No Barrier Will Stop Eve And Tango, But The Deep Set Bollards Might.

Flight to Beijing

The flight time to China is long, over sixteen hours, and Yeung would take advantage of any food offered him. He thought about what would happen when he arrived in Beijing and knew that food in detention was used as a pawn.

The two guards assigned to him sat on his right and left. Real M.S.S. types. This escort duty must be a plum assignment for them. Free food, a trip home, and then back to the U.S. Bao observed them and thought he may have hired the one on his left side, but he wasn't sure. 

Not bad men, but the signs that a Western lifestyle started creeping in on them were there, thought Bao. The clothes, for starters, are all made in China but not available to the common man in China. They will be perceived as upper class in Beijing, but in America, they are soldiers. Their haircuts are expensive, and Bao wondered if their cover jobs in the U.S. were on Wall Street.

The two must be New York-based and seemed comfortable with the process. They had performed this duty before. They knew where to go at the airport, and getting to the gate and boarding seemed automatic. One diverted before the gate and returned with a New York Post and a bag of Gummy Worms.

He didn't try to speak with them because he assumed they were under orders not to talk to him. This is standard and the start of a dehumanizing process that will continue during interrogation.

It wasn't until about two hours in the air that Bao discovered each escort spoke top-level English,  at Level 9 or above. 

They only spoke Mandarin to Yeung Bao. 

One of the men engaged in a lengthy conversation in English with a flight attendant, commenting about Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets getting hurt, thus keeping the Jets out of the playoffs again.

The flight attendant didn't hold back, saying, "I think that whole thing was staged because they knew he was hurt."   

Hearing that line caused guard number two to laugh out loud, which meant he also understood what the flight attendant said. He did not share his gummy worms, the prick.

There were other clues that Bao was getting better treatment from the start of his detention. He did not get handcuffed or shackled in the airport or the air. They did take his documents, smartwatch, and iPhone. Bao could eat and drink.

Yeung Bao kept quiet as he succumbed to the process without protest. Bao needed his wits now; he would only observe and listen to his escorts.

It looked like the state bought the rows of seats in front of them and the row behind them. Bao thought about this and concluded that somewhere within sight of where they sat was another Ministry Of State Security observer.

Bao had never been in more trouble or had his decisions come back to bite him before, but at no time did he act as a traitor to his country, China.

Northern New Hampshire

We are getting close to what I think this whole mess has been about. We moved onto the entrance road now that our presence is known. Why not.    It's weird, but the road from the chained entrance gate is unpaved, then changed to a smooth paved road about a mile up from the gate.

They needed the road to appear unchanged from the main road. Interesting.

Tango is on point, not caring too much about what's ahead as if he's figured it out. He's got his nose working overtime, and if he sees or hears anything, he'll let us know. He's an uber-dog.

I'm walking behind Eve and admiring all the scenery that the great north affords. She is a trooper and a good-looking one at that. Her Daddy raised her right. She came into my life right now, and I am grateful for her. 

"I can't figure out all the cameras, Allston."

 "Why all the security?" she continued. 

"For a chunk of land, I mean, they must get hunters trespassing during deer season, but still, why all the fuss?" she said.

"Did you notice the road before it turned paved?" I asked.

"Did you see how it was crushed down with tire tracks made by huge trucks?" I asked.

"It is uneven, wobbly, and full of tire tracks, but I didn't give it much thought," Eve said.

The road started to curve a bit as we moved forward, and we came to a steel grate built flush across the road.

The three of us walked over to the grate.

Just after we cleared it, a steel barrier wall rose with a motorized hum and a clang. 

The barrier is about five feet high and strong enough to stop vehicles from proceeding. 

On each side of the barrier were thickets of deep-set bollards to prevent anything from driving around the barrier. Allston thought a tank could get by it.

"What the fuck?" Eve yelped.

"They know we are here," I said to Eve.

"They raised their DEFCON level."

"That gate is designed to keep vehicles from going further up the road," I mentioned.

Eve, always curious, asked, "What triggered it to rise like that?"

