing a red and blue patterned scarf and black raincoat. Over.”

  There was no reply, as both team members seemed locked into the line of waiting passengers that flooded onto the bus like being swept downstream in a tidal wave. Wade followed along the outside of the crowd from a short distance. His angle made it impossible to ID the color of shoes, so he followed black coats. He counted five black coats that were cramming the bus door. Looking down as each black coat stepped on the bus Wade confirmed none were wearing red shoes. Emily was somewhere else in that crowd. Wade went around the outer rim of the crowd to get a different angle. She had to be close to the door but hadn’t crossed that threshold.

  Wade circled back to the other side of the crowd. He saw a black coat with red shoes hugging the side of the bus. Passengers were pushing around the stationary body to get onboard. With her face pressed uncomfortably against the side of the bus she was either begging for mercy or telling people to go around.

  He radioed the new status. “Target is not on the bus. I repeat, target has not gotten on the bus.”

  Two team members already onboard the bus looked at each other, still feeling certain of their decision and ignoring Wade’s explanation. A look of disbelief came over their faces as they searched the seated and standing passengers. Finally satisfying themselves that she wasn’t onboard they shoved back through the standing-only crowd trying to get to the door. The driver wouldn’t have it.

  Already tense about his overcrowded bus he hit the close button and pulled out on to the street with passengers grabbing for any handhold they could find. The two operatives had dumb looks on their faces as the bus pulled away.

  As one bus left, another was pulling in to pick up the dozen passengers who were still waiting. Wade carefully scanned the remaining passengers. His target wasn’t in the crowd.