"We know they have been watching us since we started moving in. The cameras we spotted earlier may have been the first. Or not." I said

"What are they protecting Allston?"

"That," I said, pointing to a vast swath of land cleared and replanted with pines and maples. Some of the trees are real, but most of them are fakes.

As we got closer, the hundreds of fake trees looked faker. We were not supposed to see this.

The trees are not placed in rows but more in keeping with the natural order of the trees around the clearing. 

We stepped off the road onto the clearing, and despite the cool temperature, the ground was soft, not icy and crusty, and we left footprints in it.

This is designed to make it look undisturbed from the air as it grows back.

It's all-new, and it hasn't blended in yet. In a few seasons, the ground will match the undisturbed ground at the edges of the trees, and at a casual glance, it will look the same. It just needs more time.

"What they are hiding is below us," I said.

"Underground?" Eve asked

"Yes, Gerry Tanner specialized in construction projects that are deep underground. This is his final work."

"Oh, Allston, we have to go in; I gotta see this."

Dover New Hampshire

Special Agent  Federal Bureau Of Investigation Tilly Caslin sat in the home of Mary Trickle, who, up until a week ago—worked at Welch, Lemerise, and Tanner in accounts payable. She and Tilly seemed to hit it off, and Mary brought a fresh pot of coffee to the kitchen table.

Tilly laid her credentials on the table and explained to Mary that she had done nothing wrong and that the F.B.I. was investigating the deaths of Tanner and Welch and was looking for Lemerise. Caslin also added that she was unsure of what W.L.T. did as a company.

Mary explained that the company offered expertise in large-scale construction projects worldwide in many countries. She added that they advised about airports, tunnels, roads, bridges, and underground structures in the past.  

She added that Welch faced the clients, "You know, a sales type" "An expert at eating lunches and getting deals done." He also acted as the community liaison, attending rotary dinners, organizing fundraisers, and sponsoring Little League teams. The Boss oversaw all employee matters, like if you needed a day off. You went to him. "He was kind of an asshole to the employees."

She went on about Lemerise. "Lem traveled to all of our consultancies. He worked with the local builders and guided them as they implemented the W.L.T. recommendations." He is a great guy, the father of five. I hope he's okay because we have not heard from him in over seven weeks before the Feds shut the firm down.

"Where do you think he is?" Tilly asked.

She looked at Caslin and said, "It would be unlike him to run off with some Bimbo; he loved Magda, and his family is everything to him. I mean that. That does not make sense."

Tilly thought about this, touched her chin, and asked, "What was the last project he worked on?" 

"Did he travel overseas to another country"?

That's the thing, Ms. Caslin, the firm is working on something big in our state. Lem loved that and was happy because he got to attend all the Pee Wee football games, band recitals, and school plays. Being home for one of his kid's graduations thrilled him. He loved it. "What a great guy."

Caslin moved on, "What about Tanner?"

Everybody loved Tanner; we all called him "Tanner The Planner," like "Bob The Builder?"  

"Tanner is the brains behind the projects. He solved the unique problems. He used to be onsite like Lem.

Gerry had seen it all in his career and knew the intricacies of working in hard-to-work countries. 

We loved him the most because he told incredible long-winded jokes and had a way of making you feel good about yourself. I hope his daughter is doing okay after what she went through."

Caslin thought about this and asked, "Can you tell me about this local project?"

"Tilly, can I call you Tilly?" "Nobody knew the whole story; they were all hush-hush about it, and at one time, a rumor went around the office that a baseball stadium was being built because someone thought it was a good idea to put a National League Team in southern New Hampshire."

Caslin asked, "You are in accounts payable; who were the vendors?"

Mary added, "The biggest one, a cement company that went out of business when the project was completed."

Mary continued, "We spent over one hundred million dollars on the concrete form, pouring, and finishing." 

Caslin queried, "So the firm had that kind of money to pay out?"

"We did for this project. I'd say it was unusual. We used to sink or swim to meet payroll every two weeks until this project came along."

Caslin asked, "Can you give me the name of the cement company, please?"